Gardens & Junk, they go together

Busy, busy days....

2009-06-13T19:33:00.015-05:00

I haven't had a post in over a year...it has been a busy time for me.

Things are changing and change is good....at least most of them.

This tree just fell yesterday. We think it was nearly 200 foot tall. No rot, it just was on the edge of an old creek bed and finally gave way to gravity. I was in the house and heard something crashing. I looked out the window just in time to see it still shaking as it landed. We haven't measured it yet, but it is both tall and has a humongous trunk. Too big for our chainsaw.

We don't know yet what we are going to do about it. Maybe see if a lumber yard wants it.

This beautiful picture is on the south side of our house. Creeping thyme that I brought from my old house and I originally got from my mom. Various sedums grow with it making striking color contrasts.

These lilies are some of my favorites. I don't have a name for them, but when we first moved here there was only one lone bloom. It really likes this spot I transplanted it to. I have already removed some spent blooms on it and it keeps on going.

This is one of my favorite flower plots in our yard. It is at the end of a long bed beside the side walk leading to the front door. It gets very little light so I have to be creative with the foliage. The rocks make a nice frame.

This rock sculpture I talked my husband into helping me create. He thinks it is strange but I think it is a nice focal point and calming somehow, sort of zen-like. I really like it a lot. It is probably 3 foot tall or so.

This is my mini-sedum garden that I tucked into a hypertufa bowl I made a few years ago. I put one of each kind of sedum that I have including the various hens-n-chicks. It is really filling out nicely.

Anyone want to swing?

My husband was mowing when I took this picture, so the grass is fresh cut. This line of plants is some miscanthus and a bunch of Rose of Sharons that a nice guy at work gave me this spring. All transplanted well. Only out of 35 hasn't made it so far.

This is a brand new bed I began this year using the lasagna method-which is my favorite way to start new beds. I have only barely started the framing, using bricks and scrap concrete as a base for something else. I hope to find some great field stone to put on the base. I love the look of granite around my beds. This new bed holds a Magnolia "Anne" and an Azalea, both which have purple flowers. I also tucked some ferns and a hosta in there and a few annuals. This bed is near the rock sculpture.

I got this wonderful urn at a garage sale for $5 this spring. It was full of twigs and the original price tag from Garden Ridge was still inside it attached to the twigs-$65! I took the twigs out and planted it up.

Compared to the urn, $5 for this little tiki planter doesn't seem like quite a good deal, but I still love it with it's Begonia hair.

My tufa trough is planted up with various annuals. It split over the winter unfortunately, but it has fallen apart and I haven't tried to move it.

Well that's all for now. There's plenty more pictures that I should take and show, I just need to try better to make the time. I hope you've enjoyed the show!

My Hillside Veggie Garden

2008-05-18T18:19:00.002-05:00

Can you tell how steep this hill is? Not only is the garden on the side of a hill, it is also facing NORTH! It will be quite the season to see how well things do. I have everything sowed now and only have the Brandywine Tomato's left to plant. It has been real windy lately and not wanting to flatten them, I am waiting to put them into the ground.

I have plans to terrace the garden and make some sort of rustic twig fence around it. Fencing will probably be first, just to keep the critters out.

I went and checked the rows out today and pulled a few clods of weeds still laying around and starting to grow. I have leftover piles of leaves from last year that I may use as mulch to help keep the weeds down and the moisture in, but may omit them to use in the flower beds instead.

Busy Spring

2008-05-13T17:18:00.002-05:00

I have been completely neglectful of my blog, but not my gardens, which is why I have been neglectful of my blog.
We have finally gotten the hillside garden tilled up and nearly ready for planting. It was a lot of work, mostly for my husband, who had the chore of tilling. Tilling is hard enough, but do it on a hillside and it triples the amount of work. I had started by using a shovel and loosening all of the weeds and growth and pulling and pitching them all aside. Only got about a tenth done when Chris brought the tiller down and did the rest. He ended up tilling the entire thing 4, maybe 5 times to get it where it is now. After each tilling, I took the rake to it and got all (or most) of the weeds and roots out.
Before planting, I still need to mark out all of the rows and terrace them all. The soil is in good shape and I really should still add compost, but will leave that until this fall when it can all be tilling under. I expect Chris doesn't want to touch the tiller for several months again.
I have lots to plant. I have tomatos that I started inside over the winter, Brandywine. I have corn, green onions, watermelon, pumpkin, gourds, beans, carrots, sweet basil, cucumber, and red sunflowers.
I am going to use the 3 Sisters method for planting the corn, beans and pumpkins. This will save a lot of space and allow me to also plant some strawberries.
I have also been spending time trying to figure out what I am going to do about keeping deer and raccoons and rabbits and everything else out of the garden. We aren't building a fence, but I may try to gather lots of branches and make a rustic fence (free) and hope for the best. I also have lots of bars of soap sitting unused, so this will be a good way to put them to use. I may also try the pie pan method and maybe the plastic grocery bags too.

Today's chilly Spring pictures

2008-04-14T09:28:00.005-05:00

This is a section of a bed that I enlarged last fall, encircling an old Pine tree. There are various Day Lilies, Blue Flax, and a variety of bulbs including Blue Delft Hyacinth, Mr. Fokker Anemone Poppies, Tulips, Chionodoxa Forbesii "Glory of the Snow", and maybe other things that I have forgotten that I planted. (Ignore the dandelions - I did not plant those!)

Chionodoxa Forbesii "Glory of the Snow"

Blue Delft Hyacinth - note the green tips on some of the petals, an anomaly.

Garden ball I made over the winter. I had a small problem with this one when grouting, a palm sized chunk of pieces came off of it! The bare spot is placed facing to the ground....

Grape Muscari popping up everywhere!

Out of hibernation I am!

2008-04-09T07:05:00.006-05:00

"Hyacinthus orientalis 'Delft Blue' "

After a long white winter, I am emerging from my sluggishness, as well as my Spring blooms.

"Narcissus 'King Alfred' Daffodil"

I haven't really been sleeping every minute of the past few months, but didn't have the interest to post on snow or more snow. Who wants to see a picture of all white?

I have been busy with indoor projects, some painting, some upholstery, some ridding of household items. The real fun starts now though!

"Hyacinthus orientalis 'Splendid Cornelia' "

I did start a lot of seeds this winter and have many sprouting at last. Some heirloom tomatos, Jasione, Coneflower, Sweet Peas, Ageratum, Lavender, and many others. I don't really have any space to plant them anywhere, most of my beds were pretty full by last fall. Luckily we have nearly 4 acres, so plenty of room to expand!

"Hens n Chicks" A perfect circle

I have been outside in our wonderful 60-70 degree weather cutting back perennials, pulling dead annuals, dividing, and moving plants already. So much to do and already lots of weeds that need pulled.

Do Dandelions ever stop growing???

Sad news

2008-01-23T07:55:00.000-05:00

Very sad news, one of my favorite garden bloggers has passed away. Andee Carlsson of http://gardenerinmexico.blogspot.com/ passed on January 13, 2008.

I hope you will check out her blog and see the beauty of Chacala through her eyes.

She will be missed!!!

Winter Projects...non-gardening!

2008-01-12T08:14:00.000-05:00

Well, aside from winter sowing, which I have only done one jug (Ageratum) so far, I have started working on stained glass! Santa brought me a glass grinder, so I have been busy cutting and grinding. Here is a picture of my work in progress. I am pretty happy with it so far. I took a class awhile back (over five years ago I think) and this is my first project since then. It isn't perfect, but for first project without an instructor, I'm not going to complain!

Thanks to http://gardenjunk.org/ and http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/stainedglass/ for answering all of my questions!

Merry Christmas fellow GARDENERS!!!

2007-12-16T16:45:00.000-05:00

Using those grapevines....

2007-10-20T13:11:00.000-05:00

I made a grapevine Christmas tree today. I actually started it yesterday, but ran out of vines and had to stop, go hunt down more vines, pull it from the trees, untangle it, cut it, coil it up, and put it into a trough to soak overnight. This tree is about 38 inches tall and took a lot of grapevine. The frame is just a tomato cage. Starting at the bottom, wire the first bit of vine to the lowest circle at each of the splines. Keep wrapping around, using additional wire to hold in place as needed. The center section didn't need as much wiring, but once I got to the top, I needed to wire it some more because the vines kept wanting to slip off. After the first layer, I went ahead and rewrapped it to completely hide the cage and to thicken it up. The second layer did not require any wiring, just tucking the vine. It is quite heavy, but once it dries and cures it will be a bit lighter. It took me around 2 1/2 hours to make this, not including retrieval of the vines. I think it turned out very nice!

Some red for YOU!

2007-10-18T17:41:00.000-05:00

A few days ago there was no sign of this brilliant red. We got a bit of rain and over night they have turned. It is spectacular I tell you!
The Maple trees around it are yellow and green and the nearby Walnut trees are completely bare now. Tulip Poplar is still shades of green and yellow. Choke Cherry is a fading green. We are lucky to also have a few very mature Pine trees that will give lots of color throughout the dreary drab gray winter months.
Here's a couple of buzzards sitting in one of our trees out back. They don't normally hang out there and I wouldn't normally take a picture of them. It was unusual to see them there though, so thought I would share them with you.
My beautiful Toad Lilies are still blooming their little heads off. This is the best show that I have ever gotten from them and I am loving it!

"Puffball"

2007-10-13T08:57:00.000-05:00

One of our sons spotted this out in the yard. This is the first I have seen them up topside. Usually we find them at the bottom of the hill, usually way past their prime. I am considering plucking it from the ground, slicing and cooking it up today. I have heard that they are really yummy and it looks prime for picking.
Here is another one that has already split open. It is not good for picking now.
Here is a look at some of the leaves that have fallen so far. I am hoping to rake some and run them through the shredder, but may just leave them whole and just rake them directly into the flower beds.
The colors of the leaves are very beautiful. Due to the drought this year, the only leaf colors we are getting are the ones on the ground. Most of our trees are still green, dropping a few leaves at a time. They seem to be changing color on their way down.

eeeewwww!

2007-10-12T07:21:00.000-05:00

I almost stepped on this little guy while bringing my plants indoors yesterday.

Just a little thing, it snapped at my shoe when I nudged it with my toe. He wasn't more than 8 or 9 inches long. I went and got a leather glove and picked it up. After picking it up, it quit trying to bite me and instead wrapped itself around my fingers. Not being a "snakeologist" nor a fan of snakes period, I didn't know what kind it is. I certainly would never ever pick up a snake without a leather glove. Too gross for me. I did touch it with my ungloved hand away from the head. I placed in one of my flower beds where I wouldn't step on while dragging my plants into the house. I looked in my papers and found that it is most likely a Milk Snake. Harmless and can't really bite. It is a constrictor, which is why it wrapped itself around my finger, it thought it would try to squeeze the life out of me! I hope it catches lots of mice and other critters.

Here is a small portion of the plants that I brought in. These are in the front window, the rest are scattered throughout the house. I have Jasmine, Pineapple, Orchid, Hydrangea, Spider Plants, Jade, common Geranium, Coleus, Sweet Potato Vine cuttings, Elephant Ears, Philodendron, Poinsettias, and a few others. The Poinsettias (a regular red one and a Da Vinci, which has pink bracts) have begun spending their nights in the closet for a couple of months to try to get the bracts to grow. I tried this last year, but wasn't able to keep it up for the required amount of time, so no color. As a gardener though, I have faith that if I try, try again, it will happen.

Gardeners are always so optimistic, aren't they?

Fall planting and transplanting...

2007-10-09T06:14:00.000-05:00

I've been doing a lot of planting lately. I did a trade with someone in New Jersey. I sent her a couple of my Toad Lilies, a Candy Lily, and a Red Bud tree seedling. In return I got two Rhododendrons and a Boxwood. She didn't know what color the Rhodo flowers are, but that is okay. So I planted the Rhodos in the large pine tree bed outside our bedroom window and the Boxwood out front near the driveway along the future stone path. I am looking forward to the Boxwood growing and giving us some winter greenery out front.

I also received a large box of plants in the Plant Traders fall swap. Loads and loads of plants! Here is a list of what I received:

Blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium)

2 pink flowering Coral Bells (Heuchera)

Geranium Sanguine

Sedum Angelina

Sedum 'Coral Reef'

Heuchera 'Palace Purple'

Sedum 'Kamtschaticum'

Euphorbia myrsinites

Sedum spurium

Kenilsworth Ivy

Linaria Purpurea

Hyssop oficinalis

Sedum 'Blue Spruce'

Woolly Thyme

Clematis viticella 'Venosa Violacea' cuttings

Lungwort (polmonaria)

Caryopteris (Blue Mist Shrub)

Salvia 'May Night'

There were also several packs of seeds and bulbs. I got all of the plants into the ground, but have not touched any bulbs yet. I have others than need to go into the
ground too, but I am waiting on a bit of rain to soften the ground first. I have Chiondoxia, Hyacinth, Daffodils, Poppy Anemones, and Grape Muscari.

Besides all of that, I have many things that I would like to move out of their current locations. Maybe they have already outgrown the location, or maybe they aren't getting the optimum amount of light, or maybe they aren't as visible where they are now. This too is waiting on some much needed rain to soften the ground and make the transition easier for the plants.

I am already excited about next year's growing season, the colors of Spring, how well everything should grow with the addition of compost, some things being in the ground for over 2 years now should be taking off... So much to look forward to. I know probably next fall I will have to expand, I know I have over planted some of the beds already, but you really can't have too plants can you? Just not enough space!

Getting down to the nitty-gritty of fall

2007-10-04T06:19:00.000-05:00

It's that time of year...when it still feels like summer, but it certainly doesn't look it. The leaves are changing colors or just plain falling to the ground. Walnuts litter the lawn, making it dangerous to walk for fear of twisting an ankle. Flowers are being pulled and tossed onto the compost pile. New perennials are put into the ground. And a few trucks loads full of well composted horse manure all around.
Most of the flower beds here are very compacted. The plants grow poorly and it isn't soil - you gardeners know what I mean. It's just plain dirt. My brother is lucky enough to know someone with horses who has a couple of piles of horse manure compost to get rid of, since he needs to make a couple new ones. I got 3 truck loads and it only made a dent in one of his piles. These have been sitting for approximately 2 years cooking and seem to be real nice black gold now.
3 truck loads was a lot and made a dent in my flower beds, but really, I could've used one more. I had enough for 8 flower beds, but I didn't get to finish one bed and I have some other beds away from the house that could have used some, but those beds "aren't as important", meaning, they aren't where I keep any prized plants. The plants I get that I don't love, maybe just like, or one's that I've accepted because someone is giving them away, but I don't really want them...just don't want them to get tossed. You know what I mean?

