2026 CW20 - The Tigridia Takeover
The stars of the show this week are the Tigridia! This is a first for us this year, and between these and the Liatris, there has been a LOT of anticipation for the bulbs to put on a show. The Tigridia DID NOT disappoint! These flowers are incredible. They give vibes of a giant African Iris, they only last a day, and can only be appreciated early (before 3pm right now).
Front Yard Fancies
The front yard has been relatively stable in the past week, with most of the blooms hanging on and the lawn continuing to thicken. The Gladiolus are continuing to earn their keep, putting out endless 6 feet tall stalks of vibrant blooms. Also, the Chaste Tree blooms (first seen last week with a Lovebug) have continued to grow and darken.
It’s a Zinnsation!
If there were ever a potato of the cut flower world, it would be the Zinnia, and I mean that in the absolute BEST way possible! These plants are the most consistent, productive, and useful cut flower in our garden. This week we have been blessed with MASSIVE red blooms, as well as a continued display of a variety of colors.
Background Singers
In other places in the back yard, flowers other than Zinnias push on and show their worth! We have the Liatris continuing to open and bedazzle the fenceline with their whimsical stalks of vibrant purple wispy petals.
Beyond this, the Jasmine carries on in its season long climb up the North facing wall of the garage. Though the blooms have begun to fade, the vine continues onward! Below the towering Jasmin vine, we have our FIRST Vinca bloom of the season! In another month or two, these beautiful flat flowers will cover every bed in the yard as they sprout from volunteer seeds contributed to the soil the year before.
Mother’s Day Masters
We had BIG shoes to fill after last year’s Mother’s Day event, but I think we delivered. After a recent move, our Mom has been missing her Jasmine covered swing from her last house. This year, we surprised her by constructing a new Hexagon Swing Set soon to be competed with day beds, porch swings, and climbing Jasmine! It’s not finished, but 10 hours later we have a completed [over-engineered] structure ready to host decades of conversation and fellowship under South Alabama Sunsets.
Vegetable Prime Time
Moving on to the vegetables, we are really entering the time of year where we base our dinner plans around what is available in the garden that day! Right now, the Potatoes are coming in faster than even Ronald McDonald himself could process!
Beyond the potatoes, we have a continuous supply of Summer Squash and Bell Peppers which work beautifully in a pan fry with Conecuh Sausage!
We are also watching some of the up-and coming edibles with great anticipation! The Corn is absolutely shooting up, reaching almost 4 feet tall this week, the Tomatoes are SOOOOO close to ripening, and the Strawberries are keeping up with the demands of the local bird population.
Buggy Business
As always, we love to highlight the contributions of our tiny gardeners. This week is full of Arthropods as the spiders descend on the garden. I got to watch a microscopic, and un-identifiable spider crawl across the pages of a magazine I was reading in the garden, as well as capturing some young Orb Weavers on a swing in the Live Oak in the back yard.
Garden Pets
A Garden Blog would not be complete without some pet supervisors! This week, we don’t have any updates from our full time tenants (see previous posts of Yoda, Scout, and Henry), but we did have a visit from another one of Sara’s overnight patients, Marilyn Monroe.
