Lilac Success

Lilac (Allen)

Lilac (Helen)

 Both varieties of lilacs are blooming.  Helen hasn't bloomed in years.  She was relocated in the fall (2017).  Maybe that did the trick.  Allen has always been a steady and reliable bloomer.  Neither are ever pruned or fertilized much.  Both are in the same size pot and are located close to each other.  Their growing conditions are the same.  Why is Helen so shy to bloom?

The Old Farmer's Almanac offers some good points for growing lilacs successfully.  Maybe I should consider starting some cuttings of Helen and see if I have success.  It is impossible to have too many lilacs.

Scratch & Sniff with a Latin Flare

I would like to be more proficient with the Latin names of plants.  Right now there is only room for improvement.  There are plenty of scents in the spring garden.  The temperature is predicted to be 83° today; so there are many buds breaking and many bees buzzing.  I tried to associate Latin handles with some pungent scents in the garden today.  No way.  I had to cheat and look in my Sunset Bible for help.  See what you know.  I'll list the Latin name in the caption using the scientific name (genus/species) along with the plant family if I know it.  See if you know the common name.  Easy.  Cheesy.  Light & breezy.

Ready?  Answers below.

1.  Syringa Oleaceae

2.  Rosmarinus officinalis Labiatae

3.  Rutaceae

4.  Cruciferae mustard (or cress)

5.  Aloysia triphylla Verbenaceae

6.  Cruciferae mustard (or cress)

1.  Lilac.  This is one of my spring favorites.
2.  Rosemary.  Use the woody sprigs for kabob skewers by removing the leaves and soaking in water before threading you favorite BBQ stuff.
3.  Lemon.  Always a favorite and most always in bloom.
4.  Cabbage.  Ready for March 17th?
5.  Lemon Verbena.  I like rubbing my hand along the leaves to pick up the scent.  Adding some dried leaves in a card before mailing makes getting that piece of mail so much better.
6.  Broccoli.  It's bolting like mad and attracting so may bees and bumble bees too.

Garden Update:
All of the trees and berries (including blueberries) have received their 1st dose of fertilizer for 2013 followed by a long soaking.

Lilac Perfume

Lilac is finally perfuming the garden.  The flowers have a more purple/lilac cast to them; but this is how the camera recorded things today.  Just wanted to record the lilac progress in my garden journal for future reference.  When a scent drive is invented, I’ll come back and apply the treatment to this post.  Wow.  It smells terrific.

 

Anyone remember Gee Your Hair Smells Terrific?

Sunshine

The angle of the sun is moving from the south up to the north giving me more daylight in the garden.  Rather than hibernate after dinner, I can go out in the garden while dinner is cooking and get a bit more work done like a busy bee.

 

Raking the gravel out in the garden, pulling out the spent broccoli, or weeding the camellias are some exercises recently performed out in my garden gymnasium.  Farmer MacGregor joined in the calorie burning by mowing the lawn.  This weekend will be dedicated to more weeding and planting lettuce, carrots, and corn.  Heck, I might even consider a trip to the nursery to buy a flat or two of flowers for the front yard.

 

 

LILAC ALERT:

Love Is In The Air

Twitterpated.  The birds in the garden are completely twitterpated.  This afternoon at lunch, this fellow was letting the entire neighborhood hear his treetop opera.  He sat at the very top of the neighbor’s mulberry tree trying to impress all the ladies while I was out noting the progress of some buds.  These birds look like a sparrow dipped in that powder that my kindergarten teacher used to mix with water to make finger paints.  THAT came out of nowhere.  Back to the garden…

One of the lilacs has very plump buds ready to burst.  I suspect tomorrow at lunch I may be able to enjoy lilac perfume.  I have two different varieties of lilacs in containers.  Each one has a story to make them even more enjoyable.  This one was given to me as a gift.  It is from a cutting from a lilac that came to California from Mississippi.  Allen’s great-grandmother brought it with her.  Allen’s mother had a cutting in the yard of every place she lived.  This cutting was taken in the spring of 2004.  Looks like it’s going to do well.  If you have a lilac, make sure to prune it right after it blooms if you have to prune it at all.  The flowers form on the growth from the prior year.  If you prune too late or too much, it will take at least another season to enjoy the bouquets these shrubs provide.

This freesia reminds me of the crazy plant in the Little Shop of Horrors.  It should be blooming tomorrow.  I certainly hope it’s only a freesia.

Buttery yellow petals will most likely enjoy the spring sun by the end of the week.  I thought I had transplanted all of these bulbs last fall to a better location allowing me to transplant more strawberries.  Seems I missed a few and they seem to multiply fairly easily.  The freesia bulbs were a gift to me as well.  These gifts keep on giving.

