Summer break (literally) and garden update!

Dear Readers,

If you are reading this then you have survived my summer hiatus-type-break! Welcome back and enjoy the regular upcoming posts again!

Here's an update on what's been going on and what the break was about:

First off, pretty much on the day that I was going to post here again, I got into a bicycle accident here downtown (heavy bike traffic) and ended up falling full-speed onto my arm, breaking my elbow and wrist!! Yes, my "summer break" was meant literally! That required surgery on my elbow and a hospital stay of 11 days, after which I was not really in a position to be typing and editing pictures and the like here between my physical therapy and doctor visits and social calendar. A big thanks to all my friends who came to visit me and meet up!

Things are looking up though, my arm brace is off now after 6 weeks and I can type with 2 hands again as well as use a mouse - hurray! My latest x-rays show that the bones are healed, so I just need to work on gaining the strength back in my arm (biceps and lower arm muscles are shot!) as well as more range-of-motion such as twisting my wrist and bending my elbow shut, mostly. I will hopefully be able to go back to work soon and continue life as usual - albeit riding my bike a bit more slowly.

In addition, a few weeks after the accident I was still able to fly to the States for my yearly visit! It was unfortunately postponed a bit and shortened this year because of my arm, but I was still very happy to see family and friends again as I always am! It's great to catch up and see everyone in person. On the visit I did a bit of traveling, so I was barely at the computer at all - had to make the most of the time I had!

Garden Update:

My balcony garden has not had the best circumstances under which to thrive this summer - upon my release from the hospital, I came home to find my building completely surrounded by scaffolding! It turns out they are (still!!!) doing renovations on the roof to make it more energy efficient, which means not only lots of loud banging and drilling right above me since I have an upper unit, but also dust/scraps falling on my plants and a lack of sun since the scaffolding is almost completely covering my balcony! Dislike!!

Here's photo proof of what I'm dealing with:

lots of dirt out there

poor, sad microgreens! at least I harvested some before I left!

lack of sun and shrapnel killed these herbs

...and my flowers...gross!

yes, those are supposed to be radishes, but got leggy and not bulbous at all!

these survived the best, just a bit dusty.

Some vegetables are a total loss, but it looks like some will pull through, like my beans, tomatoes and chili peppers, hurray for that! Some herbs have survived so far as well, and the onions have shown how tough they are as well.

I anticipate that the construction should be done fairly soon...I hope! I think I saw them putting on rain gutters this morning - it is VERY weird to wake up and see legs outside of your 4th floor apartment!

Stay posted for more!

Trees are abloom and buds are opening!

The trees are finally sprouting leaves and blooming - I thought the day would never come! Here a few pics of what's blooming (from last week, sorry, didn't get a chance to post them then):

Forsythia

not the best pic, but was *covered* in white blooms!

possibly flowering crab apple...

...flowering crab apple?

no, not caterpillars! These dropped off of a tree!

Three specimens with buds in the middle of opening up right outside my apartment window this week:

weeping willow

Pics from a spring walk in the park

I recently had about an hour to kill before a kiddie concert I had to play, so what better opportunity to explore the nearby park than that? It was in a city (well, more like a village) that I'd never really seen much of before, so I was curious to look around a bit and was up for some fresh air that morning.

I went off on a path behind the concert hall and first came upon this: a windmill!!! Cool! I don't know if it was still in operation, but if it were it would have been cool to buy some flour ground with it!

Around the corner from that I walked a bit and came across a river with some nice walking paths:

 There were some pretty flowers planted along the river bank:

daffodils

???

you know this one! :)

 ...and lots of little flowers showing their colors in the grass:

And there were a few man-made structures, as well as some kiddies playing outside the concert hall before the concert!

a nice wooden playground!

real classy...not

My little nature get-away! :)

State Garden Show...A Photomemoir

Despite a fresh snowfall, spring fever is starting to really hit me hard. After all, it is the end of February, which mean it's time to do my planning and even start a few seeds indoors soon! Woohoo!

