Wednesday, February 23, 2011

First returns of spring

I noticed today that the Tweedias in the garden are blooming again.  They had been taking a break since mid-autumn if I remember. The funny thing with them is that they constantly have buds so you think "well there must be flowers coming".  But they seem to just abort the flowers when the conditions are not right.  Like if they are say, you know, completely infested with orange aphids (can't be bothered to spray). Actually having grown many milkweeds and relatives before, I was surprised at how long it took to get a resident population for those orange milkweedy aphids. Anyway some of the Tweedia are covered in aphids and so they haven't the strength to bloom.

It is early yet and the nights are certainly cool (40 degrees is our low).  I'm sure the moment things begin to warm up the garden will be studded with sky blue blooms again. For now there are just two open in the garden, tinged with purple, my guess that the added color comes from the chill. So it is an added pleasure to see my little blue stars again.


2 comments:

  1. I didn't toss a single seedling you gave me since I anticipate great losses, but I intend to bend tweedia to my will and make it grow, just like yours. And since the seedlings are yours, they're still growing amazingly well. Wait till they find out they're really in my garden!

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  2. Your modesty doesn't make sense. You have a great garden.

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