A Garden Visitor

Last week HolleyGarden at Roses and Other Gardening Joys posted about honey bees. As I read that I wondered, "When was the last time I spotted a honey bee in my garden?" It has been a long while. Bumble bees, wasps, hornets, and other winged insects, but honey bees were scarce last year even when the lavender was in full bloom.

Yesterday I heard him before I saw him. I had been cleaning the perennial beds and took time to photograph the crocuses in bloom when the distinct buzz hit my ears. I didn't think honey bee but once I saw him on the crocus I thought, "Where have you been? And why are you all alone?" He was harvesting from the crocus and made two trips that I know of. I'll keep an eye out for him in the days ahead and hope he spreads the words of the nectar to be had in my garden.




Postscript 4 pm: There were at least two honey bees visiting the crocuses today. I caught sight of an orange butterfly, too but it wouldn't let me get within 10 feet to identify it. Looked like a monarch but smaller.

A Last!

I had a hunger for homemade tomato sauce last night so out came the last two bags of tomatoes from the freezer. No more tomatoes from last year's garden to make sauce with after last night. I'll have to wait until late July which is when these bags were frozen. It was good. Recipe is simple: saute onions in olive oil, add the tomatoes and basil (this was also frozen but there's some of that left), a bit of salt, pepper and a tablespoon of sugar. Once its cooked down well puree with stick blender. We had it with meatballs and yellow squash (in lieu of pasta).


Oops. Forgot to take a photo of the sauce pureed. You get the idea. It was so good!

First Spring Blooms

It's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day over at May Dreams Garden. Above is just one of the beautiful scenes at the Philadelphia Flower Show. Below is one of the first crocuses to bloom in my garden. More to follow soon. Just wait for April's Bloom Day post!

Philly Flower Show Purchases

There was an incredible amount of stuff to buy at the Flower Show. I refrained from buying the duck rocks with the metal necks and feet, as well as the copper pots and watering cans, the hanging soil-less plant containers, the jewelry, specialty foods, and plants of all sorts. I did succumb to some purchases.

A peony for the perennial garden.

Some very important labels for the vegetable garden and other places. We stopped in two other vendors before we found these. The others were sold out.

I got two hummingbird feeders. (Emily, do you want one of them?)

And these were an impulse purchase for the edge of the glen. They are flowering ferns. I hope they weren't a sucker purchase. No labels came with them. I'll have to look them up on the internet.