Garden - Spring 2014 (3)

SQUEE!!!! I have broccoli sprouts popping out of the soil already!!!

This one is a bit of a mystery, though I am pretty sure it is broccoli as well, as I forgot to write what it was on the side of the container! DOH!

I also found the marigolds staring to sprout as well! (there's a wee little green sprout smack dab in the middle of the pic)

Working steadily on the garden today.  I'm currently cleaning up the planting area next to the back porch.  The mint we planted last spring has gone a wee bit crazy and as much as we like mint, we don't need quite that much.  I've decided to plant some sweat peas along that back wall. I love sweet peas. When my maternal grandparents lived in the back house (its like what is called a mother-in-law house), my grandmother had some along the back fence. The scent was as strong as the day is long, but it just wasn't spring without that scent wafting through the air.

Our Aloe Vera plants are flowering as well.  We have a few resident hummingbirds that love to feed on the flowers.  They should be south at the moment but they will be back in a few weeks when its consistently warmer to build their nests.

We get a ton of butterflies as well, monarchs, swallowtails and a bunch of others  that I only know by color.  They should be headed back up here soon as well, as our clover is flowering like crazy.  I love it when our front yard is covered in a sea of green with the bright little yellow flowers dotting the landscape.

Speaking of flowers, somewhere on the property we have a bee hive.  We are pretty sure its in the oleanders behind one of the sheds.  Thankfully they don't seem to be Africanized bees as Mr B has mowed back there several times. If they were, we would have had to take him to the hospital. I'm tempted to get a box for the hive and start collecting honey, but I'll have to do some research first.   It would have to be something that I handled completely as Mr B is allergic to bee stings.  We want to avoid that potential issue.  I remember when my eldest was about 5 and we had a bunch of clover growing around the front porch.  She was watching the bees busily flying from one flower to the next and said, "Look, Mommy! Happy Bees!" From that point forward, they weren't just bees, they were "happy bees."

I hope you have a fantastic day!

Mrs. Bissinger