However you and yours celebrate this time of the year, be it secular, Jewish or Christian, may you have a joyful and blessed holiday.
Click on the image above to enlarge.
Artichoke Farm
As of a few days ago, there were two artichokes growing in the garden after all. I didn’t spot the second, smaller pod because it was hiding under one of the large leaves the plant grows. The two pods are currently softball and tennis ball sizes. I was hoping that we would get a second one since we decided to let the first one become an artichoke thistle flower.
Yesterday, I discovered a third ‘choke growing on the second artichoke plant. We haven’t decided on it’s fate yet, but there is a better than 50% chance that it will also become a flower. Today, I found a forth ‘choke in the third plant. The jury is out on the fate of that one.
This means we can have our ‘choke and eat it too! Click on the image to enlarge.
Gazania – The Treasure Flower
I love all of the spring flowers on our patio. This is an image of a gazania in a planter near the patio swing that I took today. No wonder that these are often called “treasure flowers.” Click to enlarge.
Shoreline Discovery Trail
Today was an extraordinarily clear, cool day along the shoreline of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. We visited the recently opened Discovery Trail at the Terranea Resort.
The path is open to the public so we took a walk out to the first viewing area. I took several photos while we were there including this one of a California Brown Pelican with Catalina Island in the distance across the channel. We normally don’t see the island in this much detail due to the marine haze which was blown out by a weather front that passed here yesterday. Click on the image to see full-sized.
Frosty Pink
When I acquired this succulent, I did not keep the label that tells me the name of this species. Today, I spotted one in the garden shop, picked it up and photographed the label on the plastic flowerpot. It identified this as “Frosty Pink,” a type of Kalanchoe, pumila to be exact.
Drought tolerant when established. Kalanchoe pumila has cascading stems making it excellent for hanging baskets. Masses of lavender pink flowers from January to April. Requires well-drained soil and temperatures above 36°F.
Click on the image above to enlarge.
Ramirez On Our Broken Foreign Policy
Ramirez leaves out Castro and Hugo Chavez, but you get the picture . . .
Growing Artichokes
For the first time, our artichoke has sprouted a flower pod. We’ve decided not to harvest the edible pod but to let it bloom into the gorgeous flower that artichokes bear. I just watered this plant on Saturday and did not notice the flower pod that seems to have sprung up overnight until Sunday.
I transplanted this from the plastic flowerpot where I tried growing this last year. It has been in its new spot since last fall. I’m hoping that it sprouts another pod because I would like to harvest one of these. Artichokes are usually 3 to 5 dollars (sometimes more) in the produce section of the supermarket.
Click on the image to enlarge.
I found this about the artichoke at Wikipedia:
The Globe Artichoke (Cynara cardunculus) is a perennial thistle originating in southern Europe around the Mediterranean. It grows to 4 to six feet tall, with arching, deeply lobed, silvery glaucous-green leaves 20 to 30 inches long. The flowers develop in a large head from an edible bud about 3 to 6 inches in diameter with numerous triangular scales; the individual florets are purple. The edible portion of the buds consists primarily of the fleshy lower portions of the involucral bracts and the base, known as the “heart”; the mass of immature florets in the center of the bud is called the “choke”.