Spring continues showing its good graces with the lovely flowing of my first sunflower, and the cress has somehow doubled its flowers in secret. I’m sure that if I checked, the cress’ flowers would weight more than the sunflower could ever hope to. In other corners of the garden, the Ginkgo continues to thrive with strong new leaves, encouraging the wildflowers in its shadow to puff up too.
If you’ve got a garden you want to check out, don’t hesitate to take a look at the Six on Saturday community! If you want to show off your garden, don’t hesitate to check out where it all started and find out how to get involved!
1
The Sunflower is showing off in style. I had a feeling that it was the sort that would grow up to six feet in height, but I’m also not entirely sure what species it is. And I’ve never grown a sunflower before, so I’m not sure how the pad changes as the plant matures. Is the flower pad supposed to be showing up this early? Whatever size it ends up growing to, it’s absolutely adorable. I hope it gets the sort of giant pad and great height that will make me worry it’s going to fall over – but even if it doesn’t, I couldn’t be more proud of this happy little flower.
2
The Garden Cress continues to impress. These flowers have been showing up for a few weeks now, and have only increased in number since then. Each individual plant has probably 10 flowering tips now, topping out each plant at a total 2 feet of height. When I first planted these, I had no idea they would grow so tall or so thickly, and my continued efforts to eat them hasn’t had much effect. The petals rain down whenever the plants are touched, which makes me think seeds must be pouring off these plants too. I’m not sure exactly what to look for when it comes to seeds, but I’ll be spending the rest of the day checking my plants over and seeing what’s changed.
3
The wildflower mix is growing slowly, but seems undaunted by how damp the soil is staying. This round pot normally airs out quite quickly, but a sudden change in the weather has left this pot damp to the top of the soil for more than a few days now. I think these wildflowers are the sort that prefer the soil to dry out more often, so I’m crossing my fingers and hoping their wild strength gets them through the weekend. I see some sprouts that look like California poppy, but the others I don’t recognize at all. I guess only time will tell if they’ll live long enough for me to find out what they are!
4
The Ginkgo is fully out of hibernation and seems to have drunk its morning coffee. It’s got new leaves bursting from all fronts, and buds of bright green growth at the end of a few of the branches. Before too long, it’s going to be large enough to need a new home – but for right now it’s happy and perfect, and I don’t want to disturb a single bit of its Spring growth. I had been worrying and watching all throughout Winter as I hoped this lovely tree would make it through, and only now am I really starting to relax. Until the leaves are fully unfurled – and show no signs of rot – will I actually settle down.
5
The butternut squash hasn’t changed much, except to lose its first set of seedling leaves. The first true leaf has finally started to puff up in size a small amount, but the tiny leaves at the joint are hardly moving. A second seedling seems to have sprouted up – I can’t remember if I put two seeds in the starter peat moss disk, but it’s entirely possible. If this is a true second plant, I’ll have to decide which one to get rid of. I think I can wait a while to have to make the hard call.
6
The strawberry plant is living a fairly unusual life. The entire plant is in a continuous state of dying and reviving, and has been for more than a year. It seems that leaves don’t last long and the patch of strawberry plant isn’t spreading from the central stalk – like it’s been tied up in itself. Occasionally it’ll put out a tiny strawberry like this, but they never grow larger than a knuckle or so. I keep this plant around because of how startlingly well it clings to life, but I don’t think it’s going to shake out of whatever’s afflicted it. It may be time to de-pot this plant permanently and move something else into its space.
Thanks for stopping by! I hope you had a pleasant time checking out the plants. If you’re in the mood for more nature, please stay in touch!
Mindful Foliage 
Oh! I love sunflowers! The first house that my husband and I lived in had sunflowers–and he painted a sunflower mural for our son when he was a baby–great memories. Cheers!
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Thanks for the visit! A flowery mural is always a great thing to have around growing up. I hope everyone in your family has a love for plants!
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