More New Additions!

Recently, on April 16, we went to the annual Raritätenbörse in the Botanical Garden next to Belvedere. The Botanical Garden themselves are quite nice. We've been there once before in the winter and there wasn't much to see, but this time, you could really see the trees coming back into bloom for Spring. There are also lots of different types of plants and flowers but they weren't quite in bloom yet when we were there.

The atmosphere was quite relaxed in the Botanical Garden itself but the Raritätenbörse (directly translates to "Rarities Exchange" was much more hectic. There were vendors selling all different sorts of plants from the really small to good-sized trees. It was kind of fun to walk around and see what was available.

I had come in thinking about getting some strawberry plants because I thought it would be nice to have something to cultivate through the Spring. In the end, we left with three plants, a strawberry plant (Erd), a habanero plant (Haba) and a ribisel or red currant plant (Ribi).

Ribi - our Red Ribisel Plant 

Erd, our cute strawberry plant

Haba, our Orange Habanero plant. 

So far its been about three weeks and I've still managed to keep them alive, which is better than I normally do with plants. Chris will tell you that I had a black thumb back in San Diego, but I think I like having the balcony here because I can see the plants and remind myself to check on them and make sure they're watered (but not over-watered). Also, we have more rain here (every week or so) so if I forget once, usually they still get some moisture.

Anyway, I'm hoping that Erd gives some strawberries soon and that Ribi actually makes berries this season. I think I need to get a bigger pot for Ribi to grow into but that is on the list of things to do. For now, I'll just show you how they look at this point.

Erd's growing some good sized strawberries. Hopefully they'll start ripening soon!

Anyway, another short and sweet post. I'd definitely go back to the Raritätenbörse for plants next year. :) What are you all growing in your gardens this year?