Easter Blooms

Mom's blooming azaleas, with viburnum in the background

Spring is in full swing as evidenced by a profusion of blooms, buds, and pollen. But we’re not quite done with cold weather; the forecast for this week shows two nights with lows in the mid-thirties. So I’ve set my sights on this weekend for planting veggie starts.

Among the available pink blueberries, purple potatoes, and apple mint, I have whittled my wish list down to a few veggies and herbs including some varieties new to my garden such as ‘Salad Bush’ cucumber, ‘Golden midget’ corn, ‘Sweet Banana’ peppers, and ‘Taxi’ tomatoes.

Over Easter weekend I had the delight of taking in all of the striking azaleas that flourish throughout my mom’s established neighborhood. Also flowering now are Spirea, Iris, Peonies, and Ajuga. The strawberries have tiny green fruit now and I can’t wait till they ripen; which is usually in May, but this year will probably be sometime in April. 

ajuga lawn

strawberries

If I had unlimited space at the perfect exposure, I’d like to plant all of these:

Cucumbers:

§      Salad Bush

§      Sweet Success

§      Green fingers

§      Bush pickle

Green Onions:

§      Evergreen hardy white

§      Parade

Sweet peppers:

§      ‘California Wonder’ (for stuffing)

§      ‘Sweet Banana’

Hot peppers:

§      ‘Pretty in Purple’

§      ‘Tabasco’

§      ‘Jalapeno’

Corn:

§      ‘Golden Midget’

Red Heirloom Tomatoes:

§      Brandywine

§      Soldacki

§      Italian Heirloom

§      Juane Flammee

Purple HeirloomTomatoes:

§      Cherokee Purple

§      Nyagous

Green Heirloom Tomatoes:

§      Aunt Ruby’s German Green

§      Green Zebra

Yellow Heirloom Tomatoes:

§      Dr. Wyche’s Yellow

§      Beam’s Yellow Pear

§      Taxi (early)

§      Sungold (cherry)

Cherry Tomatoes:

§      Mexico midget

§      Black Cherry (early)

§      Sweet 100

§      Red currant

Other Tomatoes:

§      Carmello

§      Roma

Herbs:

§      Basil

§      Chives

§      Cilantro

§      Parsley

§      Sage

§      Thyme

Silverbells

Two-winged silverbell (Halesia diptera magniflora) is a beautiful small tree that has a rounded form and is usually multi-trunked. This native tree prefers moist, acidic sites and is well-suited for the shrub border or woodland edge as it will do well in the sun or partial shade. The flowers look like little bells! 

last day of...winter?

Today, the last day of winter, temperatures will reach the mid-eighties in middle Tennessee. Forecasts for the first day of spring are 85 degrees. It would seem we have moved from a mild winter directly into summer. Except that my allergies are feeling every bit a Tennessee spring, the pollen count is 333.

Over the weekend I planted a second blueberry, Jersey. And weeded for an hour, mulched, and watered. I also discovered in my evidently too 'secret' garden that the Epimediums are in full bloom! The packed garden center was a welcome site indeed. By all accounts, spring has sprung!