I know I've said it before but I'll say it again:  this is the best time of year.  It's been so rainy and humid and hot that you can practically see the plants growing.  When I first moved here I hated hated all the humidity because it makes my hair erupt in frizz.  But now I just have to look out in the garden and see how green and fresh everything is and I don't worry about the frizz (and coconut oil does wonders for dry, frizzy hair, if you're wondering.)  Just look how much things have grown since last week: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="time to stake the tomatoes!"][/caption] I specifically took this picture of this little fig bud because I knew it would come out soon.  Here it is on May 19th (that's five days ago, people): [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="may 19th"][/caption] And here it is this morning!  And yes, I did get up extra early just to take pictures of my garden: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="may 24th. more leaves!"][/caption] Hey, little fig!  I'm excited for you!  Now you have more than two leaves and I feel less like you're on the verge of dying.  Keep up the good work, kid. I picked lots of this arugula for dinner last night but as of this morning it was still going strong: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="375" caption="stop being so delicious"][/caption] I also picked lots of the spinach last night and it really is the brightest shade of green: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="375" caption="spinach!"][/caption] Seriously, the spinach and arugula is so flavorful you really don't need to do much with it.  I've never been much of a salad eater (feels too "diet food" to me unless it's smothered in ranch dressing in which case I'll eat it all) but I do love some gently wilted greens on pasta.  Last night I picked a bowlful of arugula, spinach and lettuce, rinsed them well and tossed them in a pan with some miso and a little bit of hot water to dissolve the miso.  I was worried because I didn't have any garlic or onions but the greens were so tasty on their own they really didn't need anything more.  When the greens were wilted (only a minute or two on the heat) I emulsified (that's a fancy word for "mixed") the miso sauce with some butter and then dumped some cooked pasta in and mixed it all together.  Some salt and pepper and a little of the reserved pasta cooking water to keep it from getting too dry and it tasted surprisingly delicious and it was totally easy.  In case you're wondering, here are the seeds these guys were grown from: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="tasty!"][/caption] I chose that spinach based on the name (obviously) but I've since read some things about it and apparently it's fairly sought-after for its taste.  I'd agree!  I prefer to eat my spinach when it's still little so it's not bitter but sometimes it still gets that weird taste in your mouth - almost kind of gritty, you know?  Well, this one has none of that.  Pure delicious. And the tomatoes are growing so fast that I'm going to have to start pinching these suckers off soon: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="375" caption="sucker"][/caption] I left these on last year but I think I'm going to start taking them off to see if I can't get more tomatoes and less foliage out of my plants this year.  We'll see! Oh let's check back in with the sunflowers, which are just over two weeks old now: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="375" caption="sunflowers"][/caption] So big!  Time to replant soon. And lastly the rain has caused my little (huge) feverfew to bloom.  The foliage is big but the flowers are like miniature little daisies: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="feverfews"][/caption]  

I know I've said it before but I'll say it again:  this is the best time of year.  It's been so rainy and humid and hot that you can practically see the plants growing.  When I first moved here I hated hated all the humidity because it makes my hair erupt in frizz.  But now I just have to look out in the garden and see how green and fresh everything is and I don't worry about the frizz (and coconut oil does wonders for dry, frizzy hair, if you're wondering.)  Just look how much things have grown since last week:

I specifically took this picture of this little fig bud because I knew it would come out soon.  Here it is on May 19th (that's five days ago, people):

And here it is this morning!  And yes, I did get up extra early just to take pictures of my garden:

Hey, little fig!  I'm excited for you!  Now you have more than two leaves and I feel less like you're on the verge of dying.  Keep up the good work, kid.

