February Garden 2011

I had planned to blog about my garden every month, but I missed last month… it was a bit wet and cold.  There didn’t seem to be much going on(I’m sure my garden would beg to differ).  Anyway, I went around today and took photos of my garden and grove. The Washington navels are just delicious right now. My other favorites, gold nuggets and tangelos are almost ripe, as well as the oro blancos, lemons, and calamansi. When we first moved here, I thought the calamansi were tiny tangerines. I tried one, and boy, was I in for a surprise. Calamansi look like tiny tangerines, but taste like lemons.  They’re great for using in cooking. Things are just starting to grow in the garden. Last season we had a pleasant surprise when “volunteer” hollyhocks grew in the garden. I hope they return this spring and grace us with their presence.  Here are photos from my front grove and garden:

And here are photos from my back garden. The local mountains are still snow capped.  After some difficulty last summer, the lavenders are looking really good now.  We had a few days of cold weather and the banana trees suffered. It’s nothing compared to what the rest of the country is experiencing, but for California standards, it was cold.  I do a fair amount of planting, but more often than not, after I plant something, I forget their names. I’m afraid I’m not a very conscientious gardener.  My dogs love to eat the fruits that fall from the Queen palm – they leave the pits scattered all over the patio. And here is our garden gnome “Harold” presiding over our little pond. His brother “George” presides over the vegetable garden, but I didn’t take a picture since the vegetable garden is a real mess right now :-). I had planned to make it a year round vegetable garden, but it didn’t happen this past season… maybe this season?