So, the "important" beds are done. Now I am waiting for the leaves to turn and drop. Then the next big chore, raking and running them through the chipper/shredder and putting them on the beds. If you have never used a chipper/shredder, let me tell you, it is a lot of fun. I will be sure to post some pictures of it in action.

Plants....for Ginia

2007-09-26T16:20:00.000-05:00

Matteuccia struthiopteris aka Ostrich Fern
36-48" tall
Part to full shade

Pardancanda norissi aka Candy Lily
12-36"
Full sun
Mid-Summer to Early Fall blooms; colors ranging fuchsia to purple

Veronica incana aka Silver Speedwell, Wooly Speedwell
12-18" tall
Sun to part shade
Violet/lavender blooms mid-Summer

Hosta Austin Dickinson
18-28" tall
Light to full shade
unknown flower color (have not bloomed for me yet)

Ceratostigma Plumbaginoids aka Hardy Blue Plumbago, Leadwort
6-12" tall
Full sun to part shade
Blue late summer to mid-fall flowers with bronze-scarlet foliage following

Tricyrtis formosan aka Japanese Toad Lily
24-36" tall
Purple spotted blooms late summer to mid-fall

Cercis canadensis aka Eastern Redbud tree
15-30 ft. tall
Part sun to full shade
Fuchsia blooms late Winter-early Spring

Linum perenne aka Blue Flax
18-36" tall
full Sun to part shade
blue flowers early Spring to late Fall

Toads in the garden....Lilies that is

2007-09-18T08:14:00.000-05:00

My Tricyrtis are beginning to bloom! Another of my fall favorites, I got this many years ago through a garden catalog and have never been disappointed by its blooms. This spring I divided one of the two clumps and now have a total of 5 clumps. I really wish I would have divided the other one also, but I will certainly do it next spring.

More signs of fall, buckeyes & The Little Brown Jug

2007-09-17T06:44:00.000-05:00

We moved here the end of October, 2005. While hiking through the woods we occasionally found buckeyes laying on the ground, but not very many. Last year we went out and hunted for them, and found a few more, but still not very many. This year, I went out looking 2 months earlier (I was smarter and watched the trees for ripening nuts!) and found lots more! I still missed a bunch, probably could have gone out a week or so earlier, the squirrels have still gotten a good amount of them.
I found a few trees still loaded quite heavy with them. One of the trees was small enough for me to grab and shake the crap out of it until the nuts rained down around me. I probably looked quite funny shaking the tree, but it worked! I now have them all spread out to dry, otherwise if they are all put together, they will get moldy and rot! Buckeyes are super easy to start from seed, barely needing to touch the ground for them to split open and sprout. I would start a few from seed, but there are so many seedlings, it is easier to just transplant them. Now to make some Buckeye necklaces to show our OSU spirit!!
Another sign of fall around these parts is the Little Brown Jug flag hanging all over town (this one is in my front yard).

The Little Brown Jug®, the premier pacing classic for 3-year-olds, provides a fascinating chapter in the more-than-a-century-old history of harness racing. The Jug, enriched by the tradition of the famed Grand Circuit and the picturesque backdrop of the Delaware County Fairgrounds, steadily maintains the flavor of the sport and competition from the days of its origin. The Little Brown Jug® is a part of Americana. And it shall ever remain so.

The Little Brown Jug not only happens at the Delaware County Fairgrounds, it also happens during fair week. It is a major sporting event, shutting the town down on race day, Thursday. All the schools and most businesses are closed, traffic is horrific, and if you want to eat dinner out on that night, you better do it early. Once racing is over around 6 pm, the fairgrounds are emptied and all the restaurants are packed to the gills.

It's not too late to get in on the fall plant trade...

2007-09-14T07:41:00.000-05:00

Planttraders.com is having their fall plant exchange. You have to be a member to join the swap, but registration is free. This is one of the greatest gardening sites around. Mostly gardening related, there is also some crafting too. There are sections relating to ponds, birds, insects, plant identification, house plants, propagation, seed collecting, seed starting, succulents, tropicals, soil, composting, companion planting, green houses, bulbs, seed trading, bulb trading, plant trading....I could go on and on and on forever, but I promise, it would be best for you just to go and register and check it out yourself.
The fall plant exchange gives everyone an opportunity to make a list of plants that you have to trade and a list of plants you would like to receive. Teena (the administrator) sorts through all of the lists and pairs you up with the best match. You will then get a list of someone you are swapping with and will send them at least 4 plants, some seeds and maybe some cool gardening supplies. You then will send it to them and they will send one to you. If you are a gardener, it is better than Christmas when you get your box! A box full of new plants - just for you!

So don't waste any time, get over there now and get signed up!!!
Planttraders.com

My garden ROCKS!!!

2007-09-10T08:52:00.000-05:00

Literally! I love rocks...I collect them, I stack them, I lay them out, I line flower beds with them, I set them on tables, I have them on shelves in my house, I even have some on my bathroom walls. I have them everywhere. So amongst my pictures of flowers and things, I am showing just a few of my collections today.

H.F. YOUNG CLEMATIS, third flush of blooms this year. The one I like the most out of my Clematis collection, it is like the Energizer Bunny...it keeps going and going and going....

Rock wall lining path to back yard. I put this up last spring.

These stones will eventually be used in some sort of mason project that I have in the back of my mind. I pick these up out of the creek bed or along our lane and deposit them on this flat rock for now.

Stones lining the path by the rock wall used as filler-cover to prevent weeds from growing.

Stack of stones near front door decorated with mussel shells.

Toad Lily buds, another of my fall favorites getting ready to bloom. I divided these this spring and now have 7 or 8 plants getting ready to bloom.

Pine cones ripening. It won't be long before we are gathering mass amounts of these off of the yard. I have a couple of flower beds that I dump them into and use them for mulch.

Autumn Joy Sedum getting redder

Unknown variety of Sedum that was here when we moved in. I really like the pink color of this one as compared to the Autumn Joy.

Still gathering loads of cherry tomatos!

Smaller stones sitting on the rock wall

Granite surface

What's still blooming

2007-09-07T08:53:00.001-05:00

Although fall is almost here, I do still have lots of things blooming and budding. There is still over a month until the first frost of the season, so there is plenty of time to enjoy them.

Candy Lily aka Blueberry Lily winter sowed for this season. I am very pleased they are blooming the first year in the ground. Kudos to winter sowing!

Purple Mist Shrub - I love this! It is just starting its show for the season.

Great Blue Lobelia still going strong. This plant is around 5 foot tall. I think it will continue to grow and bloom until the frost comes. Certainly one of my favorites, this was dug from the creek side last year and seems to be thriving in this location.

H.F. Young Clematis still putting out buds. Japanese Beetles did a number on these earlier in the season, so it is nice to have a flush of blooms without pests eating the petals.

H.F. Young seed heads

One of several Jasmine that I have in pots. This is the most fragrant plant I have ever grown. I bring them in for the winter and they will continue to bloom and give the indoors a wonderful aroma.

My only surviving Canna's from last year. I love the lush, tropical foliage of this plant and hope these will winter over in the garage better than last year's batch.

Zinnia's in the wheel barrow still putting out blooms. I only leave them on the plant for a day or so, then cut them and put them into vase indoors. I like how cutting them encourages more flowers.

One of my many volunteer Cosmo's that is just now starting to put out flowers.

Unknown variety of mini-Hosta blooming for the first time since we've lived here. Neglected until we came along, it is now flourishing.

Sweet Potato Vine that I started from cuttings. Holes in the older foliage is from those pesky Japanese Beetles. I will be taking cuttings from these before the first frost to keep for next spring.

I can't tell you how much I really, really like this Purple Majesty Millet. Winter sown, they have grown beautifully!

Another PMM, with Dianthus blooming at its base. The purple foliage really stands out, getting darker and darker as it grows.

Summer is winding down...here's my proof

2007-09-07T08:25:00.000-05:00

There are a few signs of fall coming. Although we are still reaching the 90+ degree mark, things are starting to wind down.

Annabelle Hydrangea drying out

Autumn Joy Sedum color beginning

Foliage around this sign is turning colors

Down the woodland path we see these Buckeyes maturing

Sweet Autumn Clematis blooming

What a heavenly scent it has!

Leaves of 3-leave it be! Poison Ivy - watch out!!

After neglecting this bed for most of the season, I decided to pull all the weeds, including masses of Poison Ivy. Until this year, I have never had the nonpleasure of getting this terrible irritation. I was covered in a rash...my face, neck, arms, hands, stomach, legs, ankles, and even my feet. Never again will I pull this without lots and lots of protection!

Golden Rod on the hillside just beginning to bloom. Another week or so and it will be bright yellow.

Beauty of a butterfly...

2007-08-13T10:39:00.000-05:00

This beauty sat nice and posed for me. It is either a Diane Fritillary or a Spicebush Swallowtail.

Poppies reaching for the sky.

Purple Spiderwort winter sown for this season.

Moss Rose, what a truly pretty color. Direct sown this spring.

Queen Anne's Lace. It is said that Queen Anne was tatting some lace and pricked her finger. A single drop of blood fell into the center of her lace, giving this flower its name.

Teasel, growing wild on our lane.

Zinnia opening up.

In no particular order...

2007-08-10T19:42:00.000-05:00

Giant Sunflower

Sunflower against the evening sky

Smooth Pumpkin

Wrinkled Pumpkin

Northwest corner of house

Ironweed

Naked Ladies aka Resurrection Lilies

Brick path to side of garage

Great Blue Lobelia

Endless Summer Hydrangea

4 O'Clocks, Anise Hyssop, Autumn Joy Sedum

Ceratostigma aka Hardy Plumbago

I haven't been awol...I've been watering

2007-08-03T07:38:00.000-05:00

Endless Summer Hydrangea

It has been such a dry, dry season. I am very thankful that we had so much rain this past winter. Seems as if there is always some area that needs water. I have been collecting rain water and use that as much as possible.

My Hydrangea is blooming and I hope next year it grows to be even more beautiful. I have read that some people have had trouble with the Endless Summer and I hope that I won't be one of them.

Poppies direct sowed this spring are starting to bloom, red ones, yellow ones, lilac, orange- all colors of the rainbow. I love poppies. So spring-like and delicate looking.

Clematis Multi-Blue

Clematis have been blooming like crazy. Multi-blue is almost done, and also H.F. Young, which I didn't post a picture of. Lots of purple!

Clematis Nelly Moser

One of my oldest clematis is Nelly Moser. I dug this up from my mom's yard 6 or 7 years ago and planted it at my old place, then transplanted it here a year ago. Last summer I only had one or to blooms, but this year has been much better. I imagine next year it will fill the arch it is on.

My coneflowers are doing well. These I received from a neighbor last fall. I have 4 plants blooming and the color really stands out.

Dianthus Siberian Blues

Siberian Blues were planted this spring, I received them in a plant trade. Nice bright color and a strong bloomer.

Teddy Bear Sunflower

Teddy Bear Sunflower survived the squirrels this spring, only one of a dozen or so planted after winter sowing. This plant has 4 flower buds, so it is making up for my loss. It is a short plant, only 12 or 18 inches tall.

Plants started from seed

2007-06-26T06:38:00.000-05:00

A sampling of some of the plants that I started by seed this year. Some were winter sowed and some direct sowed.

Candy Lily

Purple Majesty Millet

Purple Spiderwort

Moss Rose

Four O'Clock

Baptisia

Monarda "Prairie Night"

I've been to the flea market again

2007-06-26T05:40:00.000-05:00

And got this nifty little 2 piece fountain statue for $3. I didn't have to haggle or try to talk her down. It is very heavy.
I also got 2 Hosta "Great Expectations" for $6. each. Nice sized plants that I took home and planted. I then decided that they were such nice sized plants that I dug them back up and split them, then planted 4!

"Great Expectations" is florescent green with blue-green edging. Very bright!

I picked up 2 6-packs at the grocery last week, of Coleus. They were $1. each. The purple veining in them is great.
I finally got an "Endless Summer" Hydrangea. It blooms on both old and new wood all summer long! I got this at Home Depot while buying a chainsaw a few days ago. I have resisted and resisted and couldn't resist them any longer. It is small now, but just wait until next year!

All of these new shade plants forced me to finally break down and revamp the Maple bed out front. It is a large bed and had a few Hosta and very little else. So I added bunches of purple flowering Toad Lilies, Liriope Muscari, Spider Plants (the houseplant variety), additional varigated Hostas, and a bird bath. I also moved an Astilbe that was being smothered by a Hosta.
It turned out quite nice, although it still needs mulch.

I also added an Ostrich Fern and some Toad Lilies to this section of sidewalk bed. Once grown full sized, this will bring a lot of texture to the shade.

Also in the shade is this pot of Japanese Knotwood. For many years my mother and I thought it was a variety of bamboo, but after doing some research I found that it isn't. It gets red flowers right before the first frost. It is doing nicely here in the shade, although it is a sun lover.
One last shade picture for this post. Chris and I picked up this iron cat made of nails and springs a few years ago at an art festival. It too is in the big Maple bed sitting in front of one my Poinsettia's. It isn't real noticeable due to the rust blending in with the mulch, but it is always fun for the kids to find.

Do you know any rain chants???

2007-06-19T06:56:00.000-05:00

Hot, dry weather loving Daylily by gazing ball

The smell of rain is in the air...as it has been frequently, I can only hope that we will actually get some this time. We have had exactly 3/4 of an inch of rain since the beginning of May! There is an 80% chance that we will get some today according to our meteorologist on the news last night. An 80% chance is pretty good, but we have seen it rain a half mile down the road from us in both directions and remained dry here.

Plants that are established aren't the problem, as I try to maintain a lot of plants that can tolerate the hot dryness. It is all of the new things, the seedlings and little plants that I winter sowed. I hate to water! I hate dragging hoses around everywhere and I hate coiling them back up even more (ask my husband-he's always asking me if I'm done with the hoses).

I have lost a lot of plants so far this dry spring, but thank goodness for the mass amounts I started with, I still have lots to look forward to.

Dry weather isn't the only problem, with the grasses and wild areas so dry and crispy, all the woodland creatures are looking for nourishment elsewhere-mainly in my gardens! I am down to two sunflower plants, and one of those is partially eaten. Baptisia and Four O'Clocks seem to be a favorite of smaller creatures, but luckily many of those are hanging in there.

Groundhog looking for food. Our younger son saw one when we first moved in, and that city slicker thought they were beavers!