I picked lots of this arugula for dinner last night but as of this morning it was still going strong:

I also picked lots of the spinach last night and it really is the brightest shade of green:

Seriously, the spinach and arugula is so flavorful you really don't need to do much with it.  I've never been much of a salad eater (feels too "diet food" to me unless it's smothered in ranch dressing in which case I'll eat it all) but I do love some gently wilted greens on pasta.  Last night I picked a bowlful of arugula, spinach and lettuce, rinsed them well and tossed them in a pan with some miso and a little bit of hot water to dissolve the miso.  I was worried because I didn't have any garlic or onions but the greens were so tasty on their own they really didn't need anything more.  When the greens were wilted (only a minute or two on the heat) I emulsified (that's a fancy word for "mixed") the miso sauce with some butter and then dumped some cooked pasta in and mixed it all together.  Some salt and pepper and a little of the reserved pasta cooking water to keep it from getting too dry and it tasted surprisingly delicious and it was totally easy.  In case you're wondering, here are the seeds these guys were grown from:

I chose that spinach based on the name (obviously) but I've since read some things about it and apparently it's fairly sought-after for its taste.  I'd agree!  I prefer to eat my spinach when it's still little so it's not bitter but sometimes it still gets that weird taste in your mouth - almost kind of gritty, you know?  Well, this one has none of that.  Pure delicious.

And the tomatoes are growing so fast that I'm going to have to start pinching these suckers off soon:

I left these on last year but I think I'm going to start taking them off to see if I can't get more tomatoes and less foliage out of my plants this year.  We'll see!

Oh let's check back in with the sunflowers, which are just over two weeks old now:

So big!  Time to replant soon.

And lastly the rain has caused my little (huge) feverfew to bloom.  The foliage is big but the flowers are like miniature little daisies:

 

It's not exactly the start of this new gardening season - I started my seeds in March - but it never feels like a garden until I get it all outside.  So...here it is! [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="little ones"][/caption] It looks kind of pitiful right now but pretty soon those are going to be big plants!  I have lots of different plants this year in addition to my vegetables.  This is a raspberry from Bartram's Garden: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="375" caption="mr. raspberry"][/caption] I also have lots of lavender that I thought had died but lo!  I cut off all the dead stuff and now it's as green as ever: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="I certainly don't need four lavender plants but that's how many fit in that box"][/caption] And this lovely maidenhair fern that I also assumed was dead.  It came back!  More proof that my patio is a microclimate. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="375" caption="I love ferns"][/caption] I'm actually not joking (surprising, I know) about the microclimate.  According to the USDA hardiness zone map (which was just updated this year to account for global warming, which is totally a thing and everyone agrees on that now, right?  right) Philadelphia is zone 7b.  This means that the average low winter temperature here is  5-10 degrees Fahrenheit.  But there are factors beyond the weather that can influence this:  concrete and brick trap heat and walls protect against wind chill.  My patio is pretty small, concrete and surrounded on all sides by walls at least 4' tall.  Add that two of the walls are concrete and there is a tree that protects the plants under it and I would wager that my patio very rarely gets down to 5 degrees F.  Now I have yet to get a thermometer out there (I know, I was talking about this last year too) so I'm not sure, but I didn't expect a fern in a fairly small pot (not a lot of insulation from the ground) to survive the winter.  I actually felt bad when I realized I forgot to bring it in last winter and assumed that this was the end.  But then I saw some green and I left it and now it's as good as new!  My elephant ear, however, did not make it.  They will overwinter here in the ground but mine was in a fairly small pot and...now it's dead.  So sorry, elephant ear.  I loved you so. But let's end on a positive note, shall we?  Here are my sunflowers on Sunday, exactly one week after I planted them.  I can't get over how fast these sunflowers grow - they're the same seeds as last year and those plants grew to be around 7' tall.  I would say that they grow like weeds but I've grown weeds (feverfew, for one) and these grow much faster. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="week-old babies"][/caption] The best part of the year is fast approaching:  the time when plants grow with reckless abandon.  I'm looking forward to it!

It's not exactly the start of this new gardening season - I started my seeds in March - but it never feels like a garden until I get it all outside.  So...here it is!

It looks kind of pitiful right now but pretty soon those are going to be big plants!  I have lots of different plants this year in addition to my vegetables.  This is a raspberry from Bartram's Garden:

I also have lots of lavender that I thought had died but lo!  I cut off all the dead stuff and now it's as green as ever:

And this lovely maidenhair fern that I also assumed was dead.  It came back!  More proof that my patio is a microclimate.

