While the cold & wet winter weather might be completely miserable for us warm-blooded humans, there are plenty of plants that seem to take a real liking to the torment. Even in the darkest and coldest of months, signs of life are everywhere.
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| Hellebore hybrid blooming on January 7th, 2013 |
Broccoli planted in late-July is now ready to start eating. Come March, it will start producing delectably delicious new shoots which are about as exquisite as vegetables can get.
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| Broccoli |
Raindrops on snowdrops...already!
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| Galanthus nivalis |
Me and this
Abutilon 'Tiger Eye' have been through a lot together. I bought it as a tiny little fellow a couple of years ago. Immediately after being planted it shot into rapid growth. When I dug it up to transplant somewhere more appropriate, the whole thing split in half. I essentially grafted it back together and found a nice spot for it under an empress tree. The wound has now completely healed and it is starting to become almost tree-like. While I'm not completely sure of its hardiness, I can say it sailed through a few freezing nights with lows down to 22 degrees and daytime highs not much above freezing.
Here is what the flowers look like when it is in bloom.
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| Abutilon 'Tiger Eye' |
And finally, a word to the wise, never plant an echium right next to an agave. The echium will eventually shade out the agave, and you're not going to have the heart to prune the echium or attempt to move the agave.
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| Agave parryi var. huachucensis being crowded out by Echium fastuosum |
