I love these little boots...=)
Here's a few scenes from our backyard these days....though I'm saving the vegetable garden patch for later....it's almost complete!
If you're not into plants, then you might just want to browse the pictures and wait for a more interesting blog to show up....=)
I guess the biggest point I want to share about gardening is that you can glean so much from other fellow gardeners....most people have at least a few plants they wouldn't mind dividing/sharing with you. The majority of my garden was grown out of the generosity of others! RIght now I've got shasta daises, candytuft, sweet woodruff, and baby iris to share if anyone is interested!
Most of the plants you see are perennials that if I don't let them freeze, I can hold them over for next year. The others I pulled from other spots in the garden or found in the 1/2 off section of Lowe's. Did you know about that? They have a section for less than perfect flowers...most of the time there are a little sad looking, need some dead-heading, and good soak in water and they'll look just fine. Sometimes you can find great stuff back there.
This planter was a hand-me-down from the in-laws several years ago....
In the back are some grasses transplanted from the front yard, mini-iris's from Elsa, creeping Jenny from Mom-in-law, and this variegated light green plant that I found in the 'bargain bin'! Eight little starts for a $1! You'll see this a lot....
I found this Japanese Maple years ago at Wal-mart when it was just a tiny thing....now it looks so much better more grown up! In the little pot within the pot is a different tiny little Japanese maple gleaned from a patch of weeds alongside the road. We'll see if it survives the summer....
The colorful one in the front is called 'Nandina' or 'Heavenly Bamboo' (not really bamboo)..It is a perennial favorite of mine.
Havilah's grapevine starts....THANK YOU!
This weeping cherry was a housewarming gift from my mom and dad when we first moved in.....It has issues with bugs right now....but it's also a favorite of mine.
Here's just a hodge-podge of more...if you care what something is you can ask!
This is what I've planted as seeds in my long porch containers....a recommendation from my dear Mother-In-Law who had great success with them in her pots last year. I'll have one on either side of the porch....we'll see if they end up looking like this at the end of the summer! Best of all, you don't need to fertilize!...but you do need to dead-head (remove all dead flowers). I've never used seeds for my annuals other than marigolds, but since it's such a cost effective way to go...I hope it turns out!
Here's the scoop on this plant:
Godetia "Godezia"
Special "Azaela European Blend"
- A blend of many colors and bicolors. Plant habit is base branching and overall habit and flowering time between many different colors is VERY uniform. Flowers heavily. Annual. This West Coast native is also known as Farewell-to-Spring, bidding the season goodbye with its dramatic display of blooms from spring to early summer. Slender, upright plants bear double, cup-like flowers in shades of pink and lavender. Good for fresh-cut bouquets. Days to Sprout 7 - 14, Plant seeds outdoors in early spring as soon as soil can be worked. Godetia needs well-drained - even sandy - soil without fertilizer. (Seeds may be started indoors in peat pots 6 to 8 weeks earlier.) Where winters are mild, seeds may be planted outdoors in fall. Sow seeds, cover lightly with soil and keep moist until seedlings are established. Water when the top 3-inch layer of soil is dry. Do not fertilize. Remove faded blossoms to prolong flowering. For cut flowers, cut when top bud opens.
Yep...they're all tomato plants...anyone want some? Last year it was so fun to watch Josiah harvesting the cherry tomatoes...he ate them all....even the green ones! It's kind of nice knowing that they won't go to waste, but I wonder what the potential side effects of too many tomatoes are....anyone? The other challenge is finding the space to put them....I have a feeling that our coming soon raised beds will fill up fast!
Here's a happy little container recipe for you....mostly all just greenery, one with flowers, just because I'm trying to broaden my tastes.
- the purple one with green edges is coleus.....there are so many varieties of coleus....it's variegated foliage is fun to add to containers.
- to the left of that is a taller variegated leafed 'licorice splash'...
- the grassy thing in the middle is something that was multiplying in another part of the garden so I took a bunch out to put in baskets....It looks proportionate now, but I'm concerned that the other plants will overshadow it later in the summer....it doesn't get very big....Sorry, I don't remember the name...
- the one in the front is a 'lotus' (berthelotii) and it will trail down the front of the container, with spiky red flowers
We'll see how this does throughout the summer....in the past the slugs have voraciously attacked my coleus, so I'm hoping that they won't find it so quickly on my front porch!
This is a happy little variegated boxleaf euonymus that I found for $5 at Walmart...I'm going to try my hand at pruning it to maintain a compact rounded shape...and I've seen them as topiaries...which look really nice...we'll see!
