Freesia

Fanny and I are smelling the freesia today, which are totally in bloom. I have only known synthetic freesia, so it's nice to learn the real sweet fragrance. Will and I are addicted to fragrant flowers. It's nice to know that Fanny, our tiny Maltese, approves as well!

Update

Well, the Grandpa Otts Morning Glories are successful as indoor growth. Will loves Morning Glories, especially the blue and purple kind. We already planted three to four packets outside but none of them grew. This is our second shot.

I have watched Morning Glories cover entire ugly chain-link fences so I'm excited for our own.

I have been reading a lot about plant maladies, pests, and crusaders of mass destruction. Just this morning I had to destroy about 20 Hollyhocks afflicted with rust. That sucked. My Foxglove is now aphid-city so I have to do something with that. This is the kind of drama I like.

I read that leeks require the mounding of soil around the stalk as they grow. Very interesting.

Our peas are small enough to control, but as strong as they are, I know they'll need support. I have planned everything haphazard so we have to work harder. From what I understand, all garderners make the job more difficult for themselves as they start.

At least I now understand the difference between mulch and compost. I have to admit I am quite impressed at my ability to prune hydrangea, which I fearfully managed months ago before I fully understood. Obviously something was done right.

I planted datura seeds, but not the whole packet as I would have done in January. I planted whole packets for a lot of things, which I realize now is crazy. One doesn't realize what abundance is offered in a single seed packet.

Miner's Claim Brugmansia

I was given today by June my fourth Brugmansia, called "Miner's Claim". Will had to laugh at me because we don't know where we'll put it. Each one is expected to grow 10 to 12 feet. With four on the property, how does one manage?

June put it perfectly when she said, "You should think about getting different flowers!". It's true, when I get hooked on something, it is worse than obsession. It takes over my life. I once had this experience with hydrangeas.

The image that you see above I got off the internet. It is "Miner's Claim" and it's especially stunning. On one website I read that "this baby is hotter than a $50 whore in downtown New Orleans". I thought that summed it up quite well.

Seeds

I woke up tonight to the concept of "cool season" plants and "warm season" plants. Apparently the information was always listed on the packet. I just never noticed! So I planted 72 radishes directly outside.

This helps a great deal in my management of seeds. Now I understand why my cucumbers died when I put them outside in the treacherous cold! Well, I've already started cantaloup and sunflowers. They'll just have to stay inside longer.

In the meantime, I planted container eggplant and starting the soaking process for Datura. I am eager to grow a Datura to understand the difference between it and a Brugmansia. Either way, I secretly get off on any plant that repeatedly warns it is poisonous. It somehow makes the plant more exciting.

I am realizing on top of the mastering of raising seeds and considering aesthetics in gardens, there is also the concept of organization and efficiency. It is very elaborate. One seems to only understand such concepts through trial and error.

Currently, the vegetable garden plot we began is less than perfect. The bed is not flat, so water pools unevenly. I have haphazardly cramped squares of vegetable seeds without considering pathways, or how I will eventually harvest anything. Clearly, efficiency and management is just as important as the raising of crops. Nevertheless, I am going with what I started. I learn quickly, so I'll do different next season.

Lily of the Valley

I have never grown one of these before, nor have I ever seen one in person before. This is a special experience indeed. They are smaller and cuter than I imagined. Their fragrance, which I heard so much about, is just as lovely. It is strong like a hyacinth, but tempered with a warm honey note.

Will has a great affinity for this plant. He has jewelry that depicts it, and his Grandmother grew it. He grew up with this plant and has very happy memories of it. Lily of the Valley is truly charming.

Rainy day.

Lovely fragrant Stock

 

It is a rainy day. This is good for the plants. I read yesterday that cucumbers don't like the cold. That explains why my once-healthy cucumber seeds I raised indoors have currently shriveled up or snapped in half. I am learning so much.

The apple tree overnight is bursting with pretty pink blossoms. I enjoy learning about the seasons, and attributing age-old symbols to life around me, like fruit-tree blossoms, which you find rendered in art or included in things that have to do with spring. I know now how to identify the blossom. In fact, I just saw it on a magazine cover.

I finally thinned out the foxglove seedlings last night. It is a good thing I care so much. It is like jewelry-making work to only use my pointer-finger and thumb to gently remove small growth. I have big man-hands. This was no easy task. Plus, it was depressing to kill off literally hundreds of perfectly healthy foxglove. But that is what I get for being impatient.

I bought seeds for Datura last night, and I read that these are difficult to grow. I doubt it.
I also bought seeds for stock and beets. I have recently taken a liking to both. For one, I did not know that stock was incredible. In fact, I walked past it constantly and wrote it off as "non-descript". Everything changed, however, at Lucky's of all places. Outside they had a display and the fragrance was so overpowering it magnetized me to it. A month later, my purchase has doubled in size, and doubled it's fragrance. This is a fragrance I anticipate having in our garden.

Beets, which I always thought looked weird, have recently been something I've craved. At the cooking school I work we broiled purple beets. They were cooked badly, but they still tasted delicious. I opened a can of beets and ate it all (I'm a big eater)! Since I have succeeded at growing everything from seeds, I want to grow beets.

Datura, I must say, I'm most excited about growing. I have already bought three brugmansia and I'm running out of room. I have heard Datura, a close relative of Brugmansia, gets large as well. All I know is I'm returning to Regan's to buy a few Brugmansia when they get them in April. I love that plant.

Planning the Dream Garden

Browsing through the possibilities at Regan's Nursery, it solidifies my need to be connected to my garden. When we first arrived at Richmond, we were simply relieved to have space that was already established. With it's roses, lily-of-the-niles, and bird of paradise, it was pleasing. I realized, months into it, the difference between liking something and truly feeling connection to it.

