Month: February 2016

Half of the bush beans got planted over the weekend. Half of the pole beans got planted in pots in the greenhouse, to get them started under warmer conditions. As usual, seeds planted outside have chicken wire around them, with bird netting over the top attached by clothespins.

The rest of the peas were planted also. (There’s a row of raspberry plants in this image also.)

The first radishes are ready! There are three kinds, Celesta, Alta Globe, and Rudolph. They are all good.

The first Mimulus aurantiacus (monkey flower) flowers opened. This is the bush with the scarlet flowers. The bush in front with the orange flowers hasn’t started blooming yet.

The thyme is blooming.

Nemophila menziesii (baby blue eyes).

The front yard is full of native annuals.

Along the front fence. A mixture of annuals, perennials, natives, and non-natives.

I found this while weeding in the back yard. A musket ball? It’s very heavy. Made of lead? It was just outside one of the raised beds, next to the lettuce.

I like looking at the nectarine tree during the brief time it’s in bloom. Here are several photos of it, while it lasts.

The first Nemophila menziesii (baby blue eyes) flower of the year!

The nectarine tree is suddenly covered in flowers.

The area with annuals around where the alder tree was has changed somewhat in the last two days. More plants have been planted, and there’s more temporary netting/fencing.

One of the beds with lots of plants….

Another….

Everything is growing. Artichoke plants in the lower left. Radishes in the closest raised bed. Kale, lettuce, broccoli in the other raised beds.

I’ve been planting lots of annuals out in the ground that were started in the greenhouse. Most are covered with chicken wire and bird netting to give them a chance to get established and not get completely eaten by the birds.

Peas, mostly shelling and also some sugar peas.

Annual wildflowers near the back door and around where the alder tree was. Looks like a weed patch (there are some of those too) but it should be looking good soon.

Lots of annuals in the front yard getting bigger and bigger also.

Very exciting! One of the two Aristolochia californica (California pipevines) I planted two years ago bloomed for the first time. It has two flowers. The pipevine swallowtail feeds on this plant.

The almond tree is blooming now.

The nectarine tree has also just started to bloom.

Hardenbergia flowers close up.

Rosemary.

The new Hardenbergia sp. has made it to the top of its trellis.

The Ribes speciosum is blooming now:

The yellow daffodils are blooming:

Nemophila maculata (fivespot), Nemophila menziesii (baby blue eyes), and Collinsia heterophylla (Chinese houses) — annuals I’ve been trying to grow this year for the first time. Seeds planted out in the yard have germinated and all been eaten by slugs. The plants below I started in the greenhouse. As soon as I planted them outside the slugs descended on them. So they’re surrounded by Sluggo now. I hope a few manage to survive.

Phacelia campanularia grown from seeds, waiting to get bigger and get planted outdoors:

Phacelia grandiflora grown from seeds, waiting to get bigger and get planted outdoors:

Phacelia viscida grown from seeds, waiting to get bigger and get planted outdoors: