Summer is here, and that means more outdoor activities! I love the outdoors, obviously, and I’m constantly begging my husband to go on bike rides with me, go swimming, go to amusement parks, picnics, you name it. I love getting down and dirty in my gardens, and always come out at the end of Summer less paler and more weathered than going in! Be sure to check out the posts on June first. We’ll be having a carnival of sorts of our own to kick off the Summer!
There are times when a gardener simply has nothing to do but sit and enjoy the weather and their garden. This weekend is one of those for me. I’ve weeded, pruned, and watered. I’ve finished putting a fence around my vegetable patch. Rain is coming in, and I’m in between planting and harvesting times. I suppose I could spruce up my containers on the porch a bit, but really all I want to do is sit out and enjoy the warm weather and the scent of my flowers!
I’ve never been much of one to order things online, I’d rather see what I’m buying first. But Shai here at b5 sent me a link to an online ordering center for plants, Bloomscape. I must say I’m very impressed with their site and philosophy. A very easy to use site, geared more toward the less experienced gardener. The plants arrive already grown and potted. They have a bit smaller selection than I would like, especially when it comes to shade plants, but what they do have is okay. Mostly they grow very easy to …read more
I just noticed that one of my cherry tomato plants is actually two! I didn’t see it when I planted them. They were growing in one container and I just planted it that way! I’ll need to split them up before they get too big!
I went to my garden a couple of days ago to discover that one of my tomato plants had been brutally masecred. It had no nibble marks of any kind, so I knew it wasn’t an animal. I immediately blamed it on the teenagers in the neighborhood that trample through the yard at all hours, thinking they were not paying attention to where they were and broke the stem some how. I’ve decided to put a fence up to keep this from happening anymore, and it will help keep out bunnies and cats too. It turned …read more
My Mother in-law recently gave me a Hosta plant. I must admit, that even though they are great filler plants for contrast and borders, I have never grown Hosta. I have no idea where to plant it! Do they make good container plants? Or do they spread? How much water or sun does it need? I’ll be looking into finding out more about this little plant and fill you in when I find a suitable place for its new home! If you have any tips for Hosta plants, please don’t hesitate to …read more
I’m willing to admit I was wrong! The mysterious bulb that was sprouting in my flower bed is indeed Iris! And a beautiful one at that. My apologies to Kate who suggested it was Iris in my original post. At the time it seemed entirely too small for Iris bulbs. I’m used to Irises being anywhere from two to three feet tall and broader leaves. To give you an idea, the leaves are only a little over an inch wide and the bricks in the background are each five inches tall. But, I guess …read more
Lifehaker had an article on common garden mistakes and how to fix them. Well worth the read!
The weather channel reported a frost warning for our area this evening. Normally, you want to avoid protecting plants if possible, since it makes them more hardy to cold weather. But it’s been rather chilly the past couple of days, so I took this warning seriously and have decided to protect my plants. With my containers and baskets it’s as easy as bringing them inside once the sun sets. But for the rest of my plants, a little extra needs to be done.
The key to protecting your plants is understanding what frost is and why it …read more
This little lima bean plant was the first thing to come up in my vegetable patch! I was beginning to despair, with two weeks of no rain and no sign of growth, I was wondering if hauling water everyday was really worth it. But three days ago I spotted this little plant peaking through and was very excited. The next night we had a good steady rain come through and I went to find that my corn and potatoes were sprouting too! Hooray!
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