Lilacs and freesia grow vigorously in zone 8-9 in Bakersfield, California

This Bud’s For You

With the moist winter we’ve been experiencing and the warmer, longer days, the buds in the garden are bursting or on the verge.  Today there was light rain in the San Joaquin Valley and a dusting of snow in Tehachapi.  It was a nice surprise to top off an afternoon drive up the hill.  Before the drive, we went to the citrus tasting at White Forest Nursery.  The only thing I bought was a couple packets of Teddy Bear Sunflower seeds. 

Here is the promise of spring:

 

 Strawberry

 Dandelion

Lilac (lobelia in background)

 Chrysanthemum

Santa Rosa Plum

O’Henry Peach

Granny Smith Apple

Warren Pear

Fantasia Nectarine

  Blenheim Apricot

Lantana – Purple

Oxalis

Lantana – Yellow

  Begonia

Azalea - George L. Taber

Lemon – Variegated Pink

Garden Update

Here’s a few things that have been going on in the garden.

March 6, 2010 – The tomato seeds sprouted.  They were planted, along with pepper seeds, on March 1.

The lilac continues to perfume the garden air.

The broccoli has bolted.  The final harvest was made and the plants removed to make way for summer crops after the soil is amended.  Note:   the Lobelia in the background.  I have been unsuccessful in capturing how dark the purple is on this Crystal Palace variety.  Finally, the color shows when it’s not the focal point.

The beets are really starting to take off.  I usually thin out the smaller ones; but now they’re really starting to get big,

The Red Flame grape is starting to show signs of life.  The vine was fed today.

These little caterpillars along with their thug friends the pill bugs and earry wigs (earwigs) have been found guilty and executed for the damage they have done to the cabbage.

Most of the rest of the cabbage was salvaged.  The bed is now completely vacant awaiting amendments so the summer beans and savory can be planted.

Carrots continue to produce.  A bunch was recently harvested to add to a pot of mushroom/wine chicken.

Peas continue to go nuts.  Now that the heat is cranking up, the pods are filling out at an accelerated pace.  They joined the carrots in the pot with the chicken.

All the fruit trees have been fed:  plum, peach, apple, pear, nectarine, apricot, fig, grapefruit, orange, mandarin, lemon. 

Lilac Time

The lilacs are in bloom.  I need to pack up the pots and take them to their source to determine what pot belongs to what source.  I have two different pots of lilacs I told about here.  The blossoms began to pop on March 2.  I predicted Saturday, February 27.  Close. 

As the lilac blooms, it’s a good time to prune by cutting the flowers for bouquets.  Any dead or screwy branches are best pruned out now.  Blossoms develop on year old growth; so the new growth this summer will set blossoms at this time in 2011. The lilacs are competing with the sweet peas for the best perfume award in the garden.

Lilacs!

It’s almost time for the lilacs to explode around here.  I suspect they will open this weekend along with a lot of other blossoms like peaches.  I have 2 lilacs; and I have no idea what variety they are.

One is a cutting from Farmer MacGregor’s grandmother’s lilac.  It was started years ago and planted outside my kitchen window.  The bush was well over 6’ when it had to be uprooted to make way for a new walkway and fence.  It didn’t survive very well; but a cutting rooted and we’re starting all over again.

The other lilac is from a cutting given to be by a friend.  His great grandmother brought it with her when she migrated to the southern Sierra Nevadas years ago.

Both plants are now about the same size and both plants are very similar.  Currently, I’m trying to determine which is which.  I believe I have it figured out.  Regardless, I’m about to enjoy some great perfume.

Here Comes Spring

The buds are forming.  Some are even swelling so much that they are about ready to burst.  Here’s what’s going on in the garden:

Wisteria – My dad gave me this vine.  I’ve had it quite a few years and thought I lost it in the transplant.  Looks like it may thrive.

Day Lilies -  These rarely bloom.  I’m keeping them crowded to see if that might work.

Lilac – Love, love, love lilac.

Apricot – See the sap running?  I don’t like this cut and may correct the pruning later after the blossoms pop.

Nectarine – Thought this tree was scorched this summer and might need to be replaced.  Glad I was wrong.

Pear -  The buds are pointed and oblong.  Don’t know if these are leaves or blossoms.

Apple – Notice how orange the bark is?  It has a copper like shimmer to it due to the dormant oil spray.

Plum – This may be the earliest to bloom of the fruit trees.

Brussels Sprouts – The sprouts are finally starting to form.  These have some raindrops on them.

Camellias – This is my first year with camellias.  I don’t know if these buds are leaves or flowers.  Stay tuned.

Azaleas – See the pink starting to break through?  I’ve killed every azalea I’ve ever had and intend to break that trend.

Cauliflower – Old reliable keeps on giving and giving.

Roses – This Pope John Paul II and my Jaune Desprez along with all the other roses in the yard are all starting to leaf out.

The rain continued today.  It was soft and gentle but continual.  Lovely.