Thursday, June 11, 2009

Enjoying the Fruits of Someone Else's Labors

The previous owners of our home were obviously gardeners. Since we bought the house in February we didn't have any idea of what was planted in the backyard but since spring began all sorts of gorgeous things keep surprising us. A huge peony bush, which unfortunately I didn't photograph before all the flowers fell off (huge bummer how short the blooms last on those!) Enormous azaleas, which have also lost their blooms already. A few recent discoveries:

Raspberries.

I can't wait until these ripen. They've spread over a large part of the landscaped area, but I don't care, that just means more berries!

Daisies. There are little clumps of these all over the yard.


And my most favorite thing ever: lavender.



I have a two year old lavender plant in a planter on our deck that I've been waiting to transplant, and then I find this! Very mature plants that are flourishing.

Weeping willows are my favorite trees, and when we were touring the house and realized there were four of them on the property that sealed the deal for me.




Our pond needs some work (I've been trying to schedule a drain and clean for weeks but it keeps getting pushed back because of the rain) but something survived the year of neglect - these plants suddenly popped up a few weeks ago and now they're getting huge. Doing a web search, I think these are taro - does anyone recognize them?

10 comments:

  1. Yummy, I love raspberries, and I also like weeping willows, except they are a pain to clean up after if you have a fall season!

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  2. Very true about the cleanup Jen! The house had been empty since last summer so we had lots of willow branches to pick up when we moved in. Ugh.

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  3. I wish we had berry bushes. Except it's so hard for me to go rummaging around through plants. I have a huge spider phobia, so sadly I'm not much of a gardener. But I am jealous of your awesome plants!

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  4. Chelsea, yes! those do look like taro. In Fiji they're called dalo. You can eat the roots. They're like potatos but purpley grey, dry, and sort of like what you'd expect wet cement to taste like. BLECH. But the Fijians love them like nothing else. I didn't know they could be aquatic. I've only seen them on land.

    Your garden is gorgeous! And how thrilling about the raspberries, yum!

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  5. Taro is starchy, but can be very good when prepared right. I especially like it when it is boiled in coconut milk. Watch out though, Taro can put pounds on you. It is very starchy, and I have heard that it contains a natural steroid, though I'm not sure that's true.

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  6. I accidentally pulled up one of the water plants and the roots looked just like described Arianne, so I think it is taro. I don't think we'll be eating it though since it's been growing in our pond and probably smells and tastes like...well, a pond. Good to know we have some backup food storage though!

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  7. Gorgeous garden! What fun surprises popped up.

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  8. I think it's cannabis, and you will be arrested and sent to jail.

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  9. Or we'll be rich!

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  10. Your yard looks gorgeous! I want more pictures!

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Give it to me straight!

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