I'm actually not joking (surprising, I know) about the microclimate.  According to the USDA hardiness zone map (which was just updated this year to account for global warming, which is totally a thing and everyone agrees on that now, right?  right) Philadelphia is zone 7b.  This means that the average low winter temperature here is  5-10 degrees Fahrenheit.  But there are factors beyond the weather that can influence this:  concrete and brick trap heat and walls protect against wind chill.  My patio is pretty small, concrete and surrounded on all sides by walls at least 4' tall.  Add that two of the walls are concrete and there is a tree that protects the plants under it and I would wager that my patio very rarely gets down to 5 degrees F.  Now I have yet to get a thermometer out there (I know, I was talking about this last year too) so I'm not sure, but I didn't expect a fern in a fairly small pot (not a lot of insulation from the ground) to survive the winter.  I actually felt bad when I realized I forgot to bring it in last winter and assumed that this was the end.  But then I saw some green and I left it and now it's as good as new!  My elephant ear, however, did not make it.  They will overwinter here in the ground but mine was in a fairly small pot and...now it's dead.  So sorry, elephant ear.  I loved you so.

But let's end on a positive note, shall we?  Here are my sunflowers on Sunday, exactly one week after I planted them.  I can't get over how fast these sunflowers grow - they're the same seeds as last year and those plants grew to be around 7' tall.  I would say that they grow like weeds but I've grown weeds (feverfew, for one) and these grow much faster.

The best part of the year is fast approaching:  the time when plants grow with reckless abandon.  I'm looking forward to it!

First of all, thanks to everyone who came to the container gardening workshop this past Sunday!  It was fun and hopefully informative and we planted some seeds.  My little sunflowers are juuuuuust starting to sprout in my front window: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="babies"][/caption] These sunflowers sprout very quickly so don't be worried if none of your seeds have sprouted yet.  In general seeds tend to sprout in 7-10 days, depending on the seeds.  Just be sure to keep the soil moist and put them in a place with light once you see the first sprouts, since they need the sun. I've finally moved all of my plants outside for the summer and they are so much happier (yes, they told me.)  Just remember that it's quite a transition for them going from inside, where the temperature stays relatively stable all the time and the sun isn't very strong, to outside, where the temperature fluctuates wildly and there is wind and rain and lots of strong sun.  My seedlings I put out in the sun right away since they need all the sun they can get.  But if you have a plant that was not getting lots of sun over the winter you'll want to start it off in a somewhat shaded spot outside.  Then you can move it to a sunnier spot and it won't be too shocked by the transition.  Here's one of my figs that I put out in the sun for its portrait but will be staying in the shade of the tree for a few more days before it goes to full sun: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="375" caption="portrait of a fig"][/caption] This fig (from the Rittenhouse Square farmer's market last summer) has always been the strongest of my two figs and I'm not showing you the other fig because it has all of two leaves on it.  This one, though, in addition to all the leaves also has buds at the end of each branch.  It's crazy how two plants of the same species (different cultivars though) can behave like two totally different plants:  one I have to baby and watch closely and this one just keeps on going.  I'll repot this one soon because it's getting a little big and looks like it needs more room to grow. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="375" caption="thyme!"][/caption] I'm sharing this picture of my thyme because it's embarrassing how many times I've gone to the grocery store and bought a little thyme plant to use in one recipe and then let it die by forgetting about it (same goes for basil and rosemary.)  I keep reading that it's not worth it to grow herbs from seed since they're so readily available but I loved all my basil last year and this thyme hopefully I'll be able to keep alive.  It's really simple - there's not even any repotting needed for this thyme because I planted the seeds in a fairly big pot.  The basil I will have to eventually repot but that's pretty easy, too.  I've just learned that if I take the time to start things from seed I won't forget about them; if I just buy a little plant I will almost definitely forget about it and then feel like a monster for killing it. I still do have some stuff inside, mostly because I've run out of pots for transplanting.  Here are my peppers, which I'm growing mostly for pest control but maybe they will be delicious and change my stance on peppers, which right now is that I'll eat them if they're in something but I'd rather avoid them.  These are little yellow stuffing peppers: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="375" caption="peppers"][/caption] And here are some more tomatoes; these are Jersey Giant which is another kind of Beefsteak: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="375" caption="ignore the cracked pot, please"][/caption] It's high time these little giants (HA) got repotted.  You don't want to let them go too long since the roots will get crazy and all tangled in each other and it won't be pretty.  Of course you can also avoid this by using actual seed starting trays with a separate spot for each seed but really, that would be far too easy.  Also I don't feel the need to buy things just for starting seeds when I've done well enough just starting them in my many containers that would otherwise sit empty and take up precious space. I'll leave you with a shot of my chives, which would look awesome in one of those planters shaped like a head because look  how hair-like it looks: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="375" caption="hair-like chives...appetizing!"][/caption]  

