Bulbs 2010

Every year I try to take progressive pictures of my 'Bulb Garden'. It's not strictly bulbs, there are a few Rose Campion plants, and last year saw the addition of some Leopard's Bane and Iris.

3-21-10 A few Crocuses and Snowdrops; nothing spectacular. I think I will need to buy some more of both this fall.

4-11-10 The Hyacinths were on their way out at this point, but you get an idea of how they looked.

4-28-10 The Tulips and Leopard's Bane are blooming.

Closeup of Leopard's Bane

You may have noticed that although the pictures are taken from the same spot, the hues are different. I always have difficulties photographing this garden. I've been experimenting with different features on my camera, but have yet to find the perfect combination that shows the flower colors and foliage accurately.

Garden Mysteries

Some puzzling questions.

1. Why did the daffodils a street over bloom a week or two before mine even started budding?
2. As long as I'm on the topic of bulbs, why do so many gardeners grow Grape Hyacinth? At our old house they were a terrible nuisance. Every year they somehow managed to escape a bed surrounded by a concrete walkway and the driveway and get into the lawn. They seemed to be heading for the neighbor's yard - they moved a little closer every year. Anyway, I never hear anyone complaining about their grape hyacinth spreading, and can't help wondering why?
3. What will the Mystery Berry Cane turn out to be? I suspect either blackberry or raspberry. We had a large blackberry bush at our old house, along with a strawberry bed. I think I miss the fruit bed more than I miss any of the other gardens. Although the Lilac Bush is a close second.
4. Last September my Mom got me 2 clematis plants that were on sale at the local farm market. If I recall correctly, it was buy one get one free. They are supposed to be climbing the lattice that is supposed to form a windbreak for my veggie garden. The mystery is: I mixed up the tags after planting them, and have no idea which one is which. The 'Clematis' photo folder has 2 sub-folders labeled 'left' and 'right'.
5. What is the 'mystery weed', and how do I kill it?? This weed has frustrated annoyed plagued me since I built the (veggie) garden last year. At first it was only in one bed. Now it's in both beds, and in the paths. It spreads through it's roots, and for some reason I can't get the entire root out. I suspect that the newspaper layers weren't thick enough or didn't overlap enough and that's why the root always breaks, no matter how careful I am in pulling the weed out.
   
6. The question most people ask around this time of year: 'Will the lilacs bloom for the lilac festival?' Right now they are on schedule. The question becomes 'Will they stay on schedule?'
   
7. Will any more of my winter-sown containers sprout? So far the parsley and basil have sprouted. And one that doesn't have a label. I'm sure I thought I would remember what was in it, since it was the only one without a label. Based on my garden journal, the educated guess is that it's Cilantro.

Just some things to ponder.
~Sarah

GTS 5-4-08

Green Thumb Sunday
Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday; visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

The back view of my Perennial/Bulb Garden.

Sugar Snap Peas.

GTS 4-27-08

Green Thumb Sunday

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday; visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

Another picture of my bulb/perennial garden:
My peas sprouted!Closeup of buds on the flowering pear tree.
This past week has been extra stressful for me and my family. I haven't kept up with reading blogs or comments, but plan to catch up tomorrow or Tuesday.
Happy GTS!
~Sarah

Bulbs for GTS

Green Thumb Sunday
Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday; visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

My pictures for this week are my almost-row of hyacinths. (The picture is from the side, so it looks better.) And a flower I found underneath the Rose of Sharon. Mom planted some bulbs there, I think they were anemone of some sort - I'll have to search for a label.

Happy GTS!
~Sarah

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

Today was a slightly warmer day than we've been having, and perfect for taking pictures.
The crocuses are pretty much done, and the hyacinths are getting ready for their turn to show off.
The Puschkinia libanotica that I planted around the Japanese Maple have bloomed. I thought there were some in my bulb garden, but they haven't made an appearance yet.


Moving inside, my African Violet is nearly twice as big as it was the last time it bloomed and it has 5 flower stalks this time.
Also, Mom's Christmas cactus has another bud on it.

Go to May Dreams Gardens to learn more about GBBD, and find other bloggers Bloom Day posts!
~Sarah

Spring Chores

Tuesday was a nice, warm, sunny, busy day. I spent the morning re-planning the vegetable garden. Baker Creek Seeds sent me two free packets of seeds, and I had to work them into the garden plan. After lunch, I planted my snap peas - I bought an heirloom variety from Lowes. I covered them with chicken wire to keep the birds and chippies from eating the seed, and covered the wire with heavy plastic to help warm the soil faster.
While I was out looking around the veggie garden, I noticed that the chippie had dug a hole right outside the fence again. I filled it in with dirt, and placed a large rock over it.

