As much as there is going on in the garden, I can’t help but write about two exciting spring events happening in the woods over on my parents’ farm. (more…)
In the Field
In anticipation of the upcoming Earth Day (April 22, 2010), Jan over at Thanks for Today is asking her fellow garden bloggers to post about what they’re doing to contribute to a sustainable lifestyle, as part of her Garden Bloggers Sustainable Living Project. Her request gave me the incentive I needed to work on a post I’ve been thinking about for the last several weeks: the whole “joy of the meadow” thing.
Sunny Yellows
Over the past week, spring has arrived here in southeastern Pennsylvania. In just a few days, we went from yucky old snow and saturated soil to 70s and perfect digging conditions. It’s tempting to indulge in a “welcome spring!” post, and I may yet do that. But on this rainy day, it seems like a good idea to continue the rainbow series with images of some favorite yellow flowers and foliage.
Three Neat Plants
I appreciate having instant access to my blog stats every time I log in to WordPress, but I’m not sure what to make of the fact that I get more visitors on the days that I don’t post than the two or three days a month that I do. Talk about an incentive not to post! Nevertheless, a couple of cool plants have been on my mind recently, so I’ll post anyway and risk scaring off visitors for a few days. First up is an oddball perennial groundcover: Phuopsis stylosa.
One Plant, Three Seasons: Beta vulgaris Cicla Group
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As a garden vegetable, Beta vulgaris Cicla Group – more commonly known as Swiss chard – has to rank right down there with Brussels sprouts and lima beans on the popularity scale. I’m not knocking any of these, mind you; right now, I’d be grateful to enjoy any of them fresh-picked from the garden. But chard is one of those crops that often gets lumped into the generic “greens” category, and few catalogs carry more than two or three varieties. (I was floored to find 49 chard entries listed in the Cornell Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners database – who knew?) I can’t claim to be able tell any difference in their flavors, because I’m more interested in chard as an ornamental. And for my purposes, I need only one packet of one kind each year: ‘Bright Lights’.
