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PATIO THIS NEW YEAR’S DAY
The Hawai`ian Spring comes sooner than in most parts of the country. Still, I am always a little surprised when something actually starts to grow and bloom. This past week I’ve been weeding, planting, while ignoring a few of my older starts. What a surprise when I took time to look around! Here are a few of my surprises.
The little iris plants I put in as starters from my friend, Velvet, have grown, multiplied and bloomed! Here is a “before” picture, taken in October, 2008.
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IRIS-THEN
Here they are now.
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IRIS-NOW
What a joy to find this unexpected bloom!
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IRIS IN BLOOM
The fig tree has grown quite a bit, too, now that our spring has started. You can see the difference between this. . .
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FIG TREE-THEN
. . . and now. I’ve had to prop up one of the branches because it is so heavy.
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FIG TREE-NOW
The lovely little calendula has been sprouting new shoots. Here she is when I first planted her as a cutting.
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CALENDULA-THEN
My, how she’s grown and spread!
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CALENDULA-NOW
Some of the most spectacular growth has taken place with the native yellow hibiscus.
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NATIVE HIBISCUS-THEN
Even though I’ve had no blooms on this plant, it’s been growing like Topsy! I’ve even pruned her back to encourage more fullness.
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NATIVE HIBISCUS-NOW
This Week of Surprises wouldn’t be complete without “before” and “now” shots of my patio. The first one was taken in March 2008, almost a year ago when my daughters and son-in-law were here. I described their work in this November 2008 post.
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PATIO-THEN
You can see how much has grown in, and also how much more there is to fill in. I have a long way to go, but it’s nice to have a cup of tea at my little table while I relax and admire the things that have grown.
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PATIO-NOW
The opening photo was taken on New Year’s Day 2009. The fig was still very small then. My old heart just sings with pleasure at seeing plants finally start to bloom and grow.
Among all the growth that has taken place I find that seeds are starting to produce, also. This purple cosmos is one of my favorites. It comes from seeds given me from a friend’s garden.
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PURPLE COSMOS
Of course, there is the geranium, a plant that has almost weed status in some areas of California, but a treasure brought inside over the snowy winter in other areas, like Rhode Island. Their brilliant colors add much to a garden. I have red ones and violet ones, but the delicate pink is a real marvel. A tiny cutting was planted near a pink plumeria and the two should present quite a show later in the spring.
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PINK GERANIUM
Watch for Lava Lily next weekend with a few more surprises.
A hui hou! (“Till we meet again” in Hawai`ian or “See you later” as some of my friends use it!)
Lucy