Lovely Lettuce from the Winter Garden

Upside Down Hanging Basket Protects Tender Young Plants from Rabbits.  Chives are growing nearby.

I've been enjoying lettuce for the garden for six or seven weeks.  I like buying cell-pack plants with a variety of lettuces.  It gives me a wonderful selection of lettuces for salads.  I've planted twice after the original planting to continue to be able to enjoy lettuce through this season.  It's a good thing as I have already seen two of the lettuce plants getting ready to bolt.

The last planting is only butter lettuce.  Always a favorite.

Bright and Blooming--Keep Bees Zooming

Look who stopped by!

The tree mallow (lavatera maritima) is loving the sun and winter rain.  Lots of beautiful blooms. #bloomsforbees

Seeds, Onions and Beans

Last fall when I was cleaning up the garden, I found some beans, which had not been harvested, now withered on the vine.  I decided to harvest the seeds and store for future use. 

About ten days ago, I was rummaging through my seed drawer looking for some garden string and saw the container of seeds.  I remembered my most prolific bean plant.  It was a volunteer which started growing in the winter and produced beans all spring and summer.  Could this phenomena be duplicated with my planting of the seeds?  I grabbed six or eight seeds and tucked them around some onion plants already growing.  I chose this location as I knew the drip irrigation system was set to water this area.

Well, look what popped up.  About six beans have sprouted.  If we have some cold weather, my experiment might seem fruitless.  BUT so far we have had warm to hot weather.  Now, it's wait and watch.

Voltage--African Daisy

This plant loves the winter rains and the bright sun we've had this winter.  While it has a low water requirement, it allows has abundant blooms in the winter when the rains have come.  This plant was started when a stem broke off from another plant in the garden.  I stuck it in the dirt and this is what has grown.  Here is some information about this plant.

Everyone Needs a Good Night's Sleep

I picked a little bouquet yesterday afternoon...arranged them with some parsley for greens.  When I came into the kitchen around 10 p.m., I discovered the flowers had closed up for the night. 

After the sun came up and filled the kitchen with light, look how wide awake the blossoms are!