Crocus and Lenten Blooming

Saturday morning brought Lenten roses blooming like crazy. Sunday brought the Crocus. The onions that were planted last week are sending up tiny little green shoots. We are eating salads from the garden. It feels as if spring has sprung. It may be too early to rejoice, but it ok to revel in the warm sun as long as it last. Not to complain, but a little rain would not hurt. The garden has been watered three times and it is only February.

I know I have been pretty slack about posting to the blog for the last 2 months. The Master Gardening® class is taking a lot of time. More time is being spent learning than teaching. Perhaps this blog will have more quality information due to the efforts in the class and the things learned in the Master Gardener® program.

The greenhouse is doing great. Cabbage and other brassicas have been transplanted to the garden. Many things have been repotted to larger pots and another set of brassicas has been taken off of the pads and put on an unheated bench. They will probably be set outside for hardening off starting next week.

David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://davidsegrest.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/

Home Based Weather Station

Have you ever seen the rain fall in your neighbor’s yard; and not fall in yours or vice-versa? You might want to set up your own weather station at home. The information could be invaluable for your garden if entered in your garden journal. All you really need is a maximum/minimum thermometer (“$7) and a rain gauge ($6). Of course there are more expensive options for those who thing quality is measured by cost.

I am installing a fence that I hope will keep the deer out of my garden. A friend, who is a beautician, is saving me a couple of bags of human hair. These will be placed in little bags and hung around the garden. I won’t know whether it is the fence or the hair that works; but I won’t care if it works. If neither works, I’ll know that.

I found a beautiful little flower in my flower bed and I didn’t know what it was. I guess the birds planted it or if it is a bulb; maybe it came with leave or grass that I picked up by the side of the road. I had intended to ask the readers of this column, if there are any, what it was. I did find out that it is a crocus. Here is a picture, in case the person told me wrong.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

David Segrest is an International REALTOR in Charlotte, NC. His email is david@segrestrealty.com , His webpage is http://www.segrestrealty.com , and his international real estate blog is http://dointernationalrealestate.blogspot.com/