I don’t even remember planting them.  I remember sowing the sweet pea seeds – too many for them all to survive – on top of some sort of bulbs.  If you had asked me I would have said they were just more yellow daffodils, the never fail deer resistant bulbs that are always the first to pop up.

Instead, I got tulips.  Pink tulips, yellow tulips, fuschia tulips with accent of purple, red tulips with pointy petals and black stripes.  I have never had so many tulips and wonder what got into me last fall.  One thing I do know, next year there will be more of them.

Tulips don’t always return year after year in California. They need a good winter frost to “set” the bulb, and short of pulling them up and putting them in the refrigerator year after year you can only hope.  We had a cold winter this year, several frost spells, and I guess it was enough for some of last year’s to return as well as the new ones I planted this year.

One year I did pull them up and had tulip bulbs in the lettuce bin all winter – that ended when the appetites of three boys replaced the needs of tulips.  I wouldn’t do it even now – too much work.  I will be planting more next year though, everywhere I can think of.  I was so pleasantly surprised to see them come up!

The sweet peas just keep climbing and stumbling over each other, I know that when the tulips have wilted away the sweet peas will not be far behind.  Just have to keep spraying the disgusting deer repellant on them. Haven’t seen any gophers yet, maybe the cat will discourage them from returning this year.  There are also some lillies starting to rise up, and the peony bush is showing its face.

The best? The old fashioned lilac bush I replanted two years ago to a sunnier spot this year had five, count ’em, five blossom sprays on them, enough for me to cut two and bring them into the house.  Nothing says Illinois like the fragrance of lilacs.  Before long it will be mature and after this year’s success I’m thinking I should put more in.

Finally, the oranges are just about ready.  I pulled one off today and it was like candy.  I will leave the rest on for maybe one more hot spell and then start pulling them.  The tree is crazy with oranges this year, also its first year of true maturity, so I will probably end up making orange marmalade!

Take good cover from the tornadoes my dear ones in the Midwest and I’ll watch out for tsunamis and earthquakes and hope to see you all soon!