Clematis in bloom

These are a couple of clematis which are blooming now. The first is Nelly Moser. It is growing up the arch with a climbing rose Zephrine Droughn. ZD is a fragrant pink rose that will be blooming in a couple weeks.
 The other is a clematis is one which I don't know the name of. It may be on one of the markers out in the gardens ( I have this planted in at least three different spots).
 As you can see from the last picture, I like to grow clematis up through other shrubs. In the picture, the clematis is climbing up through a ligustrum (which will bloom with it's sweet fragrance soon). I have clematis growing up through viburnums, mock orange, hardy hibiscus, and an Ann Magnolia. I also grow it up the lattice around our back deck, up an obelisk in the front garden, on the fence around the back yard, and probably a few spots I've failed to mention here.  I have eight different varieties, but I couldn't name but a couple without referring to the markers. In some cases the markers are missing, and the variety shall be forever guessed at.
 When you grow it up through another flowering shrub, you can accomplish one of two things. One being to have different flowers 'on' the shrub at either different times, or simultaneously.  If you plant a clematis like Jackmanii, which blooms on and off through warm weather, you can get multiple blooms from the one shrub. And you can have some fun with your friends when they ask you what that shrub is with the purple blooms.

Here you can see some pictures of the Cherokee Brave dogwoods I planted when we moved in. I planted 6, but only five survived. They have a unique pink bloom. In the middle and bottome picture you can see the   Encore azaleas.

 This is my Kwanzan cherry tree. You can see it from both the dinning room and the laundry room windows. 

Potatoes are sprouting.

Sorry the picture is sideways, I don't know how to correct that, so it will just have to be. It is a picture of the first potato plants to break the surface. I planted them back on February 18th, so it took about six weeks to see any results. 

We have been harvesting about two meals per week of asparagus since the weekend of the 5th of March. This is from a raised bed 5'x10' with 24 crowns (four rows of 6 each). We will probably harvest for a couple more weeks (usually right around the time the strawberries ripen) and then let them grow on. This patch is now 5 years old (if my memory serves me). We tend to get tired of eating asparagus after three weeks and will give some to the neighbors before we stop the harvest.

Speaking of strawberries, here are a couple shots of the bed of Chandler strawberries. These are also in a raised, 5'x10' bed. I have another planting of Chandlers next to the driveway, right where I park my truck. So when I get home each day, I will be able to stop and pick some for the way in to the house. I have a third bed of strawberries of a variety that escapes me at the moment. They were traded for with my brother. I gave him some Chandlers and he gave me some of his, so we can compare. My Mr Margaretta machine is just waiting to make some strawberry daquiris!

As you can see, the black seeded Simpson lettuce is up, and we have begun using it in our salads. I add some of it, some spinach, some Romaine, and some of the Iceberg together for my salad. My DW likes the store bought lettuce more, but she will add some of the garden types to her salads as well.

Installing a package of bees.

The two 3lb packages of bees I ordered were ready for pick up today. I ended up having to drive all the way out to Chester, SC to get them, but as good fortune would have it, I had the time this morning. I got them back home and went about installing the bees in two hive boxes. I had not leveled the hive boxes so I had to do that first. After leveling the hives I put ten frames of foundation in each and added an empty upper super on top of them. This leaves room to put a feeder can on top of the frames, and a space to pour the package of bees and still have room to put an inner cover and telescoping lid on and not crush any bees. I opened the package and removed the feeder can that came with it. The queen is in a small box with two or three tender bees and this was removed from the package. It is attached to the package with a small section of packaging tape. You can slide the queen box in between the two center frames in the hive box, and staple the packaging tape to the top of the frame to keep it from falling to the bottom of the hive box.
 Some of the queen boxes come with both ends corked, but one end will also have hard candy packed in one end. If this is the case, remove the cork from this end and install the queen box in the hive. If you get a queen box that does not have hard candy in one end, get a small marshmellow and stuff it in the end of the queen box. The bees will eventually eat through either the marsh mellow, or the hard candy and release the queen into the hive. This additional time allows the bees to become accustomed to their new queen.
 Once the queen box is in the hive you can place the feeder can in the top of the hive, and pour the bees in. Some folks like to spray a mist of sugar water on the bees before pouring them in. This keeps most of them from flying for the time it takes you to get them in the hive. I do not do this, I just pour the bees in, and then leave any that may still be in the package and place it in front of the hive. They'll find their way in.
 I also like to put a bottom board feeder in and reduce the entrance of the hive to no more than 1" wide. The small entrance is easier for the small hive to defend. Keep a good eye on the feeder, the bees will go through an entire feeder in a day when they are first installed. They need lots of energy and food to produce wax to make all that new comb.
 I think that just about does it, except that the girls softball team I help to coach, won their first game tonight in the most dramatic of fashion. They  fell behind going into the bottom of the sixth (the last inning)9-6 and had to come back to win. The girl who had the game winning hit had gone hitless up to that final at bat.  Well, actually she had a hit in her previous at bat, but had thrown the bat so was called out. She was very distraught about that, so it was nice to see her get a chance to redeem herself, and she came through like a trooper.

