Someone hit the "pause" button on our spring. The temperatures in the mornings have been in the high 40s (F) and the days have been cloudy and damp. This is weather we could call, using our favorite BBC meteorological lingo, "disappointing."
The garden seems to be waiting for warmer and sunnier days. I have been eagerly anticipating the blooms on our nigella, or love-in-a-mist, the "carroty things" that grew up of their own accord around our garden steps. Most of the flowers are still tight little round buds.
A very few have finally opened.
We're in a race against time, because the plants came up in such a stupid place. They surround the only steps we can use to access the lawn. Any time we go up on the grass, we have to step over them and hope Olga can weave her body through without causing harm.
We managed to keep six plants alive long enough to (almost) bloom, but then Olga broke off two just within the last week or so, bounding up the steps to chase foxes or squirrels. Those nigella casualties now live on our windowsill in a vase.
The rest are still at the top of the steps, where I've put in stakes to hold them up. We all want spring to come back again!
Spring will restart tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteIf only I could ship your our heatwave...
ReplyDeletemine are mostly white or pink but some blue. I didn't have as many as last year because I didn't toss the seed I collected. not collecting seed this year so maybe I'll get more to come back next year. if Olga doesn't destroy the last ones you should collect the seed and spread them in a better place.
ReplyDeleteThen I'm glad I live in the tropical north where I sit with a sheen of perspiration having just mown the lawn!
ReplyDeleteIt's horridly hot here. Enjoy your respite from heat.
ReplyDeleteOur spring seems to be doing the same thing. We'll get a blast of warmth and everything grows like crazy for a day or two, and then it cools off and everything screeches to a halt. I don't think I've seen nigella plants here. They're quite pretty and delicate.
ReplyDeleteYour spring is on hold and our summer has arrived with a vengeance. Record heat in these parts. I'll be off to the mall today. Not to shop but to find a place to walk.
ReplyDeleteYou are like me, i too love single blooms in jars on the window ledges
ReplyDeleteNigella, never knew that's what those carroty things were called. Learned something new today>
ReplyDeleteThis old weather man says , "It's been a weird year weatherwise."
ReplyDeleteYP: You're right! It did!
ReplyDeleteE: Well, I don't want a heatwave, exactly! :)
Ellen: Pink ones would be nice! We did gather some seeds last year and scatter them in another bed, but none of them sprouted. Not sure why. These seem to like the rocky, craggy spaces around the steps -- they don't seem to seed themselves in open soil.
Parrots: Ha! Well, it DID get warmer as the day wore on, and besides, mowing ALWAYS makes a person sweat!
Ms Moon: It still blows my mind that I live in a place where I don't need A/C.
Jenny-O: They ARE pretty. I wish they'd grow in a better place!
Sharon: Ugh. Record heat.
John: I usually leave blooms on the plants unless they get knocked off by the dog. Then they become windowsill decor. :)
Linda: Also called "love-in-a-mist," which is the name I'd heard in the states. I didn't know it as Nigella until we moved here, but as it turns out, that's the latin name. (Nothing to do with Nigella Lawson!)
Red: It HAS been weird. I feel like I say that every year. They just get weirder and weirder.
I have tons of nigella in my garden. Mine are a couple of shades of blue with some white ones. I would love to get that purplish color some day. They like to come up along the graveled drive way, but will come up in the beds as well. Once the pods are good and dry, sprinkle the seeds with abandon in the areas you want them. A couple of years of that action and you won't have to worry about a few getting crushed. x0 N2
ReplyDelete