Rained really well so no trip to the garden

It rained a bit harder in spurts yesterday so again didn't bother to go out and check on things. Tomato is not really going to do anything fast, don't expect the beans to grow for a while and the cilantro is likely pummeled. Really understand now why people don't garden much in the winter around here and don't understand the people that do.

Vegetables are very seasonal for a reason. If you want to have a 'salsa garden' in winter, good luck. About the only thing that's going to grow is the cilantro. You need to plan your garden for when it's going to harvest not when to plant it. So having salsa in the summer you have to have really fast growing plants if you want it from your own plants. I could have done the tomatoes and peppers for sure but neither ended up ripening at the same time and not very well. Also need onion and the cilantro which I didn't have unless I bought it. So veggie gardening for me is more of a novelty, I would love to have the space to do a flower garden and this is another year I can't buy bulbs despite me wishing to. Gardening in general is seasonal. Some people don't understand about that or have a different idea of what's seasonal due to them being used to living in another area or state entirely.

We plant 'spring bulbs' in fall and 'summer bulbs' in spring. Because guess what? That's how long it takes for them to grow and bloom in the normal cycle of things. Another thing I would get asked is 'what's your favorite flower?' Now that's a toughie for anyone because there are different categories of flowers. Bulbs are wonderful because they typically come back year after year if you're in the right area. For So. Cal unfortunately tulips, crocus and hyacinth need more cold to repeat every year so they are one shot wonders if you don't chill them.

          

For bulbs believe it or not I love Freesias for sentimental reasons and for fragrance you just can't beat Hyacinths. Hyacinths come in four colors. Yellow is a newer color variant but previously it was 'blue', white, pink and dark pink. Each color smells slightly different and they are all wonderful no matter what so that would be one of my first picks. 

Tulips are gorgeous of course but very short lived at least where I am. All the different shapes and types are incredible! There are daffodil varieties that I have always wanted to grow because of how unusual they are. Where are the paperwhites you ask? Well they have their place of course but again very short lived and overrated in my mind. Due to their odd growing needs they don't do as well in the ground as they do in a pot and replanted. Cross fingers they decide to come up the following year and flower, haven't had much luck with that in the past.

Summer bulbs... I absolutely adore Gladiolas. Tall, stately and a wealth of colors from purple, green, white, red, bicolor, orange even. Full rainbow of colors and I would love to grow them some day. Iris..bearded iris are another flower that I'd love to have. They keep growing and multiplying through the year and you can divide them all over the place. Just about all bulbs will divide, that's one of the reasons why they're such a great addition to the garden. Put them in the ground, be sure to mark where they are! You can sink them in a pot so it's easier which with most plants would be silly. Overplant with annuals that will be there before and at the same time as the bulbs.

I could go into the details on how bu lbs, especially tulips, got to be so popular but that's something for another day.