Musings

Early Girl

Early_Girl_newly_planted_2010.jpg

Sometimes I shouldn’t check Wiki-Pee. I was excited to report that this fine specimen of Early Girl tomato has settled in well. Since its specialty is the short growing season, meaning we should have tomatoes off it sooner than the Rutgers I grouped nearby, I was stoked to add it to the assortment. I thought of it as related to Burpee’s famous Big Boy and Better Boy tomatoes.

Now, I check that famous online group memory and, pfft, the air goes out of me when I read that Early Girl is a Monsanto product—since 2005, anyway. While we’re at it, the cultivar “is a medium globe type F1 hybrid”. And, a nice bonus, and more related to why I found it on the garden shop shelf: it’s “reliable and prolific.”

Sidenote: the “F1 hybrid” modifier means that it is a first-generation cross. I think. And, BTW, don’t confuse variety and cultivar. They’re both lower in the botanical hierarchy than species, but differ. But you have to be deeply into taxonomy to sort it all out, as near as I can tell.

Anyway, sometimes it’s better to avoid the reality recorded in Wiki-Pee. I think.

Milestone day

new_rhodo_being_planted.jpg

For a couple of years we’ve missed the rhodo down in a corner of the front yard (front garden in Britain). We finally got a new plant for the empty spot. The blooms are supposed to be purple (not a color from the wild, I suspect). I think, if our new specimen settles in nicely, we shall see if that is true this year….

Spring embarkation

glazed_ceramic_snail_spiral.jpg

Today began the arc of our 2010 veggie garden. So far, it’s tomatoes, peppers, and herbs. Went with Rutgers again for the bulk of the tomatoes (turned out to be a nine-pack not a six-pack!—may have to cull them later). Last year the pear tomatoes were a hit, but I didn’t see any (yet); I’ll save a space for one….

On to the fruitwoods

dogwood_blooms_midtown_2010.jpg

Rain yesterday has taken the pollen edge off. What a gorgeous afternoon!

Today once again seemed spring-like. The bulbs are nearly finished, just dried husks atop the greenery. The redbuds and dogwoods and fruit trees are the current stars!

Not a Berber daisy

daisy_gerbera_brilliant_orange.jpg

Gerbera daisy, sometimes gerber daisy…. Still, it has, doncha know: “a large capitulum with striking, two-lipped ray florets”.

(Thanks, Sue and Bob!)

Full-on spring pleasures

pollen_atop_vehicle_in_sun.jpg

Today, the pollen got me; I’ve been moseying around all day like I had lead weights on my limbs and encumbering my brain. And this is after a hit of allergy med*.

* C22H23ClN2O2, according to Wiki-Pee.

Timing

redbuds_just_opening_2010.jpg

Our redbud, in the photograph, is almost a week behind the neighbors’, which is already beginning to lose petals. Not suprisingly, the two are different varieties….

Meanwhile, the garden needs rain and the pollen is here in force, a yellow cast to every slick-painted vehicle, and more…, so we need rain to wash it away, too.

Dandy-lion

dandelion_glowing_spring.jpg

Something about early spring dandelions—they look almost pretty…but then, by late summer, they get a weedy, stalker cast….

No lion* at all, though….

* “Dandelion” is corruption of medieval Latin dens leonis “lion’s tooth,” referring to the outline of the leaves and not to the blooms.

Standing firm

peach_blooms_2010.jpg

Lazy midday, including admiring these nascent peaches after brunch (thanks! to our hosts)….

Our early evening was interrupted by news of sloshing swimming pool water in SoCal, but not from a San Andreas slip. The big one is now estimated at 7.2, and south of the border, with many sizable aftershocks still trickling in, including at least two higher than 5.0. That’s shaky ground!

Meanwhile, we’re checking out the capabilities of our new device. The download speed is far in excess of any other machines we have around here. Holding it without wrist cramps is the biggest downside I’ve noticed. As a web device, and for browsing photos—superb.

Still exploring, though….

Excitement in progress

daffodil_yellow_old_fashioned_2010.jpg

Just to report: we mailed our census form yesterday. I figured we don’t have a good record on predicting the future, and although we thought we could be sure what our household’s head count would be on April first, we thought we’d stick to an accurate report rather than a prognostication.

new_school_sweatshirt.jpg

Taxes. Hmm. Real excitement for the coming weekend….

Perhaps I can balance that with a foray to buy some plants and put them out.

And the wee photo? Someone near-and-dear has decided where to matriculate next year, as reflected on new sweatshirt….

Meanwhile, my iPhoto is still “munching” through place- and face-recognition on the thousands of images it contains—and has been all day. So far, it has six pictures it locates in Tibet, including one of a pair of small propane tanks, like for a BBQ grill.