In spite of the still cool weather I’ve decided to get on with things, and have transplanted the two tomatoes from the greenhouse to one large pot with a stake to hold them up straight, tying the stalks to the stake with one inch wide strips of old pantyhose. I hope they will get along … they had to be put in together in the interests of saving space. Mind you I’ll be able to take the greenhouse apart any time now … the only things remaining inside are the tuberous begonias, one of them already in bloom, but when it is out of the way there might be room for a deck chair so that I’ll be able to sit outside and enjoy watching things grow. The geraniums are planted in their long pot, and I’ve put a row of alyssum seed along the front, and a few nasturtium seeds as well. It’s all a bit of a crush, but space is very limited, so they’ll just have to make the best of it. I hope they’ll be fine.
The orange tree is amazing. On it are several ripe oranges, several green ones plus a lot of fragrant blooms. Either it’s got its signals all mixed up or this is normal behavior when the plant is enjoying this Western exposure. I’m certainly not complaining.
I’ve mentioned the evergreen trees across the road from this apartment, but now the view is changed, with the addition of an amazing profusion of bloom on a hawthorne tree (May tree). It looks like a rather stout bride in a beautiful gauze-like white wedding dress. I think she has a green slip underneath that is peaking through in places. (It may have been her grandmother’s dress, a little too small for her). It’s a lovely sight, silhouetted against the darker green of the firs and pines, and once again the bed in the middle of the street divider has been cleared of the tulips and now re-planted with a mass of different coloured pansies. I love the way the municipal landscapers come up with such lovely scenes in the midst of all the traffic.
Helen Lang has been the Peninsula News Review’s garden columnist for more than 25 years.