I do have Jackmanii blooming, just starting. It is going to be really beautiful in the next couple of days, especially if we really do get rain today. HF Young has grown 3/4 of the way up the rustic arch I put up last year and reloaded with blooms. It too is going to be gorgeous.

Isn't this Jackmanii beautiful?

Annabelle Hydrangeas are starting to bloom. I am not a white flower kinda gal, but these are nice because many of the surrounding plants aren't quite at their bloom times yet. A flower is a flower!

Annabelle Hydrangea

Scabiosa that I dug up from my MIL house last year is getting ready to open. I love this beautiful purple flower and (like always) can't wait to see how big and thick it will be next year.

Scabiosa soon to bloom

I finally got around to putting out one of the signs that I made over the winter. It took quite a few pounds from the hammer to get it into the hard, dry ground. Notice, I really do have weeds there, lol!!

I took the blade off of my son's broken fan before tossing into the trash and made this little windmill out of it. It adds a lot of flash out there when it gets spinning away.
Veronica Incanata is blooming. I got this pretty plant in a trade this spring and it is doing well! I of course like that the flower is purple the best!

Veronica Incanata

Yucca and ditch lilies are looking quite spectacular together down at the spillway. I never got a chance to see them bloom last year. I really like the brightness of them together. They are putting on quite a show!

Yucca and Daylily

Some inspiration....

2007-06-14T13:16:00.000-05:00

"Just living is not enough...One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower." -Hans Christian Anderson

"Sometimes you just gotta get up and get on with your life." -Mary-Alice, Desperate Housewives

Boredom is not an option.

Gardening on the CHEAP...Part II

2007-06-01T09:07:00.000-05:00

Gardening need not be a budget breaker. As soon as I posted Part I, I knew I had missed some things. I hope these lists will help someone save a few dollars. After all, with todays price of gas, we need to save as much as possible!

21. Nickie reminded me that lots of plants are tossed to the curb. I picked up some free Day Lilies last year from someone who had placed a full cart by the road and marked them as FREE. I only took a few, but the mound shrunk daily as people stopped by and loaded up. So keep an eye on the curb for castoffs!

22. Garage / yard sales! This is another suggestion from Nickie that I have done before also. If you're going to have a sale, might as well pot up a few of those extra or unwanted plants and make a couple bucks on them.

23. Leaf bag snatching! I know it sounds suspicious, but for those of you who don't have lots of trees to make that free mulch, this is one way to do it. When you see all of those bags of leaves sitting by the curb waiting for yard waste pick up, this is the time to get yours. Of course, you could always stop by someone's house and volunteer to rake them up for them...

24. According to Snopes.com, collecting those wild flower seeds on state property may not be illegal after all.

25. Freecycle.com allows people to post listings for items they want to get rid of for FREE. There are items from all over, so put in your zip code and see if anyone has plants.

25. Craigslist.com has a section for Barter, another section for FREE, and another section devoted to Farm+Garden. You can visit a local craigslist virtually anywhere in the world. You can find plants and shrubs and pond supplies and garden art and rocks and bricks and so on. My husband checks this website daily. Oh yeah, there are a dozen other different categories, you will want to spend some time on here.

26. Recycle those newspapers! Newspapers have several uses. Uses pieces in the bottom of your pots to prevent the dirt from going out the hole. Shred them and use them in the compost. Shred them and use them as mulch. Open them up and put layers of them under your mulch to smother weeds. Many people use plastic or weed mat under their mulch. The problem with this is that neither of those are organic and will not break down. Plastic will last forever and won't allow water through. Weed mat is tough and allows water through, but it isn't adding any nutrients to your soil. Newspapers on the other hand, will allow water through and will break down over time to add nutrients to your soil. Another great things about them-worms love it!

27. Catch that precious rain water! Use a barrel, use a bucket, use a wheel barrel, use anything you can! Not only can you save on your water bill (or keep from draining your well), everyone knows the benefits of using rain water on your gardens. Sometimes I will see food grade plastic 50 gallon drums on Craigslist for free. These can easily be converted to collect rain water. You can add a drain towards the bottom to attach your hose to.

28. Don't water in the middle of the day. Water early or water late. This will allow the best bang for your bucks. Midday temperatures can dry the soil quickly and can literally fry your plants if your foliage is wet on those super hot days (this is especially true for evergreens).

29. Think outside the box when adding a border to your beds. You need not go buy fancy borders, just look around to see what you already have. If you have trees, then you are sure to have a pile of branches or sticks. These can be broken (or cut down) and stuck into the ground close together to make a really cool rustic border. If you have larger branches, just lay them at the edge and use smaller sticks stuck into the ground to hold them in place. If you like radical, try saving those wine bottles and then placing them neck down into the ground around your garden. It will be colorful and add lots of sparkle.

30. Read, read, read. This seems obvious, but many people decide to put in a garden, whether it be flowers or vegetables and have no clue what they are getting into. While this is great, a lot of times things are planted in the wrong place (a shade lover in full sun, a veggy garden under a Walnut tree) and then when things die or don't flourish, they may have wasted a lot of money. So go to the library, or do some internet research, or borrow some books. At the very, very least, read the plant tags!

Wildlife...

2007-06-01T08:32:00.000-05:00

A Purple Martin looking for baby food.

One of the Purple Martin babies waiting on that food!

Hundred's of tadpoles

One of the few frogs that sticks around when I visit the spillway pond.

Tulips in a tree-you're kidding right?

2007-06-01T06:56:00.000-05:00

If you've never been lucky enough to see a Tulip Tree in bloom, you are certainly missing out. A tulip shaped, beautifully colored flower on a tree. This is the third house that I've lived in that has one (I planted one at the last place but moved before it was mature enough to bloom) and this tree is also the largest. The problem with the larger tree is that I almost missed the blooms this year. The tree is so tall that the blooms are not at eye level, heck, they almost aren't even within arms reach. Yesterday evening I just happened to notice petals raining down and looked up and there they were.

Liriodendron tulipifera

Yesterday evening I took a picture of this unnamed lily bud and this morning it had opened up. It is a real beauty. Very bright and colorful. It is growing beside a large Goldmound Spirea, which is also just starting to bloom.

Sedum sarmentosum

This Graveyard Moss Sedum is taking off like crazy. I just plunked this face down in it a little over a week ago and maybe next week I will have to move him again as he will be completely buried. I am going to dig up a good portion of this sedum and plant it on the hillside in "The Wilds". The Wilds isn't mowable due to rocks and bricks scattered about and sticking out of the ground.

Centaurea cyanus

My wheel barrel is just starting to bloom. Beautiful purple Bachelor Buttons that were winter sowed. The other side has purple Poppies and purple Balsam, but they aren't budding up yet.

Athyrium niponicum var. pictum

If you are a collector of ferns, the Japanese Painted Fern is one you should have. A wonderful lighter green with purple, it really adds some interesting color to the shade garden. I have a couple of these and they are fantastic!

Still planting....

2007-05-29T08:43:00.000-05:00

I put my Lavender seedlings into the ground this morning. 11 of them. I put them on the south side of the house, in spots that I had planted all of my Canna's. I am not sure what I did wrong, but not one single Canna has grown. I pulled them all out and put into the compost pile. I overwintered them in the garage exactly the way it said to, but nothing. Obviously the garage is too cold or too warm, none of my geraniums (and I suspect my water lily too) made it either. WHAAAAAA!

So, out with the Canna's and in with the Lavender. Two completely different plants, completely different foliage, different flowers, different heights, two completely different looks.

The lavender will do well in those locations, but I was really looking forward to the tall leafy Canna foliage along those beds.

I also planted one pumpkin plant that I started indoors. I sowed this in a pot in the sun room and direct sowed the rest of the pack (which was one to two years old). The direct sowed plants are much larger than the indoor started plant. I am not hoping for a bumper crop, but at least enough to not have to go buy any this fall.

I also put one nice looking sun room sowed Sunflower plant out too. I sowed this at the same time as the pumpkin plant and it is already thick and bushy and nearly 8 inches tall.

I transplanted 3 Blue Angel Hosta's from the woodland path, split 2 of them into 2 plants each, planting a total of 5 into the front Maple Bed. I also transplanted 2 Green-Yellow Hosta's (unknown name) into the same bed. Additionally, 4 Spider Plants (the hanging house plant with the babies hanging down) went into the bed, 8 Geraniums dug up and divided, and some other house plants-all into this same Maple bed. If it sounds large, it is. It is a nice shady bed, nice and green. But, it is all green green green. Nothing to catch your eye. So, the addition of the blue and the variegated Hosta's, the geraniums and spider plants will bring some much needed color.

We've gotten little bits of rain here and there. Not enough to soak, I've still had to go and water everything. But it has been enough to germinate the weeds of course. I spent some time yesterday pulling some weeds and cutting my Blue Fescue back and got stung or bit by something. I didn't feel it, the sting or bite, or see what did it. But my right hand began itching like mad and I realized it was swelling quickly. I don't have bee allergies, but my hand and wrist and part of my forearm are big and tight and itchy. I hope it doesn't last too long. I imagine it wasn't a bee, I haven't seen too many of them due to the colony collapse. It could have been a spider or even maybe an ant.

Speaking of insects, the picture at the top is a nifty looking creature. This is the 6 spotted Tiger Beetle. According to the Bug Guide, it eats other insects. Hopefully it eats the bad insects, as it didn't give that information. We have seen lots of them around this year. Maybe it will have an impact on the soon to be arriving Japanese Beetles. I seriously doubt it though, Japanese Beetles are quite a tough insect and almost bigger than the Tiger Beetle. They both certainly are colorful though.

Gardening on the CHEAP

2007-05-25T07:00:00.000-05:00

Although it would be nice to go to the local nursery and spent a few hundred or thousand dollars on plants and trees and shrubs (as many, many do), I tell you, there is a lot of satisfaction in getting the same gardening results without putting out the dough.
This beautiful dark purple Iris was given to me a couple of years ago from someone who was dividing perennials and knew I would give it a home.

There are so many ways to garden inexpensively that I doubt that I will be able to list them all. Here are some of the ways that I have increased my plants without spending a bundle.

1. Ask! If you know someone who has a plant that you covet, ask them for a small clump of it. It needn't be half the plant, just a tiny bit of it so you have a start of it. You will be surprised when the person says yes, and may just offer you bits of other plants also!

2. Start your own plants! You can collect seeds from your plants, your friends plants, plants at work or other businesses (ask first!). You can start the seeds the old fashioned way under lights, you can winter sow them, you can direct sow them...so many options!

The infamous winter sowing!

3. Propagation! Taking cuttings of plants, trees, shrubs and starting them in a rooting medium will give you more plants.

Propagation using the oasis method.

4. If you move, take your favorites with you. When my mom moved to Arizona, I dug up several plants and shrubs and took them to my place. When we moved a year and a half ago, I dug up and moved many of those and brought them with me. While this seems like a lot of work, at least you know how well the plant grows, its growing conditions, where it came from, and you brought your memories with you.

5. Join a plant swap. These are loads of fun. Several gardening web sites have them in the spring and the fall. You enter your name and a list of plants that you would like and a list of plants that you have to offer. Your name and lists get matched up with someone with whose lists match yours. You get the name, dig portions of your plants, package them up and send them out. It is better than Christmas when you get your box. You don't know what is in it, but you know it is NEW plants!

6. Join a seed swap. These are normally done in the fall on gardening sites, but sometimes are also done in the spring. This is a bit different from the plant swap. You collect all of the seeds that you can and put them into packs and label them. You send a large envelope with all of the seeds you have to trade, there can be multiple packs of the same thing. Everyone sends their packs to one person, who sorts through and sends everyone a large envelope of different seeds from all of their cyber-gardening buddies.

7. Go directly to the bargain bin. If you cannot resist going to your local nursery, then go to the sale area. These plants, trees and shrubs may be runts, or may have gotten a bit of frost or they may have let them dry too much and they are in recovery. They could be just items that no one wanted and they are root bound in the pot. I once got a 3 foot Japanese Maple tree for $15. because a branch had been torn off, leaving a gaping area on the trunk. I took it home and planted it and now, 4 years later, who would know that at one time one side was on the bare side. Another time, another nursery, I got a 7 foot Tulip Poplar for $5.! It was sickly looking, but healthy (make sense?) so I took it home. I never had any problem with that tree and it looks gorgeous today.

8. Shop at the flea market or the farmer's market. I can't tell you how many plants and things I have gotten for a dollar or two this way. I know exactly where they are set up at the flea market and try as hubby can, he knows I will go right there! Rarely do I come home empty handed!
1 of 2 Holly shrubs purchased at the local flea market, $2. each.

9. eBay! I have done a lot of plant purchases on eBay. Always look for someone who has sold lots of items and has good feedback ratings. Usually items will be packaged well and sent quickly. I bought six 6 inch Japanese Maple's several years ago for $6. I gave 5 away and kept one for myself. What a great investment that was, as I have been able to shape and grow this beauty myself. It has been dug up and moved at least 5 times and doesn't seem to mind one bit.
This beautiful Japanese Maple was purchased several years ago, one of six, 6 inch trees for $6. on eBay.

10. I belong to a points program that allows me to get gift cards when I reach a certain amount of points. I always, always get gift cards for Home Depot, that way I can use them in the gardening department. I can get plants, but I can also get pond supplies, mulch, stones, garden art (if I don't make it myself!), fertilizer, etc. Also, I don't buy most of these items unless they are ON SALE. The gift cards I receive are worth $25-$75, depending on how long I can wait before cashing in those points!

11. Dig up and divide your plants. Even after being in the ground one year, most plants can be dug up, cut in half (or thirds or quarters) with a spade and replanted and ~WOW~ another plant!
12. Join a gardening club. Although I am not a member of one, they sound awesome, getting to check out others gardens and trade plants and information.
13. Volunteer with spring clean up at local public gardens. Many advertise for assistance in doing spring clean up and get to take home extra plants.
14. Buy your spring bulbs after the so called planting season. Spring bulbs do not have to be planted in the fall, it is just easier then because the weather hasn't usually gotten bad yet. I have planted my spring blooming bulbs in February. As long as the ground isn't frozen, you can plant your bulbs. Wait until everyone has bought and planted, then go looking to buy when they are all marked down to 50-90% off. There is usually still quite a good selection and there is still plenty of time to plant.
15. Remember to divide your bulbs. After blooming (or before, I have done this both ways), dig your bulbs up and divide them. This helps promote more bulbs, more plants, and less crowding.

