Sweet Strawberries ~ freshly picked
My strawberries have started to ripen. I have gathered those that the birds and bugs have left unsampled. Not many so far, but very nice ones.
Artichokes!
Multiple artichokes have appeared! The most and the largest in the many years that I've had this artichoke plant. Must be due to our prolonged cold & wet weather. I am tired of the cold wet weather, but am loving the artichoke production.
Blue Irises
I used to get many colors and many blooms in my iris beds. Not so much variety in recent years. This year I have many blue and some dark red blooms to enjoy. They do add cheer to my day. You can spy some golden California poppies sneaking in there between the irises.
Spring Bouquet
I made an impromptu bouquet of Sweet Williams, Sage flowers and Lavender. You can't really see the lavender in this photo, but it's there. Really. Lovely scent and color to brighten my home.
Finally, it feels like Spring here today. Tomorrow it will suddenly be summer. Then I'll be complaining that it's too hot...
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7 comments:
Wow!! Even despite the cold, wet weather, you already have ripe strawberries!! And blooming lavender!!! Jeez...my strawberries look like they're still weeks away from any ripening!
Your artichokes look wonderful, too, Jen...I love artichokes...mmmm..with melted butter.
:-)
Fabulous looking artichokes ... my favorite vegetable in the whole wide world! And you're right, spring IS finally here and now we only have three more weeks before summer actually starts, on the calendar that is.
I dont think I have ever seen artichokes growing before. Thats pretty cool. How long have you had those plants?
We are getting about a dozen strawberries at a picking...and quite honestly...when G helps me pick them I dont think any of those 12 make it into the house. :-)
Hi Danni,
Yes, I was surprised that my strawberries were as big and ripe as they are with all of our cold weather right up until the end of May. Still need to beat the birds and bugs to them though. I keep meaning to get out their and put the bird netting over the berry bed. Been too busy, I guess. My French Lavender tends to bloom all year long as it is located in partial shade and is semi-protected by my porch awning. It blooms best in cooler weather.
Hi CA Grammy,
These have been some nice artichokes this year. Usually they are smaller. I think they really liked the long cool season. It's gonna be in the high 80's here next week! Bang! It's summer!
Hi Marcee,
Artichokes look funny when they "bloom" like that. Even funnier when you don't pick off the artichokes and let them open up into their fuzzy purple flowers. I did that once long ago just to see it. I think I planted my artichokes about 9 or 10 years ago. I had two plants, but the other one died a few years back. Either too cold in the winter or not enough water in the summer. Not sure which. Artichokes really like the cooler, damp weather along the California coast. Being inland and higher elevation here, they are a bit of a challenge.
G is smart. All berries are best when eaten while standing under the sunshine in the garden!
I did consume some of those yummy homegrown strawberries on my ice cream during our Memorial Day bbq, the sharing was very much appreciated.Yummo.
As to the prized home grown artichokes, especially the huge one that I requested, no sharing did I experience. ♥
Yum! To me, nothing means summer as much as fresh sweet strawberries. I've never had any luck growing them o rather harvesting them before the critters get them first. But when we lived in Southy Carolina we always went to the U-pick farms and stocked up. My favorite way to eat them during the hot summer is frozen. And they are just as good in a smoothie, too.
I've never seen artichokes like that before. They are like oddly beautiful flowers...and huge!
So much lovely color at your place!
~Lisa
Lovely flowers and you can't beat homegrown strawberries!
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