Mary, Mary Quite Contrary

how does your garden grow?

The ginger root we stuck in a bucket of soil is putting up all kinds of new shoots which means we'll have fresh ginger before we know it. I can't wait.

The freesia nub that Mr. Gaia brought home and left on the counter for weeks and then finally shoved into a bucket of soil has 5 fully grown leaves and is sending up new leaves all the time.

The birds of paradise "liberated" from the neighbor's yard are 50/50. One has sent up a new leaf but the other hasn't (but is still green, so there's still hope).

My bengal tiger rose has been blooming but the darn things don't last long at all. I swear they must bloom first thing in the morning and then by the time I see them in the afternoon they're already overblown. But my belinda's dream has had a beautiful bloom for several days now. My cherokee rose is holding its own with one green stem and a few green leaves with only a little bit of brown on the margins. My peace rose is recovering from its transplant shock and is putting on lots of new growth.

My kale is just starting to bolt, but is still edible, so I'm holding it for now.

My cannas have lots of greenery and may actually bloom this year.

My aloe is reproducing at an alarming rate, and is going to have to be moved out of the pots and put in the ground.

I have what Mr. Gaia tells me are garlic chives filling a 5 gallon bucket (sense a pattern here with the buckets? We have a ton of them full of good topsoil and compost).

I have a volunteer watermelon growing in the bucket I used for compost over a year ago (so I'm sure it's fully composted now). I swear I can almost watch it grow.

One of my rosemary plants is still alive and will probably stay that way if I keep the bindweed off of it.

The friggin' oleander and tepeguaje sprout faster than I can keep up with. But I'm keeping on keeping on with the johnsongrass (completely eradicated in one bed and the alley).