We have wild phlox that is purple and we have wild phlox that is white. But every now and again we get one that is white with purple stripes, and I love those. Anya dug this one up from the field and planted it in my bee garden last year, and it is huge this year. And still has the striped flowers that I love!
While we were swapping out sap buckets today, Anya noticed our first daffodils in bloom!
The crocus flowers are starting to pop up around the lawn. White ones
Yellow ones
And even one purple
The old school (like before the Netherlands started selectively breeding them) tulips are blooming!
We have our first daffodil blooms of the year — Anya noticed some of the little ones by the detached garage had bloomed. There are a few larger ones in the same area that flowered.
The deep purple crocus are starting to bloom — and daffodils are popping up all over the place, so we should have all sorts of flowers soon.
The calendulas that Anya planted in the raised bed blocks are blooming — beautiful, large flowers:
Crocus flowers are starting to sprout up around the yard — years ago, Anya and I planted crocus bulbs randomly throughout the front yard. Some have split into three or four plants already, and some are still single little flowers. We’ve even got some sprouting up elsewhere — maybe they’re spreading seeds too?
Something like 20 years ago, I tried to grow a plumeria flower in my apartment. I had a broad-spectrum light, plenty of heat, and plenty of humidity. But getting the light turned on and off at the right times wasn’t easy (especially if I was at work all day!).
This seems like a really good use for home automation — our home automation system tracks the sunrise and sunset times for our zip code. It’s possible to essentially cron “stuff” off of these times — e.g. get the birds ten minutes before sunset. I could easily track sunrise and sunset in Honolulu then have my light turn on at sunrise (or first light) and off at sunset (or last light). Voila — “sunlight” that runs for the proper duration every day.