Harvesting Dessert

My homegrown dessert this evening:

 

 

(First plum and blackberries of the year)

A Berry For Me

I've had a few blueberry bushes for a few years, but I've never eaten a blueberry that I've grown.  Partly because they've not been very fruitful; partly because of my three highbush shrubs, one died (from lack of attention) and one doesn't care to flower, leaving the third with nothing to cross-pollinate it; and partly because it's not worth protecting the few fruits I'd otherwise have from the critters (birds and squirrels).



Oh, 'Sunshine Blue', why won't you make flowers and berries for me?

This year I bought a shrub to replace the dead one.  It has so far survived, and seemed to do its cross-pollinating job.  I know one is supposed to not let them fruit for the first year or so, but that seems silly to me.  There are finally actual blueberries growing - why would I prevent that?  So each of my two plants that flowered decided to grow some fruit this year.  I've been watching and waiting. Finally, last Saturday, I saw it:  a blue berry.  That's right folks, a ripe blueberry!  I was so thrilled I ripped it right off the shrub and had it halfway to my mouth.  Then I stopped myself, set the berry down, and went in search of the camera to record this auspicious occasion:

My First Blueberry

Yes, it was tasty.  I wanted more.  Oh, so many more.  Well, there aren't that many more to be had, but I want them all, yes I do.  So I pulled the bird/squirrel netting off the strawberries (their spring flush is done now) and wrapped up the blueberries, tying the netting around the bottom of the stalks to try to keep the crafty squirrels out and using all my twist-ties on the sides and top to keep the birds out.  I only knocked 3-4 developing berries off in the process.  I mourned the loss of each one.



Older shrub on the left, new one on the right, 'Sunshine' in front of the netting, and helianthus all around

 Wednesday I went out to check on things, and found this:

Three more blue berries (one's hiding)!

They were yummy, too.

While I was critter-proofing last weekend, I also (with Dad's help) netted the blackberries:

A row of bricks on the bottom (it worked for the strawberries, so trying it again here),  The sides and top are stapled to the fence.  So I'm going to have to harvest from the bottom.

I'll eat you soon, my pretties

It will be worth it.

Mid-May 2013 Blooms

In this last week of May, I admit to having posted nothing for an entire month.  Let me remedy that by showing off what was happening in my yard two weeks ago.

I'll start with the annual disappointment:  clematis.

 

Why are these disappointing?  Well, this color is not particularly showy, as far as clematis go.  I've tried others over the years, but I can't keep them alive.  I think this one came with the house. Why else are they a failure?  The three blooms, plus the foliage (about 4ft off the ground) are the full extent of blooms and foliage for this plant.  That's it.

 

Moving on to happier plants, here's the baptisia in the terrace garden (straight-up Baptisia australis, no cultivar), in not-quite full bloom.  I love this plant, but have trouble photographing it to its advantage.

 



I planted the baptisia about four years ago (maybe five...).  Three plants, which have all thrived.  It's making babies, too, but they tend to sprout in the veggie garden where they obviously can't stay.  So I still have just the original three.

Here's a columbine in the "neglected terrace bed". 

Of all the columbines, this one has the largest flowers and the most upright blooms.  I think it is also the smallest plant.  I don't know how it does that.

Over on the patio, my jumble of plopped plants is taking over. 

Virginia sweetspire and penstemon blooming, along with Echinacea foliage.  Together, these plants have managed to outcompete the columbine and obedient plants that once shared this space.  The original penstemon was "husker's red", but its offspring are sometimes not red.

Also on the patio, some Wisteria "Amethyst Falls" in a pot.  Year three, and I still don't have the trellis it was intended to grow on.

Around to the front yard, now.  Mid-month, the peonies were just starting to open.

Along the front walkway, coreopsis blooms among the old daffodil foliage.

In the lower front border, two types of catmint and an iris.

That's "Walker's Low" on the right, and an unidentified passalong plant on the left.  Quite a difference in growth and flowering habits.  (Can't see the iris in there?  It's all the way on the right, also purple.)

Mid-month, the Kousa dogwood was still a bit green, but showy.  It is full-white now.

Along the driveway, blackberry flowers promise tastiness to come.

Other mid-may blooms, not pictured: more columbine (purple and A. Canadensis), geranium, bearded irises, viburnum, Centaurea, rue, strawberries, Tradescantia, hellebores.

While I Was Gone

… is, coincidentally, the name of the book I was reading while I was gone.

While I was gone, I intended to keep up with blogging. I took lots of pictures before I left, and had several ideas formulating. But a hectic schedule left me very little down time. So no blogging while I was gone.

While I was gone, May was in full swing in my yard. The first thing I did when I returned was rush out to see what I had been missing.

New iris, of course. Here's a bicolor yellow and peach. When it first started to open, I thought it was a bit drab. Then the sun hit it, and it glowed:

Here's a medium sized iris in front of the sedum bed:

And finally, an heirloom iris from my sister's godmother (by way of my mother):

I was never particularly fond of this one, because the falls appeared brownish. But this year they are a vibrant burgundy, so striking I wonder how I could ever have shunned them.

Pink bleeding hearts! Pink bleeding hearts! Pink bleeding hearts opened while I was gone!

They were so far behind the white ones (2.5-3 weeks) that I didn't think they'd bloom this year.

And blackberries:

At the front of the side garden, here's a shrub I've never identified. It didn't bloom the first few years I lived here, but now it does. But that hasn't helped me to figure out what it is. It's flowers started to open while I was gone:

Along the front walk, the pansies are still cheery:

But wait! While I was gone something new started blooming in there:

Coreopsis! What a summery way to welcome me home from the cold northern climes.

(What didn't happen while I was gone? The mulch pile didn't get any smaller. But I moved eight cartloads when I returned, for a running total of 22. I think I'm about halfway through it now.)