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Sunday, March 25, 2012

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
All in One Almond

Meyer Improved lemon
Meyer Improved Lemon

Double Delight rose - gorgeous hybrid tea with a heavenly scent
Double Delight rose

Dwarf Mexican lime
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.
Ketchup and Mustard rose

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

Sweet pea blossoms peeking through the picket fence
Sweet peas peeking through 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.
Front yard fence and bed

Pink snapdragon
Pink snapdragon

Yellow snapdragon
Yellow snapdragon

Back yard - fruit trees and vegetable garden

Garlic and shallots planted in January and thriving
Garlic and shallots

Blossom on Dorset Golden apple
Dorset Golden apple blossom

Little apriums!
Apriums

Pluot blossoms
Pluot blossoms

Little peaches!
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.
Indio Mandarinquat

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!