Early Spring Showings



oakleaf lettuce



Spring is already bursting with life at our house, two weeks before the official start of the season. We're being blessed with an early start to a plentiful crop of vegetables. The lettuce and broccoli seeds are happily germinating in abundance, less than a week after being planted in little indoor containers.

bell pepper

It's no wonder, now that I read the seed packets again. I purchased the minimum quantity of seeds, which varied from item to item. Some, like eggplant and peppers, only included 25 or 30 seeds. But the oakleaf lettuce packet contained 600 seeds, with a 90% germination rate. In another week, I'll need to find another temporary home for these hundreds of tiny lettuce plants before they crowd each other out.

broccoli

I am anxiously awaiting the first sign that my tomato seeds are going to be successful. They're the only thing that hasn't started sprouting yet. Although I purchased some liquid fish fertilizer, I am intimidated about using it on the plants yet. They are so tiny and delicate that any imbalance would easily wipe them out at this point.



narcissus or daffodil



Meantime, my yard is blooming with things I've made little to no effort cultivating. Cheery daffodils, or narcissus, grow against the backdrop of last fall's leftover fallen leaves. I thought my neighbor's were more showy than mine, so she let me use a photo of her daffodils. She even invited me to dig some up for transplanting when they're finished blooming.

mahonia

New growth on the mahonia bush looks stunning to me. I'm disappointed to know that it's not a native plant to our area in the South. But I like the way it attracts birds with its bright berries that will darken as the seasons progress.