When is a redbud not a redbud?

Answer: When it doesn't get any red buds! I watched it for weeks and nothing. Meanwhile my neighbor's redbud, a volunteer squeezed between her garage and my fence, is merrily blooming away. As shown below, mine just started pushing out a few measly leaves, mostly on the tips of the branches. This tree, which I call Quasimodo due to its shape, was here when I bought the house and has grown maybe 6 inches in 6 years. I think it's dying. Any thoughts?

When is a harlequin bug not a bad bug?

Answer: when it's a dead bug! Getting ready to pull the various lettuces and mesclun mix plants to get ready for tomatoes, I discovered brown stink bugs and harlequin bugs were on the tall, blooming arugula. When I saw an HB crawling on the edge of the bed, instead of catching it for my collection, my (gloved) hand shot out involuntarily and--- smash. Lesson: arugula is pretty when it blooms, but it attracts the wrong crowd. Sorry the picture is so gory.

When is a rose not a rose?

Answer: never. "Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose." And the Souvenir de la Malmaison "...by any other name would smell as sweet." Yesterday morning's gentle rain dressed up one opening bud and one full-blown bloom with what looks like pink pearls.

Finally, when does life imitate art?

Answer: When it reminds me strongly of one of Georgia O'Keefe's erotic flower paintings. The old-fashioned red-violet shade of this bearded iris also reminds me of my grandmother's garden in Kentucky, very long ago.

As good a time as any-- Bloom Day

I’ve been meaning to start this blog for almost two years. Several of my fellow gardener friends’ blogs have inspired me, and now I have a halfway decent if cheap camera, and it’s Bloom Day, so here is the beginning of the Garden of E.

The winter garden is coming to an end, of necessity, since there are only four raised beds and the spring garden will use the same space. But before we eat the last of the lettuce, carrots, cilantro, and collards, I enjoy watching some of the vegetables get tall and flower.

Cilantro is like the purest white, delicate lace...

and mizuna flowers are a delightful combination of eggyolk yellow and spring green.

My other favorite bloom this week is the Louisiana phlox that has stayed very small for the last 5 years. It's been moved now to a sunnier location in hopes it will expand. It looks like painted china instead of a living plant.

Well, it was bloom day, but now I see it's after 1 a.m.