Hellebores aren't a bore!

Hellebores, aka Lenten Roses are what keeps me going in crummier times when the weather reverts back to rainy, colder nastiness.

It's a tough plant that makes me think of s bike chick or something, with those leathery dark green sharply serrated leaves, the older ones often scarred and slightly tattered up (if you leave them as long as I do in their au naturale state, not pruning off the old bits).

It's interesting to watch the stages of the flower development, sometimes a difficult task as their heavy heads are always drooping towards the ground.  The young "flowers" (I suppose like most flowers at their best) are at my favorite stage with their yellow green cupped circle of the hellebore's true flowers.  The larger petal-y areas surrounding the flowers are actually the sepals/calyces of the plant, usually a longer lasting section of a plant than true flower petals.  Bells of Ireland are another plant I like that with a similar "flower" concept. 

Later when the "flowers" get older the inner true flower shrivels up and a pod fills the inside of the sepals, which is equally pretty and I will try to document.

Here's some more pics of my Hellebores on a nicer day (pardon the sort or repetition, I often find subtle differences in light or angle that make them interesting to me.  Also, as always, click on pic to expand):

Weeds. No not that kind!

I swear, I am always a few days late when I finally get around to posting these musings... 


A couple days ago it was actually... temperate!  Hardy weeds at this point seem to consider it to be rather spring-like and have sprung up EVERYWHERE and I have been not so diligent in the elimination of them.  Main weed issues is new grass (either from floating around seeds or from grass clippings that didn't compost down enough I suppose that I use as mulch/amend the garden/husband grass hogging like mad and not seeing where his seedy clippings went >_<.

I am curious as to popular opinion on this:
When I weed, I toss to the side OUT of the garden anything with noticeable seeds/going to seed and simply pull/lay roots side up those that are not in seed like some grasses and keep those in the garden because I am pretty darn sure they aren't going to survive at that point and I don't mind their little nutrient sucking selves to just return to the soil.

I probably such just get a bucket and toss them in there for total compost-ation but my weeding is the type where I go out to look at the garden with the intent to simply "check things out," until I see a weed.  Then I'm on my knees, out there for an hour spying a million little inappropriate sprouts that I must  nullify, so I come out in the first place improperly equipped for weeding.

I've done this in nice clothes before too, luckily not in the heels, but when it comes to gardening and especially weeding I am impulsive and sort of like Pringles, once I start pulling, I just can't stop.

Probably answering my question, I should just have a bucket that is next to the door of the garden that has painted on it:  DON'T WALK THROUGH THIS DOOR WITHOUT ME. (in fine print under it: even if it's to just 'look' at the garden, take a breath of fresh air, have a little stroll... TAKE ME)

Hmm.  I think I should have that tattooed on me so my husband can see this every morning before he walks out the door. Just kidding.  Maybe?

This also sounds like something puppies at a shelter would have on them. 

Anyways.

With all of the relatively nicer weather I begin to have stupid impulses thinking that maybe I could plant things outside... with milk jug/soda pop liter bottle cloches... no real work like seed starting (which I still need to do >_<)   The thought of this: things really growing outside again and little seedlings not needing to be transferred gets me salivating, but I have jumped the gun WAY too many times before in my early planting exuberance and I know, because the calender tells me so, that it's only freaking January and it would be total folly to plant anything other than MORE mustards and leafy greens now.

Plus it's forecasted to sleet/snow again in a couple days.  Seriously winter, who needs it?  (ok, maybe the citrus trees who need a good cold spell to flower and fruit nicely and the greens and roots that sweeten up during a frost/when it gets cold, & etc. Bah. I still hate the cold)

Down South my ----

Yep, still cold.

I finally got my butt over to stare at my plants.  Slightly frozen-ish looking, frosty, wilty looking plants.

*Glint of optimism* Hopefully full of protective delicious sugars!

(Admission: I only went to the backyard today because I really had to empty a couple of WAY overdue compost pails.  These things can make a person much more motivated to exit the house.  That, and a whiny dog.)

