Here are my Six on Saturday…mostly photos of things in my garden, but sometimes beyond.
- A neighbor’s tree is full of red maple fliers. It is a different kind of maple than my silver maple as the fliers on my trees are green.
2. Tulips are blooming all around my yard. The Angelique peony tulips are now fully open.
3. The front lawn has been seeded. We dethatched, added two yards of top soil, scattered grass seed and raked it in, then straw was strewn on top. We had rain a couple of days later so I’m hoping the effort will be successful.
4. “Lipstick” peppers. The seed package tells me they are Capsicum annuum. Really? Doesn’t that mean annual pepper? These are “a delicious pepper with 4″ long tapered, pimiento type fruit, that are super sweet. This fine pepper is early and ripens well in the north. A flavorful favorite with thick, red flesh.” I don’t like spicy peppers so these seemed worth a try. And the picture on the package was pretty.
I first started these pepper seeds in the bio dome in plugs. The pathetic seedling in the front (on the left) was planted on February 13th. It never really developed, but it just didn’t quite die either. So I put some seed starting soil in a rinsed out plastic tofu container and planted six seeds six weeks ago. No heat mat, but under lights. Quick germination and after four weeks I transplanted them into the larger containers on the right. They will go in the garden as soon as the temps are reliable. For now they are in the garage and moved in and out during the day depending on the weather.
5. The raised beds coming together. All have been dug and a support for sugar snap peas added (on the right). Pea seeds were planted six days ago and when I checked late yesterday afternoon, I could see germination. That support is made from 1/2″ metal electrical conduit slipped over rebar stakes. The corners are metal “inside corner” elbows for 1/2″ metal conduit. All those things are available at your local hardware store. The netting is something I had. This trellis outfit had been in another bed for several years and I had a terrible time getting it off the rebar. Lesson learned. Move it every year or at least pull the conduit off the rebar so it doesn’t adhere.
The metal support on the left is one that I got from a friend. It doesn’t seem very stable in the ground. Perhaps I will take down the soft netting for the peas and wire this metal trellis onto the metal frame which isn’t going anywhere.
6. And, finally, the lilac is blooming. This shrub is one that came with the house. Two years ago I removed the dead wood and cut it back. It has begun colonizing with lots of new growth from the ground around the original plant. It is beautiful and fragrant. The variety is Dunno Natacluevia. It’s lovely after the rain, and I just noticed the spider in the upper left corner. I had my macro lens with me, but didn’t see it until just now. Missed photo op, Fred.
That’s my SoS for this week. The Six on Saturday meme was started by The Propogator. If you’re interested, this is the link with the rules.