I’d said there’s been no time for sewing lately, but that wasn’t entirely true. I took Wednesday off to take Dave to a medical appointment. It wasn’t until the early afternoon, so Burton and I took the few morning hours we had to bang out another Blockhead block.

We’re still a couple blocks behind on the sew-along, but Burton is pretty pleased with this one, none-the less.

I believe I said, a while back, that I wasn’t going to buy anything more for the garden this year. I already have a pile of perrenials I need to find home for, AND of course, all the seeds I’m planting.

But you knew I wasn’t really going to keep my word, didn’t you?

In my defence, it’s just a small box. AND, I only ordered because they had a coneflower colour I REALLY wanted (Sunseekers Salmon). It was sold out everywhere else so I jumped at the chance.

I did want to try growing potatoes this year, so I bought a bag of seed potatoes. And then I was reading that shallots are sweeter and milder than most onions… and Dave likes’ sweet onions… so I thought why not try some of them.

Then I saw a few other things…

Top left – a pretty red False Sunflower called Luna Rojas (Red Moon?). I have several yellow ones, and I’d love to have a red one

Top middle – Atlantis Sedum. I’ve bought this before, but haven’t been able to get it to grow. This is my last try

Top Right – A gorgeous daylily called Vintage Ruffles because just look at it!!! Stunning!

And bottom – two beautiful irises called Wine & Roses, and Hissy Fit.

Oh… and that coneflower that started it all? They cancelled it and refunded just before the whole box shipped… apparently they were actually out of stock after all! Sigh…

The daffodils are just spectacular this year and I couldn’t be more pleased! Several of the new ones I planted last fall are blooming beautifully. And many of the ones from previous years have obviously multiplied. The spring garden is really starting to look how I imagined it in my head.

If I could only have one spring flower, it would be the daffodil. But I’m not limited so we also have tulips!!!

And Snake-Head Fritillaria

And Crown Imperials

And giant hyacinths

And grape hyacinths.

And so much more to come! More of all of the above, and also alliums, irises, and Spanish bells. Oh how I love spring!

Mom and Dad stopped by last Saturday, as Dad needed to borrow a tool from Dave. Mom brought me some baskets she no longer had need of. I have a bit of a thing for baskets. I love them… and would have far too many if I had my way.

But I’m not the only one in the house who appreciates a good basket….

He had to give each one a thorough inspection before I was allowed to put them in the sewing room.

Up there, they will hold fabric… not cats! Who am I kidding – up there they will hold both!

And speaking of cats and fabric… check out this quilt Mom just finished and put in the shop!

Since there was no sewing this weekend, you’re going to see a lot of my gardens this week, lol!

The garden, as ever, is full of weird and wonderful, unplanned things.

Like this lone little grape hyacinth growing up inside a ring of irises. No idea how it got there – I certainly didn’t plant it there – but there it is!

Or this Allium. It’s sprouted up in the lawn under the hose. In fact – there are three alliums coming up there. I absolutely did NOT plant them there. Nor where they left behind from the previous owner, because they didn’t come up there the past two years since we moved in. My best guess is the squirrels were playing hide-and-seek with my bulbs over winter. I wonder what else they moved around…

I’m not entirely sure what these are. I think they might be ground-cover tulips. I planted some in fall 2022…but not in that particular garden. They were planted in the driveway garden – these ones are a good distance across the yard in the front garden.

I know what these are. They are a double bloom grape-hyacinth. When they bloom, they are just a mess of petals. But “in bud” they are just these weird fuzzy mushroom looking things!

And these are obviously forget-me-nots. Except…. they were supposed to be a perennial bachelor button. I bought them last year from a local gardener who was selling some of her plant divisions. Obviously, things got a little mixed up.

I’m not mad though. I love forget-me-nots – In fact, I have a pack of seeds I planned to plant in the woodland garden this year.

I’m sure the garden will bring many more surprises in the coming weeks. Anything curious happening in your gardens?

There was no sewing this weekend. The weather was perfect so I spent almost all of it outside. The front beds were in a bad need of a good cleaning. I’d done all the dead stems and stuff in the back gardens, but hadn’t gotten to the front yet.

And with the rain we had mid-week, followed by beautiful warm weather, the weeds had just exploded. My two main foes this time of year are Purple Dead Nettle, and Creeping Charlie.

Both have pretty little purple flowers, and the pollinators do love them. But if you let them go, they just take over. The dead nettle is pretty easy to pull. The Creeping Charlie is a little more tenacious, but not too bad.

The thing is, I quite enjoy weeding. I find it very meditative, and it allows me to get right down on level with the gardens. I don’t bend or kneel when I’m weeding – I sit down on my butt and pull everything in reach.

