slightly more gardening done

[mellowtigger]

The temperature in Minneapolis reached 29C/84F yesterday. That's an interesting trick, since April temperatures are usually just comfortably above freezing. Next Saturday, the forecast is for one degree above freezing. I got some seeds into flats, so hopefully I'll have sprouts just in time to plant after all the frost is gone.

I did some more digging in my back yard to eliminate unwanted growth. I'm starting to wonder if blackberry canes are worth the trouble? At least I have very little burdock appearing this year. We could learn intolerance in the garden, where we decide which species must live and which must die. I'm not very efficient at gardening, thankfully, because I let things grow just to see them grow. Sometimes new and surprising things show up. Like this lone purple aster. Plant databases online suggest this tiny little plant is actually a Greek anemone. Where did it come from? Surprise! Just flowering there, all alone, no pollinators around that I can tell yet. I hope it survives and continues to a new generation. I searched my email, but I never bought such a plant online.

I was happy to see that some Glory-of-the-Snow that I transplanted previously has survived and is now showing off in my front yard. In a few more years, it should be a nice broad carpet when the snow first melts.

I wish I didn't devote most of my waking hours to thoughts of "earning a living". I'd rather do gardening and other stuff.

Comments

[bitterlawngnome]

I love those "blue" anemones and plant a few more every year.

[mellowtigger]

Do you buy them online? It really is very nice. I'd be happy to have that entire area covered in them.

[bitterlawngnome]

Yah, for instance https://www.whiteflowerfarm.com/503005-product.html

'Blue Shades' is the standard blue but you can find A. blanda in every variation of white-pink-purple, just search around. There are doubles too but myself I don't much care for them.

They flower and leaf out in the early part of the year, and then the leaves die down once it gets hot and dry. Here they start blooming with the snowdrops. So you can use them in places that might get a lot of shade when the trees are fully leafed out in the summer but are bright at this time of year.

[zipperbear]

"Anemone" is literally named after the daughter of the wind in Greek mythology (cognate with Latin anima "breath" as in animal/animate). The seeds aren't quite as extreme as dandelions and thistles, but they do have feathery tufts to help them spread by wind, so they can show up as unexpected garden visitors.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anemone

[mellowtigger]

Ooh, thanks! I very much like knowing the history of words. Etymology was one of my favorite subjects in an old high school English class of mine. :)