Today's post is brought to you by the number five. That's how many degrees below and inches of rain above normal it was for the month of March. April is looking to be slightly less ornery, but let's not get our hopes up.
 |
Melianthus major (Honey Bush)
|
At the NW Flower & Garden Show in February, one of the speakers (an executive from Monrovia I believe) said he had yet to see a
Melianthus major go to flower in the Northwest. Well, have I got news for him. Not only did mine bloom
last summer, but it's about to bloom again!
One thing that has been growing incredibly fast lately is the kale in the garden. This couldn't have been a better winter for cole crops - cool, rainy, and mild.
 |
| Hepatica nobilis |
Hepaticas...how can something so pristine emerge out of soil that's so wet and murky?
Some radishes, on the left, are off to a great start and should be ready to eat in a couple weeks. The peas, on the other hand, are not. Only two peas emerged from the soil. I dug through to see what the problem was, and they were all gone! Something's eating them...no clue what though.
 |
| Berberis darwinii (Darwin Barberry) |
Thanks to a mild winter, this evergreen barberry has been in bloom since November and doesn't show any sign of stopping.
 |
| Dicentra (Bleeding Heart) |
Nice. My Melianthus flowered also last year and it was in a pot. No sign this year, the flowers are really cool! Do you know if they only flower on old wood? I'm in Shoreline.
ReplyDeleteI have heard they bloom on old wood, but the one I have managed to bloom on new wood last summer after having been killed all the way to the ground from the previous winter.
DeleteSo excited about your Melianthus major bloom! I wish I hadn't cut mine back in a lame attempt to overwinter it. Further proof that Monrovia guy didn't know what he was talking about I saw a plant blooming at the Kennedy School gardens here in Portland last year and just yesterday at Cistus.
ReplyDeleteI'd be willing to trade my Melianthus major for your echiums. On second thought, they would both probably die in shipping. Nevermind.
Delete