Blooming satellites

There was some more sun last week, and the plants kept flowering.

I didn’t think hemerocallis could bloom twice for one year, but still it happened.

A few months ago, my artist/gardening friend Yulita sent me two young passion flower plants. I read online that they would not flower the first year, so I did not try to provide them with enough light (it was not easy with so many plants). But one of them surprised us with this amazing multi-layered bloom… Up close, it looked like a satellite connection to the mothership (as Nick said).

Like most exotic blooms, this one was withered the next day; I hope there will be more. I am planning to give one of the plants to Lia – she would enjoy it, and I think she has more space, time and energy to care for it too.

I have been trying to grow gailardias from seeds since last year, but I only had two small plants that did not bloom.

A few weeks ago, I spotted an unknown seedling in one of the pots. I moved it with the chrysanthemums (the only free space I found), and it grew taller than them. Then it flowered, and it turned out to be a self-seeded gaillardia.

The forecast for the next couple of days is almost wintery: 2 degrees Celsius on Friday morning, close to the point of freezing. Yesterday I was busy moving plants around; Boris helped me with several pots and then he complained he was too tired. He is younger and stronger than me but he is far from my fitness level. I work out a lot every day, and I only need help with lifting heavy stuff if my back starts aching once again. He said he would move the others today, but it is a national holiday so he has no school; he would sleep in and meanwhile the plants would stay in the dark on the floor where I left them temporarily. They need light during the day, so I moved the rest of them too. Actually, I even did it several times, looking for the best place for each one. I hope it would only be for a short while, as there would be some warmer days then. But I want them to keep blooming as long as possible, so I carried them up and down the stairs, switching their places until I thought I found the best location for each one.

Boris seems to have no respect for my “garden ghost”. He constantly switches it off (he said its eyes were glowing too bright), and one morning I found it like this.

I have no idea why he did this; I doubt he has either, I guess he was just bored.

We keep playing chess sometimes, but I am too distracted. I try to think of some strategies and I feel like I am getting somewhere, but I haven’t been able to win lately.

I started a new project, black denim jacket with floral embroidery, inspired by our still-blooming garden.