Passing in a Flash

I thought I was being attacked the other day. I heard shrieking, and I looked up to see three hawks zooming down toward me. They were about ten feet above my head when I realized two of them were chasing after the third. They swooped low over me, then soared in a huge arc back into the sky. With their wings spread wide, the sight reminded me of a dogfight between fighter planes! I am sure I witnessed my resident hawks, whose nest is nearby, chasing off an intruder. Of course I did not have my camera! I will remember it as the picture that flew away.

I had better luck with this more sedate bluebird:

April has passed in a flash, just like those hawks. Spring was so late in coming, I wish it would stay a while! But already we are having temperatures well into the 80's. The garden is transitioning to deep green. The pastel blooms of redbud and dogwood trees are gone. Most azaleas are spent. Soon the brilliant spring foliage of Japanese maples will assume more sedate tones. Meanwhile, there is plenty yet to enjoy as April comes to a close.

Philadelphus coronarius, or mock orange, is blooming. My friend Nancy dug up an off-shoot from her own mock orange and gave it to me in 1990, after a tornado took out almost everything in the center of our property. Her gift has grown and prospered, and I think of her kindness every spring when it blooms. Japanese maples glow in the background in the first image. On the lower left, the shrub to the right of the mock orange is Chinese snowball viburnum, still blooming and looking great after several weeks:

Rose buds are beginning to open:Clockwise from top: Bee is enjoying the last of a rugosa 'Alba'; Rosa mutabilis, also called Butterfly Rose; Rosa mutabilis; Penelope rose; Penelope rose buds; Knockout rose; Rugosa 'Alba'.

Here are more flowers. Notice the poinsettia at the top. It is not left over from this past Christmas. That is a 2012 poinsettia! It spent 2013 outside, and its foliage was so beautiful I brought it back inside for the winter. I did not expect Christmas blooms, and I did not get them. Imagine my surprise when it began to bloom in April! So it's back outside for 2014. Clockwise from top left: Poinsettia; Poinsettia to right of a potted arrangement; Clematis 'H.F.Young'; Calycanthus floridus 'Athens', a type of Carolina sweet shrub with creamy flowers that smell like bananas; Lonicera sempervirens, a native also called trumpet honeysuckle; Variegated weigela.Above left: Bordeaux Rose Salvia. Above right: Variegated hosta, coleus and coral impatiens in a crusty old urn.

Native woodland phlox (Phlox divaricata), hybrid columbine and Dianthus 'Bath's Pink' grow around the blue bench in the front garden. In this scene one gets an idea how the front garden wraps around the front lawn. The house is beyond the camera on the upper right:

Some more scenes from around the garden:

Fatshedera 'Angyo star' is a new viny shrub with large, ivy-like leaves. It grows to about 6 feet:

Clockwise from top left: Sambucus 'Lemon Lace'; Variegated Winter daphne is putting out new growth; Cornus florida 'Cherokee Sunset'; Heuchera 'Green Spice'; Autumn fern; Hosta 'Empress Wu'; Heuchera 'Citronelle'; Pieris japonica.

Finally, with warmer weather, I planted most of my summer veggies, and look what I already have:

And most exciting, one of those tomato blossoms has turned to this!

Grow, tomato, grow!

My Tomato

Back in mid April I planted out my little vegetable plot. I don't consider myself a vegetable gardener; I concentrate on decorative and landscape plants. But after tasting a home grown tomato, one needs only a square foot of sunshine to latch onto the dream of growing one's own, for those mealy, tasteless orbs sold in grocery stores don't compare to the real thing. There is a reason tomatoes are the most popular vegetable (technically a fruit) grown in American gardens.

Homegrown tomatoes are not only delicious, they are also high in nutrients that promote heart health, strong bones, and a healthy immune system. Studies indicate tomatoes reduce risk of colon and prostate cancers and offer natural protection against UV rays of the sun. It's amazing that some people once thought tomatoes were poisonous. Indeed, tomatoes are in the solanaceae family, a cousin to the potentially deadly belladonna, or nightshade plant. And it is true that stems and leaves of tomatoes are noxious, especially in large amounts. Nevertheless, the tomato is more likely to live up to its other reputation as an aphrodisiac. It has been called the 'love apple' and was once banned by the Church of Rome for its lascivious properties.

Before planting I amended the soil with compost, and then after planting I used an organic fertilizer specially formulated for tomatoes. In about 150 square feet I have a dozen tomato plants, along with pole beans, lima beans, squash, sweet peppers, carrots, and onions. I planted basil near the tomato plants, because I read that basil improves tomato flavor and deters pests. Before the heat arrived, I also had several types of lettuce, but those bolted many weeks ago. My vegetables get full sun, and I keep the area watered regularly. Tomato plants need about a gallon of water each, at least three times a week. Consistent heat up in the 90s and high humidity will decrease pollination, so tomatoes often pitter out by mid July here. The high temperatures and drought we have had over the past few weeks have been worrisome.

I kept a vigil over my tomatoes and other vegetables. I was happy to see lots of tomato blossoms.

A trick to keep birds uninterested in tomatoes is to have inedible red accents in the garden. My red tomato cages serve this purpose. The theory is the birds become accustomed to the color red and thus are not drawn to the ripened fruit. For the most part this has worked for me.

Tiny green fruit followed the yellow blooms, and, day by day, with each gallon of water I poured on the plants, the fruit grew. A flush of color finally appeared as they approached maturity. A Parks Whopper was the first to color up, and it was a beauty. I fantasized what I was going to do with this tomato: a grilled tomato sandwich with provolone cheese and fresh basil.

Last week the tomato was fully ripe. There wasn't a blemish on it. I brought it into the house and took a bunch of pictures of it. I left it on the cutting board next to a knife I used as a prop in one of the shots, and I went about my business. But the tomato was in my thoughts.

Around noon I came inside, anticipating my lunch. I halted when I saw the cutting board. The tomato was gone. The knife was there, a few bits of red skin and the stem beneath the blade.

It seems my dear hubby Lou had been eyeing that tomato, too! He assures me that it was delicious.