16. Make your own mulch. This is a lot easier if you have a large piece of property. I collect our leaves in the fall, sometimes running them through the chipper/shredder, sometimes not. I then put them onto the flower beds. I also collect branches and sticks and do the same. I also rake up pine needles in the fall and use them as mulch.
17. COMPOST, COMPOST, COMPOST. I cannot stress this enough and it really should be at the top of this post and in between each item. COMPOST. It does not matter if you live in town and have a tiny yard, you can still make your own compost. Dig a small hole and bury your kitchen scraps, it won't take long for it to break down and start providing you with some added soil nutrients. If you are lucky enough to have a large amount of property, put everything you can find on your pile. It will break down and give you lots of black gold to amend your beds.
18. Go for a Sunday drive out in the country and look for those piles of field stone. If you ask a farmer out in the field, he will usually point you right to it and give his blessing for you to take what you want. These can then be used to line your beds or create a rock garden. There is nothing more beautiful (if you are a rock lover like me) than having some granite in your gardens.
19. Dig up your unwanted or extra plants and sell them or offer them for trade. I dug up a huge amount of Hosta's last year and put them up for sale at the end of the driveway. I ended up getting rid of every single one, but instead of selling them, I traded them for an even larger pile of Miscanthus, which I broke into 35 clumps and lined the front edge of our property with. Every one of them made it through the winter and are growing! Yippee!!

Miscanthus pile that I received in exchange for a wheel barrel full of Hostas.

20. Don't spend it if you don't got it to spend. Impulse buying is bad for your wallet and for your future! If you just have to spend money on plants, then keep a jar to collect your change or write a couple bucks into your budget each month to spend on gardening.

I hope this little list will give you a few new ways to garden on the cheap. Have I missed some great ways to save? If so, let me know, because I am always looking for new ways to save money and increase my gardens!

Hello HF Young Clematis!!

2007-05-17T13:31:00.000-05:00

This really is the true color of this spectacular HF Young Clematis. It is my favorite one so far, and I have many different Clematis.
Hardy to zone 4, it grows 8-9 foot tall and blooms May to June and then again in August. Because it doesn't grow to great heights, this variety is really suited to containers, rather than the arch that I have it on.

It is just too beautiful!

First Clematis blooms of the season: Meet Mrs. James Mason

2007-05-16T07:52:00.000-05:00

I was quite surprised that this Clematis bloomed so easily after being moved just a month ago. But Clematis continue to surprise me with the ease of care. This is Mrs. James Mason with several buds ready to open when these ones finish. It gets 8 to 10 feet tall and could very well be too large for this trellis, but once it reaches the top, I am going to start keeping it trimmed. This will force the growth back into the lower part of the vine and also produce more blooms. It isn't supposed to bloom until June, but as you can see, it is a few weeks early. It will take a break after the first flush of blooms and not bloom again for another month. I have this planted on the south side of the house, but it does get a couple of hours of mid-day shade. It isn't mulched particularly thick, but I do have some glass balls sitting at the base, which helps act as a mulch by keeping those precious roots shaded.

I am not positive where I picked this Clematis up at, very possibly at our local Kroger grocery store several years ago. I dug it up and moved it with me to our country house a year and a half ago, then moved it again after finding a temporary permanent location. Then a month ago it was moved again. So hardy!

I used to be intimidated by Clematis. All the hype over care and shading the roots and watching out for Clematis Wilt and when to trim and how much and that they don't like to be moved.

I have found that Clematis is one of the easiest perennials to grow. Yes, I have been hit with Clematis Wilt. You will know when you have it. One day the vine is going gangbusters, a few hours later all of the foliage is wilted and hanging down so sad looking. Sometimes it is the entire vine, sometimes it is just one of branches. When this happens, as it can, I just cut back below the wilted area and remove that portion. There is no reason to leave it. Wishful thinking will not stop the wilt, it will only make it worse. So cut it and forget it. It may look small and pitiful, but it will bounce back. Better to cut it and have a small and pitiful vine than to leave it and allow it to spread, then you won't get any blooms at all. When you remove that wilted foliage, do not leave it laying on the ground by the plant, toss it in the compost or the trash. The Wilt can still continue to spread to the rest of the plant if left laying near it.

Other than the wilt, I believe Clematis are one of the most versatile plants around. You can get almost any height of vine needed, almost any color you love. They can be planted on trellises, trained on walls, planted at the base of some evergreens and allow to intertwine and bloom on them, they can be allowed to grow along the ground and ramble as a beautiful ground cover.

There is one location that many people grow Clematis that I do not agree with and that is the mailbox pole. We had a mail delivery lady who was allergic to bee stings and was quite worried about delivering mail to those who had any tall flowers or flowering vines on the mailbox post due to the occasional bees. I have never been one for planting up the mailbox post, so ours was plain and she thanked me for that.

The morel of the story...

2007-05-10T09:36:00.000-05:00

Taking a walk down my woodland path I have recently been glancing about wondering if I would find any wild mushrooms. I didn't, until I squatted down to relax for a moment and realized I was surrounded by 3 morel mushrooms.
We looked and searched and looked and searched and couldn't find anymore. I am betting that of course there really are more, but we just aren't seeing them. By the way, they were delicious!

Last night I got 8 Baptisia planted, 4 Cleome, and 1 Cosmos. I also sorted through my winter sowing jugs and moved the unsprouted ones to shed area and left the ones with starts where they are at until they are a little bit bigger and I can plant them.

I also put pumpkin seeds in the ground and also some more Baptisia seeds. Everything seems to be doing okay (knock on wood!).

Into the ground it goes...

2007-05-04T17:23:00.000-05:00

A running list of what I have planted in the last week and a half. This does not include all of the packs of seeds I have sowed either- maybe 2 dozen packs including lots and lots and lots of poppies! I may have missed a few plants. I still have lots to go. Winter sowing stuff is still sprouting and I also have a dozen Lavender plants in the sunroom.

Candy Lily- 2 dozen
Monarda Prairie Night- 1 dozen
Canna- 4 dozen
Campanula trachelium
Ragged Robin Lychnis flos-cuculi
Sea Holly Blaukappe
Hyssop- 8
Bachelor Buttons- 2 dozen
Ostrich Fern- 4
Penstemon Chocolate Drop
Penstemon Rocky Mountain- 2 dozen
Virginia Blue Bells- 1 dozen
Astilbe
Veronica
Water Lily
Water Iris
Water something or other
Elephant Ear- 2
Hydrangea

Tis the season to be too busy to blog...or...Candles in the trees...

2007-05-04T09:12:00.000-05:00

The blue spruce that was literally sitting on the ground when we moved here is candling. This tree was balled and burlaped and had been sitting in its spot for so long that the roots had grown through the burlap and into the ground. Luckily it was sitting in the shade or it would certainly have dried out and died in no time. I dug up what had rooted and moved the entire thing into a nice sunny open spot about a year and a half ago. I really love seeing these "candles" forming on the branches. It reminds me of all it has gone through. What a fighter it is!

The Blue Flax that I winter sowed last year and only had a few blooms on is blooming like crazy this year. It is thick and full and luxurious looking and the blooms really glow in the mornings.
Bloody Cranesbill Geraniums are opening up in the woodland area. They really brighten the area up during this time. Soon they will be gone for the rest of year, no trace of foliage left behind.
Creeping Phlox is still blooming fantastically. I now have 2 clumps of the blue growing in there thanks to Tattooedgardner in New York. We did a plant swap through Plant Traders and this is one of the wonderful plants she sent me. Thanks Heather!
I thought you'd enjoy looking at the view of this path going up instead of down, just for a different perspective. I built these walls and paths last spring with materials I found throughout the property.
The local flea market started up last Sunday and we went. It only costs 50 cents per carload to get in and although many items are leftovers from last year, there is always new things. I picked up this iron table for $5. It is in really good shape, but the white paint had to go.
I used some black metallic automotive paint my husband had to freshen it up and it turned out fabulous!
One last picture for the day of a field of dandelions. Mow mow mow all you want and a day later this is what you have anyway!

Let's take a walk on the wild side!

2007-04-26T09:36:00.000-05:00

This morning I was sure to take the camera with me when I took my walk to the bottom of the hill. Going down there is always an adventure, with so very many things to check out. As I have said, it is a completely different world there. Here is a partial view of my Virginia Blue Bell field at the bottom of the old, old Walnut tree.

Here are a few Mandrakes. These are a really neat tropical rain forest looking type of plant. Each stem only holds one or two hand sized leaves. One flower will appear underneath the leaves and then a small fruit called a May Apple) will appear after the flower. The plants will go dormant until next spring shortly after bearing the fruit.

This picture of Norris Run creek is looking east. There are two trees right there that have fallen across. Chris and I have straddled them and worked our way across when it was too deep to wade (it was also winter and too cold to get wet). Our 12 and 13 year old boys hop up and run across like a gymnast on a balance beam.

Here is the creek looking north-west into the state park. It is always shallower that way farther away from the river.

Here is another view looking east. The beach on the left is getting bigger and bigger.

Across from the ever enlarging beach is our bank that is getting smaller and smaller. This recent erosion took at least 6 foot away.

Here is a picture of the old spillway. There used to be a large pond on this side that when it was too full, would overflow back into the creek. One of the previous owners partially filled the pond and reconfigured the creek. When there is a lot of rain, water still flows over the spillway.

Here is where the water ends after flowing over the spillway. We frequently see frogs and tadpoles and fish in there, Chris has even seen a turtle. The creek is just beyond the brush pile at the top of the photo.

Here is a picture of the house and barn from the spillway. They are quite a ways apart. Like I said, a completely different world.

Here is the old Walnut tree where the field of Virginia Blue Bells lay at the base. It is a magnificent tree.

This picture was taken topside, from the south side of the property looking north. That mess in the middle is the partially filled pond. The creek is just beyond it and you can see the spillway off in the upper right corner. The old Walnut tree is out of the picture on the right.

I hope you enjoyed the walk with me this morning!

Fade to Purple...

2007-04-25T11:49:00.000-05:00

I transplanted 8 Virginia Blue Bells from the base of the hill below the giant Walnut tree to my Maple bed top side. Top side refers to the top side of the hill, which is where the house and barn are. The bottom of the hill is a completely different world from top side. It is much more secluded, has awesome plants running wild (including the Virginia Blue Bells field), Norris Run creek, an old partially filled in pond, a spillway, and lots of wildlife.
Anyway, I transplanted the Virginia Blue Bells when they were around 8 inches tall. They are just starting to bloom-so beautiful! Next year I will be transplanting many many more top side.

This Blue Creeping Phlox is also starting to bloom. It looks quite snazzy by the rock wall with the Grape Muscari blooming up against it.
Here is a partial look at the Maple bed, named for the 4 Maple trees that the bed surrounds. In this section I have the Virginia Blue Bells, Grape Muscari, Hostas, various tulips and daffodils, Lily of the Valley, and maybe some weeds too. I have started planting my newly painted wheel barrel with saved from last year Geraniums, Bachelor Buttons that I winter sowed this year and Spider Plants from in the house. I still have an entire section empty and ready for me to plant.

I moved one of my newly made 'garden balls' outside to the brick path. Too bad the internet satellite dish is part of the flower bed. On the right is a Purple Leaf Sandcherry getting ready to bloom.

I started dragging house plants outdoors. These are all under the eaves close to the front door where it will be quick and easy to toss them back inside if needed. Hopefully they can stay out and in a couple more weeks I can plant them all into the ground and use those plant stands for something else during the summer.

The winds...

2007-04-17T06:43:00.000-05:00

For 2 solid weeks we have been battling high winds from the west and north and east. Winds high enough to bring down branches, bend flowers over, blow leaves from flower beds, and keep me from getting out and doing any gardening. Even getting on the internet has been thwarted by the wind; we have satellite internet due to our rural location and wind or clouds or rain keeps up from getting a signal.
Things have survived the cold temperatures, the snow, the sleet, the frost. Tulips are still budded, Grape Hyacinth's still blooming, creeping Phlox ready to burst open.
Some things may not have, we will see: Lilacs buds seemingly freezer burnt, Buckeye tree leaves wilted and drooping.

I have been busy with indoor gardening projects instead. We went to a neighbor's auction last week and I picked up 2 old wheel barrels full of bags of mulch, dirt, sand and flower pots for a whole dollar. It was pouring down rain and neither would fit into the trunk or back seat of the car, so Chris and Taylor wheeled them home in the rain.
The little wheel barrel is going to make a perfect portable planter. I cleaned it up, drilled holes in the bottom (it is already cracked in a couple spots anyway) and gave it a few coats of paint. It's now sitting and curing, while I wait for the weather to ease.
I have also been making some new gazing balls. I really love making these. I lay out different colors in different patterns until I find "the one" and then transfer it to the bowling ball. My supply of balls is running low though, so I may be taking a break from this until I can get stocked up again.

Spring weather predicted are here this week, so I will finally be able to get back out into the yard. I am in a plant swap over at Plant Trader's, so I have to dig some stuff up to send to New York. This is always a fun time, as I will get a box full of plants in the mail in the next week or so in trade.

Frosting anyone?

2007-04-10T07:22:00.000-05:00

Adding insult to injury, Old Man Winter sure is doing his best to push Mother Nature around. With the cold snap, so many injured trees and plants really didn't need the frost on top of it all.
Hopefully last night was the last freeze warning, but I am sure he isn't done yet. Luckily the sedum above is quite tough.
Hmmmm......frosted Pansy's. Luckily they will rebound, pretending to dislike the cold.
These Delft Blue Hyacinth's are planted in a less sunny location than others that I have, or they would have already bloomed by now. With our second Spring on its way, it will be nice to have these to smell.
I have very few Quince flowers this year. A year ago this shrub was a riot of red blooms, but an early freezing rain killed off most of the buds, except for these few at the base. There's always next year.
This Japanese Maple is a tough one. Although these new leaves may end up falling off, this tree can withstand a lot. It has been moved at least 4 times, endured leaf burn from too much sun and now this. It will still be beautiful.
It still looks like the dead of winter here. How is it that the cold, freezing, frosty temperatures never seem to affect the dandelions, the poison ivy, the thistles, the mint, the blasted garlic mustard, and all of those other annoying weeds? The underbelly of the yard seems to thrive on adverse conditions and come out stronger and tougher each time.

The stuff that Spring is made of

2007-04-03T05:58:00.000-05:00

Ahh, the wonderful smells and sights of Hyacinth blooming. When the wind dies down this entire area is intoxicating with the fragrance of Hyacinthus Orientalis 'Splendid Cornelia'. This little rock wall is a nice place to sit take in the scenery. These Hyacinth are right at their peak.

