Sweet Peas

I love, love, LOVE sweet peas!  Can you tell that I really like sweet peas?  I love their delicate colors.  But even more, I love their scent.  I'm sure heaven will have a sweet pea garden.

This is the first year that I've planted them in the garden and out front.  It's been a very cool, and rainy, spring here in Southern California.

I'm sure this weather has something to do with how well they're doing.

God is in the Details

I just love looking at the details of flowers.  In fact, on the morning I took the nasturtium picture, I remember just sitting there and staring at them.  Part of that may have also had to do with the fact that I was only just starting on my morning coffee.  :)  But I'm entranced the intricate details in the middle of a flower, the designs, the similarities and differences.

Nasturtium

Dahlia

Amaryllis

Lily

If God cares for the details in these transient plants, we can be sure He cares about the details in our lives.  In fact, Jesus used the lilies of the field to illustrate God's care for us in Matthew 6, beginning in verse 28:

²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Cilantro, Part 2

Remember this post http://flowersandmusings.blogspot.com/2012/02/cilantro-from-seeds.html from a couple months ago in which I showed how to plant Cilantro in egg cartons?

It's great to see that 6 of the 8 planted are doing well.

Two of the little guys are thriving under the sorrel.

I did cut off the sorrel leaves that were directly blocking the cilantro.  But since cilantro likes cooler weather, I'm hoping that growing them under other plants (like tomatoes) this year will keep them from going to seed so soon.

This one, which I planted last fall, still hasn't bolted.  I'm learning that many of the tender-leaved herbs like it a bit cooler, with dappled or less full sunlight. 

HUGE Cilantro

The dill and basil are also very happy in this environment.

"I Wear a Hoodie, too!"

In memory of Trayvon Martin

That was one of my first thoughts when someone mentioned that Trayvon Martin was wearing a hoodie the night he was murdered*, and it was implied that the hoodie may have played a part in his death.

My very white 20 y/o son also wears a hoodie, a dark navy one, just like many of the kids here in Los Angeles, both in the suburbs and urban areas.  Some of these kids are looking for trouble, but most are not.  They're just wearing what everyone else wears.  Hoodies are warm and comfy and just right for our climate -- and for Florida's climate.

One of my 50-something grandmother friends wears a hoodie.  From the back, with our hoodies up, no one would know our race or age, just that we're both on the short side and could stand to lose few pounds, like many of the women and girls in this area.

Should any of us have to fear for our lives walking through a neighborhood at night wearing an article of clothing that millions wear, simply because some trouble-makers also wear it?  Of course not.  This issue is much deeper than hoodies.

The first person I heard commenting on the hoodie issue was a black man.  From what I was able to gather, he thought young black people shouldn't wear hoodies because it was somehow lowering themselves, or it was a symbol of something, I'm not sure what, but it wasn't good.  I pretty much ignored him, but the comment stuck in my brain.

Since then, I've heard hoodie mentioned several times in the past few days in relation to this tragedy, and I'm trying to wrap my head around it.  Somehow, the hoodie has become a symbol of what happened that night.

All that said, I'm praying for Trayvon's family, his former school, even Mr. Zimmerman, the man who killed him.  Sin and prejudice have far reaching ramifications, and many, many people have been hurt by this.

*and yes, I believe Trayvon was murdered, but that's a topic for another day and time

Azaleas

I had not noticed until this spring the delicacy of some azaleas.  Many of them are bold and bright ...

A friend commented on how the ones at our house seem to glow in the shaded front yard.

And I love the bright pink color.  But I was also enchanted by this much smaller plant (it's to the left of the bright pink azalea) and its delicate flowers.

And just for fun, while I was practicing these close ups with the flowers, I took one of this cute little guy.

Heady and Intoxicating

Grapefruit and blossoms

That's how I've been describing my back yard this past week or so.  At first, I thought it was lemon blossom, which of course is delightful.  But the scent originated too close to the house; the lemons are farther back.

Instead, it's the grapefruit tree.  The scent is stronger than lemon, and is permeating the entire yard and wafting to the front, too. 

The tree is huge, too.  It produces lots of yellow grapefruit each year -- many, many more than we can use or give away. 

Lemons

It was lemonade weather on Sunday.  Really, really hot. 

And the Meyer lemons are finally ready to be picked. 

They've been teasing us for at least a month, becoming a darker and darker yellow ... but the tree has not "released" them in great numbers, until Sunday.

For comparison, here are some Meyers and conventional lemons.

Along with being smaller and more orange in color, Meyers are more fragile.  Their skin is thin, and they will start spoiling in three or four days after being picked.  This is why you don't see them in stores very much, although I think commercial growers put something on the skin to help preserve them.

For the home grower, don't wash your lemons until you are ready to use them.  There is a naturally occurring coating on the skins that helps preserve the lemons.

Oh, about that lemonade ... it was wonderful.