Snowy Garden, sorta

First I've got a fine artichoke plant. This sprung back a little after the snow melted but eventually should die back more. I really think artichokes are beautiful plants. I will encourage people to grow these more around here.

One thing about artichokes is that there aren't many varieties available in the US. When I was trying to figure out what I could grow here I found that if I googled carciofo, which is the Italian word for artichoke that I found a lot of varieties. In the US there pretty much is just one grown and the seeds and plants were either the globe or a variety close to that. I'd love to find some of the longer, smaller and violets varieties. I bet that in the next few years this will change.

Another beauty, in my eyes is the leek. My god, look at that! I get so excited. I guess I'm weird but I love it.

This leek could end up in my turkey stuffing. I tend to use all of the leek. Some people just use the stem saying that the green leaves are bitter, but i haven't found this to be true.

Finally I show some roman chamomile after the snow melted. This is not the kind you use for tea, rather it is used for chamomile oil. I planted it as a ground cover thinking it would slowly cover the bare spots but it's been a monster expanding at a weedlike rate.

I've been intrigued by an Elizabethan custom of growing it on turf benches. Turf benches are made, I believe by layering sod. Roman chamomile was planted on top so that when you sat upon, it sweetened your bottom. Maybe next year I'll try this. It certainly grows fast enough.