Helpful kitten: Isabel in a bed of alyssum
This weekend saw our first frosty mornings of the winter. Most flowers are winding down in the garden, but a few are just beginning their season. The "Christmas" rhody and ipheon have their first few flowers, and the Shirley poppies are forming buds. A couple of weeks ago I saw a single paperwhite cluster, but no more have followed yet. I was rather surprised to note how many of the fuchsias still has blossoms.
The bees are still enjoying the abelias, thyme-leafed fuchsias, heather and some long-blooming lavenders. The hives are doing well, especially the three with homemade queens. Here's hoping I've thwarted a bad mite infestation this year.
The old apple tree is loaded, and I need to harvest some fruit for drying and juicing. It's difficult to thin the fruit early in the season, but a lot of it is looking pretty robust this year.
It's been a long time since I've tried growing broccoli and cabbage in the veggie garden. There was room this year, and I thought I'd see if the soil had improved enough to support such hungry plants. Today I saw small flowerets in the broccoli; hopefully they'll get bigger before beginning to open. It looks like I need to put out some Sluggo (iron phosphate) around the cabbages to get the greedy gastropods. I'd thought the summer squash was done, but noticed a few small specimens that might be harvestable. There may be a pot of borscht in my near future: the beets are getting big.
Now that we've had some rain, I need to replace some less than wonderful plants. Perhaps I'll refresh a bed or two before spring. I've pulled out a couple of ancient sprawling lavenders, and need to put some new ones in their places. I've decided I don't love my vitex bush, and plan to put in a Japanese maple in its place. The white callas tend to get frost-bitten, and look crummy all year round. I think some hydrangeas and/or azaleas will be good replacements. Maybe I'll put a cluster of the callas in the "jungle" to see how they do back there. I don't see that are getting its much-needed rennovation for many years to come, so why not let it have some callas?
