Plant Rivalry?

It seems that plants, like children, get jealous if the parent pays too much attention to a sibling.

And as I do feel very parental towards everything growing in the garden, I suppose it is only natural for the plants to vie for my attention. I admit that I have been paying rather a lot of attention to the Texas bluebell, because it is gracing us with many blooms. The bulbine clearly got tired of being second fiddle as it were, and insisted on getting into this photo. When I saw it I was reminded of so many photos of our children who have at times stuck their heads suddenly into the picture, just so as you don't forget they are there.

Not wanting the bulbine to get a complex or anything, I quickly took a few of her. Yes, you ARE beautiful. Don't worry I love you all equally....

Rain Barrel not working

So. We bought the cinder blocks, we called the rain gutter guy to come back and shorten the down spout so that it stopped over the barrel. We set the birthday barrel (made from a recycled olive barrel) up on the blocks. Nothing happened. I look in it every day, but something is not right. So I went back and and read the fine print on the how-to manual. It says, 'just' add rain.

Oh.

I think I want my money back, cause we don't have that stuff here.

Why, Why, Why, Why, Why!?

My garden is filled with 'Why' these days (hence the reason for the title of the blog.) I decided to share just a few with you today, because maybe there will be an answer to one, and if not, at least it will feel good to vent a little. SO. WHY #1:

Why is it that my pomegranate, which I love dearly and admire daily, which has probably doubled in size since it was planted two years ago, and which is CLEARLY quite happy... WHY is it that it will not bloom for me??? I have mentioned in the previous post, that I love orange blossoms, and I have so been looking forward to the luscious blooms that I KNOW grow on this bush, and which I have been admiring all over town except for in my back yard. sigh. The leaves are glossy and green, and orange blossoms would look so beautiful nestled amongst the leaves. I guess I have to be patient. Patience. Sheesh. Why is it always patience that is the answer??

WHY#2:

O.K. WHY did God create this weed? Come on. Tell me why. If someone wants to convince me that some beneficial nematode under the soil would be wiped out if it didn't have the roots of this plant to feed on, then o.k. maybe. But I fear it is one of those biblical 'trials' that we are supposed to be faced with, and me and every other gardener that I know, for whom this lovely plant is the BANE of our existence, has to 'patiently' (i.e. keeping the swear words to a minimum and away from the hearing of small children), keep pulling them out EVERY day, KNOWING that they WILL BE BACK THE NEXT. Yep, I guess it is kind of like that poor guy who had to carry water up hill in a sieve for eternity.

WHY#3:

And why doesn't my Pride of Barbadoes grow and bloom? It blooms everywhere else. Why not in my yard? I feel like a blossom failure sometimes.

WHY#4:

This is rather a sad why. Our little fig tree has been doing sooo well. It had big lovely green leaves and got covered in figs. There were so many figs that I wrote that post about putting netting over it because I was sure we were going to get a great crop this year. Then it just started looking sad. And then sadder. Check it out:

And so I took the netting off, in case it just didn't like the feel of it. But it still looks sad, and now there are fig carcasses littering the ground beneath it, and I just want to weep. WHY?????

WHY? Sometimes when I go outside I feel very small. And it is clear that I know nothing about gardening.

New blooms and a guest worker

I went out to see what the garden had to offer Joseph on his birthday, and BA-ZOING!!! WHOAA. He was given an exotic wonder of a bloom, (thanks again to an austin garden bloggers plant swap!) I am not sure that Joseph was too excited about this gift but as it was sort of my birthday too, I mean, I did most of the work that day, I was very appreciative.

Isn't it amazingly scrumptious!?! I love the splotches of orange on yellow. I have to say, I find orange a very satisfying colour in flower blooms.
Then my eye went a little lower, and I spied this tiny little worker, who I immediately hired to take care of all button-hole sewing projects I may have in the future. He seemed good with that plan, as clearly this is his area of expertise.
I don't even think my sewing machine could do this careful a job...

What else I've been seeing...

The alamo vine is blooming:

The magnolia has blossoms
And tonight I noticed that I am even going to get some blooms on this amazing plant that I was lucky enough to get from a garden bloggers plant swap! Problem is, I can't remember what it is called. Hmm. Amnesia maybe? I guess I'll have to look it up.

We picked our first fennel

Yesterday we made a salad and one of the ingredients was our first harvested fennel bulb. It was delicious. And the amazing news is that we actually have more than one! We will be enjoying several salads and other dishes with these babies. And... it is really pretty too.

The Waiting has paid off... for a Texas Bluebell

I was surprised that this plant made it through the winter. Actually I was surprised it made it through last summer and the fall as well. So when it seemed to be thriving, and then even produced buds I waited with great anticipation to see what would emerge.

The buds seemed to grow soooooooo slowly, and got longer and longer, and finally started to turn pale blue....
Today the first started to unfurl, and I am happy to say, it was worth the wait:
The initial loosening of the petals gave me this glimpse of the hidden treasures inside:
The final bloom looked like this:
And a closer look shows us the yellow stamen hovering above pale lavender petals which bleed abruptly into a deep purple center. Nice. Very, very nice.