A Little Color in the April Garden

A bright blue sky on a sunny and cold April day beckoned me into the garden to see what was growing. Although it's mostly brown around here right now (the forsythia hasn't even started blooming), there are patches of green and other colors from the boldest northern plants.

Here are a few snapshots from my April garden wander: 

Rugosa rose hips spread over a bit of the garden that had been taken over by a gregarious honeysuckle bush that I cut back in the fall.

Looks like I missed a few garlic cloves when I harvested last summer. Oops! It's a good thing, though, because I didn't get around to plant new cloves last fall.

Look at these perfect dandy plants!

Strawberry volunteer. We don't even grow strawberries.

Second flowers are up, after the snowdrops.

These crocuses started to bloom before the latest cold snap, and then the unopened buds sat patiently for over a week, waiting for a sunny day.

This mess of brambles and old grape vines is my next project. I'm going to cut back the vines, rip out the brambles, and hope for the best.

a beautiful birch

Valerian emerging

A jade plant in bloom

A wonderful thing happened shortly before Christmas: one of my jade plants came into bloom! I didn't even know jade could bloom, and in an entire lifetime of keeping jaded as house plants, this is the first I've seen bloom. 

The clusters of pink buds formed over a period of weeks, an then they opened slowly and bloomed for a very long time. It is over a month since the blooming started, and the flowers are still open, though just starting to fade. 

i've done some reading since this unexpected blooming, and it seems that cold temperatures and direct sunlight are needed for a jade to bloom. I also suspect that a couple of early fall fertilizing gave the old potted plant a boost. This particular plant was a recent gift, and I'm pretty sure it hadn't ever been fertilized. My new (and now favorite!) fertilizer for house plants is a nettle infusion added to the watering can. To make the fertilizer, I use half a cup of dried nettle plant, steeped in one pint of boiling water for 12 hours. Strain and add to your watering can. This has been a wonderful alternative fertilizer since I gave up Miracle Grow in my journey towards a healthier, more sustainable life. I use nettle fertilizer on all of my house plants now, and the are blooming and thriving in a way I have never seen. Try it on you plants and let me know how it works for you!

jade plant in bloom