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| The Back Yard in January |
As
threatened promised, here are some pictures of the back yard/garden in January! M would be mortified to know that I posted a picture of the back yard before he weed whacked the patchy grass! LOL!
Most of the fruit trees are dormant, of course, but, not the citrus trees.
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| Oranges |
And, just as in the song,
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| Lemons |
I have three lemon trees and this volunteer lemon plant (a sucker from one of the other lemon trees, but, I'm allowing it to grow):
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| Volunteer Lemon Plant: January 2024 |
Here's how it looked back in July 2022:
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| Volunteer Lemon Plant: July 2022 |
Then, there is the calamondin tree:
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| Calamondin Tree |
There aren't many fruit on the tree, this year. It's an old tree as it was fully grown when I bought the house 30+ years ago. I think the tree needs to be pruned.
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| Calamondin Fruit |
Not too many flowers in the back yard, right now, but there are still some paperwhites in bloom:
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| Paperwhites |
And the crocosmia:
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| Crocosmia |
Another plant that has sent up a flower stalk is the aloe vera plant, which desperately needs to be divided and repotted:
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| Aloe Vera with Flower Stalk |
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A rather blurry close up of the Aloe Vera flower stalk
Still in bud |
The aloe vera flowers are yellow; they should bloom in mid to late February.
Another aloe plant that also needs to be repotted is the Red Aloe (
Aloe cameronii); it's called red aloe because the leaves turn red in the sun:
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| Red Aloe in January |
Here's how it looked last summer:
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| Red Aloe in June 2023 |
It has orange flowers.
Yesterday (Friday), we planted the apple plant in the ground:
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| Apple Plant |
It was grown from a seed and I've no idea if it will actually produce any fruit or how they will taste, but, I'm happy to have it grow as a decorative garden tree! Here's how it looked as a seedling:
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| Apple Seedling in July 2022 |
And finally, we have some very confused blueberry bushes! Their leaves started to turn red for autumn, but, then, they started to flower:
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| Blueberry Flower Buds |
And even set fruit:
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| Blueberries Forming |
I did read that sometimes, blueberries will produce year-round in milder climates, so maybe that's what's happening?
Thank you for visiting the back garden with me. I hope you enjoyed the tour.
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Your back garden is also lovely! It must be wonderful to just step outside and pick an orange or lemon from your own trees! The red aloe is really pretty.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Celie. Yes, I do enjoy being able to pick my own oranges and lemons. According to my daughter, our homegrown oranges are better than anything one can buy in the store. I do agree that they are very sweet and fresh!
DeleteYour garden is so alive at this time of year! It's really amazing. I love the oranges and lemons. How lucky you are to have them! Thanks for the tour
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sharon. Yes, I'm able to garden year round, which is lovely. Glad you enjoyed the tour. :)
DeleteEverything is so beautiful! It blows my mind to see your trees with fruit. Everything is dead here! Haha!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Mandy. Yes, I'm lucky to be able to garden year round. :)
DeleteBeautiful! And the Aloe looks even more gorgeous in the summer. My apple tree looks much the same as yours does just now. The birds use it as a resting perch on their way to the feeder.
ReplyDeleteNo sign yet of any blossom on my lemon trees, but they are still growing. X
Thank you, Jules. The aloe turns red in the summer! I'm looking forward to seeing the apple tree grow. :) You might see some blossom on your lemon trees this summer! Something to look forward to!
DeleteYour back garden is lovely too. How wonderful to go outside and pick your own fruit.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Eileen. Yes, I picked some lemons today to make some lemonade. :)
DeleteYour gardens are beautiful, Bless! They seem to really like January! andrea
ReplyDeleteThank you, Andrea. :)
DeleteVery interesting, as usual. The one time I had an orange off the tree it was indeed the best one I had ever had. Your daughter is right.
ReplyDeleteThank you, June. You can't get fruit any fresher than just off the tree! :)
DeleteIt looks really lovely and you have captured a beautiful light. So much colour and life compared with my garden at this time of year. Oh the oranges and lemons - I want to bite into my screen! The red aloe looks like some kind of sea anemone!
ReplyDeleteElla
Thank you, Ella. Yes, the red aloe does look like a sea anemone, doesn't it?
DeleteI like all the nice things in your backyard garden. Still colorful in places. Be safe. Blessings, xoxo, Susie
ReplyDeleteThank you, Susie. It's lovely to hear from you! Hope you are keeping well. :)
DeleteOh I could happily wander around your garden, it looks so inviting! I've occasionally seen flowers on our wild blueberries late in the fall if it is mild, but they don't come to anything. I'm intrigued by the red aloe.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Bushlady. I suppose our weather is mild enough in the winter that the blueberries will continue to produce year-round. I had a bumper crop last year, so I'm waiting to see how they'll do this year. The red aloe is very attractive in the summer!
DeleteAnd another tour! - your back garden is looking very nice.
ReplyDeleteJust look at you oranges and lemons. What a wonderful thing to have in your own garden.
Your blueberry bushes are looking very good. So you think this is an oddity then? them keeping their leaves all year in your climate and setting berries this early?
Good luck to the apple tree!
Hope you enjoyed the tour!
DeleteWell, in previous years, the blueberry bushes lost their leaves around January and the flower buds didn't appear until late February, early March. But, maybe they are getting climatized to our weather.
Thank you; I'm hoping the apple tree will grow and bear some fruit! So far, that is the only apple seed I've been able to germinate and grow!