And it gives you a lovely perspective.

You get a good view of all the little garden denizens. The garden is a very busy place, but it’s easy to miss all the activity if you’re not looking closely.

And I love how clean and happy everything looks when the weeding is done!

The bulb show is really impressive this year so far! I am just thrilled!

After weeding, it was time to take care of some seeding. Outside in Potager Parlour, I got some lettuce planted, and checked in on my spinach.

I’ve got spinach sprouts!!!!

Inside, I some of the seeds I started last week have started to sprout too!

On the left are my yellow cherry tomatoes, and on the right, an annual flower called Venidium (or Cape Daisy). It’s a big bold, orange daisy-type flower and it will probably be planted in the cutting bed.

I’ve got quite a few other things started from seeds, but nothing else is sprouting yet. I need to move my little greenhouse out of the catio and into a warm, sunny spot, so I can start some more seeds out there – as I just don’t have enough room in the house for all I want to do!

You saw a little sneak peek of my stitching yesterday, but it wasn’t quite all of it…

…. as I was able to finish the butterfly. It’s not a perfect gradient, but I think it works pretty well. I’m trying to make these only from my floss stash, so I’m working with what I have.

Up next, I have to pick out some complimenting greens for the leaves and flowers that surround it. But that’s a task for next weekend. Right now, the gardens are calling.

I’m making some very good progress on April’s socks

I’m down the leg, and through the heel and gusset. If I keep at it, I might even have the rest of the foot done by the end of the week.

And I noticed something funny about this most recent knit….

It’s very close in colour to my other stitching project! That certainly wasn’t planned! Stay tuned for more on the pretty butterfly tomorrow!

I know it’s not Friday Felines, but I had to share these pics of Burton.

When you saw the last FF post, you we’re probably wondering where Burton was… well chances are, he was up in the bedroom… looking something like this…

Does this cat know how to chill out, or what?

Of the four cats, he’s the only one who goes full belly up when he sleeps. And he sleeps like that a lot. Not a care in the world!

And just look at those teefs!

Here’s hoping you can all find some time to relax like Burton!

This past week has been absolutely glorious weather-wise. The night are still dropping to close to (or just below) freezing, so it’s still early to get too excited, but everyday has been bringing new surprises in the garden.

The Arctic Bells daffodils are all up and they look so pretty in a little clump. I’m so pleased with this new addition to the garden

Another new addition is this guy:

He’s a “Rip Van Winkle” Daffodil. And he’s just a mess of crazy petals with no true trumpet. Like Artic Bells, he’s quite small. I love him!

I don’t know the name of this one (it was part of a mix)

But it’s a pretty multi-headed frilly one and I’ve got a few of them popping up.

I was walking to the post office on Wednesday, admiring daffodils in my neighbours gardens, including some yellow one with bright orange centres. And then what did I spy in my OWN garden when I got back?

I’ve got two types blooming. The one on the left is a little bigger and pointier. Like the multi-headed one, these were part of a mix I planted last fall, so I don’t know their names.

The more “regular” daffs are still going strong

And I can see that many of them have multiplied. In a year or two, I’ll probably be splitting up clumps.

And there’s still many more daffodils to come – I’ve got late-bloomers to last me right to June!

Now… remember that plant I showed a few weeks back that I thought was an early lily? Well… it’s not a lily … though it is of the lily family…

I think it’s a Fritillaria Raddeana. There’s just one problem… I didn’t buy any of those bulbs. I did buy a bag of Peach Crown Imperials. They are supposed to look like this….

And are also of the lily family. (I have orange and yellow elsewhere in the garden). And I’d just chalk the whole thing up to a mix up in packaging… except I am almost positive there were only TWO bulbs in that pack… and I have TWO plants coming up elsewhere that I’m 99% are Crown Imperials. I can’t be 100% they are peach ones until they bloom. Such a mystery.

Hopefully it will be solved somewhat soon – my orange Crown Imperial is close to blooming

So the possibly peach ones can’t be too far off.

It really is amazing what a few days of warm, sunny weather can do in the garden – because every day I went out there was something new this week.

There are grape hyacinths just exploding all over the place. And like the daffodils, they have multiplied!

And it appears I did plant some big hyacinths out front, not just in the catio.

And the Snakehead Fritillary are coming out in force.

My Pasque flowers are just starting to bloom

And I will have Bleeding Hearts very, very soon!

But the most surprising thing for me is this….

A tulip in full bloom! I’ve never had tulips bloom before late April! This is so exciting. Again – this was part of a mix, so I’m not 100% sure of it’s name. I think it’s Apricot Pride. Whatever it’s name, it is so, so pretty!

I can’t wait to see what the next week brings!