09 April 2007

Glimmer the Golden Locust


We had a golden locust back in NC and Mendy adored it, so I got her one in November 2005 for her Arkansas yard. The color in this photo is unretouched -- it really glows like that, particularly with dark evergreens behind. She named it Glimmer. (Mendy also names the roadrunners, woodpeckers, etc) Of course this photo was taken before the freeze. Those golden locks are now dangling like weary streamers... But they'll come back, I hope. In the WNC mountains, the locust loved full sun. Here in AR it enjoys morning sun and seems to enjoy plenty of added water, at least in the these first two years. Those are daffodils, with a couple of faded, remaining blooms planted around the locust.

Seedlings: Before and After Mouse


Seedling trays, before the mouse. (Remove all traces of green and you'll have the "after" picture.)

Strawberries Survived thanks to straw and goat contributions!


The strawberry bed, prior to the freeze. This may be the one bed that survived. I packed it thick and covered it with stable straw (yes, including those warming goat pellets...) and then covered it with a tarp. As of last night, the blooms were still warm and cozy. We'll see...

In fairness..



Matilda complained for equal airtime on the blog, so here she is grazing on that same (now-lost) warm day.

Petunia asks: Where did all the springtime go??


This green, green photo with Petunia on her tie-out rope getting some springtime grazing in, is history. After three nights of temps in the mid-teens, we've been zapped back into time by what feels like three weeks or so. Cherry blooms, blueberry blooms, peony buds, rose leaves -- all zapped.

To add insult to injury, the four flats of heirloom seedlings I put in the heated workshop for safety were nearly all eaten to the soil by a mouse (?) last night. Preferred mouse grazing apparently includes nasturtiums, cilantro, parsley, basil, heirloom zapotec and ananas noir tomoatoes, and coneflower seedlings. They were all so tiny, that it didn't take much to leave me with nothing more than seed-starter potting mix lined up in trays.

Alas, such is gardening. Perhaps by tomorrow I will have regained my mojo. Right now I just feel sad. Those kinds of seedlings, needless to say, can't be bought down at the garden center, and even if I had the heart to replant today, I'd be far behind the season. So, this years summer garden may be built more from the local garden center and farmers co-op seedling selections. Thank goodness for those.

As for Petunia and Matilda, they slept through most of the cold in the deep straw of their house, cuddled up together like puppies. Ahh, the life of a yard goat.