First of all, thanks to everyone who came to the container gardening workshop this past Sunday!  It was fun and hopefully informative and we planted some seeds.  My little sunflowers are juuuuuust starting to sprout in my front window:

These sunflowers sprout very quickly so don't be worried if none of your seeds have sprouted yet.  In general seeds tend to sprout in 7-10 days, depending on the seeds.  Just be sure to keep the soil moist and put them in a place with light once you see the first sprouts, since they need the sun.

I've finally moved all of my plants outside for the summer and they are so much happier (yes, they told me.)  Just remember that it's quite a transition for them going from inside, where the temperature stays relatively stable all the time and the sun isn't very strong, to outside, where the temperature fluctuates wildly and there is wind and rain and lots of strong sun.  My seedlings I put out in the sun right away since they need all the sun they can get.  But if you have a plant that was not getting lots of sun over the winter you'll want to start it off in a somewhat shaded spot outside.  Then you can move it to a sunnier spot and it won't be too shocked by the transition.  Here's one of my figs that I put out in the sun for its portrait but will be staying in the shade of the tree for a few more days before it goes to full sun:

This fig (from the Rittenhouse Square farmer's market last summer) has always been the strongest of my two figs and I'm not showing you the other fig because it has all of two leaves on it.  This one, though, in addition to all the leaves also has buds at the end of each branch.  It's crazy how two plants of the same species (different cultivars though) can behave like two totally different plants:  one I have to baby and watch closely and this one just keeps on going.  I'll repot this one soon because it's getting a little big and looks like it needs more room to grow.

I'm sharing this picture of my thyme because it's embarrassing how many times I've gone to the grocery store and bought a little thyme plant to use in one recipe and then let it die by forgetting about it (same goes for basil and rosemary.)  I keep reading that it's not worth it to grow herbs from seed since they're so readily available but I loved all my basil last year and this thyme hopefully I'll be able to keep alive.  It's really simple - there's not even any repotting needed for this thyme because I planted the seeds in a fairly big pot.  The basil I will have to eventually repot but that's pretty easy, too.  I've just learned that if I take the time to start things from seed I won't forget about them; if I just buy a little plant I will almost definitely forget about it and then feel like a monster for killing it.

I still do have some stuff inside, mostly because I've run out of pots for transplanting.  Here are my peppers, which I'm growing mostly for pest control but maybe they will be delicious and change my stance on peppers, which right now is that I'll eat them if they're in something but I'd rather avoid them.  These are little yellow stuffing peppers:

And here are some more tomatoes; these are Jersey Giant which is another kind of Beefsteak:

It's high time these little giants (HA) got repotted.  You don't want to let them go too long since the roots will get crazy and all tangled in each other and it won't be pretty.  Of course you can also avoid this by using actual seed starting trays with a separate spot for each seed but really, that would be far too easy.  Also I don't feel the need to buy things just for starting seeds when I've done well enough just starting them in my many containers that would otherwise sit empty and take up precious space.