Chris and I spent a few hours getting this bed cleared out of overgrown Yellow Loosestrife and Garden Phlox. The Loosestrife was so rampant that it was growing underneath the siding of the house. Luckily it is very easy to remove after a good rain. The purple Garden Phlox, which was beautiful last year, was just too thick and (gasp!) there was too much of it in one spot.
If the wind would die down for one day, I am going to get it all covered in newspaper and leaf mulch to hopefully suppress any strays from coming up. The great thing about digging in this soil was the large quantities of worms that we found. Every handful held two or three wigglers, it was great!!

I was able to finally start dragging out some of my warm weather garden goodies, such as these hypertufa leaves made last year. They are perfect additions to my new drainage area, covering up the spout perfectly.

I don't normally buy any annual flowers, but couldn't pass up these pretty pansy's. I love this color! To me, this color epitomizes Spring.

I pulled out a couple of geraniums that I overwintered in a paper bag in the garage this winter. This is the first time that I have tried this, so I am not only excited that it is time to get them going, I am also very skeptical that this really works. We will see.

Of course, I am not done seed starting. This is Lavendula angustifolia 'Lavender, Lady'. I am not skeptical about this growing at all. Having grown many Lavender plants from seed over the years, I am excited to have some planted here. What beautiful blooms and wonderful fragrance they produce. I have even been able to make sachet bundles from them.

Virginia Blue Bells are popping up at the bottom of the hill like crazy, so I remembered that I wanted to move some of them topside this year. A delicate plant that will go dormant after blooming, it is critical to move them as young as possible. So far I have dug up a dozen of them and put most of them around the edge of this front flower bed. These will be beautiful to see out the front window.

This is how they looked last year. Imagine my surprise to find this wonderful mass of them, this picture only showing a quarter of them.

Winter sowing-it isn't too late to start some now

2007-03-23T08:07:00.000-05:00

It's not too late, in fact, right now is a good time to start annual seeds.

Gather your containers, any shape or size will do, even those dark plastic coffee containers will do if you cut a circular opening out of the top and cover with plastic wrap.
Using an exacto knife of box cutter, cut all the way around the container, leaving a flap of plastic connected. Please be sure to cut away from yourself so there are no trips to the emergency room for stitches.

Then you will need to make drainage holes. You can either use the knife or use a soldering iron to melt some holes into the bottom. The soldering iron works super fast, although melting plastic does smell awful.

Gather up your seeds!

Get your soil moistened and ready to go. You want it moist like a sponge, no wetter, no drier. You will hear lots of "have to's" on the type of soil mixture to use. This year I mixed together potting soil, seed starter mix and a few hand fulls of perlite. Last year I just used plain old garden dirt (note that I said dirt instead of soil) and had no problems with sprouting or growing at all. BUT-I did have difficulty removing the plants from the containers because it was compacted and hard, even when moist. So don't be discouraged if you don't have the money to spend on bagged soil. Do with what you have, which is what I try to do.

Fill the bottom half of your containers with your soil mixture, sow your seeds (if using larger seeds, I place no more than 5 evenly spaced per 2 liter bottle. When using small seeds, I just scatter and will thin the plants later) and lightly cover with another layer of mix.
Tape your containers shut, I only use a small piece, just to keep the top closed to the bottom. I do not seal all the way around the container. This will allow air circulation.

Mark your containers with type of seeds. I use a china marker on the container and also on pieces of mini-blinds and put the piece of blind into the container. DO NOT USE A SHARPIE. Although it may be permanent on your skin or on your kids clothes, mother nature will wash it away very quickly off of your containers or mini-blinds!

Take your containers outside and put in a sunny location that is protected from the wind (to prevent them from being blown over). This batch is on the south east corner of the house. If you put them directly onto the ground, most likely you will have less watering to do, as they will absorb water from the ground. Bottom watering is better in the long run for most plants anyway. I have not had to do any watering at all yet and my first batch was put out December 28. Once it starts staying warm outside, I will remove the caps and keep them off to prevent over heating.

Here is all of my containers, around 60 total. Last year I used a lot of smaller water bottles. Although they worked out okay, those smaller containers are a lot of work, so I have gone to just using larger containers.

ANY kind of container will work. In fact, you can even use zip type baggies, just poke a couple of holes in the bottom, fill half way with soil, sow your seeds, cover with a bit more soil and seal closed except for a corner. Hold the corner open using a clothes pin or something that will allow air to release, since it won't be cut in half like a plastic container. I used some baggies last year and they work really well. Think of those large baggies that blankets and sheets sometimes come in.

Winter sowing is really nice. It allows a gardener to garden in the winter. So many of us are not lucky enough to have a greenhouse to play in and this is an affordable option. You can start right after Christmas, you can start before Christmas! So save those containers. This is a wonderful way to recycle all of those milk and juice jugs. Wash them out well before using, I run them through the dishwasher and it works great.

My first Hellebore bloom

2007-03-22T10:49:00.000-05:00

I received two of these in a trade last spring, so this is the first time I have gotten to see a bloom in person. It is a delicate looking flower, making it difficult to believe that it is one of the first of the season. It is also a short plant, I had to set the camera on the ground to get this picture. No matter, it is still nice to have growth and flowers again after what seemed like a very long winter.
I also have Crocus blooming. I am very surprised that the squirrels have not devoured them. I really love the color purple, such a spring time color that I love to see it the entire season.

The weather has been wonderful, in the 60's and 70's, allowing me to get out and get a lot of work done. My compost pile has grown to my height and hopefully will be cooking down real quick. I have put so much brush and weeds in it that I won't use it for a long time, maybe not until next spring.
I have winter sowing seedlings! This is Agastache rupestris, Sunset Hyssop. These seeds were given to me in a seed swap last fall. This flower is supposed to attract butterflies.And also Bachelor Buttons. These seeds were also given to me last summer and I wasn't sure if I really wanted to sow them, but decided why not? With nearly 4 acres, I certainly have room to plant them.

The force of function behind design

2007-03-15T09:53:00.000-05:00

With the wonderful break in the weather the past couple of days, I was finally able to work on drainage problem that we had on the southwest corner of our house. One of the previous owners had run the drain spout to run parallel to the house. At least they pointed it towards the back of the house, which is down the hill. Unfortunately, as the water gushed out of the spout, it was washing all of the dirt away from the garage foundation. Inside the garage, you could see the foundation washing away (another repair to be made in the near future).

When we first looked at this place, this is what this end looked like. Completely overgrown, weeds growing taller than the masses of day lilies and garden phlox which were running rampant.

Before we actually moved in, the owners (an investment firm, they didn't actually live here) were kind enough to clear the flower bed out and make it presentable.

There was no path from the front yard to the back, so one of my first projects was to gather bricks from the property (one of the previous owners, possibly the same bonehead to point the drain spout towards the foundation, used part of the property for a dumping grounds for his building removal business) and put in this path. I really liked the path and was pleased with the results. Unfortunately, it was not until later in the year when we realized the drainage issue. For a temporary fix, I replaced the bottom portion of the spout with one that faced away from the house, which caused the water to drain into the driveway and into the flower bed. My husband wanted to just run a tile away from the house, but my imagination was running wild. I knew that I had the materials to run the water through the flower bed and make it a feature, I just needed to plan it all out in my head.
This is the result.

I really, really love this design. A mixture of brick and rocks and stones. I used a swimming pool liner given to me last year to line the ditch. I removed 5 wheel barrels of dirt to create this. I still have to finish the end, where it actually drains into the lawn and redo the plants. This bed sun almost all day long, so I am planning on various grasses, sedums, hens & chicks, creeping thyme, candy lilies and I would really like to get an Agave. I still need to remove the overgrown garden phlox and remove the yellow day lilies, but that is for another day. I also want to add a lot more rocks. I really love rocks. Before I address the plants though, the hardscape is not yet complete. I have a couple of wooden trellises being stored in the barn that I am going to be putting in here also. They will separate the driveway from the flower bed, to be installed on both sides of the path. This will also give me a couple places to plant some more clematis, will create a wind break, a bit of privacy from the road, and maybe complete the design idea in my head.

Reprieve....

2007-03-09T17:46:00.000-05:00

65 degrees today!!! 65!!! I cannot believe it. So wonderful!

I have been outside as much as I can. Washing windows, picking up sticks and branches and trash, getting mud all over my boots. Ahhh the joys of spring. I walked down by the creek and into the woods. Smelled a skunk, but luckily didn't run into it. I edged a flower bed until I got to a frozen spot and couldn't go any further. I checked out all of the bulbs coming up, Tulips and crocuses and daffodils and even hyacinths. I kicked the piles of snow apart to make the melt faster. I chopped some poison ivy out of a tree. I breathed deep and hard and I got HOT. What a wonderful day.

I got 7 more containers winter sowed today. Castor Bean, Black Russian Sunflower, Miribilis Jalapa, Cleome, Monarda, Impatiens, and Purple Majesty Millet. The plastic garden is getting bigger and I am almost out of bags of soil. I don't have any sprouts yet, but I expect it won't be long now that we are expecting temperatures above 50 for at least a week.

So many things to do outside now that it is warm enough to get out there. Many perennials to trim back. Plants to move. Soil to amend. Compost to turn. Maiden grass to cut down. Sink holes to fill. Lots of edging to be done. Bird houses to be hung. Rocks and bricks to collect. There are already weeds growing too.

Yippee!!! REAL spring growth!

2007-03-06T13:18:00.000-05:00

Well, well, well...I can hardly believe it, but stuff is really and truly happening outside. The snow is finally melting (we are expecting another 2+ inches of the white stuff tonight, but 50's by the weekend!) and allowing me to take a peek at what is going on in my little world. The above picture shows a clump of Daffodils on their way to making a nice show and just below is a clump of crocus that surprisingly has not been munched down by the dang squirrels yet.

Next is a large clump of Grape Muscari that is on a path that I created last fall. I thought I had gotten all of this dug up and transplanted, but I guess not. That is okay, it is sort of off to the side of the path and probably won't get trampled too bad.

And last, but certainly not least, is one of my two clumps of Hellebores!! I know it looks like an itty-bitty head of lettuce, but it isn't. I am super excited about these coming up. I got them last spring in a plant exchange through Plant Traders and wondered if they would survive here. Looks good so far!

There are other things coming up too, literally. I have some crocus that have heaved up out of the ground, roots showing and all! Unfortunately, the ground is still frozen, so they still lay there. Hopefully this weekend I will be able to put a bit of dirt on them.

Hints of Spring....

2007-03-01T13:50:00.000-05:00

Well, it is March 1, 2007 and I have a geranium blooming and an impatien with flower buds on it.
You can see the impatien is frequently gnawed on by my cat, River, when I am not looking. That darned cat will try eating anything. I am surprised that he has yet to be sick.
Here is a view of my "indoor garden" this winter.
There are just as many plant that are scattered throughout the house. They keep me busy of course. I am really looking forward to being able to get them back outside and many of them into the ground. They sure do take up a lot of space inside.

I have been tossing around an idea to put an ad in the local paper to advertise my services as a "garden assistant". I wouldn't want to do any kind of designing or supply plants or anything, but rather help people get those flats of flowers planted, spread their mulch, pull some weeds and maybe help divide perennials. What do you think? Do you think people might go for it? I would even offer a discount to senior citizens. Just an idea.

A snowman for the season

2007-02-25T17:42:00.000-05:00

The snow was finally the right consistency for rolling snowballs, so here is a snowman already beginning to melt. It was close to 50 degrees today, so it won't be much longer and the grass and ground will be visible.

I was able to get out and around today without having to wear mucking boots, although with the mud rising, the boots aren't put away for good.

This is a view of the back of the house and hillside taken from the south lane on the property. You can see from the sleds the kids use it a lot. You may also be able to see a swing hanging from that giant old Walnut tree in the center.
Here is the entrance to the area I call The Wilds. It is on a hillside, is very rocky, and very weedy. I have been attempting to clear out small areas and replant them. I hope to some day have it completely redone.
This path is actually right behind the house leading into the hillside. I have lined it with fallen trees and branches, used bark from felled trees to line the path, planted some Hosta, ferns, and Columbine along it. There is also a small bench that looks out over the creek.

I hoped you enjoyed the tour today. Sorry, still no flowers!

Signs, signs, everywhere a sign...

2007-02-24T07:23:00.000-05:00

Besides winter sowing, I have been busy making up some garden signs for here and there about the property. I have been using pieces of scrap wood found here and there, some from the wood pile. I printed out the alphabet in some of my favorite fonts and then practiced writing those fonts out on another piece of paper until I was adequately proficient at it. After that, using a pencil I mark out lines on the board for spacing and then write out my message. Then I go back and trace the pencil lines using a fine tipped paint brush and exterior enamel. Then again, go back with a black sharpie to outline and then again with the fine tipped paint brush and black paint to go over the sharpie outline. It seems redundant to use the sharpie and then trace over it with black paint, but the sharpie will either fade away in the weather (It would be awesome if they made an exterior use sharpie, wouldn't it?), or if a clear coat applied, will wash it away. If I just use the paint without the sharpie outline, I tend to make my painted outlines out of whack and it doesn't look as nice.

My husband actually got a laugh out of the Garden of Weedin sign. It applies to well here on our large expanse of property. The Private Property sign I decided to make because the plastic store bought signs we put along the state park line fell off with the wind. We put them up just to let hikers know the boundaries of the park. I feel people will be respectful and that I don't need to say No Trespassing.

I still have to make the sign posts too. I like painting the posts brightly and have used finials for post toppers and paint them too. Unfortunately, something has been chewing on one of my favorite signs to the woodland path that I just put out in November. I can't imagine what, a squirrel? A raccoon? A skunk? A deer, groundhog? Whatever it was, it must've been mighty hungry to chew on some painted wood.

The facts of life...

2007-02-22T10:54:00.000-05:00

A few nights ago Chris and I heard a large bang at the front window and found that a little sparrow had run smack dab into it and was on the ground trying to recover. There were feathers stuck to the window. It was still alive, looking very stunned. Chris said it was going to die for sure. We both stood at the window for awhile watching and waiting for it to fly away. I decided to go out into the drizzle and take a closer look.

I put my gloves on and it allowed me to pick it up and keep it sheltered in my hands. Its breathing seemed to be labored and its eyes kept closing. It hung in there though. I held it for 15 minutes or so and it appeared to be recovering, moving more and acting more awake. I didn't want to stand out in the rain for much longer and it was starting to get dark. I took it around to the back of the house to a more sheltered location. We have a small wood pile out the back door. I rearranged some of the pieces so I could set the little bird down in it and cover it, but leave an opening for it to get out and fly away. I checked on it throughout the evening and it stayed right there, eyes still open and still breathing. I didn't expect it to really leave until morning, since it was dark and birds don't really go flying around a lot after dark.

