Last Week of April

Hot and windy.
Ordered G & myself a blast from the past for me: red-handled, Swiss Felco hand pruners. They came!! And by Saturday afternoon, I had gashed the palm of my left hand with them. Ouch.

WEEDS. ELM SEEDS. Everything is covered in the papery felt of a billion billion elm seeds. Germination must take roughly 7 days: beginning to see that familiar set of seed leaves EVERYWHERE. Over the last 10 days, with the help of three days off in the middle of the week, Gloria and I have weeded 90% of the yard. (What is that lovely thing with the pale white tap root, spears-shaped leaves, and a bright yellow flower -- which becomes a POOF of seed like its cousin the dandelions. We've routed 6 or 8 trash bags of them.

WHEELBARROW makeover.

We had a very good time this past weekend.... Need to finish coating the handles all the way to the wheel, and give the hand-grips a few more coats, but G said happily that she used it yesterday.





Peas (seed) and 2 tomato plants and tiny basil seedlings and real sunflowers (seeds) in. Two weeks ago, a passel of strawberries. Various annuals. There's a lot of hope out there. Oh, and three stunning purple basil plants from Plants of the Southwest.





G. re-assembled her darling little solar fountain; we've been enjoying its happy burbling sounds for almost a week now.

The first Columbine of the season opened yesterday. I'm not familiar with them, so as I crouched down to look more closely, I was very taken with it. Gloria laughed. "They're showly little flowers, aren't they?!"

It was 6 or 6:30, with waning light. My camera balked & complained, so I didn't get a good picture yet. 27 April 09.




Gloria's love Rose of Sharon is just starting to leaf out. Along with the other tough xeric wonders along the scalding, sandy, dry south side of the house: the desert willow and [duh...]. The Russian Sage bloomed last week. As I was looking at it, last year's seed pods caught my eye.

I believe this spiny beauty is commonly called a Hedgehog cactus. (I was very disappointed when I looked it up last spring.) Of all things, there are several gorgeous ones along the roadside next to the local Whataburger joints. The whirl and blur of my drive-by viewings suggests that theirs are completely covered in blooms, all on one side. Lapping up the sun? **Note to self: look to see when it bloomed last year.






Shed kit was delivered. It kind-of looks like one of those compressed sponge toys--add water & watch it become a giraffe or a polar bear. Which, come to think of it, with our lack of construction skills, is a distinct possibility--that it will look like a bizarre cut-out animal rather than a neat, trig rectangle with a jaunty gable roof.

(In background, faithful dogs & wild, crazy garden truck.)


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