Sunday, March 22, 2009

New Arrivals

New bulbs are coming up and opening on a daily basis. This I think is Chionodoxa gigantea alba.



Here is the Scilla siberica. It is a tiny thing.



I'm already losing track of the daffodils. I do make an effort to show the whole range of flower types blooming in the ridge top garden. A Split-Cup Narcissus I presume.



A Trumpet Daffodil.



A Double Narcissus. Sometimes it is hard to determine the difference between the split-cups and the doubles.



Hmmm? Is there a Ruffle-Cup class of narcissus?



Patches of Anemones are becoming more abundant. The flowers appear in loose clusters so they do not make a big show per se, but are more like bright spots in the ground litter.



The Spots enjoy their late afternoon garden tours. We have been walking down to their soon to be new home regularly to get them acclimated to another abode. Crawford and Collar were kind enough to press in the seeds I planted in the roadside vegetable garden yesterday. Two kind lettuce, spinach, radish and snap peas have been sown. You can see how I rake the wood chips away to create a sunken row. This will be better for catching rainwater.



I was feeling a bit depressed about my lack of economic circumstances the other day and thought the zen of wall building would be a good relief. I have not worked on the wall in quite a long time. I cleaned out the little bit of winter freeze thaw erosion and the accumulated leaf litter and got to stacking stones.

These are the beginnings of two small grottos that are being built into the wall. They will be good for candles or bleached critter bones, snake skins or other such bric-a-brac.



The left end of the wall at the curve got some attention to and rose about another foot.



A grotto in the making.



The framing of the porch roofs is being primed. The back stoop has both coats and is ready to be painted the chosen color, Molera Vaquero Red. It's not easy painting all the sides of this framing that will be exposed under the metal roof.



Across the sunny utility valley from the cabin, daffodils are coming up in a garden to be. They are in the foreground and the faint green spots in the top far right and top center left behind the two leaning apple trees are daffodils too.



Down in the forest the Anemone acutiloba or A. americana, it is hard to tell the difference, has begun to bloom in great drifts of white poking up through the leaf litter.



With the garden tour finished the Spots and I head back home



And back to a hillside of blooming daffodils



At the end of another sunny spring day.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Christopher;

I am down in warm Florida on a dialup connection so could not view your wonderful pictures (I am currently missing my own bulbs which I hope are still blooming when I return) - but I ran across a potential employment idea - here in Naples there was a car with a sign saying "J.U.D.Y. House Watching".Presumably for all the snowbirds who are gone half the year. Maybe you could be a gardener/housewatcher for all the rich people building 2nd homes down there! (Half tongue in cheek, but hey, who knows??!!) Looking forward to a better connection in time to view the red paint - take care!

bev

Anonymous said...

You have so much energy it amazes me! Love the picture of the cats straggling back home.

Anonymous said...

Hi Christopher! Lovely photos as always. It amazes me how many varieties Bulbarella has planted in her ridgetop garden. The progress you have made on your place is astonoshing. Soon you will be "home"!
Your three kitties follow you around like they were dogs. Only a few months ago they were too skittish to let you pet them. Looks like they have become very well adjusted to being house cats indeed! Enjoy the beautiful Spring.

Anonymous said...

Hello Christopher...It's been awhile since I last posted. It looks like you have been quite busy this past winter. The photos are beautiful!

Carl

Christopher C. NC said...

Hi Bev, I need to update my resume and business card, maybe do a flyer and hit up some of the local nurseries and landscape designer/architects and ply my wares. It's on the list. Second homes is my kind of market.

Layanee there is a fair amount of inactivity, a bit less now that the warm is warmer and the sunny spells between weathers seem to be lengthening.

Siria, things are coming along. The Spots are getting comfy that is for sure. It really is about trust.

Hi Carl. It isn't too difficult to keep myself busy when I am building this cabin, growing a vegetable garden and planting a new ornamental garden. Spring has also increased my work for clients. It just isn't any where near a 9 to 5 quantity.

Anonymous said...

A lot of beautiful flowers planted by loving hands for enjoyment for yrs to come. It would be heaven to look upon these lovelies daily.

Painting in awkward places is difficult at times.

I love the pic of the Spots heading home after a "hard days" work. Trust is what it's all about.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

What a successful day. I hope you are feeling better after working on the wall. The grotto sounds most interesting. Can't wait to see its completion.

chuck b. said...

Amazing that the keikis will follow you around outdoors! Mine certainly follow me around the house, but we are unwilling to let them outdoors.