Green eggs. No ham.
Well not really eggs either but beans. Fava beans (Vicia faba aka Broad Beans) in flower and setting pods.
These plants, from seed sown in autumn last, hunkered down in an almost dead looking dormancy during the darkest, coldest days then burst out in a vigor of leaf and flower very early in the new year.
Pollinators must have been waiting. Fool me for questioning the wisdom of plants.
Peeking out behind the fava beans, Dutch Iris (Iris hollandica) have finally decided to bring their lovely blue to the spring dance outback.
Meanwhile Snow peas (Pisum sativum) in front express their assent in delicate green veined white blooms.
Hopefully I get to harvest some crunchy young pods for salads and stir fries before the weather gets too hot. Planting these Oregon Sugar Pods in January (weeks before online resources advised sowing) was a gamble, which might just be going to pay off. It has been a mild winter. Warmest on record, earliest spring...that same song.
Yellow Bearded Iris (Iris germanica) flowers have joined the purple outback. Bearded Iris really seem to like it here and are holding up well in spite of the daily buffeting from full throttle, strong spring winds.
They do get to look somewhat scruffy in the high summer heat and through winter, but I have discovered that those "ugly" brown iris leaves can be reincarnated as great cordage for basket weaving.
Behind the clump of yellow iris, a curve of Allium neopolitanum, (Naples garlic) has been blooming a while now.
Not only do bees love these delicate clusters of flowers which emerge from a quirky pixie cap sheath, but they also last a real long time as cut flowers. If I could bring myself to cut them.
These bulbs were introduced a few years ago. Planted in autumn, they have taken a few seasons to really settle in. That said, at the end of this year's growing season I should probably lift and thin or redistribute them around the garden. That area is getting a little crowded and has a tendancy to become choked by grass. An autumn lifting could address some of the grass invasion issue. Invasive grass is the Sisyphosian labour of this Garden of Earthly Delights. Pictures here were taken after a bit of grass pulling but that's hard to do with new season leaf growth and flower buds. It would be better done around dormancy thus in those lovely mellow late autumn days.
Allium neopolitanum have proved to be a satisfyingly low maintenance contributor to the seasonal garden reawakening celebration outback.
Gratitude to the Last Emperor for suggesting ornamental alliums.