I discovered this connection first to Foxglove. It began when I worked for a summer camp that was littered with many. The vision of so many pink foxglove swept me away. Much like the first time I sat beneath a Brugmansia. With it's fragrance and incredible blossoms, I felt something very magical.

Will and I realized as nice as the garden already was, it lacked this spiritual connection. So we began collecting specimans we connected to. Unfortunately, the idea of placing them anywhere was daunting. One begins to conjure up complicated images of long-established gardens one sees in magazines.

It is easy to identify plants that you like. Organizing them in a context that works is new enough to seem difficult. I know some rules prevail, like tall plants in the background. Nevertheless, I am broaching the task with great trepidation. It's a miracle any vegetables have been planted.

Ultimately, I am getting more comfortable ripping out things that are ugly, killing snails, and realizing soil is a friend, not an enemy. I am committed to transfering our now-container garden, to a "real" garden, especially since our perrenials are multiplying and out-growing their pots.

We like English gardens, with a little French severity. I foresee an arbor, and of course many vines. I know that I love color, fanciful shapes, and fragrance.

Seed Drama

There's a few things to never underestimate. For one, your ability to succeed at growing seeds. Two, the instructions on the seed packets. Three, the importance of thinning.

What you see in this image is the sad result of all three. For one, I heard that these foxglove were difficult to grow. I figured most would die so I dumped the whole packet of seeds in this tiny container. Two, the instructions explicitly stated the importance of spacing these seeds. The seeds were tinier than poppy seeds. I didn't have the patience.

Now that they have grown successfully, I have two problems on my hands. For one, I have to thin them. Two, I have to give them homes outside of this container.

Thinning is recommended anyway, but not with this in mind. As it is, my reverence for foxglove complicates the matter. It is true I love this plant. So much so I dumped the whole packet in impatient excitement. Now I will possibly have nothing because I have planted them wrong and they will most likely stunt. So depressing!

I didn't know one could save unused seeds. I didn't know seeds were so abundant. I didn't know containers were so useless.

My adventures with Foxglove doesn't end there.

I have 8 fully grown foxglove in containers, which were 4 in January (they propogate). I live in a sunny location. Foxglove need shade. Aside from my seed disaster mentioned above, I have two smaller containers with complete packets of foxglove dumped in. Everything is thriving!

I have loved foxglove to death! Quite literally.

Winter Abundance

Winter has been the season of abundance. The oranges are incredible, though I sense through lack of care it is in need of some kind of food. Nevertheless, to eat an orange cold from the night is something extra-delicious we've discovered. It is a lot like eating a tomato hot from the sun! We also have a tree that no one can decide is a Mandarin, a clementine, or tangerine tree. Whatever! They're delicious. Initially we were concerned it would bear what they call "mummified" fruit. Will was on top of watering it, however, and we are rewarded with juicy, tart mandarins.

Oranges and Mandarins.

Seeds

Peas!

In December, I was given by Will a packet of Hollyhock seeds. I remember looking at the instructions and blanking out, or feeling something vaguely like anxiety. With a trusty Martha Stewart guide to reference, I boldly took on the task of making something out of the seeds, which looked like nautilus.

Hollyhocks!

Within days life was forming. To my unbelieving eyes, I watched stems appear and grow in inches within hours.

Success with these had offset a fearlessness for seeds, which I'd heard were quite difficult. Clearly, they weren't that difficult.

I love Foxglove. I bought three packets of three varieties. I began imagining a vegetable garden. I knew my grandfather had been extremely successful at growing tomatoes. I knew I could do this too.

For Valentine's day I came home to a table of dozens of vegetable seeds. Clearly I have a husband who listens (and really loves me!). This was great. Now, the daunting task of preparing a bed.

Laboriously we undertook the task of undoing some weed-ravaged plot that my grandfather grew his tomatoes. I had never understood the term "back-breaking" until I had a shovel in my hand and experienced the sort of angry violence that accompanies the need to destroy what is ugly. I whiped my brow. We had a lot to do.

While we waited for the freshly done plot to reveal whatever weed we had missed, I embarked on the task of raising vegetable seeds. I had leeks, cucumbers, tri-color carrots, cantaloupe, and strawberries to start. There were literally (and still) dozens more to begin.

And that is just the vegetables.

The Beginning

The Richmond house in Fremont, as we call it, is a lovely two bedroom house with a front yard and back yard. Also, because my grandparents, who bought this house in the fifties, were adament gardeners, the property is equipped with a 30+ year old orchard of ten fruit trees.

When we arrived in August, the summer bounty was at it's peak with some pears expiring. For the first time I experienced the pleasure of picking apples off a tree and eating them. We had two apple trees and two fig trees lush with fruit. I suddenly remembered the ecstacy of growing up with these particular figs, which I never found comparably good from any store. We had black figs and green figs, both incredibly delicious. The wonder I suddenly found in myself when I observed these fruit trees was like magic. Suddenly fears of getting dirty, cutting myself, or being attacked by a mean fruit spider had vanished. I was living the fantasy of utter self-reliance, and developing a huge taste for freshly-picked fruit.

Okay, so the move from the city wasn't so terrible, I thought. Here is a home of a long tradition of gardening that I have eagerly adopted.

Aside from an abundant summer harvest, we had roses. 5 rose bushes in the front to be exact. I don't know what kind, but we certainly have a sterling silver, and some spicy fragrant red roses.

When I lived in San Francisco and was terribly broke, I actually fought off kleptomaniac impulses to steal the fuschias from the neighboring corporation. Here in Richmond, we had our own Fuschia.

Yes, there was much to be done at this untended garden. There were plants I completely didn't identiffy with, or even want to look at, and so much pruning of overgrown trees. But it was an excellent place to be at the peak of my passion for gardening.