*Note - this is a post about non-edible plants, but just as inspiring to the gardener's soul!

Landesgartenschau 2011
The State Garden Show here in northern Germany was here in town 2 years ago, hard to believe it's that long ago already! Never the less, it was a great display of beautiful flowers and plants from the region. Not only was it a nice way to spend an early Fall day (I went toward the end on October 3rd), but a chance to surround yourself by themed beds and a taste of garden life in the city. Here's some of my favorites from my photo attempts (click on each to enlarge):

Lots of gorgeous specimens...check out the cabbage-family plant lower left!

 

Big, beautiful beds as far as the eye could see!

A memoir of Fall....

One of my favorite themed beds (Fall, length-wise view). I really like the mix of dark leaves and orange and pastel flowers.

Fall-themed bed, view more from the side - gotta love the texture and color combinations here!

A Spring-themed bed - great warm colors!

Another eye-catching themed bed - love those dark purples and light greens together!

I enjoyed the themed beds the most (the last 3 pics) - they were displayed on the edge of the show grounds, in a very natural setting, in long beds surrounded by natural grasses. And the hue/texture combinations were impressive. Nothing like enjoying beautifully-landscaped beds at twilight....

And most importantly! This post is here not only as a nice inspiration for spring planning, but also as mental preparation for....

The International Garden Show 2013!

I cannot wait for this! And I'm lucky enough to have it take place right here in Hamburg!! This year's IGS opens on April 26th and has an "Around the World in 80 Gardens" theme - sounds exciting! Only 60 days left!

Not only will the grounds be filled with live music, theater, and outdoor exercise courses (yoga, qi gong, etc.), but there's also opportunities for kids and the whole family as well as tasty treat from an international kitchen.

And of course the main events - the plants, oh the plants! Some areas of the park: World of Ports, World of Religions, Rose Boulevard, Miniature Gardens, Forest House, Cultural Landscapes, World of Water, United Nations Park, World of Continents, and many more!

From the looks of it, I'm gonna have to go a few times ;)

So I'm looking forward to a fun-filled spring with events, planting, and growing!

Deadly Alive

While I cannot do any outdoor gardening yet, I am still astonished at how well some of my indoor plants are doing! My apartment is fairly warm and dry (at least compared to other ones in the city here), with moderate natural light coming from a large living room window over my balcony, which seems to be favoring tropical and desert plants right now!

I've been wondering for while what this plant (right) is for a while now...I got it as a small (almost) seedling with about 3 leaves and only about a foot tall a year or two ago, and now it's doing very well, about 3 feet tall! As far as I can tell it is a variety of Dieffenbachia, or "dumb cane", which is a tropical plant that loves wet ground, semi-warm air, and moderate lighting (perfect for my place!), which would explain why it's flourishing. At one point it started losing its bottom leaves, but I repotted it into a container with better drainage, and off it went!

What I also discovered online was - this plant is highly poisonous! Geez! Luckily I've stopped my cat from chewing on it before he made a habit of it, but good to know! Here are a few tips if you would also like your dumb cane to do better: http://www.guide-to-houseplants.com/dumb-cane.html

And surprisingly enough, I actually have another plant that is flourishing on my living room window sill and is also poisonous:

Yep, the aloe plant! While is juice soothes burns, it is supposedly poisonous to injest. I say supposedly because although I don't want to test it out, my cat has indeed eaten this plant (when I was gone once) almost completely down to its roots - I really thought it was gone, but I continued to water it and hope for the best - look at it just today! Starting to outgrow its pot (again!) and growing lots of new sprouts!

Aloe has always seemed fairly easy to grow, and especially loves sitting here on the window sill because it gets lots of light and is directly over the heater - a built-in desert climate.

And luckily my cat is still around to tell about it, maybe he didn't eat enough to be lethal....needless-to-say, the plant is blocked off from a certain orange-furred predator....