I'll leave you with a shot of my chives, which would look awesome in one of those planters shaped like a head because look  how hair-like it looks:

 

It may be a little early but my tomatoes were getting too big for their little pots so it was time to give them a little more space: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="copious Copias! believe it or not I haven't been sitting on that joke for months and months..."][/caption] This year I tried to make sure I got most of the main stem up to the first real leaves underground when I transplanted so that each plant has a chance to grow more roots (better for water retention which is a major problem in the summer.)  You just pinch off the two little baby leaves, which are the first to sprout but don't look like real tomato leaves and are usually much lower on the stem than the rest of the leaves: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="you can see that each stem has two little baby leaves much farther down the stem than the rest of the leaves"][/caption] If we wanna get real scientific here, those leaves are also called cotyledon leaves [end science.]  I pinch them off and then attempt to get the plant out of the dirt with minimum root damage: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="375" caption="stem minus cotyledon leaves, plus roots"][/caption] Then (or before, if you're smart) you get your new pot and prepare it for planting.  Drainage is key:  trust me, tomatoes don't grow in standing water (and neither does much of anything unless you're growing water plants or moss.)  Most pots already have drainage holes in the bottom but if yours don't you'll need to make some.  Last year I made some just using some old scissors and lots of upper body strength but it's far easier to use an electric drill and less upper body strength.  Whichever way you choose, you're going to want holes that are big enough so that they won't get clogged with clumps of dirt and I always err on the side of more holes because you can always add water but getting rid of excess water is a bit harder. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="374" caption="last summer I made drainage holes with scissors; most people own real person things like electric drills that make this task about 100x easier"][/caption] Regardless of how you make the holes, you then need to make sure that all the soil doesn't just fall out of the drainage holes.  You need to water to drain but you don't want all the nutrient-rich soil to drain also.  You can use various things to keep your soil inside the pot; I like a layer of stones or old broken pots: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="layer your drainage material - stones, broken pots, pieces of your patio that keep chipping off - in the bottom of the pots before you add the soil"][/caption] The only thing to watch with stones is that they don't get stuck inside a drainage hole - if you're worried about that, larger pieces of cement or broken pots work especially well. All that's left is to plant!  So cover your drainage material with soil and whatever else you like (I add compost) and soon you'll have a little corner garden like this: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="garden!"][/caption] As soon as you plant each pot, water it until you see water coming out the drainage holes in the bottom - this will ensure that there's enough water and also that your drainage holes are working.  Then I usually water everything one more time to make sure.  Things'll look a little droopy at first (see above) but in a few days your plants will get used to their new homes and perk up. If you're interested in potting or re-potting some things or have questions on any of this, please join me on Sunday, May 6th from 2-4pm at Passyunk Gardens for the Container Gardening Workshop!  There was some info on it in the latest SPFC newsletter and here's the link to the Facebook event page.  I'll be leading everyone through container gardening basics and offering some insights of my own (naturally.)  Bring your own container and plants/seeds but I'll also have a few containers and extra seeds as well.  It'll be a planting party, which is fast becoming my favorite sort of party.  Hope to see some readers there!

It may be a little early but my tomatoes were getting too big for their little pots so it was time to give them a little more space:

This year I tried to make sure I got most of the main stem up to the first real leaves underground when I transplanted so that each plant has a chance to grow more roots (better for water retention which is a major problem in the summer.)  You just pinch off the two little baby leaves, which are the first to sprout but don't look like real tomato leaves and are usually much lower on the stem than the rest of the leaves:

If we wanna get real scientific here, those leaves are also called cotyledon leaves [end science.]  I pinch them off and then attempt to get the plant out of the dirt with minimum root damage:

Then (or before, if you're smart) you get your new pot and prepare it for planting.  Drainage is key:  trust me, tomatoes don't grow in standing water (and neither does much of anything unless you're growing water plants or moss.)  Most pots already have drainage holes in the bottom but if yours don't you'll need to make some.  Last year I made some just using some old scissors and lots of upper body strength but it's far easier to use an electric drill and less upper body strength.  Whichever way you choose, you're going to want holes that are big enough so that they won't get clogged with clumps of dirt and I always err on the side of more holes because you can always add water but getting rid of excess water is a bit harder.

