Springtime for Hitler (And Everyone Else)

  Though yesterday was the official first day of Spring, it has felt like spring for well over a month now. I came into the season with every intention of planting my garden on or around April 1st, but I couldn't resist anymore. I planted on the 13th after a careful look at the monthly forecast and some deep contemplation. The story of this year has been one of extremely great weather from a gardening perspective, as the temperatures have been above 40 degrees since I started this blog. There will be some trade-offs, for sure, with allergies and insects and the like. The Diane Rehm Show today is discussing the negative consequences of such nice weather so early. We'll see how it goes.
I'm going to do this blog a little differently, as it will be organized by location in the yard.
Enjoy!

The Cactus Garden

Once the rains came, or more accurately, as the rains came, I decided to fertilize my cacti.
I bought a cactus/aloe/succulent fertilizer from Home Despot last year but never used it- until now.
In a gallon jug filled with water, I added the recommended 7 drops and watered all of my cacti. I'm not sure if the fertilizer is responsible for what's happening, but I like to think it played a part.

New growth has been evident in this Texas prickly pear

New cactus growth comes from the areoles where spines grow

It looks like the Texas prickly pear will have a total of 5 new pods by season's end

The bottom pod from which the roots grow will gradually look more tree-like

Three days later, even more growth is noticeable

The pods on these cacti can grow up to 11 inches in diameter

I like the Texas prickly pear, and not just because it's named after my home state.
It's just the one with the best growth thus far.

The large tiger tongue is growing another 5 or 6 pods- more than I pruned last year

Though the areoles look bare, they have very tiny spines like splinters

Looking good!

This is called a Texas Santa Rita cactus. It can has a purple hue and long spines

It's growing two new pods

If you don't monitor your planters, clovers and other plants sneak in

But they can be dealt with

This trash can cactus came from two pods form the big tiger's tongue and a year of growth...

I traded it to a new local bar for a Shiner Wild Hare pale ale
It was well worth it!

Fall Bulbs

Mom gave me some bulbs to plant in the fall, so I did. I don't know what they are because I have this bad habit of not really bothering to learn about plants until after I have proven that I can grow them.
I don't like to count my chickens before they're hatched- even though they mostly hatch.

Growing since the fall, they started blooming the second week of March

Looking good!

The full effect

Chloe doesn't respect my garden all the time, but she likes being outside with me

From far away

By the 16th, I had two of them

These flowers attract bees

Awesome

The Table

The table is where I put my sunburned plants and do most of my repotting.

Because I moved them out before the leaves on the trees came back, the ficus, aloe, crown of thorns, and the cactus got burned.

My little brother got me this large succulent for my birthday!

Morning Glories

Morning glories are fast-growing vines that produce copious flowers that bloom in the morning. I also planted some moon flowers which bloom at night. I built a trellis that should bring foliage all over the garden.

This broken cabinet serves as the planter

I have a lot of seeds that I have been collecting for several years.
Mom gave me seeds from her plants from last season.

To germinate, put the seeds on a damp paper towel

Then fold it over

Fold it some more if you please

Put it in a sandwich bag and seal

You're only supposed to germinate for 24 hours, but I forgot about it. 3 days didn't appear to hurt anything.

The big seeds on the left are the moon flowers. The rest are various morning glories.

I ran a twine rope from a nail driven into the cabinet to a tree branch.

Then I ran another twine to a tree on the other side of the yard

I added several other ropes

After two days, the morning glories started appearing!

The Toilet

It was time to plant the bowl of the toilet with wandering Jew cuttings I took earlier.

Several cuttings

Readying the toilet included loosening the soil

After that, it was just a matter of putting the cuttings in and gently putting soil around the roots
and keeping it well watered so that the roots take

I have no idea what's growing here, but I have yet to see my elephant ears.

The Planter

Throughout the winter, I have threw down beds made of whatever scrap wood I could get my hands on- especially bookshelves. Since we are probably out of danger from frost, I planted vegetables into them.

I've been interested in gardening for a while, but I never planted flower seeds.
Thus, I had plenty lying around.

I mixed them and planted them in this bed because I don't want to eat vegetables out of a painted bed.

Water is very important.

I planted vegetables in the bed where I grew a pepper plant last year.
From left to right: Zucchini, cucumber, pumpkin, and watermelon

I planted lettuce in the bed with the cabbage and tomatoes in the next bed.

Herbs from bottom up: Basil, cilantro, sage, and dill

The lettuce is already sprouting

Dogs....

Elsewhere in the Backyard

More planting took place outside my established places in the yard, and nature was doing what nature does.

I don't know what this is

These are all over the backyard

It's difficult to see, but this pink tree is an Eastern redbud.
Denton County is the Eastern redbud capital of Texas. True story.

White faced cats have been known to inhabit the back yard

Chloe got herself stuck in the garage

I have heard that mint is an invasive plant, but now I know for sure.

Mint has no qualms about reaching well beyond its place

See? It couldn't care less about the rosemary.
I picked this bit out and I'm attempting to grow it from a cutting

I extended this bed, put the potted bulbs in the ground, and planted wildflower seeds

I spread spearmint and catnip seeds throughout the area

The path needs to be cleared again. Spring is clearly here.

Don't let her fool you. She want to wreck my garden.

Mom gave me these from her garden. She just pulled them out of the ground.

Kelly decided to help me that day, but only because it was better than writing a paper :)

I appreciated her help.

Stonecrop.

Mom gave me these purple clovers, and I promptly killed them with under watering.
It was winter, and they were inside. They came right back as soon as the rains came!

The leaves are coming back and everything is covered with a thick, yellow layer of pollen.
The yard is a nice shade of green.

Kelly and I went to Huntsville this week to see her grandma and check out her land. We were thinking about moving there so fast that I would have to change the blog title to
"Huntsville Crapload-of-Land Garden,"
but we decided to move next year instead.
It rained the entire time we were gone, so the next round of pictures should feature lots of new growth!