Last year, I think we got one or two red flowers from this epiphyllum. This year, it looks like there may be as many as a dozen of these beautiful flowers coming out. This is the first of many more to come. Click on the image to see the wallpaper-sized picture.
We expect to have a pretty good crop of vegetables in our garden this summer. There are several kinds of squash growing (pumpkin, crookneck, zucchini), our usual green beans, hot peppers and several varieties of tomatoes including these heirloom tomatoes. The heirlooms are especially flavorful in salads or slices in sandwiches.
We took a great walk through the botanic garden today. Spring flowers were in bloom – so many flowers and so many colors. The rose garden was magnificent and the lilies were doing their spring thing.
This yellow bearded iris was one of the prettiest flowers in the garden. It was hard to pick out which one to post, but this seemed unique. Bearded iris only flower for a few days at most and the timing was fortunate to see it at it’s peak.
Click on the image for the full-sized version.
I wrote a post last May about cosmos flowers that included a little background; I’ll repeat it here:
Sometimes called Mexican Asters, cosmos were grown by Spanish priests in their mission gardens in Mexico. The evenly placed petals led them to christen the flower “Cosmos,” the Greek word for harmony or ordered universe. Cosmos, like many of our warm weather annuals such as marigolds, originated in Mexico and South America.
These are currently flourishing on the patio. Click the image to enlarge.
These lovely flowers just opened today. We have had some of these outdoors, but this one was in the loft upstairs. I brought it down to where the sunlight comes in from overhead where I took this shot. Click on the image for the 1024×768 version in the image viewer.
Yesterday, April 6th, was California Poppy Day. I have many poppies like this one now showing in the back yard. I sure do love spring and the flowers that come with it.
I picked up a couple of Smith & Wesson folding knives today. They were on sale at a local sporting goods outlet for 13 bucks. We had been looking for a couple to keep handy for home and garden use. Maybe for other uses too – who knows? It’s hard to make predictions – especially about the future (sorry, Yogi).
I did the research and found that these can be legally concealed and carried if folded. They meet the California criteria for knives that can be concealed.
Anyhow, here’s the specs on the new blades:
Photo by Damsel – click thumbnail for close-up.