The next morning I went out and to my delight, it was gone! I looked around at the bird feeders, hoping by some chance to see it giving me a thumbs ups, but of course, there were too many birds to be able to see it.

A few hours later I went out to fill a few of the feeders. My supply of birdseed it next to the wood pile by the house in a red rubber maid container. As I bent down to open it, I saw them, the feathers of a sparrow, all over the ground, not 2 foot away from the spot where I had put the bird. I was sad but hopeful that somehow this wasn't the same bird.

We have several stray "wild" cats around. We live next to a state park where there are many cats running around. 2 or 3 of them are frequently at our back door, teasing our indoor cat River. I am sure one them got the little bird.

Over the winter hump...

2007-02-20T08:25:00.000-05:00

Here is my Amaryllis Hermitage in all of its glory. The first main flower stalk ended up shorter than last year much to my delight. No worry of it flopping over. There is another flower stalk growing that could very well end up taller than the first. Last year the two stalks bloomed at the same time, quite spectacular. I am happy with the staggered blooms though, as it is prolonging the color.

Looking past the Amaryllis you can see out my front window at all of the snow piled up around my Japanese Maple. We got at least a foot of snow. The boys have been busy building tunnels and slides, one of the projects looks like a rat maze.

After having the coldest February since 1978 (remember the blizzard of '78?), today my temperature on the east side of the house is 44 degrees. On Saturday they are calling for 52 degrees and thunderstorms! The snow will be gone and my spring bulbs will begin the second half of their push upwards.

I have been busy lately, still winter sowing, I am near 50 containers now, with plenty more seeds to start. I have been trying my best to draw out the gardens on graph paper, but doing so from pictures rather than going out and measuring like I should be. My drawings look vaguely like Picasso sketches instead of an architectural rendering with the proportions out of whack. I tried using BBC's garden planner, but the plant selection is extremely small and the tree selection ridiculous.

I have been looking through all of my gardening books and magazines, trying to sort through them all. I made a stack of books that I will be giving to fellow gardeners or donating. These books have to go. My gardening bookcase was getting overly full and I have to always keep room for new books. It has been quite nice to go through them all. Great to look at all of the wonderful ideas that people have had over the years and the beauty of their projects.

Here is a big fat robin I saw in a local park's parking lot a week ago. There were several of them playing around together. I often wonder about birds in the winter. Are they using nests from last summer? Do they build winter nests? I have seen some birds flying out of our purple martin house, so I know it is getting used. As for the martin house, it has not been lowered to the ground and cleaned out for who knows how long. We have been planning to do so before this spring, but what to do about the birds currently using it? I would hate to take it down and clean out the home that they are using for protection right now, but I do want it ready for the Martins that use it.

You can see from this picture just exactly how much work this martin house needs. Sometime in its life it was hit by something large and left in this awkward eastward leaning position. It is buried in concrete, so putting it back into position won't be easy.

That view of the back of the house was taken from the north side of the barn. I have a large planting area over here, with all of my Clematis growing on different things. The back of the house is quite boring, no deck and just a small patio out the back door, big enough for the grill and a chair. Last spring I dug up some pavers and moved them over that way so we would have a place to put the patio table and chairs without the legs sinking into the ground. As it turns out, the area is so boring that we never use it, we don't even out out there.

Sighhhh... another project...

Daylight savings time is March 11 -or- Punxsutawny Phil hero of the day

2007-02-02T12:09:00.000-05:00

If you haven't heard, the government made changes to the daylight savings time August 8, 2005. These changes will go into effect this year. Instead of springing forward the first weekend of April, beginning this year, we will change our clocks forward on March 11. In the fall, we won't change the clocks back until November 4. Daylight savings

I am sure by now you have also heard that Punxsutawney Phil predicted an early spring this year. Quite convenient! early spring

Of course, as a gardener and one who squeeks through winter every year, I am very pleased with both of these events. It is going to be so nice to be able to have an extra hour of day light for several weeks. Seems like we practically sleep winter away here. Being summer outdoor kinda people, I sure miss all my outdoor projects and really look forward to getting back to them with more time to spare. It will be nice to be able to go empty the compost bucket without having to carry a flashlight. The boys will be happy to be able to stay outside longer each evening. We will have time to talk longer walks without worrying about the boogyman in the dark shadows. I'll have more time to work on those pre-spring hardscape projects (steps, paths, new flower beds, etc., etc., etc.!).

By the way, although it was 1 1/2 years ago that President Bush signed this bill into law, many companies are complaining that this could cause wide spread y2k like problems because they aren't ready. So if you are worried about clocks and technology break down, remember, this isn't the first time that daylight savings has been changed and we also made it through the big y2k scare without a scratch.

The beauty that is Clematis

2007-01-31T09:22:00.000-05:00

I love Clematis. It is my favorite among all of my plants. I have several of them, 6 varieties at the moment, totaling 10 plants so far.

This is Clematis Multi-Blue. I have heard people say that they thought Clematis didn't like being transplanted, but I transplanted this from my old place with no difficulties at all. It grows to 8' tall, is hardy in zones 3-9, has medium sized double flowers in mid-season and may rebloom in early autumn.
Meet Mrs. James Mason. Although not very visible in this picture, she has a red bar running down each petal. She grows 8-10' tall and is hardy in zones 4-9. This one too, was transplanted from my old place.
This is Nelly Moser. Pale pink with darker pink striped petals. She grows 6-9' and I think even higher. Hardy in zones 4-9. I transplanted this one from my moms yard many years ago to my old place, and then, in the middle of summer, transplanted it once again to our new place. Super durable!
This is Clematis Jackmanii. This too was transplanted from my old place. It grows 9-13' tall with medium sized flowers and is hardy in zones 3-9.
Ahhh, the wonderfully fragrant fall blooming Sweet Autumn Clematis. This is a biggie, growing 16-22' tall. This was given to me by my gardening friend Diane while I lived at my old place. It too was transplanted here. It is hardy zones 5-9. I have 5 of these now.
And last, but certainly not least, is H.F. Young. I have two of these and it is my favorite. I love the brilliant lavender blue color and it blooms its head off. It grows 6-9' tall, has big beautiful blooms and is hardy in zones 4-9. I really love this one.

I have seeds for several more varieties, but I have no idea what they are. Seeds that were given to me or that I have requested. All I know at this point is that they have purple flowers. I have winter sown them all, hoping that I will get at least one from each type seed. It does not bother me that I don't know what they are, because even if they are the same types that I have, I will enjoy them all. I really love Clematis and hope to double my amount of them this year. They are so simple to grow and so beautiful! I recommend browsing the following web sites for additional resources.
www.clematis.com
American Clematis Society

Ok, enough of the snow and winter...bring on Spring

2007-01-29T08:48:00.000-05:00

Snow, snow, go away
Come again next Christmas day

Snow, snow, melt away
Send the coldness far away

Spring, spring, come today
A gardener wants to dig today

Spring, spring, oh hear me say
Let the sunshine come this way

Snow, snow, go away
A gardener wants to plant today.

There are so many Cardinals here right now that the color that they bring to the winter garden is like the first flowers of Spring.

This is a Junco, we have a large amount of them. I have never seen (or never noticed) them around here before.

This little Junco is using this feeder as shelter against the wind. It was only 15 degrees when I took these pictures....brrrrrr....

As you can see, I have received quite a selection of seed, plant and gardening catalogs. I look through them over and over again. I have a list of favorites -do to how well it is put together, how well the pictures are presented, the quantity of pictures, the information given.
Here they are, not in any particular order, because I like them equally well:

1. Architectural Plants -this wonderful pamphlet from the U.K. has the most spectacular photographs of offered European, Asian, and exotic architectural plants. I don't think they ship plants to the U.S., but they did send me the catalog. http://www.architecturalplants.com/

2. Wilkerson Mill Gardens -a beautiful catalog filled with Hydrangeas. I really want General Vic. http://www.hydrangea.com/

3. Select Seeds -Heirloom treasures for modern gardens. Lots of wonderful flower and foliage pictures to make you drool. http://www.selectseeds.com/

4. Logee's -these are mostly tropical plants that I would have to drag in every fall. So many beauties. Southern gardeners sure have the luck! http://www.logees.com/

5. Musser Forests, Inc. -A wide variety of trees, trees and more trees. You can buy one or buy in bulk. A fantastic catalog for tree lovers. http://www.musserforests.com/

6. van Bourgondien -More beautiful pictures. These are mostly bulbs and what a great selection, Canna, day lily, dahlia, and loads more. http://www.dutchbulbs.com/bulbs/

7. Oakes Daylilies -WOW what a selection. Whodathunk there were so many gorgeous daylilies. I didn't used to be a fan until I got this catalog. I really like Dream Blue, Ilonka, Lavender Vista, and Persian Market. http://www.oakesdaylilies.com/supplier/home.php?id=s000

8. Heronswood Nursery -This is one of the best among catalogs. It is thick and has big pictures. Lots of great photographs of lots of great looking rare and exotic plants. I would like to take a trip to Pennsylvania just to wander the Nursery I think. http://www.heronswood.com/

9. Plant Delights Nursery, Inc -More spectacular photos. Whoever takes their pictures does great work. Makes you feel like you are there. The plant descriptions are super entertaining too and the covers are works of art. Unfortunately, mine came without the cover, didn't make it through the post office too well. http://www.plantdelights.com/

I have found that many nurseries are going away from the printed catalog, or beginning to charge a fee for one. This is a big disappointment to me and probably many others. One of the joys of winter is running to the mailbox to see what plants I get to look at that evening. Puts me on a sort of vacation for a few hours. I hope companies will reconsider this. I don't like paying for a catalog (okay, yes, I did once pay $7.95 for Stokes Tropical Plant Guide/Catalog many years ago. I have kept it, because it is more like an encyclopedia and well worth every penny!), I would rather spend the money on plants or gardening supplies instead.

SPRING IS IN THE AIR...

2007-01-26T10:58:00.000-05:00

...at least it looks like spring on my kitchen counter.

I went to see my friend Diane, to share my wealth of seeds with and she was kind enough to send me home with several plant starts. Two types of Begonia and also a Jade plant. Several of the Begonia starts already had roots forming and I finally got around to potting them up last evening and also the Jade. They are all very beautiful! The mother Begonia plants that Diane has are absolutely huge, each being around 18" tall, possibly a full 2 foot. I cannot recall how long she has had them, but she has wonderful green thumbs.

The other side of the sink holds more plants. Water irises and water grass transplanted from my old pond (I haven't dug a new one yet, so these are waiting a permanent home), more Begonias, the Jade, and a Poinsettia I rescued from my friend Pam, who was getting ready to throw it in the trash. Pam on the other, only has one green tinted thumb!

I am also attempting to start 2 avacados, one just happens to sit nicely in the top of a champagne glass and the other being suspended in a vase with plastic wrap. These are nice alternatives to using toothpicks, which I have never had very good luck with.

The pineapple top is sitting there drying out so it too can be planted in another day or so. After cutting it off of the fruit, I pulled away the lower leaves to expose many roots started. Once the cut area is dried, I will plant it up and hope for the best. This is the first time I have tried this method. The last attempt I made resulted in a rotted plant, because I had no idea about pulling the lower leaves away or letting the cut seal first. I literally cut it off the fruit and just stuck it in dirt. Live and learn...

Winter has really arrived

2007-01-23T17:59:00.000-05:00

After many extremely light dustings, we have finally gotten our first snow this winter. I am somewhat disappointed, I was kind of looking forward to being able to say that we went an entire winter without snow. But that is okay, Chris and the boys are out enjoying this hill right now, sledding and snow boarding. We had around 3 inches, enough for them to get the toys out.

One good thing about the snow is the ability to see the wildlife much easier. The deer tracks are everywhere. The birds are flocking to the feeders. So many birds that I have had to refill the feeders more frequently. I was also able to put out the suet cakes that I made earlier in the season. The temperatures have been to warm to put them out until now.
We have a 3 legged deer making a home on our property. We haven't seen her up close to figure the situation out. It doesn't get around as if it was born that way, sort of gimpy. But it is nicely fat, suggesting it gets around well enough to eat. It is quite amazing to watch.

My Amaryllis is really starting to take off. See the big fat flower bud? In the two days since this picture was taken, it has gotten even bigger. I am getting more excited to see it bloom!

My Zygocactus (aka Christmas Cactus and sometimes also called Holiday Cactus) is blooming again. It sure does have pretty blooms and once it starts, it will bloom for quite awhile. It is also quite easy to take starts from it, just break off one of the flat pieces and stick it in dirt. I have also found my cat River gnawing on it and it has survived him. Very durable, as most cacti are.

On gardening journals and databases....

2007-01-17T08:24:00.000-05:00

I have tried to maintain a gardening journals every year for awhile now. I'm not very good at it. I always have great intentions. I see a beautiful gardening journal at the book store and have to buy it, usually in the winter. I start out with great intentions, I list all my plants or the seeds that I winter sow, but once spring hits and the gardening time gets busy, the journal is left behind. I do keep tags and seed packs and am pretty good at writing the date planted or sowed on them.

This past summer I decided to start an Excel journal. This worked out much better for me. I was able to put a digital picture with each listing, with growing information, planting location, etc. Problem with the Excel file though, it grew so huge that it took forever to open, forever to save. I did everything I could to reduce the file size, but with 102 tabs totalling 17,599 kb, it was just to much. I transferred everything over into Power Point, which took a lot of time, but it is much more efficient. It is also quite nice to be able to open it in a presentation and just watch all the images of flowers. The first three pages of the presentation are a preview of all my plants, or plants that I am starting by winter sowing or direct sowing.
I still have an Excel file, I call it my Bloom Calendar. It lists 130 trees and plants (this isn't complete either!) and has columns for each month. I printed this out and have hand written in all of the bloom dates, plus any additional information relating to winter sowing dates, etc. I still need to copy all of this information into the file on the computer. It is quite handy to look at it and see which months I have the least amount of things blooming, that way I know that I need to get. It would be quite nice if there was a way to integrate the Excel file with the Power Point presentation. Then I could click on a listing in the Bloom Calendar and it would take me directly to the plant listing in the Power Point database. Maybe there is way to do this? Maybe some nice person will come along and tell me how to do it!

