Tuesday, April 01, 2014

Cute As A Bug or....Growin' Up


Yes, the post title is relevant.... you'll just have to stay until the end of the post to see.  Here is that rhubarb plant that is just getting gigantical.  I just hope the thing holds out well through the summer.  It seems very healthy right now though.


In fact, it's putting out this flower stalk thingy ???  Of you northern gardeners; is it okay to leave this or do you cut that out to make it produce more stalks?


Speaking of gigantical..this forsythia is really spectacular this year.  A lot of people don't like these, because they only bloom for a while and then are just..green bushes, but I've always liked them.  When the sun hits it, it just glows.  I have taken 2 cuttings from this one and they are doing well but it will be a few years before they catch up to this one's size.  The cuttings are super easy to do.  I basically just snipped a limb and stuck it in the ground or in a pot of good soil and kept it watered.


 I was also hoping one of you might tell me what this shrub is?  I dug it up out at my grandmothers's old place but Mama had no idea what it was called.  This is the first year it has bloomed and it's beautiful.  Can't wait until it's bigger, it'll really be spectacular.  The blooms are about 3/4" across.
The redbuds are also blooming, which is the definitive southern sign of spring.  Everything is really ramping up now and the sunny, warm days are really encouraging me to get back to work on the house.  It's kinda frustrating because I have to get caught back up on my pottery too.  I want to work on the house so bad but need to sell more pottery to buy more material!  I do have some material already purchased though, so I am going to designate weekends or some such to home building and the rest of the time to pottery.  I've got to get a good routine down.


Now, here is the cute as a bug part.  My niece brought her little boy down today, along with my sister and Mama, for a little photo session.  My land does have some scenic areas and we took a bunch of pictures.


Even bribed the girls to take part a little.  Greedy little turds will do anything for scratch. 

7 comments:

pamit said...

Hi Annie! I believe that is a double-flowering plum, an ornamental that is kind of unusual as far south as you are. --Your baby cousin IS cute as a bug! Surprised the hens didn't take a little peck of him :-) --Pam in CO

Ed said...

You should cut the seed stalk close to the base of the plant with shears whenever they pop up in the spring. Like you thought, it will increase the energy going toward stalk production. I'm surprised that you have one already as you normally don't see them on new plants.

Now that I've seen your plant, I can tell you for sure that the three my mom has are probably five or six times the size as yours. But they are also older than me in age so they've been around for awhile. It won't be long before you will have more rhubarb than you know what to do with!

MamaHen said...

Hey Pam! Oh, okay! yeah, it does have leaves and bark that are sort of similar to a plum. thanks!

Hey Ed! thanks! this plant is about 3 years old, I think. Wow, I had no idea they would live that long! cool! I sure hope it puts out a lot this year!

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Cute little tyke he is and looked right at home sitting with the girls. Thanks for the tip on the forsythia cutting.

Unknown said...

A great post! Spring brings out the best in all of us.

MamaHen said...

Hey Bea! oh yeah, he likes the chickens and dog and everything.

Hey Ken! thanks! it is a very welcome spring too!

JO said...

I love the purple flowering bush. Can't grown much around here. Someone said they asked the landscaper about some hedges on an empty lot and was told it is Crate Myrtle (sp) I love those and am going to try again.
Baby is adorable great pictures.