Lavender and Sunset

It has been hot in Santa Fe the last few days and we don't have any air conditioning in the house. So this evening we had dinner outside and then just sat and read. The garden looked wonderful as the sun went down so I grabbed my camera and took a few pictures. It was a beautiful evening and with the gentle breeze it made it nice and cool to sit and relax.

The Garden Comes Alive

Today Thomas and I spent the day outside working in the garden. The weather was incredible - blue skies, sunshine, mid 60's, gentle breeze - so we felt we should take advantage of the day. We cleaned and organized the shed, cleaned up flower beds, tended to the ponds and picked up trash around the property. We ended up spending about six hours out in the yard and it was worth it. It looks great and we got to enjoy a great day. While working in the yard we noticed that things were beginning to bloom and grow. I decided to take a break from working and take a few pictures. We spent some time enjoying the flowers because we know this weather isn't here to stay. Here in Santa Fe we can get freezes and snow up until mid May so these flowers are being fooled by Mother Nature and may only be here for a few days. Well, we are going to enjoy them while we can - and here is what we have blooming now.

CrocusDay Lilies

Forsythia

Iris

Roses

Tulips

Vinca

An Orchid and Many Poppies

I have a few orchids and I have trouble getting them to bloom a second time. I attended a talk at Tropic of Capricorn earlier this year and learned some incredible information about taking care of my plants. Last year one of my orchids bloomed (this was only the second time, the first was when I bought it) and I was so excited - even though I have no idea what I did to get it to bloom. For about a month I watched as my Phalaenopsis sprouted a stalk. I made sure to follow everything I learned to help this plant to bloom again. Today I was rewarded - when I got home from work I had a beautiful bloom awaiting me. I hope the reason it bloomed was because I did all the right things and if that is true I hope it will bloom again next year.
My Oriental Poppies on the other hand have been incredible. I have had this plant for about eight years now and each year it grows more and I get more blooms. I really don't do anything special to it - I treat it like every other plant in the garden. It must like the location because it is one of the hardiest plants in the garden. This year I have had 11 blooms so far, and I have 5 more yet to come. I am hoping that this plant continues to grow and bloom for years to come.