California trees in Washington

A bit over 2 years ago my husband (then boyfriend) and I went on an amazing road trip from our icy, snow-gripped mountain home to the southern deserts. We went through states that I had never been to previously - Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon.

The destination was Vegas, to celebrate my husband's youngest step-sister's 21st birthday. But the destination paled (especially for my rural woodsy taste) compared to the wild marvels we visited. We went to Zion National Park, and viewed an icy, desolate, barren, empty, park that few others see. We went to Yosemite and stayed in an incredible lodge nestled amongst huge old trees. We drove up the windy California coast and played on the beach in bare feet and t-shirts, after being in down jackets just that morning up in the mountains.

We brought back many intangible things -  lots of memories, inside jokes, and the surety that we could live with each other, but we also brought back 2 pine cones. One from a Sugar Pine, and the other from another California pine species that I have since forgotten.

I randomly planted seeds that I pulled from those cones, planted them in amongst my kitchen herb pots, in houseplant pots, in herb planters on the sunporch. And 2 years later, we have 3 little trees. 2 of one species, and one of the other. After many many months sharing space with other plants, we decided they needed to be repotted and separated.

2 pine seedlings & a straggly rosemary sharing space

Some day we hope to be able to plant these somewhere on the property, but in the interim, they will grow strong and tall on the sunporch in their planters.

a 3-stemmed pine seedling

What's blooming this month?

I'm excited to write my first Bloom Day post! Carol over at May Dreams Gardens hosts this great event on the fifteenth of every month, where gardeners all over can share their current flowers & link up to her party.

'americana white splash' and 'rocky mountain salmon' geraniums

This month I have 3 plants in bloom on the sunporch, 2 overgrown planters of geraniums (one has Americana white splash and one has Rocky mountain salmon) and one Primula. I also have an amaryllis in my kitchen windowsill & an African violet on the dining room table that have buds, maybe they will be out for next months Bloom Day :)

Primula plant (ignore the weeds & succulents)

African Violet

My husband gave me an African Violet for Valentines Day. Really, I had been planning on getting one since my grandma passed away in December. One of my favorite memories of my grandparents house is my grandma's light unit where she kept African Violets. When she passed away I wasn't able to go to the funeral, so in her memory, Little M and I bought some peanuts in the shell and put them out for the Stellars Jays at our bird feeder, like we used to do for Blue Jays at my grandma's, and I promised myself I would get an African Violet for in the house to remember her by. I hadn't seen one locally in the last 2 months, so my husband picked one up for me when we were across visiting family on the west side of the state last weekend. It has some buds coming, although with the temperature and humidity changes it has been through from the store to here they may not make it, only time will tell :) Here it is: