Tag: Calendula

A Spring Day – Easter!

SNOW IN BOISE
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SNOW IN BOISE

 

When Spring looks like the photo above, any little sign of growth is so very welcome. This is Inga’s front yard (my daughter in Idaho), taken when she was suffering from a bad case of Spring Fever this year!

BOISE SNOW
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BOISE SNOW

 

I remember an Easter Sunday in Kodiak, Alaska when I bundled all my family in heavy parkas, wondering if we’d see any sunrise at all – and we didn’t! On another Easter Sunday in Rhode Island, a heavy snowfall had covered everything by the time we finished church services.

Gradually, bits of color started to peek through the snow in Inga’s yard.

FIRST SHOW OF COLOR
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FIRST SHOW OF COLOR

 

Snow starts to give way.

SNOW GIVING WAY TO COLOR
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SNOW GIVING WAY TO COLOR

 

More color starts to show.

MORE COLOR
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MORE COLOR

 

Suddenly, the snow is gone and the blooms display their glorious colors.

FULL COLOR
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FULL COLOR

 

And that’s how Spring arrives in Boise, Idaho!

Spring comes in a different way here in Hawai`i. I’ve been getting sun, interspersed with a few rains, enough to help some of my plants send out blossoms.

Here is my own spot of bright yellow – sweet calendula.

CALENDULA
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CALENDULA

 

The agapanthus that I transplanted out of a pot is blooming again, and sending up more stalks that will open soon.

AGAPANTHUS
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AGAPANTHUS

 

The hibiscus that I cut way back has shown lovely growth and put out the first bloom just this week.

RED HIBISCUS
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RED HIBISCUS

 

Even the wild snapdragons that pop up all over are looking beautiful this year.

WILD SNAPDRAGON
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WILD SNAPDRAGON

 

The Japanese Walking Iris (Neomarica candida) is sending out all sorts of flowers.

WALKING IRIS
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WALKING IRIS

 

Here are a couple of close-ups of my blooms. Amazingly beautiful!

SINGLE IRIS BLOOM
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SINGLE IRIS BLOOM

 

ANOTHER VIEW OF WALKING IRIS
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ANOTHER VIEW OF WALKING IRIS

 

A newly planted ivy geranium cutting is already blooming.

IVY GERANIUM
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IVY GERANIUM

 

My vegetables and varieties of basil are sprouting. Here are my string beans. They have doubled in size and have started climbing just since I took this picture last week.

NEWEST CROP OF STRING BEANS
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NEWEST CROP OF STRING BEANS

 

Watching plants gradually come to life in the spring is probably why I still can get excited over the first blooms. They are a living lesson on an abundant life after death.

A hui hou!

A Week of Surprises

PATIO THIS NEW YEAR'S DAY
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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.

IRIS-THEN
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IRIS-THEN

 

Here they are now.

IRIS-NOW
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IRIS-NOW

 

What a joy to find this unexpected bloom!

IRIS IN 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. . .

FIG TREE-THEN
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FIG TREE-THEN

 

. . . and now. I’ve had to prop up one of the branches because it is so heavy.

FIG TREE-NOW
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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.

CALENDULA-THEN
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CALENDULA-THEN

 

My, how she’s grown and spread!

CALENDULA-NOW
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CALENDULA-NOW

 

Some of the most spectacular growth has taken place with the native yellow hibiscus.

NATIVE HIBISCUS-THEN
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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.

NATIVE HIBISCUS-NOW
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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.

PATIO-THEN
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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.

PATIO-NOW
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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.

PURPLE COSMOS
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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.

PINK GERANIUM
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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