Friday, April 21, 2023

Front and Back (Gardens, That Is)

The Front Garden in April

The front garden in April is still flowering!  Lots of osteospermum, of course.  But, also, a few other flowers:

The Red Climbing Rose

And on the steps leading to the front door,

Pots of Geranium

Elsewhere in the front garden, the succulents are as attractive as the flowers, I think:

Aeonium arboreum 'Sunburst'

The succulents border by the side wall - the aeoniums in this border are Aeonium arboreum 'Zwartkop' and their leaves should be a dark purplish color, but, they are not receiving enough sunlight right now.  

Succulents Border

Meanwhile, in the back garden:

Back Garden in April

The apple seedling is coming out of dormancy:

Apple Seedling 

Lois Lane Kent Mango, the only one of the three Kent mango seedlings to survive, needs a new planter!

Lois Lane Kent Mango
(Yes, that's an osteospermum growing in a crack in the cement)


The purple Martha Washington geranium clump is doing well, although resisting all my efforts to root cuttings!

Purple Martha Washington Geranium

The self-seeded phacelia are trying to take over the garden!  They are springing up all over the place!

Phacelia

And the Asian pear tree is flowering and the first leaves are appearing: 

Asian Pear Flowers and New Leaves

On Wednesday, when M was here, he looked around the garden and told me that I had a piece of paradise!  I laughed, but, yes, this is my piece of paradise!  I sat outside to say my prayers, this morning and a hummingbird flew over and hovered not even 3 feet away from me!  I didn't even try to take a photo as it would have flown away at the slightest movement, but, I think that's the closest a hummingbird has come near me!  Then, it flew off to sip the nectar from the lemon flowers.  

I am grateful for:
- My piece of paradise!
- The plants, the flowers, the fruits and vegetables growing in my garden
- The birds and the butterflies and the bees that visit
- The recent rains which watered the garden
- The sunshine which helps the plants to grow

Today's joyful activity was touring the garden!

21 comments:

  1. Your garden looks lovely. I'm ashamed of ours at the moment! I have tidied the balcony, but am waiting for "the Ice Saints" to pass before planting much out. I'm also waiting the the Plant Man to arrive in the market, to buy our plants from him. The courtyard is still a rather nasty mess, and needs both Mr FD and I to spend a day out there to tidy and trim, and clear and wash. Hopefully it will be nicer soon. We will see.

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    1. Thank you so much! We are coming out of a long period of drought and water restrictions and the garden is responding to all the rain it has received! Spring is when my garden is at its peak, I think, when the temperatures are mild. Come summer and the heat arrives, the garden wilts.
      I'm sure your garden is not as messy as you say it is, but, once it warms up and you are able to plant, I'm sure it will look lovely. I hope you will share some pictures of your garden, eventually.
      By the way, I enjoyed reading your post about how to write a blog post. I wish I could comment on your blog, but, I haven't been able to or are you not allowing comments to be posted?

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    2. Never mind; I found out how to comment on your blog! I'm a bit slow when it comes to such things!

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  2. Your gardens looks wonderful and how lovely to be described as your piece of paradise. I'm rather envious :)

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    1. Thank you, Eileen. My mother loved to garden and she would spend hours tending to it when she was alive; I can still feel her presence when I am in the garden. All those planting circles you see are what she had M make - she didn't like square or rectangular planting beds! LOL.

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  3. A paradise indeed! Between you & M, you have green thumbs, fingers, toes ... (col). I agree some succulents are lovely to have among the flasher flowers. I follow the tracking posts of the hummingbirds returning to our area - it is expected to be next week.

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    1. Thank you, Mary-Lou. M has a green thumb and so did my mother, but, I am not too good with plants. But, I try. Succulents make more sense when one gardens in an arid climate. I bet you are looking forward to having hummingbirds in your garden. Do you feed them?

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  4. I think M is right. Your gardens are a little piece of paradise. They have certainly responded well to the rain. Meanwhile, we haven't had rain here in a while and none forecast soon, so I will be watering today.

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    1. Thank you, June; the garden has provided me with a lovely sanctuary during the pandemic and even now, because I am still not going out and about. It is also full of flowers, right now. I hope you get some rain, soon.

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  5. Your garden is wonderful, so many lovely flowers and I agree, the succulents are looking great as well. How special to be visited by the hummingbird. I think sometimes they are actually relating to us when they hover nearby, or in my case at a window to remind me that the feeders need replenishing!
    I've been tidying up the front porch this morning, and I'm planning to do some raking in the yard soon. There are a lot of tulips starting to spring up, and some other bulbs that our son and daughter-in-law planted last fall and the previous year. Some are still under snow but it's going, for sure!

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    1. Thank you, Bushlady. I'm enjoying the garden and the produce - I picked some lettuce for a salad, today. The lettuce is starting to bolt, but, I am still able to harvest some leaves. We are having summer-like temperatures today and as you can imagine, I am very happy!
      Sounds like you are busy getting your home and garden ready for spring! How lovely to have tulips and other spring flowering bulbs come up!

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  6. Your gardens are lovely, and the succulents are as pretty as the flowers. It definitely is your piece of paradise! I'm waiting for mine to wake up from it's winter slumber.

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    1. Thank you, Celie. I've received more succulents from M and they are waiting to be planted. All off them will be planted in the front.
      I hope spring arrives soon and you can enjoy your own piece of paradise. :)

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  7. Everything looks so beautiful! Your yard is like a little slice of paradise! I love seeing all the new to me plants that you share.

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    1. Thank you, Mandy. That's what my gardener M said; that I had a piece of paradise! I have loved having a bit of nature just outside my door, especially during the pandemic. I am still not going out and about much, so the garden continues to provide me with a place to relax. :)

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  8. Your garden looks beautiful, especially in the sunshine. And your apple seedling is doing really well. I am growing two small apple trees in pots. I think I might have planted them at the same time as the lemon seeds, during one of our lockdowns. Xx

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    1. Thank you, Jules. It's getting to be quite sunny, again. :) The apple seedling has leafed out a bit more since I took this photo! I hope it will continue to grow. I'm looking forward to seeing your lemon plants!

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  9. For sure it is a piece of paradise! I so agree.
    Your rose is doing really well climbing the lattice and I like the pink geraniums in pots on the steps. I don't recall you having those there before?
    Your back garden is quite nice with all of the trees coming into their own achieving some height.

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    1. Thank you, Debra. :) Yes, the pink geraniums have been there for years now and I've posted pictures of the flowers once or twice, before. They are not always in bloom and probably need to be repotted, or, at least, fertilized!
      The back garden is coming along, nicely! M thinned out the peaches, once more and now I'm wondering if there will be enough peaches left! LOL.

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  10. Your gardens are springing nicely. Hubby actually tried osteospermum for the first time this year. They had some lovely light purple ones that would complement our lilac bushes, so he is giving them a try mixed in with some perennials.

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    1. Thank you, Susanne; the rain we had this winter has really helped the garden! I hope your osteospermum plants do well. Maybe they might even self-seed!

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