Monday, March 30, 2009

Currant bushes

My garden is waking up. These past couple of days, I have been busy weeding to make up for my months of neglect, as well as pulling out the plants that didn't survive our multiple snow incidents that in Seattle qualify as "blizzards." Even during regular winters the lemon verbena doesn't survive, and I recently planted a new pot of my favorite sun-loving herb.

The white icicle currant bush that I blogged about earlier this month is in bloom, and as I promised Tanita, here are two photo of what the currant bush looks like now:


White icicle currant bush in the garden


Close-up

I was also smitten by the red-flowering currant bush in my daughter's school play area, and planted one next to the steps toward the back of our house. Here is a closeup of the buds on the red-flowering currant bush:


Red currant close-up

The red currant bush is supposed to attract honeybees. If it does, it'll be good news. A month ago, I saw a hummingbird flying around the area where the red currant bush is now. I stood quietly until the hummingbird flew away, and then looked around to see what might have attracted the bird to our house. I suspect it simply had taken a wrong turn, as our columbine leaves are just beginning to appear now.

11 comments:

Andromeda Jazmon said...

ooo these are really beautiful! Are you going to make current jam/jelly? Or are they just for the birds?

My garden is waking up too and I am trying to get out there and do a little every day. I love this time of year!

tanita✿davis said...

Oh, those are pretty! I would call them chandelier bushes, though. They look like earrings to me instead of icicles!

Unknown said...

Wow, lovely. Last weekend here in Rochester was the first dry/warm weekend of the year. Rakes could be heard scraping and scratching up and down my street as flowerbeds and veggiebeds *finally* get the attention they so obviously deserve

Myth said...

lol... my lemon verbena survives to be a leggy tree taller than me (because I forget to prune it)... but every time I try a currant bush it dies in the summer! Yours are beautiful :D

Anonymous said...

It's lovely to see all the green things starting to grow back, and I always love photos of your gardens. Everything always looks so nice and orderly, quite the opposite of my yard.

Saints and Spinners said...

Adrienne: The secret to an orderly--looking garden is to weed before I take photos. As I look out at the beds today, I have to laugh, because they certainly did not look that way a few days ago.

Schelle: How lovely to have a lemon verbena that thrives! We'll see how the red currant does.

Lori: It's the same story here. I keep thinking that I really should get out to garden in the winter, but when it's cold and rainy, I think of the poor gardeners who have to do it for a living, and stay tucked away inside.

Tanita: Me too! I think that's a better name.

Andromeda: If the currant bush actually puts forth berries this year, I'll try to get to them to make compote before hte birds eat them. Honeybees like red currant bushes, and they're the ones I'm most hoping to attract.

Anonymous said...

Farida, What is this "weeding" thing of which you speak? ;)

Saints and Spinners said...

Adrienne: I highly recommend the hori-hori knife for weeding. Dandelions come up like butter! Well, not the one that had a root over three feet long (this is not an exaggeration-- I finally had to stop because I was ripping up the whole lawn trying to find the end of that root). Mostly, though the hori-hori knife has served me well.

Beth Kephart said...

I have never seen these before! They are gorgeous.

Myth said...

Shall I show you my lawn in which dandelions are encouraged to thrive? I have this thing against monocultures lol... I guess it helps to have acres to play in, with that attitude! But dandelions are still one of my favourite flowers.

Lone Star Ma said...

Lovely!

The children make us keep the dandelions.