Take a walk with me around my garden where we once again have temps in the 80s. (Don’t hate.)
Birds are nesting and everything else is blooming and growing.
Bringing a twig to her babies. I think she’s a Warbling Vireo.
Lucky mom, HER nest won’t be empty this year like mine is!
A fragrant freesia.
Nectarine in bloom.
Marguerite Daisy.
The veggie garden, lots of lettuce, radishes, kale, and beets.
Yummy, spicy radishes and spring onions.
Sweet Pea Bush
Happy Pansy!
Happy Spring!
Late afternoon sun
Perfuming a slight warm breeze
Lavender grows here
Photo credit: Enchanted Seashells
Haiku by Princess Rosebud
And not an artichoke, either.
These are SUNCHOKES.
I wonder what they taste like. Anyone tried them?
According to Wikipedia, The Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosus), also called sunroot, sunchoke, earth apple or topinambour, is a species of sunflower native to eastern North America.It is also cultivated widely across the temperate zone for its tuber, which is used as a root vegetable.[2]
I haven’t harvested my tubers yet ‘cos I’m still enjoying the flowers — that’s about all that’s flourishing in my garden during this horrible drought in California — but when I do, I’ll probably roast them with garlic, since we got a HUGE string of garlic from Gilroy, the garlic capital of the world, the last time we drove through central Cali.
Sunchoke Liqueur
Have you ever tried sunchoke liqueur? Maybe best of all, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, over 90% of the Jerusalem artichoke crop is used to produce a spirit called “Topinambur (de)”, “Topi” or “Rossler”.[13] By the end of the 19th-century, Jerusalem artichokes were being used in Baden to make a spirit called “Jerusalem Artichoke Brandy”, “Jerusalem Artichoke”, “Topi”, “Erdäpfler”, “Rossler”, or “Borbel”.
Jerusalem artichoke brandy smells fruity and has a slight nutty-sweet flavour. It is characterised by an intense, pleasing, earthy note. The tubers are washed and dried in an oven before being fermented and distilled. It can be further refined to make “Red Rossler” by adding common tormentil, and other ingredients such as currants, to produce a somewhat bitter and astringent decoction. It is used as digestif, as well as a remedy for diarrhea or abdominal pain.
If you’ve cooked with them, please send me your recipes. Thank you!
UPDATE: I just found out that it’a Giant Spider Lily (Crinum asiaticum).
I don’t know the name of this plant; it was here when we moved here nearly forty years ago, but it blooms every summer and the fragrance is strongest after the sun sets.
How about helping me solve the mystery — if anyone knows what it is, please let me know!
I’m in love with this bright red little guy.
The Gymnocalycium cultivar — sometimes called ruby ball cactus or moon cactus — is actually two cacti in one.
A pure red cactus seedling lacks the ability to produce chlorophyll and will die unless it’s grafted onto a green one. The green feeds its mutant mate sugar molecules produced from water and carbon dioxide.
Once established, the two parts grow together so you can’t even see the seam.
I’m going to try and graft the babies on either side of the main ball onto other types of cacti in the garden. Wish me luck!
Enchanted Seashells | Princess Rosebud 
