Got stuck into the long grass today, have griped and ripped most of it out, still a bit to go yet though. Have a pile about 5 feet high ready to become compost.

Even found that the grapes are alive and doing well

You did some hard work! The results of it sure do show which makes it very rewarding.

The second of the self sown pansies has flowered for the first time and it's a spitting image of one of the original 6 which was the first to die, the others are still going fabulously

Beautiful pansies! Around here they're used a lot as a fall planting as they are so cold tolerant. And for both spring and fall plantings some people plant a line of parsley behind the pansies. It's a really pretty combination with the color up against that ferny green!

I have about 4 tomato plants that have come up as self sown in the compost bins. Picked a few yesterday
Roma type is USDA 97L97, some Violet Jasper's and a couple I am not sure about

Let us know how they taste; better, worse or no different than the originals planted. Inquiring minds want to know.

Well the grubs have not objected @GoDawgs

The young citrus trees are starting to flower and the bees are giving them the once over, maybe that should be a mugging, should be good for pollination at least. Not the greatest photos, too breezy for the phone camera Meyer lemon, will need to keep an eye on them and probably thin the fruit clusters

Cara Cara Blood Orange

Not unusual to see a bee on each flower in a cluster, not sure how much necter or pollen that they are getting

GoDawgs wrote: ↑Tue Apr 01, 2025 10:23 am Let us know how they taste; better, worse or no different than the originals planted. Inquiring minds want to know.

Going to be a few days yet before I can give you an honest opinion @GoDawgs , still learning to drive a set of false fangs, had to happen at some stage unfortunately

My sympathies @Whwoz . I just had an old wisdom tooth out, so heartily agree, nothing worse than dental recovery time. Hope it works out well.

Ordered a few different shallots and potato onions a couple of days ago and they turned up today
The seeds are some bunching onions, turnip, swede and some more bee fodder.
All planted, mulched and watered in by 11, a good start to the day.

The third pansy seedling was open tonight when we got home from a day out. Solid dark purple.

Here is a comparison with one of the original plants

Just a few tempters from what we were walking through today at KaBloom. Must have been millions of plants all up, mainly annuals and were the bees happy

The last couple of photos were taken from a Ferris wheel

I had a Meyer lemon for a number of years growing in a pot. My climate is too cold to grow citrus outdoors, but after many years I finally did get a number of small green fruits. Then the plant got downy mildew and had to be tossed. Last year was 'way too rainy and introduced a number of diseases, but the rain did go far to fix the drought. Trade-offs, I suppose.

Checked a couple of each of the different multiplier onions by giving them a gentle tug tonight t see if any roots had started to form. The Golden Shallots were tight in the ground, indicating that they probably have started to root and one of the Potato Onions came right out with roots about 4 inches long on it. Ground is very loose so easy to scoop out a hole, replant and water.

A couple of more pansies have opened up lately, although these might have a bit of the Johnny Jump Up in them

A couple of natives,
Breacteantha Dargan Hill Monarchy

And yes the bees like it. Seed had been collected

And the pussy tails are doing well

Chrysanthemums, these flower around Mother's Day here and the last four that were give to Mrs Woz made it into the garden between some of the citrus trees where, as long as the wind doesn't destroy them they are doing well.

I planted some cornflowers in spring last year for the bees. They did well and are about done now, due to hit the compost bins if they haven't already done so. The bees really appreciated them to the point where last months rain has seen hundreds of seedlings come up and here I was thinking I would have to sow seeds. A small example

We love volunteers, don't we? At least most of the time. Thanks for the vision of loveliness on a cold, rainy day! At least my gardens are getting a good watering.