Garden of E

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My Info

Austin, Texas
I've lived and gardened in urban Austin for the past 8 years, after retiring from the last of my several careers. BR (before retirement), most of my life was spent in colder places like Michigan, Missouri, Oregon, Montana, Alaska, and Boston MA. Best thing I've done AR-- becoming a Master Gardener. Other passions-- Austin Farmers' Market, grandchildren, and travel.

photo by Elsa, age 7

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

What Happens in January When Your Back is Turned

I spent a week in Michigan freezing my butt off, and another week of general busy-ness.  Then two days ago I finally made the rounds in the back garden--it's amazing what exuberance the rain and whacky weather have created.

Such as... 25 square feet of tightly packed lettuces, 6 different kinds:

Giant leaves of chard just waiting to be thrown into chicken soup:


A six-by-six bed of carrots grown twice as large as they were two weeks ago:


Self-sown larkspur crowd into a corner by the back fence:


And oops, looks like I threw down an awful lot of poppy seeds:


A Supertunia I've had since April 2010 has risen again:


And finally, what a surprise to see the loropetalum 'rubrum' covered in bloom!

What will happen if we get a prolonged sub-freezing spell like last February's? Anyone willing to wager how many days below freezing we'll get between now and March 1?