Cecilia disappeared outside the other day and reappeared a while later with an incredible dandelion crown that she had made for herself, but decided was too small... So she gave it to Lucy. Lucy was absolutely ecstatic! Meanwhile I just kept looking at it, trying to figure out how this child is so, so much better at anything craft-ish than I am... She followed a tutorial in a book, apparently, but it's still pretty darned impressive to me.
The last of the tulips has bloomed! Next year we're growing 600+ of them... They're just so stinking beautiful!! Hopefully we'll have enough customers to justify the increase, because otherwise the house is just going to be full of tulips all spring... There are worse problems to have, I suppose! Now we've got a kind of awkward gap in cut flowers while we wait for the irises and peonies to bloom - I ordered a bargain half-bushel of peony roots from a nursery last year and Andrew planted what looked like 50 possibly viable ones. At least 3 dozen have come up, but it's going to be another 2+ years before we can use them as cut flowers, so for now we play the waiting game! Hopefully you're enjoying seeing my hobby progress ;)
This needs to be an all-Lucy blog. Those curls wafting around her chubby face! That SMILE!!!
ReplyDeleteThe flowers are beautiful and Lucy is darling! Cecelia is very talented. Love the crown!
ReplyDeleteIf I lived near you, I would be your best customer!
Peonies are beautiful and very hardy. I have several plants on the south side of my home.
Funny story. My Mom loved peonies as well and had a garden full. If you have ever looked close, ants love peonies and it's said that ants help the blossoms open and it's best not to kill the ants. (When I cut some for bouquets, I rinse them under running water.)Well, several years ago, that's exactly what my younger brother did. He sprayed ant killer all over the plants and hardly any blossoms opened that year. Yes, Mom was a bit upset. My brother never did that again!
I have heard that the ants don't actually do anything, actually! But I still leave them alone just in case 😉
DeleteHow do you succeed with bare roots? I have tried several things from bare root and never succeeded.
ReplyDeleteWell, it really depends on what you're trying to grow! Some things need to be soaked before planting, some can't be planted to deep, some need to go in the ground in the fall...
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