Anyway, I give the electronic "journal" much more attention than the hand written journals. I'm not good at printing out pictures, so the written journals were quite bare. On the other hand, I would love to print out the database, but I think I would have to take it somewhere and pay an arm and a leg, rather than use up multiple ink cartriges for my "book". It is growing, my Power Point journal, so much so that it really has taken on a life of its own. It is great to put in comments about the plants, where they came from, how well they perform, whether I like it or not. I even have notes to rip some plants out come spring (like Yellow Loosestrife, although very colorful, I do not like it!). Power Point is somehow much more efficient with its data than Excel, the database, with 135 pages containing 67,736 kb of information, is quick to open, quick to save, and quick to close.

YIPPEE, I AM NOW IN ZONE 6!!

2007-01-10T08:14:00.000-05:00

According to The National Arbor Day Foundation, my hardiness zone went from 5b to 6. Between 1996 and 2006 the warmer climate has made a difference. This doesn't come as a surprise, I have suspected that I was in a microclimate that allowed me to grow zone 6 plants. This is exciting news for me. This makes the range of plants I can look at so much broader.

http://www.arborday.org/media/map_change.cfm

Of course, I suppose that they could change all of the plant information to reflect the zone changes. Will a plant that was once hardy in zone 6 now only be hardy to zone 7? Or is the zone just expanded and no difference really for the plant itself? I guess really it is all trial and error, just as gardening has always been and will continue to be.

Theme Gardening is not something I have really thought too much about, but after all of my garden planning and planting, I have come to realize that my own garden theme is a Blue Garden. I have been carefully cultivating plants which only have flowers that are shades of blue, blue-purple. This is my favorite color. It is the color of spring, my favorite season. It is a cool color, which is refreshing in the summer. It looks fantastic with green (my other favorite color). As I sort through hundreds of packs of seeds for winter sowing and direct sowing, I automatically snatch up all of the blue/purple flowering seeds and keep them to try out. The seeds that will never make it into my gardens have white or yellow flowers. These are my least favorite colors, especially white. I know there are many great attributes to these colors, especially for brightening up shade beds, but white reminds me of snow and cold and sterility. NO THANKS. And I just don't like yellow because it is a fall color and drab to me. I can do some orange and red here and there and like pink okay, but blue and purple are the best.

Onto a sad note, our beloved Buckeyes lost the championship game. What a stunning blow to all of us. Like many, I spent yesterday in mourning, in shock and disbelief. I didn't sleep worth a darn Monday night, I kept waking to Hang on Sloopy running through my mind over and over again. I feel the worst for the team. Especially the seniors who can't try again next year for the perfect season. I greatly appreciate all that they did this season though and still hold my head up high. Thanks team, it has been a great season.

Winter is back....

2007-01-08T12:57:00.000-05:00

The mama Amaryllis bulb is starting to grow! I noticed it yesterday. So, it took 19 days...not bad at all. All of the babies except one have growth also. Having to cram all of my gardening into one pot of bulbs is pretty pathetic, ha ha!

Yesterday Chris and I were able to go do some hiking for a couple of hours. The creek was so full that we were unable to cross at our normal rock path, it was under water.

We walked down and up the creek trying to find a spot low enough, but didn't have any luck. We ended up straddling a couple of fallen trees and carefully worked our way across. Falling into that cold water did not seem appealing now that the temperatures have dropped back down to near normal. We both made it across okay and made our way to the dam. They were letting a lot of water out. The river was swollen over its banks in some of the lower locations. We crossed the dam and followed the levee east until we reached the road that runs into the wild life area. We followed the road south until we came to our road and then followed it home. It was raining through most of our hike, but we were bundled up pretty good, so it wasn't too bad. It was just great to get out for awhile.

Today is much cooloer, only 36 degrees. It is okay, because by Saturday it is supposed to be back in the mid-40's! We are supposed to wake up tomorrow morning to an inch or two of snow. I guess that will be okay, since we haven't had any yet.

Before I forget, I did get some more winter sowing done. Eight more containers. These seeds included:
Candy Lily- 1 container
West Texas Sage- 1 container
Monarda Prarie Night- 1 container
Anise Hyssop- 1 container
Polemonium Caeruleum- 1 container
Various unknown types of blue or purple Clematis- 3 containers.

I have two tempered glass refridgerater shelves that I have been saving for awhile. I took them out and placed them over the areas where I sowed the lettuce and spinach. Hopefully with this cooler weather, they will act as a sort of cold frame for them. An experiment, we'll see what happens.

Well, I do have one non-gardening note. Today is the Championship game between Ohio State and Florida. I hung both my flags today and am wearing my scarlet and gray, including my socks! It will be an awesome game and of course, I certainly hope Troy Smith takes them all the way.

GO BUCKEYES!!!

Is this Indian Summer or an early Spring?

2007-01-05T09:15:00.000-05:00

Yesterday morning when I woke, I pulled my curtains open like always. The full moon showed the outline of a raccoon right outside my bedroom window. It was all stretched out with its head in one of my bird feeders. This particular feeder is only a couple foot off of the ground. I have never had any issues with critters until now. I tapped on the window and nothing. I opened the window and it continued to eat. I finally had to yell at it and it finally took off. So I raised the feeder yesterday to 6 foot off of the ground and refilled it.

This morning when I pulled my curtains open, I did not see a racoon, but instead there was a skunk! It was only a couple feet away from my window, just sitting under the eaves, perhaps trying to stay out of the rain. This creature waddles away when I opened the window (trepidly, in case it decided to spray!) and ran once my husband shined a flashlight on it.

We do not usually see skunks around here (I mean, smell skunks around here) until mid-March. These animals hibernate, so I was quite surprised to see it.

It is not unusual to see animals out the bedroom window. One morning last spring I opened the curtains and stared right into the eyes of a deer! It was quite a shock to both of us!

WOW!! The things that are going on around here is just incredible! Thank you El Nino, once again! I know this is going to wreak havoc on the summer, probably will make the mosquitoes unbearable, but I would rather deal with those nasty buggers than the cold and snow.

It is 9:30 am EST here, and it is 58 degrees!! I took a little walk around the yard and here is what I have found:

Sedums greening up. This plant normally goes so dormant that you wouldn't even know it exists!

Tall garden Phlox budding up and ready to bloom!

Purple Mist Shrub trying to leaf out.

Sweet Autumn Clematis leafing out!

Geraniums all greened up too.

Buds on a Flowering Quince.

Tulips pushing up through the ground.

I know that many of these things are going to be hurt when we finally do get a cold snap, but you know what? It is rare around here to have flowers in January, and I will take them regardless of the outcome! This warm weather isn't going to kill everything, I will still have flowers come the real Spring. And Summer will still be spectacular!

Those of us who despise winter and get depressed during the long gray dreary months are getting a rare reprieve. Thank you Mother Nature....

New growth, mild weather, and a new year

2007-01-03T08:17:00.000-05:00

Well, two of the babies on the Amaryllis already have new growth. One began on the 31st and has 1 1/2 inches of growth already. The other just began yesterday and has maybe a half inch of growth. I am excited! It is kept in a warm, sunny location in the house. I think this helps a lot.

The mild weather has been great! I have been getting more work done outdoors. I dug up and moved 18 Forsythia along our side lane. They are going to be beautiful in a few years when they have grown thick.

I transplanted many Grape Muscari. They are very plentiful, so I moved lots of them to a spot on the south end of the house, by a stone wall path. There are already several planted there and I also sowed some Chiondoxia seeds there in the fall.

In that same location, I put in some plastic edging on Sunday. It was such a beautiful day. The soil felt warm to my fingers, I was not wearing gloves! It will be nice for my husband Chris to be able to mow right up to the edging now without having to get the weed wacker out. I will also not have to continue to pull the grass away from the first step.

On the wild hillside, I got out there and cleared a spot below a maple tree and moved a bench that I made out there. It overlooks Norris Run, our creek, and the Delaware State Park. The view is beautiful. I direct sowed Blue Flax, my favorite flower, all around it. This may also be a good deer viewing location, it is near one of the paths that they use, but not too close.

Speaking of bulbs, our Lowe's has the remaining bulbs hidden in the garden section 50% off. I got a couple packs of Blue Delft Hyacinths and some purple Alliums and also planted those. Maybe 80 bulbs.

I am so excited I can hardly wait to see the explosion of blooms here in three months. It seems so far away, but with this mild weather, if I can keep going out and do some gardening, it is going to be here in no time at all!

Winter Sowing has begun!!

2006-12-28T16:43:00.000-05:00

Today I got my first batch of winter sowing done. I did 23 containers! I am excited to get started on some gardening (sort of).

Here is a list of what I started:

4 containers of Candy Lily
3 containers of Baptisia
2 containers of Stoke's Blue Aster
2 containers of Texas Star Hibiscus
2 containers of Prarie Night Monarda
1 container of Purple Spiderwort
1 container of Agastache Anise Hyssop
2 containers of Liatrus
2 containers of Tulip Poplar
2 containers of Sweet Bay Magnolia
2 containers of Frasier Fir

I would have done many more, but have temporarily run out of containers that are prepared. In another week or so I will be ready for a second batch.

The weather was mild today, in the mid 50's. I was able to get outside and also direct sow some seeds also. This list includes:

Purple Coneflower
Blue Flax
New England Aster
Red Yucca
Rocky Mountain Penstamon
Balloon Flower

Because the weather has been above freezing for awhile, I decided to also sow some spinach, lettuce and some Sweet Basil. It would be awesome to have a fresh salad in the middle of winter, or even late winter!

Another gardening project today was planting 14 Blue Delft Hyacinth bulbs. These are one of my favorites. A beautiful color, very fragrant, and deer resistant too. I planted these near my bedroom windows. This bed also has several young Red Bud trees planted in it. In a few years there is going to be spectacular color out those windows.

As gardeners always say, "Just wait til next year!"

Amaryllis bulb planting

2006-12-20T10:23:00.000-05:00

Today I took my Amarylis bulb out of storage and got it planted. It has been sitting in the nice cold garage in a paper bag since October 15. That is right around the 8-10 weeks of required dormancy for it to rebloom. I have my fingers crossed.

I imagine most people would want their's to bloom at Christmas, but not me! I look forward to some nice bright blooms in January or February, when the outdoors is at its dreariest and there are few events happening.

It has 4 babies still attached. I debated on whether or not to remove them and pot them up separately, but ultimately decided not to. I do not expect them to bloom this year, but being still attached, they can get more nutrients from the mother bulb this way.

Here it is last year blooming and then this summer while in the ground. It is the strappy green leaves in front of the purple ribbon. The bulb grew a lot over the summer and if I did it correctly, there should be even more blooms this time.

I will keep you posted on its progress, with my fingers crossed!

How to make Garden Balls, a tutorial

2006-12-04T13:36:00.000-05:00

Materials needed-a ball, flat marbles, GE Silicone II exterior version, grout or mortar mix with sand, water, plastic bag, rubber gloves, a paper plate or old lid, a spreader; such as a popcicle stick

Step one- Gather materials. I am using a tennis ball attached to a pole, which used to hold flags, until it broke (Reduce, reuse, recycle). Using the larger size of flat marbles, it will take approximately 40 to cover an entire tennis ball. I am using two shades of blue this time, and I figured out a pattern that I want to use.

Step two-Squirt some silicone onto the old lid. Make sure you use the right kind.

Step three- Using the popcicle stick, spread a liberal amount of silicone on a section of the ball.

Step four-Begin placing the flat marbles onto the ball in the silicone. Push firmly, but do not push so hard as to squish all of the silicone out from under the marbles.

Step five-Add another section of silicone and another round of marbles.

Step six-Continue adding silicone and marbles all the way to the bottom of the ball. You may have to carefully hold the ball in the palm of your hand to place the marbles on the bottom half of the ball. Once completed, carefully set it down and let it dry over night.

Step seven-Put your mortar/sand mix into a bowl, about 2 cups full.

Step eight-Add some water and stir it up using another popcicle stick.

Mix should be very thick. If it is runny, sprinkle some mix in it and stir. Continue to add mix or water until a paste like consistency.

Step nine-With gloves on, scoop up some of the mix and start applying to the ball. You will want to push it down firmily inbetween the marbles. It is okay if it gets on the marbles.

Step ten-Once completed mortared, wrap in plastic and let sit for a couple of hours to semi-set. Do not worry at this time if there is mortar on the marbles.
Step eleven-Unwrap ball from the plastic. Run it under slow moving water. If a hard running water is used, it could wash the mortar out from between the marbles. Using a rag, carefully wipe the ball, getting the excess mortar off of the marbles.

Rewrap the ball in the plastic and let sit for another few hours. Once again, remove it from the plastic and gently wet and wipe. By now, you should have the mortar / grout cleaned off enough to make the ball look nice. Rewrap in plastic.

The garden ball is done now, except for curing. Curing will take a week or so. For the first 5 days, keep the ball wrapped in plastic, removing it once per day and gently wetting, either using the faucet or a spray bottle. This prevents it from drying too quickly and causing it to crack.
After five days, remove it from the plastic and continue to wet it down, several times a day. You will want to do this for at least 3 more days. Then you can let it start to dry more, with maybe only wetting it once a day or so. After another week it will be cured enough to place outside.

The last day of Indian Summer

2006-11-30T11:38:00.000-05:00

The weather has been wonderful this past week. Warm and balmy, like spring. So nice. I hate to see it end, but it will. Tomorrow brings the cold, the sleet, the snow.
I have been taking advantage of this nice weather and transplanted many things.

I dug up a dozen Forsythia from a spot on the wooded hillside and planted many of them along the south edge of the property. We have a lane there that goes all the way to the bottom of the property. It is a nice lane, but I thought I would spruce it up with the Forsythia. They will also give some nice spring color and provide a bit more privacy for neighbors. It was a bit of a challenge to digging these up on the hillside. It is a bit steep and there is a lot of saplings to work around also. I fought falling down the hill more than a few times.
The new location will give them much more visibility and also much more sunlight. There are still a dozen or so left on the hillside. I am going to keep one or two of them there and move the rest of them to various parts of the property. I have another patch of Forsythia that also needs dug up and moved. It is right against the north side of the barn, right under a door. It is a tight grouping of many. They do not bloom well in this location, needing much more space and sunlight.

One of my favorite trees is the Eastern Red Bud. We are lucky to have a uncountable amount of them, of all sizes. They are mostly on the north end of the house, mostly lining the hillside and the state park property line.
There are also hundreds more seedlings no taller than a foot everywhere. Red Buds do transplant well, but only if you move them when they are less than 3 foot tall. As a smaller tree when dug up, I usually bare root them (even in the middle of summer) and so far have had good success.
These taller ones are visible from the bedroom windows and also from the street. I absolutely love the color.

