Bees in the Penstemon

Enjoying an afternoon collecting pollen from the penstemon in my garden is a hum of bees! The bell shape of the penstemon completely enrobes the bee once it enters.  After gathering nectar and pollen, the bee backs up and then hangs in the air for a split second.  Finally, off to the next flower.

Strawberry

Strawberry

Still enjoying strawberries from the garden. 

Earlier this spring, a tomato volunteer jumped the walkway dividing the edible garden from the beds around the house.  Enough time passed and it was already quite established when I noticed it.  I decided to let it go and see what I would end up with.  Grape tomatoes.  Looking forward to an early taste.

I Eat Sunlight for Breakfast

ARTICHOKE IN BLOOM

BLUEBIRD NEMESIA FRUTICANS

PENSTEMON

PENSTEMON

Our sunny spring days have created buds a-blooming in the garden.
The artichoke had an abundance of flowers this spring.  I love when they bloom.  Such an interesting plant to grow.
My surprise plant of the year is the Bluebird Nemesia Fruticans.  I planted in the garden midautumn 2011.  Once these plants became established, they have been flowering ever since nonstop.  The individual blossom is very dainty but there are so many blooms on the plant, they give a very nice show of purplish blue flowers.  Funny plant tag states about these plants:  "I eat sunlight for breakfast."  For the record, I eat oatmeal or Kashi!

Happy Mother's Day

Today is Mother's Day and I called my mom to wish her a happy MD.  We started talking and she asked me if I had any photos from the late 50s which had my mom and her Brownie troop.  I went through my box of photos and didn't find any of the Brownies but I did find this photo of my mom as a young woman.

Because sunflowers are her favorite flower, I've paired the two in today's post.

Farewell, Sweet Pea

Sweet peas were very abundant in the garden this past winter.  I planted two varieties--sugar snap peas and snow peas.  I often let the sugar snap mature as seen in the photo above rather than eating them pod and all.  I really liked this because the delectable little peas were so fabulous.

Now it is time to clean out the remain few vines and prepare the garden for the summer crops.

An Unexpected Artichoke

Artichoke with deep purple accents

An Artichoke of a Different Color

Because my garden is small, I often will buy my veggies in single or six packs.  When you do this, you rely on the tag to know what you are buying.  I have been planting artichokes for the past four or five years, always selecting a seedling labeled "green globe."   I am always rewarded with a show of green artichokes of varying sizes. 

This year, the artichokes surprised me.  When the 'chokes started growing, they were green and had deep purple accents.  Then, the surprise went further when I saw I had two styles growing.  The one is the round, globe style seen in the veggie displays in grocery or farmers' markets.  The second style which grew never was tight or globe-like.  The leaves are elongated and presented themselves in an open style right from the beginning.

Supermoon