Friday, April 04, 2014

Crocuses at the end of March

 These crocuses are spectacular.  They finished at the end of March when we had some heavy rain.  I should divide them and move a few to the front crocus field so that I have a longer blooming period in the field. These were the last to bloom.


 I spent some time in March playing with my photo editors.  The Paintshop Pro X4 has some very interesting filters, frames and edges.  I have had it sitting around my desk for more than a year without finding the time to play.  I don't have any more time now, so I just took the time. I did the crocus above as a cyanotype and added one of the frames or edges... cannot remember as I did this some time ago.  There will surely be more of this in time.
This is the first pasque flower to bloom.  It was open at the end of March.  There are many more of them open now.  So, there will be more on them later, too.  The garden is bursting into bloom with daffodils, wind flowers, hyacinths, arabis, etc.  More on all of it in time.
On the 31st of March I was astonished to see a butterfly on the blossoms of the plum tree.  This tree is full of blooms and gloriously shining white just behind the deck.  Today, I saw the butterfly again.  It is even more ragged looking than it was a week ago.  So, of course, there was time spent trying to determine what butterfly it was.  It is a comma I think... but pictures and more on that too.
Today I finished repotting, fertilizing and feeding most of my orchids.  The phals are all repotted, and the cattleyas.  Most of the paphs are newer and do not yet need to be repotted.  I may have killed one or two, but we will see if they survive.  The African violets and cacti are ok for now, I think. 
I have made a few more soups to freeze for handy lunches.  So, perhaps I will be able to get out into the garden next week.  There are lots of weeds, the grass needs mowing and the hedges can be trimmed now.