Spring fever for gardeners - plant lust!

I'm semi-sane most of the year (though my husband and son might argue that point), but every January or February I begin to feel the faint stirrings of my more primitive, earthy instincts.  A shy glance as I pass the garden department turns into a long, loaded look, followed by a lustful leer.  Pretty soon I'm in the throes of unbridled plant lust.  Such is the power of these urges, that even a soggy, stormy weekend can't dampen my desire.  So, last weekend I found myself donning my rain jacket and slogging through the lake in my front yard to go plant shopping.  Hubby and I were the only customers at one nursery (did I mention Southern Californians are weather wimps?), so it was a good opportunity for some leisurely--if soggy--browsing.  I ended up with an almond tree, a dragon fruit cactus, a mandarinquat (no, that isn't a disease or a pesticide), and some seeds.

I'm taking a mini-vacation this weekend, with Friday and Monday off.  Friday and yesterday were picture-perfect sunny days, so I had time to get most of this stuff in the ground before today's rainstorm (Hey, Portland, would you please take your weather back?  I moved down here to get away from rain.).  I also ran out this morning before the rain started to take some pictures, since a few things have changed since I posted the last batch.  Here's a quick photo tour:

Front yard - still a work in progress but getting there

All in One almond


Meyer Improved lemon


Double Delight rose - gorgeous hybrid tea with a heavenly scent


Dwarf Mexican lime


Ketchup and Mustard floribunda rose - new in 2012. I love the vivid red and yellow blooms, but unfortunately they have no scent.


Southeast corner as viewed from the sidewalk - still kinda scruffy looking, but we're working on it


Sweet pea blossoms peeking through the picket fence


Looking down the sidewalk - those are snapdragons in the narrow part of the bed. I planted some zinnia seeds between the snapdragons so we'll have some color during the hot season too.


Pink snapdragon


Yellow snapdragon

Back yard - fruit trees and vegetable garden

Garlic and shallots planted in January and thriving


Blossom on Dorset Golden apple


Little apriums!


Pluot blossoms


Little peaches!


Indio mandarinquat (cross between a kumquat and a mandarin). BTW, that ugly green net fencing is there to keep my two greyhounds from digging up and/or trampling my vegetable beds.


As you can tell, we're big on fruit trees around here.  Though I started this post talking about (plant) lust, my other favorite of the seven deadly sins is gluttony, and as a gardener I get to indulge that one too.  Perhaps I should rename this blog The Sinful Gardener!