Will the Real Mr. Snowflake Please Stand Up?

Greetings and welcome back Wild Indigo readers! Hey, did you hear the news? The 4th Annual Sustainable Neighbors Garden Tour has tentatively announced the spring date so mark your calendars for Sunday May 3rd. In case you're new to the area (and even if you aren't) and would like more details click here. Help spread the news to locate more Fayetteville area secret gardens to explore!

After taking Easter week off I had more time to shoot pictures of what's in bloom at Celtic Gardens so let's get right to it!

Every year this mystery plant periscopes out of the ground but has yet to bloom before the lawnmower mulches it into oblivion. But not this year!  Behold the power of .....

  

So tell me who are you?

....... well I'm not exactly sure. Will the real Mr. Leucojum please stand up? Are you Leucojum Aestivum or would you prefer to be called Leucojum Vernum! Perhaps its some newfangled Army drone acting all commando incognito! Known as either the Spring Snowflake or the Summer Snowflake these cheeky plants are actually distant cousins to Amaryllis. Although similar to crocus they have taller stalks and much smaller flowers. Not pictured very well is the bulging seed pod just above the green spotted tepals. You the reader gets to decide which which is what.

Easter Sunday morning met us with a chill in the air but with a cup of hot Sumatra coffee in hand my view was simply serendipitous. The coral honeysuckle is nearly bustin a move with sick blooms and just in time too ~ hummingbirds have been spotted in the neighborhood!

In the picture below you'll notice the Kalanchoe, featured in February's blog, is outside enjoying a breath of fresh air. The bees seem to enjoy the bright orange flowers which are still in bloom. In the forefront purple violas smile for the camera. The pansy painted pot is a precious good-bye gift painted by a former co-worker whose Ground Hog Day birthday was always fun to celebrate! The adjacent four pack of flowers shall remain a nameless as I've got secret plans for them later so stay tuned! A sure herald of spring in this region are primrose flowers and for good reason. Their cheery color just shouts super happy spring gibberish! And way in the background a pot of chocolate mint awaits its new home.  

 

Remember the asparagus photos from a few weeks ago? Well here they are today. And they are giNORmous!!  In fact they've already reached last years height. I'm hoping they'll get even taller to provide some privacy screening for the deck. Admittedly I've nibbled off a teensy tiny piece and it was YUMMEA but they'll go unharvested yet again this year.  But watch out next year baby ~ you're gonna be wonderful dressed up with a little garlic, olive oil and lemon thyme!!!

Now in case you live under a rock or just really could care less about such things, there was a major astrological event Saturday morning April 4th. Star gazers from all over the world were lucky enough to glimpse April's lunar eclipse/pink full moon as the internet attests with scads of stunning images. As for our area, cloudy skies prevailed *SIGH* but a Friday night full moon shot is below. 
  

 

That's it for this week. Now that evening temps will be consistently warmer you can bet mysterious germinating seeds will be the scoop for next week's entry.

Wild Indigo thought of the week: ruling over thoughts and emotions is better than them ruling over me.

And as always, may happiness be like rays of sunshine in your mind, body and soul.


P. S. Come get valuable sustainable gardening information, buy heirloom plants and wonderful hand crafted herbal Sonshine Soaps at the Fayetteville Downtown City market. Stop by the Sustainable Neighbors booth Saturday mornings from 9:00 am until noon and peruse. Grand season opening is April 18th!