Good morning, and you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. Welcome to Saturday Morning Garden Blogging.
We've had another week of warm, windy weather here in Denver. Last Sunday was the day with both the lowest temperatures (highs in the 20s, lows in the teens) and the lowest wind speed (30 mph gusts).
On Thursday, the high was well into the 60s; damned but it was gorgeous outside — well, except for the wind gusting about. If one had a wind block, it was shirt-sleeve weather.
Yesterday, however, after a magnificent sunrise (we get great sunrises this time of year), even stronger winds (46 mph gusts) blew in cloud cover. For the next few days we'll stay in the 40s with cloud cover — but no snow. We really need some precipitation, as the winds suck all the moisture out of everything.
And the first batch of Fondant hyacinth has bloomed.
Fondant is my other new, experimental hyacinth for the year. The pros: early blooming; a lovely soft pink color with deeper pink stripes and, of course, hyacinth fragrance. The cons: the florets aren't as large or tightly packed as I'd like. The stems are visible between the florets. But, as with the Delft Blue pictured last week, these would be a really good choice for December gift-giving.
The blooming of the hyacinth was one of the high spots of a difficult week. The other high spot was discovering another gardener in a most unexpected place.
For the last several weeks an Australian gentlemen, the representative of one of our clients, has been stationed in Denver. On Thursday I popped outside to bask in the sunshine and smoke a cigarette, and had a chance to chat with him as he was doing the same. We discovered we had a lot of similarities: we both own old houses very close to where we work; we both are early birds; and we both love digging in the dirt. He was in a wistful mood because his family, who had come to the States for the holidays, would be heading back home at the end of January — and because he was missing springtime in Australia.
I'll be taking a pot of hyacinth in for him next week, so he can have a bit of springtime at the apartment he's renting for the duration. And teaching him how to force bulbs so when he goes home, he can force bulbs during Australia's winter.
That's what's happening here. What's going on in your gardens?