Spring Tonic

Today is filled with hope of the season to come. New ice formed overnight when the temperature dropped well below freezing but by 10am I was comfortable outside in shirt sleeves. These plants have spent the winter in a basement window. Today they had an hour in the sun. Their basement quarters were cleaned of dead leaves and white fly residue. Their windows are open and they are back in the basement experiencing screen filtered sunlight and fresh air. If the benefit to the plants approaches the lift I experienced from the warm sunlight and fresh air, then they are well on their way to surviving until they can be planted outside.

Hummingbird Antipasto

One of the most pleasant things to do in the garden is to sit on the bench and watch the hummingbirds. Ed and I were doing just that, watching a hummingbird go from the bee balm to the phlox, to the cardinal flower and the Nicotiana, but I was surprised to see the bird go to the flowers of this plant.

This is society garlic. It has beautiful striped leaves and lovely lavender flowers. It is in a pot because it has to be brought in the house in the fall. Purchased on a special day with my daughter Amy, I love it. However the plant is like a beautiful lady with a horrible case of halitosis. Whenever you water this plant, it expresses its delight by releasing an intense garlic aroma. It is for this reason that I was surprised to see the hummingbird sipping nectar from these lavender flowers. Maybe the nectar is sweet like the others or maybe a hummingbird likes a little garlic now and then.