2021 gardening is underway

 It started late this year, but gardening in earnest has begun.  That includes cleaning, weeding - and oh, my lord, are there weeds a-plenty this year - and cutting back dead wood in the ornamental beds. 

Actually, when I started this garden six years ago (already!) I planned it for vegetables.  I called it the ornamental vegetable garden because I laid it out and planted with the visual effect as top priority.  As time has gone by, I've planted fewer and fewer vegetables and more and more flowers.

And I've quadrupled the size of the whole thing.

Among the very first things to bloom are the few crocus I planted in the tulip beds.

Comparing the two varieties in the picture below, you know right away which one has the word "giant" in its name.  That's right...the little purple one.  It's called 'Ruby Giant'.  I was expecting something a little larger.

The white one was a surprise that came up last year and must have been a stray bulb in one of my daffodil orders, so I don't know it's name, but it's white like 'Jean D'Arc' crocus, so that's what I call it.  Who's to say that's not what it is?

I cut back all the dead wood in the rose garden recently.  Everybody stands less than a foot off the ground now, except 'Poseidon'.  He rules over the plot.  I may be sorry I didn't cut it down to match the others, but 'Grande Amore' next to it always shoots up to about 7 feet tall (it's advertised to be a 4-5' bush, which is what 'Poseidon' actually grew to be).

Also, I put up a new Black-Eyed Susan vine trellis and made it from wire fencing instead of the plastic mesh I used last year.  The vines grew so dense and heavy they broke that one down.  Then I planted 'Premium' peas in front.  I haven't planted that variety before, so next week I'll plant 'Lincoln', which I had good luck with last year, in front of those in case 'Premium' is a bust.

Aside from peas, the other vegetable seeds I got in the ground are onions, carrots, lettuce, and kale.  I haven't planted kale before.  In fact, I don't think I've eaten any.  But the seeds were one of the free packets Baker Creek always sends with every order, so I figured I would at least try it.

Speaking of lettuce, I had planted some late in the fall, but it never got big enough to harvest.  It didn't die, though, and I'm harvesting it now.  This is 'Rouge D'Hiver'...

...one of my favorites for taste and color. 

A red Romaine variety is intermingled with something having more of the habit of 'D'Hiver', both of which were in a mix whose seed I saved from 2019.  Since it was from a mix, I don't know the varietal name of either, but the non-Romaine one is quite pretty, too - lime green with red flecks:

I planted these in the bare spots in my California poppy plot along with some saffron crocus which bloomed last fall and, like the lettuce, never died back even in that long frozen February we suffered through.  There's also some ground cover weeds in there (on the right side of this picture) that need tending to before they get out of hand.  The weeds never seem to suffer defeat in extreme weather on either end of the thermometer.

I don't know what this is, but I'm afraid to pull it up in case it's something I planted on purpose in the tulip beds!

It could well be a pernicious grass, but it's scattered about in a manner that makes it look like something I placed intentionally.  It's probably weeds.

Here it is beside a new tulip that a grazing deer decided to nip off before it grew 2 inches tall.  That was my cue to start spraying deer repellant.  The first year I planted tulips, the deer came along one night or early morning and chomped them all off, and those bulbs didn't come back up the following year.  I imagine I've lost this one.

The earliest of my daffodils - 'Cassata' - is currently in bloom.  They had a couple of days in concert with the crocus, but a cold rain beat down those delicate little crocus blooms.  They don't last long anyway.  I don't see any rain in the forecast for this week, so I'm looking forward to some other daffodils popping out soon.

Oh, yeah....this little blue guy is blooming.  I forgot I planted some of these last fall.  Chionodoxa forbesii.  It's commonly called Glory of the Snow, so perhaps where it's native, there's still snow on the ground this time of year. 

How sweet.

Stay well.  Get your Covid-19 vaccination and wear your masks.  We're not out of the woods yet, but we're getting there.