Crocosmias

The Crocosmias blooming now in my garden, are very tall, over 50 inches.   Native to the grasslands of Eastern Africa, Croscosmias are in the iris family and iris-like, they grow from rhizomes.

In the African grasslands, they have more room to spread out than they do in my garden.  Every few years the clumps grow so big that I have to pull half of them out.

They are not fragrant, but last a long time in a vase and so I bring them inside.

February in my Neighborhood

Delosperma cooperi

Jade plant (Crassula ovata)

Evergreen Candytuft (Iberis sempervirens)

Primula

Hellebore

Acacia

Sticks on Fire Pencil Tree (Euphorbia tirucalli)

Gallery Visit

Because I liked Edmund de Waal's book "The Hare with the Amber Eyes," I was curious to see his artwork. 

He makes porcelain vessels and arranges them together on shelves or in boxes.

There are slight variations in glazes and forms.

He calls them, "conversations about materials

and architectural space."

Citrus

I have been picking the lemons from my tree (avocados too).

I have so many that I preserve the lemons, slicing them, salting them and layering them in a colander for a day.

The jar on the left are lemons in lemon juice, the ones on the right are in olive oil.  It takes about a month before they are ready to be used.   They can be kept in the refrigerator for months.

The kumquats on my tree are also ripe.

I have sliced them into a beet and endive salad.

Paperwhite Narcissus

The Paperwhite narcissus (Narcissus papyraceus) are now

blooming in clumps all over my garden.

They are native to the western Mediterranean region.

Because they are so fragrant, I bring

them inside.

It Feels Like Spring in my Neighborhood

The earliest flowering trees have started to bloom.

Flowering Pear (Pyrus calleryana)

Magnolia soulangeana 

Fernleaf Acacia (Acacia baileyana)

Shopping for Plants-Part 2

Shopping for Plants-Part 1