Regardless of how you make the holes, you then need to make sure that all the soil doesn't just fall out of the drainage holes.  You need to water to drain but you don't want all the nutrient-rich soil to drain also.  You can use various things to keep your soil inside the pot; I like a layer of stones or old broken pots:

The only thing to watch with stones is that they don't get stuck inside a drainage hole - if you're worried about that, larger pieces of cement or broken pots work especially well.

All that's left is to plant!  So cover your drainage material with soil and whatever else you like (I add compost) and soon you'll have a little corner garden like this:

As soon as you plant each pot, water it until you see water coming out the drainage holes in the bottom - this will ensure that there's enough water and also that your drainage holes are working.  Then I usually water everything one more time to make sure.  Things'll look a little droopy at first (see above) but in a few days your plants will get used to their new homes and perk up.

If you're interested in potting or re-potting some things or have questions on any of this, please join me on Sunday, May 6th from 2-4pm at Passyunk Gardens for the Container Gardening Workshop!  There was some info on it in the latest SPFC newsletter and here's the link to the Facebook event page.  I'll be leading everyone through container gardening basics and offering some insights of my own (naturally.)  Bring your own container and plants/seeds but I'll also have a few containers and extra seeds as well.  It'll be a planting party, which is fast becoming my favorite sort of party.  Hope to see some readers there!

Okay, so my garden didn't go to Longwood Gardens...but I did!  Somehow in all my years of living here I'd never been to Longwood.  Crazy!  But a nice weekend and a birthday present (thanks, sweetie!) meant that it was finally time to go.  I took tons of pictures but I thought I'd share the best ones with you all. Although I failed to get a picture of the exterior (nice one, Sarah) the huge conservatory was what I most wanted to see.  There's a fern room!  And a succulent room!  And like 500 other rooms and we went to all of them.  My boyfriend is very patient.  Here's part of the conservatory that I found particularly pretty: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="can ms. degiorgis hold a camera straight? no, no she can't"][/caption] The floor looks so shiny because it was designed to hold a few inches of water to reflect the plants.  If I was a better photographer I probably would have gotten more of the reflection in the picture.  But I like this shot because it's what I think of when I think of the word "conservatory."  Well, this and Clue. Moving on!  There was a cacti room, which was awesome, and also home to these little guys: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="furry ones"][/caption] Aren't they cute?  I feel like they need haircuts. Along with the cacti are the succulents.  There was a lot of aloe of all different colors, but I liked these: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="aloe!"][/caption] I like how many of them there are.  If I ever live in a place where I can grow succulents and cacti in my back yard, I'm totally growing those hairy things and lots of aloe. I took this picture because of the Crown of Thorns, which is the tall, thorny plant in the planter: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="375" caption="more aloe in the front right hand corner"][/caption] Here's my Crown of Thorns this past summer: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="374" caption="crown of thorns!"][/caption] Obviously mine is not as big and is also not variegated (the leaves are all green instead of green and white) but it did pretty well this winter inside and will hopefully be back outside soon. Next we have some Spanish moss: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="375" caption="pretty"][/caption] I love Spanish moss and would definitely grow it if I lived in the south.  It just seems so Southern Gothic, a genre of fiction that just happens to include some of my favorite American writers (William Faulkner, Truman Capote, Flannery O'Connor, Tennessee Williams, Carson McCullers to name a few.)  Don't you guys all imagine Spanish moss dripping from every branch while reading "Suddenly Last Summer"?  Okay, that's probably just me. This is spurge: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="375" caption="SPURGE"][/caption] And that's all I'm going to say about that. They also grow bananas! [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="b-a-n-a-n-a-s"][/caption] You can see actual bananas in the lower right hand corner!  I actually hate bananas but love how banana trees look.  It's a hard life I live. On to the ferns!  This is one of my favorites: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="375" caption="fern in a box"][/caption] This is a stag horn fern and I just love how they look.  Someday I will have one of my very own. And here's this little cutie: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="375" caption="passiflora"][/caption] This is a passionflower and I would like to try my hand at growing these one summer.  Maybe next year... This is a ginkgo bonsai: [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="375" caption="cute one"][/caption] It's a couple of feet tall and I'm not sure if you can see it, but the sign on it says that training began in 1909.  Wow!  Ginkgos are some of the oldest trees in the world; some in their native Asia are over 1,000 years old.  In fact, there is one at Bartram's Garden which is one of the oldest in North America.  Here's a good source for more ginkgo history, if you're interested, which mentions the Bartram's Garden ginkgo and also the two old ginkgos in Woodland Cemetery which have since been cut down. Lastly, here are some adorable little venus fly traps.  Look at their little mouths! [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500" caption="chomp chomp"][/caption] These guys are really small - about the size of a nickel.  So don't be scared!  They won't eat you. Hope you all enjoyed my little interlude...back to plants I have actually grown next week!