While inspecting my bulb garden, I noticed that there was a lot of gravel in it. We think that when the gravel for the driveway was put down, the leftovers got dumped in the side yard. I spend a few afternoons every year picking out the bits of gravel.
After picking gravel out of the garden, I trimmed the Russian Sage plants. The one on the side of the house looked really healthy, so I cut it down pretty low. I left the one that we moved a bit taller; partly because of the wind, and also because my Mom lopped off the top of it after it was moved.

After coming inside, I promptly came down with a cold. Due to my cold and the weather, I haven't been able to get back out to see how things are growing. From inside, it looks like my garlic is growing an inch every day.

Most of my seedlings are growing well, and I should have the last flat started in the next few days.

~Sarah

GTS 4-6-08

Green Thumb Sunday

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday; visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

The crocuses have finally bloomed! The first picture is of my bulb garden, and the other two are my Mom's gardens.
Happy GTS~
Sarah

Seedlings, Bulbs, and Spring

I've been having some trouble keeping up with my blogs lately, due to family health problems, being busy, and lack of a camera.

My seedlings are doing well, although the Calendula may need to be replanted. I seem to recall the same thing happening last year - I would move them to a larger container, and then they'd die. I think I should start them in the transplant container from now on.

The Four o' Clocks have a second set of leaves now, as do some of the peppers. I'm still waiting for the tomatoes to get their second set of leaves. Once they do, I will move them to a creamer container, with the sides folded down. As they grow, I will fold the sides up and add more dirt, the same way I did last year.

My African Violet is going to bloom again - I'm so happy it's still alive. I guess they just don't like living in my room.

Outside, the snow has melted (again) and this time it's supposed to stay melted (as long as the weatherman hasn't changed the forecast). The bulbs are all sending up foliage, but the only ones to bloom have been the snowdrops.
This post by Curtis over at Growing Thumbs really got me thinking about my blogging. A few weeks back I realized that I've been spending way too much time on the computer reading blogs, writing posts, and playing games, and not enough time helping my Mom with chores, cooking, and groceries. To fix my problem, I started by staying away from the computer between Saturday morning and Monday morning. At that point I realized that I was subscribed to a lot of blogs, and that I didn't want to spend Mondays reading 200+ blog posts. According to Google Reader, I was subscribed to 136 blogs. Now, it's 99 blogs, and fewer posts to read on Monday.
Planning out and keeping to a personal schedule has alway been difficult for me, but I'm going to give it another try, and set aside one day a week to write blog posts. I'm also in the midst of setting up a personal business, follow the link to help me think up a name for it. I still enjoy blogging and reading blogs, and hopefully I can keep it that way.

Happy Gardening {and blogging!}
~Sarah

Mini Garden Makeover

Yesterday my Dad and I added some compost, manure, peat moss and topsoil to my flower bed. I started by pulling up all the annuals that were dead and then worked at moving the mulch to the side and dug up perennials as I came to them. It was a good opportunity to do some rearranging, so I took advantage of it. The Horehound finally got planted in a paint can- I first mentioned this in August -Dad and I discovered that it's very difficult to punch a hole in a plastic paint can. Anyway that's taken care of now and one less thing to worry about. I also figured out why my Valerian has not grown much this year - it got pushed out of the soil and was trying to grow in the mulch. It is now firmly in the ground, but it remains to be seen whether or not it will survive the winter.

On Monday I gave my Mrs. Benson tomatoes a major trim. I'm trying to encourage them to produce and ripen tomatoes instead of flowering and growing leaves. I noticed the peppers are also flowering. I've gotten quite a few seeds from my beans. Next spring I'll test for viability and decide whether or not I should buy seeds or use what I collected. The garlic has been planted, as have some bulbs called Puschkinia libanotica. I haven't researched them yet, but it has a pretty white flower and blooms in March or April.

Speaking of bulbs, I did errands with my Mom today, and we bought some Hyacinth bulbs and Anemone bulbs. After we got home, I spent the rest of my evening sorting flower seeds. Mostly Calendula and Salvia. Wouldn't it be nice if all seeds were as simple to collect as bean seeds are? My Mom loves it and I've been saving the seeds for her for a few years now. It's so tedious to pull all the flowers open to see if there's a seed inside. I'm really starting to dislike Salvia. A lot. So, if anyone has a better way to collect Salvia seeds, please let me know.

Farewell~
Sarah