Growing in Slow Motion...

I think it's because I'm watching the garden so intently, waiting for it to start taking off and getting into the spring spirit but it seems everything has been growing in slow motion. Things I started in Autumn and overwintered (like hollyhocks and strawberries) still seem tiny and my white sage and other woody herbs have only just started making new leaves. The only action going on at the moment is the few early spring flowering bulbs I had the sense to plant over Autumn and Winter, pictures of which I have included here.

Above: muscari "grape hyacinth"

Below: Red-Orange tulips

Some other things coming up but not worth photographing right now: red and pink hyacinths, some slightly deformed white tulips that accidentally had a rock over them while they were growing, forget-me-nots are growing like weeds, nigella has been hanging around in a tiny size since Autumn waiting to take off, I have cup and saucer vine and happy wanderer planning to grow over the garden arch, red and blue morning glories deciding whether or not to grow, poached egg plants, california poppies, iceland poppies and Asiatic lilies are sprouting, gladioli and scilla bluebells, have just started to pop their heads up, purple king and scarlet runner beans are ready to be put in the ground....and so much more.

Gauging the Progress

I took some pictures of the garden area to serve as a contrast to the first pictures in this blog of the original dry clay pan I had to work with. In around 1.5 years (much of which I way too busy to bother with the garden due to having moved interstate and needing to re-establish my career etc) this is what I have achieved with some help from my partner. It still isn't much but with all the propagating and planting I've been doing I'm hoping it will become much more by the time Giftmas rolls around. Excuse the fact these pictures are nothing special, someone is burning their green waste and the smoke is making everything look fuzzy. I also probably didn't take these pictures at the best time of the day as the neighbours trees are shading out quite a lot of the garden. Oh well, ho hum.

Squeee!!!

I was nosing around in my garden this morning, trying to do some gardening when really, I have been quite sick and should just sit the eff down and relax, and I found this!!!!!

It's our first artichoke! This artichoke was one of the first things I planted here, it survived being covered in weeds while I was dealing with life stuff and couldn't be bothered with the garden last winter and it has thrived in our heavy soil. The bud is hidden in the foliage and hasn't come out to say hello yet but I'm glad I took myself a sneak peek. Now to decide whether to let it bloom or eat it...Hmmmm, I cannot work out which I will enjoy more.