Around the Garden on April 8th, Part #9

 On April 8th the apple tree was in full bloom.  We now have a good crop of apples showing.  Pat pruned this fruit tree last year and there were very few apples.  This year will be an abundant crop.  My fruit trees do produce heavily every second year.

 There is going to be a good harvest of strawberries this year, also.  I must get to them before the birds get them.

 The rhubarb was looking promising, but it has now faded.  The shoots did not develop beyond the skinny, spindly stage.  I have never seen rhubarb that preforms as poorly as does mine.  It must need to develop a better root system.  I have not harvested any of it this year.  We will need to get rhubarb from the market if we are going to have that strawberry and rhubarb pie this year.

 The little rockery beside the strawberry patch is growing quite nicely.  The daphne is in bloom in the phote.  Behind the daphne are the strawberries and rhubarb.  The black pots in the background contain the new milkweed shoots I received from Dave 2 years ago.

 The scleronthus uniflorus, that looks like a moss, is spreading quite nicely on the gravel.

 The back corner of the garden shows the herb patch, some of the tall bearded iris, and a small cedar.  Behind the cedar there is one of the neighbors fences in the red color and the other one in the diamond shaped pattern.  It makes an interesting mix of patterns and colors.  The tall herb is the rosemary that I should clip back soon.  The sage is to the left of the rosemary and some of the oregano on lower left of the photo.  There is a lovely clematis twining around the herbs and climbing up the big cedar hedge, all in a dark wine color.  Its a very interesting hidden corner of my garden.

This is the big milkweed plant in a big black pot.  According to Dave, these milkweeds will take 3 years to become established.  This shoot is now tall with bluish felty leaves.  I have another one in another big pot that is still tiny.  I had germinated quite a few of the seeds he sent to me, and transplanted them directly to the garden in various spots.  I hope I have some more of them growing.  They are slow to start in the spring.  The monarch butterflies need this particular kind of milkweed for the larvae to feed upon.  The adults can feed on other nectar flowers.  I purchased an Asclepias tuberosa milkweed plant from Cannor nursery two years ago and it is growing in the cutting garden now also.  It also is slow to show in the Spring.  This is a good site that shows how to start milkweed plants:  http://www.ourhabitatgarden.org/creatures/milkweed-growing.html   On June 17th there is a discussion and demonstration on monarch butterflies at the Royal B.C. Museum, where I hope I can get more plants or seeds.