Spring garden pictures

It's been a while since my last post.  I have been busy at work and have volunteered to help my friend Jim coach both his daughter's 8 and under Challenge Team, and also her Rec league team as well in softball.  We did the Rec league together last fall and had a blast, so here we go again. We have a wonderful group of girls again this year. Four of them were on last years team.
 So anyway, let me take you for a little tour of what is flowering in my gardens.

These are the jonquils which were actually blooming last week. The yellow one is Golden Dawn and the lower one is Avalanche aka Seventeen Sisters. Both are very fragrant Tazetta type Nacissi. They do quite well here in our area and in five years have multiplied enough that I will need to divide them soon. 

My photography skills aren't the best but I hope you can make out the Prairie Fire Crab Apple tree in the 2nd picture, with a close up after. This tree grows right outside our large family room window. When viewed from inside the house, it is super imposed upon a group of native dogwoods (1st picture) which are in the background. I really enjoy the two weeks when these trees are in bloom.

These are some Hyacinthoides hispanica Excelsior also know as Spanish Hyacinthes. I have them planted in front of my antique rose Penelope. I will be sure to post some pictures when it blooms. It is a very tough plant and requires little care. It is like a knock out in that it doesn't suffer from leaf spot or other diseases. 

This is my table of transplants getting hardened off. I have tomatoes peppers and a bunch of flowering annuals. That is my Cardone plants in the bottom picture. I am going to use some of it for ornamental use, and some I am going to grow for eating. The stalks, after boiling for an hour of more to get them tender, and then fried, are reported to be tasty. We shall see.

In this picture of the back corner of my yard has Red Flame honey suckle in the foreground, with forsythia behind that and a Cloud Nine dogwood behind the fake rock which covers my wellhead.

These are some closer pictures of the Red Flame honey suckle. It is not fragrant but it does bloom repeatedly all the way through  spring-fall. If you want to attract hummingbirds to your yard, this is the plant to have. It is not invasive like the fragrant asian type is. I have been layering it every year to make more to plant along the fence. I hope someday to have the Gold Flame honeysuckle at the top of the yard to come all the way around the fence to meet the Red Flame someday.

The top picture is a Korean Spice Viburnum which is planted in front of a Chocolate Crape Myrtle, a dwarf tree with dark leaves and white blooms. That is a batch of daylillies in the front. The bottom picture is a Akibono Cherry tree that I raised from a small stick. 

The top picture is my dwarf white weeping cherry tree. I had always wanted one of these trees and so I planted one. The bottom picture is of my Burkwoodi Viburnums. They are very fragrant, so much so that some people may not care for it. I, and my DW love it. It is at the corner of the garage where we walk past it when we go to the mailbox.

These are the two varieties of loropetalum that grow in my yard. The bottom one has orangish leaves with pink blooms, and was supposed to be a dwarf variety. But as you can see, it is now over 6 ft tall. I am going to prune it hard after the blooms die back because behind them is an American fringe tree that needs some sun. I will be stuck with pruning every spring until the tree gets above the loropetalums. 

This is the Osmanthus fragrans, I don't know if you can tell from the picture but it is still blooming and the fragrance comes out later in the day.
 I have more pictures, but that seems to be enough for now. Go out and enjoy the weather and if you live in the Charlotte area, the Rhododendrum at the U of Charlotte have started to bloom and the gardens are worth the visit.