June Blooms

HipHops

We're into our second year with the hops grow and we're excited to bear witness to the formation of our first flowers and cones!  Our 'Cascade' vines were the first to get going this year.  They have a prime spot in the front flower bed and they climb up our tall porch posts.

Cascade hops

After last year's derecho-pocalypse storm, we lost many of the 'Nugget' babies that we planned to plant in the new trellised hops bed.  Not to worry though, these plants are just begging to propagate themselves, so I overwintered several cuttings indoors and planted them out this spring.

Nugget hops

We also planted two new varieties from rhizomes this year -- 'Magnum' and 'Perle'.  We're hoping to do a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone for a forthcoming brew and these are critical ingredients.

I have a serious plant crush on these hops vines.  They're beautiful in every way!

See?  Told ya so.

Grand Canyon Garden

Earlier this spring, I had the supreme pleasure of joining my parents and a good friend on an epic journey to the bottom of the Grand Canyon (and back to the top!) on foot.  There are no words suitable enough to describe the beauty contained within those canyon walls.  A trip to the rim, although amazing in and of itself, just does not afford you access to all the secrets that this amazing place has to share.  What got me the most though, as you might imagine, was the plant life.  April seems to the best time for catching the canyon in bloom.  Do yourself a favor and GO THERE!