Okay, so my garden didn't go to Longwood Gardens...but I did!  Somehow in all my years of living here I'd never been to Longwood.  Crazy!  But a nice weekend and a birthday present (thanks, sweetie!) meant that it was finally time to go.  I took tons of pictures but I thought I'd share the best ones with you all.

Although I failed to get a picture of the exterior (nice one, Sarah) the huge conservatory was what I most wanted to see.  There's a fern room!  And a succulent room!  And like 500 other rooms and we went to all of them.  My boyfriend is very patient.  Here's part of the conservatory that I found particularly pretty:

The floor looks so shiny because it was designed to hold a few inches of water to reflect the plants.  If I was a better photographer I probably would have gotten more of the reflection in the picture.  But I like this shot because it's what I think of when I think of the word "conservatory."  Well, this and Clue.

Moving on!  There was a cacti room, which was awesome, and also home to these little guys:

Aren't they cute?  I feel like they need haircuts.

Along with the cacti are the succulents.  There was a lot of aloe of all different colors, but I liked these:

I like how many of them there are.  If I ever live in a place where I can grow succulents and cacti in my back yard, I'm totally growing those hairy things and lots of aloe.

I took this picture because of the Crown of Thorns, which is the tall, thorny plant in the planter:

Here's my Crown of Thorns this past summer:

Obviously mine is not as big and is also not variegated (the leaves are all green instead of green and white) but it did pretty well this winter inside and will hopefully be back outside soon.

Next we have some Spanish moss:

I love Spanish moss and would definitely grow it if I lived in the south.  It just seems so Southern Gothic, a genre of fiction that just happens to include some of my favorite American writers (William Faulkner, Truman Capote, Flannery O'Connor, Tennessee Williams, Carson McCullers to name a few.)  Don't you guys all imagine Spanish moss dripping from every branch while reading "Suddenly Last Summer"?  Okay, that's probably just me.

This is spurge:

And that's all I'm going to say about that.

They also grow bananas!

You can see actual bananas in the lower right hand corner!  I actually hate bananas but love how banana trees look.  It's a hard life I live.

On to the ferns!  This is one of my favorites:

This is a stag horn fern and I just love how they look.  Someday I will have one of my very own.

And here's this little cutie:

This is a passionflower and I would like to try my hand at growing these one summer.  Maybe next year...

This is a ginkgo bonsai:

It's a couple of feet tall and I'm not sure if you can see it, but the sign on it says that training began in 1909.  Wow!  Ginkgos are some of the oldest trees in the world; some in their native Asia are over 1,000 years old.  In fact, there is one at Bartram's Garden which is one of the oldest in North America.  Here's a good source for more ginkgo history, if you're interested, which mentions the Bartram's Garden ginkgo and also the two old ginkgos in Woodland Cemetery which have since been cut down.

Lastly, here are some adorable little venus fly traps.  Look at their little mouths!

These guys are really small - about the size of a nickel.  So don't be scared!  They won't eat you.

Hope you all enjoyed my little interlude...back to plants I have actually grown next week!