All the houseplants are keeping me company but I think I may have lost my 2 year old jalapeno and Tricolore peppers as they got aphids and I may have been a wee bit aggressive in combating the suckers.  It was the third time I had to mess with them aphids and I got really frustrated as they migrated to the other peppers.  Result: leaves falling off and shriveled all over the place...

Maybe they'll grow back? (BTW, anyone have any success in growing jalapenos from grocery store jalapenos?)

Mystery begonia is relatively happy though will need to be repotted in the spring.  Kohlerias still blooming and the pops of orange they're producing lessens the annoyances of the weather. 

Other than that, I've got literally 7 layers of clothing on, 2 of those sweaters, a pair of leggings under my jeans, a scarf and have declared it to be miso soup and oatmeal (cinnamon/brown sugar and banana!) weather.

It's going to snow, and unless it dumps a foot of it here where I can build a snow fort, I ain't coming out.

COLD. I hates it.

What is that Mr. Weather Forecaster Guy from NPR?  Did you just say it's going to get colder?  And stay like this all week?!

It's been pretty cold here in Memphis the past couple of days and like a bad winter gardener I have not been checking the weather forecast because I'm being an AVOIDER.  The Great Avoider to be precise.  Running... running away from the weather sites. 

Well, to be honest, slightly frozen (not in fear) but in actual frozen-ness due to my house being set at 62 degrees (because I am cheap and trying to stick it to the energy companies in my own pathetic way).   So I'm feeling a GREAT dislike at the idea of even stepping outside.  This makes things difficult for the dog and she has to really work on me to get up and get dressed and take her out on her walk to do the biz of the day.

Haven't looked at the plants.  Terrible, I  know.  Too cold and too scared to see if the babies can survive the crazy 16 degrees F predicted for tonight.  I should probably cover them.   Only the strong can survive?  Here at my place, we're akin to Spartans.  Shiver it out and deal or you will be mercilessly taunted.  Actually we both hate it and wear sweaters like mad. 

I lived in Chicago for a while and survived their winters of WIND and SNOW and negative degree temperatures! How does the body forget so easily? 

Even the dog has found a blanket and makes a point to curl herself around it all day.  Is this animal cruelty?

Speaking of which, the joys of home ownership and living by a park has combined and we have squirrels.  AGAIN.  Which this time better not have babies because last time we had a squirrel in the attic and we evicted it we only realized later that it had a baby and I almost fainted when I found out what it takes to take care of a squirrel baby.  Let's just say, the literal stroking of its genitals to get it to do its biz (seriously, it says this!) was not what I had in mind and an animal rescuer/relocator was quickly found.  This current batch of critters has yet to be seen, but has been heard and leafy evidence is evident in the attic insulation.

I think I get cranky in the cold and this affects my writing.

On a happier note, I think my indoor citrus may be going to bud by being stimulated by the cold temps in here. 

I always find it so interesting how flowers go into fruit and the differing stages and appearance in closeness from flower to fruit form.

If you click on the pics and look close the flower buds almost look like little oranges w/segments even though it's a lemon tree really.

Peas off

Early in this year (warm day in February) I planted pea seeds because I heard that they are pretty cold hardy and you could plant when the ground was workable. Apparently what I think is workable is not the official gardening definition of workable. But baby, I did work it. I was full of excitement, planting the various garden, sugar, snow and etc peas here and there, some on one side of the trellis, others on the other side and lovingly covered them up and went my way.

Some days later I was listening to NPR and they were singing the praises of advances in the understanding of genetics and Gregor Mendel. At his name, something twinged in me. I felt myself transported to some point in fifth grade…I saw the squares and the capitalized and lower case letters flash before mine stupid eyes when the realization dawned that I would not be getting the expected snow/sugar/garden peas. My peas would be miscegenating! I did a mini scream in the car when this occurred and smacked my forehead a few times. Before deciding that there could be worse surprises.