I transplanted one to the new Forsythia bed alongside the lane. It will contrast nicely with the yellow. I transplanted four more to the west side of the house in a newer bed that I have been working on for a few months. I also dug up a large clump of Liriope Muscari, divided it into four clumps and planted these in the same bed. The Liriope stays green through the winter, an added bonus to this plant with fall purple flowers.

I have a small Japanese Maple that I have been growing since it was a 6 inch twig that I purchased off of Ebay several years ago. This is a tough tree. I brought it from our old house, where it had been moved three times. I dug it up again this past week from its very sunny spot and moved it to a shadier location. The early afternoon sun was crisping the leaves in the summer, so it had to be moved. This also went into the newer west side bed with the Red Buds and Liriope. Two Blue Prince Hollys were also moved into this bed. I got these this past spring dirt cheap at the Flea Market ( one of my favorite places to go on Sunday mornings).
Other things in this bed include 2 Boxwood and various types of ferns, one being the Japanese Painted Fern.

Here you can see this new long bed looking at it from both ends. I put the path in first, early in the summer. The black tube runs from our drainspout and needs to be buried. Another day, another project. The three windows are our bedroom. Once everything gets large enough, it is going to be wonderful to look out and see everything in bloom.

Making garden balls

2006-11-17T07:12:00.000-05:00

I really enjoy having art in the garden. It is fun to find a little surprise here and there amongst the flowers and foliage. If you have ever had a gazing ball, you know that they are very fragile and unless anchored well, a small breeze can knock it off the pedestal and break it to pieces.

Instead of replacing it with another fragile gazing ball, as lovely and enchanting as they may be, I did a sturdier version from an old bowling ball. You may have heard of this or even seen one. Flat marbles are attached to the bowling ball using adhesive. Sometimes grout is used after the adhesive has dried, and sometimes not. There is a variety of different marble colors and finishes. Some are shiny, some not. Some have a metallic finish and some are even multi-colored. They also come in several different sizes, such as the larger ones used in the first picture.
It does take some time and patience to create one of these. The ball must be cleaned and dried. You must have something to set the ball on while attaching the marbles. An empty coffee can works well to hold it steady while doing this. Then you must wait a day or two while the adhesive dries before turning it over and doing the other half. It is quite fun though, and I get a great feeling of accomplishment once it is completed.

Smaller versions are also fun to make. This one was made using an old baseball. I have also made them using softballs, tennis balls, and even tiny wiffle balls. Smaller ones have their own challenges when putting them together. Instead of placing them on a stand while attaching the marbles, I just hold these and adhere all of the pieces in one sitting. Using exterior grade G.E. Silicone II (for doors and windows), I use a popsicle stick to smear the adhesive on a section of the ball and then stick the marbles to it, not pushing too hard to squish all of the adhesive out. It gets tricky holding the ball towards the end without pushing the marbles out of place. After they are all attached, I sit it aside for a day or so to dry.

There is probably premixed grout available to use, but I use an equal mix of portland cement and sand, with water added until is thicker than pancake batter. With rubber gloves on, I just grab some and rub it in between the marbles, squishing it in nice and tight. I then wrap them in plastic grocery bags for a few hours. By then, the grout has set enough that I can take a damp sponge and wipe the excess off the marbles. Spray it with some water and rewrap. A few hours later I will check them out, just to make sure that I didn't miss getting all the marbles wiped off, I spray it again and rewrap until the next day. I unwrap and spray them down (or just run under the faucet set on low) and wrap once per day for a week. Then unwrap and wet again and leave unwrapped. Spray them several times a day for a 2 or 3 days and they should be cured enough to just spray once a day or every other day for just a couple more days. The grout will end up drying a very pale gray, almost white. You can add concrete dye to the morter mix if you want different colors. I have also just added a box of purple Rit dye to the mix, and although the color wasn't consistent throughout, it did give the white gray some blue-ish areas, which was nice too.
When I used the wiffle balls, they had holes in them, so I was able to string some wire through them and hang them outdoors from a tree.

I really enjoy making these. I like being able to make a pattern or use whichever colors I like. I haven't been able to find a local store that carries a wide variety of colors though. Walmart has a decent selection, but they always carry the same stock. I am now experimenting with using beads and glitter on a few instead of the marbles. I hope this will broaden my material selection. I have also seen pictures of balls that had pennies or nickels attached. They were certainly original and I am hoping to cover a bowling ball in pennies this winter.

Evolution...

2006-11-08T09:21:00.000-05:00

Here is the new pine bed I put together. It has a Blue Spruce (a true miracle tree) and an Arborvitae. When we first bought the place, this blue spruce was sitting on the ground, still wrapped in burlap. It was on the opposite side of the house, roots growing through the bottom of the burlap. It didn't get much sun, which I am sure helped keep it alive by not allowing it to dry out. I dug it up, removed the burlap and planted it in this sunny spot. It has grown 2 inches in the year it has been in the ground. The arborvitae we transplanted from our old home. I am hoping that someday it will grow wide enough that I can make a tunnel through it. This view shows the path on the north side of the arborvitae. I think the tunnel will be really fun. Walking through tunnels or under arches is always intriguing. This one will be extra nice since it will be green year round.

The south end of the house has gone through quite a transformation in the year since we moved in. Originally, I believe it was a forgotten, or unthought of, space. The garage had a window and a shrub bed all along that end. There was an ugly overgrown trumpet flower shrub where the stone wall now sits. I couldn't wait to dig it out and get rid of it.
The shrub bed was weed filled and few perennials remained, choked out by mint and other obnoxious weeds. Day lilies, tall purple Phlox, and Yellow Loosestrife were the only ones strong enough to survive.

Here is the south end of the house in July of 2005 when we first came and checked the place out. The only few good things were the rocks lining the weed filled bed, the Spirea and Burning Bushes, and the nice pine tree. Before we moved in, the owners did mow down the weeds and dump some mulch over top. It did make it look a lot nicer, but unfortunately, it didn't smother the weeds.

We removed the window and replaced it with a door. I moved the spirea out of the doorway and we made a small landing out of pavers found in the back yard. I then began yanking weeds, digging out that trumpet flower shrub (right corner of the above picture) and began rearranging the rocks. Then came the brick path at the left corner, right through the middle of the bed. The paver steps and short rock wall came next. Behind the house, a path leading from nowhere and leading to nowhere was made of the pavers. The path began at the back of the house, from which there was no door, no patio, no anything. It led across the yard and to the steep hillside, where treacherous, crumbling steps remained. I dug up all the pavers and we filled in the holes with dirt and grass seed. Those pavers have come in very handy for many projects!

I carefully laid the pavers, making sure they were level and secure. The stone wall was the next phase of the project and then smaller stones and plants. It is filled with Creeping Phlox, Blue Fescue, Grape Muscari, and Chiondoxa.
The paths lead you around the side of the house and to the back yard, where wonderful views of the trees and the valley below greet you. It is one of my favorite parts of the yard now. It still has work to be done. The Yellow Loosestrife and the mint grow rampant. I am determined to get every last piece of them out and replace them with nicer plants.

I hope to someday connect the brick path with the paver steps. This area is very much used and a path is being worn in the grass.
Quite interestingly, I found a baby Blue Spruce growing between two of the paver steps this summer. I carefully dug it up, planted it in a large pot and sunk the pot into the ground. Once it is large enough, I will pull the pot from the ground and plant the tree in the ground somewhere.

Little surprises like that are one of the things that keep me gardening. You just never know what will grow and thrive in your garden. It may be an unwanted weed, or it may be that tiny pine growing out of nothing. It always amazes me how such a large plant can grow from such a tiny seed. It is like magic.

The Joys of Lasagna Gardening...

2006-11-06T08:23:00.000-05:00

Lasagna, doesn't it just sound wonderful and delicious? Layers upon layers of good things, each one different and great all by itself, but put them together and it is FANTASTIC!!!

Lasagna gardening is not unlike the italian meal. It is layers of earth friendly material stacked in layers, left to bake over the winter to be something wonderful in the spring. The ingredients vary by gardener (the cook) and usually starts with a nice grassy expanse (but needn't), covered in a nice thick wet layer of newspapers. The newspapers are a great way to recycle. They also smother the grass, making a nice weed barrier and help promote those nice red worms to the surface to do their magic.
On top of the newspapers, you put layers of compost, leaves (shredded or not), chipped wood, and any other organic materials you may have. Straw can be used, grass clippings, shredded newspapers can be added, if you have left over bags of top soil, they can be added. Top the entire thing with mulch and just let it sit until spring. Voila, you will have a nice fertile, organic, worm filled garden bed, waiting to be planted.
Follow this link for a good story on lasagna gardening; Lasagna Gardening

So a few days ago I began some lasagna beds in the wooded area in front of the house. I extended one existing bed by 10 feet, added another 8 ft x 4 ft bed and a path and began another triangular shaped bed around some smaller evergreens. I ran out of newspaper and had to go to the recycle center bins and retrieve some! So far I have two thick layers, the lower layer is all leaves and the upper layer is small chipped wood. I will be adding many more layers as the season progresses, but this is a good start.

These new beds are all outlined with sections of fallen trees. It looks rustic, a nice feature for the wooded area and a nice compliment to the stone lined beds. I brought a hollowed log from the ravine and placed it in one of the beds.
My husband Chris just shakes his head anymore at my gardening expansions. He is getting used to them and he always likes them come summer when the plants are flourishing.

You may be thinking it is going to cost a lot of money to fill all these new beds. It won't, thanks to the many seed swaps that I have been a part of. It won't be much longer and it will be time to begin winter sowing, the great way to gardening in the winter. This will provide many, many new plants for me and lots of pretty new flowers. I will also transplant some things from other places on the property, making the new beds look as old and established as the existing ones.

Planning for spring has begun

2006-11-04T07:53:00.000-05:00

Well, now that there is no green gardening to do, I have begun spring planning. Deciding which beds to expand, where to begin new ones, what to move where, what seeds to start for which locations! So much work, for such a long winter.

I spent a good amount of time lining two beds with logs and covering the ground around the plants with newspapers. Then raked tons of leaves, shredded them and put them thickly over the newspapers. The newspapers keep the weeds from growing and is organic. It will eventually break down and become part of the soil.

I also raked lots of fallen pine needles and then placed them over newspapers in another bed, along the south side of the house. It looks so much neater and cleaner with 'mulch' on it now. I hope to cover all of the beds with shredded hardwood in the spring.
The county sent a letter recently letting us know that they were going to be trimming trees along the roads and asked if we wanted any of the shredded wood or logs. I said YES!! We get the shredded wood by the dump truck load and I requested 1-3 loads, plus the logs for the fireplace. I am very excited about this. I will be able to mulch all the beds, create paths, cover the existing paths, and hopefully still have enough to cover some of my outdoor work areas. This unexpected gift should be arriving in the next few weeks. By spring, it should be composted enough to spread right on the beds.

There is a lot of work to be done outdoors over the winter. This is the perfect time for rock and brick hunting/collecting. The previous owner dumped truck loads of rock and brick all over the property. It made some spots ugly, but it is nice for me to just go pick

up what I need right here, instead of driving the back roads looking for farmer dump spots. The rocks are nice to line beds with, to stack as walls, or use as a focal point. The bricks also make nice edgers and make fine paths as well.
The rocks I have found are normal field stone, hunks of limestone, beautiful green, red, and white granite. As a lover of rocks, this is wonderful! I have rocks on every side of the house and even have a bunch inside also. There is nothing like a good rock to bring the outdoors in and to make me feel closer to the earth.

This is a short stone wall that I made late last winter, early spring. All the stone was found scattered about the property. I gathered and loaded the truck, loaded a wheel barrow, loaded a wagon, or just carried to this spot and carefully stacked it nice and tight. It turned out very nice and should last for many, many years. I hope someday that the arborvitae planted next to it will grow tall and wide enough so the steps will tunnel through it. Wouldn't that be fun and beautiful?

Bare limbs everywhere

2006-10-21T06:34:00.000-05:00

It has been a very busy time in the gardens. Digging Cannas, removing tomato plants, Castor Bean plants, Miribilis Jalapa plants and putting into the compost, taking cuttings. Everything is slowing down, cooling off and turning to mush. I still have some things flowering, Plumbago is still as blue as ever. I still have a few Balsam plants under the eaves that have escaped the frost too. I have been taking my DaVinci Poinsettia and putting it into the closet for 14 hours every night. Then, I bring it back out and put it in the window during the day, in hopes that come late December, those Peppermint bracts will magically appear.

My Amarylis bulb grew quite a bit over the summer. I planted it in a flower bed so it would get maximum benefits. I think it worked. There are also several babies attached to it. I considered removing them to have more plants, but decided to let them stay with their mom for another year at least. I will just have to find a larger pot than last year when it becomes time to pot it back up. Here is a picture of it from last winter, quite a beauty. The variety is Hermitage. I bought the bulb on clearance last winter and it sure brought a lot of color when it bloomed. The flowers also lasted a long time, definitely a plus. I can't wait to how well it will bloom this time.

The leaves are almost gone now. With the rain and wind, they are falling faster. We can see the river again with the view unblocked. We can see if the water is high or if it is low and the spillway visible. The creek has been very full this last week with all of the rain. It has been almost dry, with only the deep pools still full of water. The fullness will finally allow those trapped fish a chance to get out get to the river now.
All of the tall wild flowers (weeds) are dead now and already starting to fall over, exposing the shape and contour of our property once again. The deer will be in plain site, easy to view.

Here is a picture of our giant Black Walnut tree. It is the last the get leaves and the first to drop them. We have no idea how old the tree is, but estimate 80-200 years old. It is quite huge, 205 inch circumference, 106 feet tall, and the crown is 111 feet at its widest. It is in excellent health, with no dead branches and still producing nuts like crazy. I have entered it into the Ohio Big Tree competition, hoping it will be the largest Black Walnut in Ohio. They will come out and take official measurements sometime and compare it with current and other nominees. It is very shady below it during the summer. It also helps keep most weeds down too. We have seen many squirrels climbing its limbs and earlier this week had a Great Blue Heron sitting on a branch at dusk. That was a beautiful sight to see.

Autumn...just the intro to winter

2006-10-06T13:38:00.000-05:00

Yep, it's that time of year again. Boy, summer sure does seem to get shorter and shorter every year. The leaves change color quicker, the cool weather arrives faster, birds are gone, flowers are mostly done blooming, farmers are out taking the crops off. Combines go up and down the road all day long it seems.
I've trying to get out every day and get some winter prep work done. I have potted up Elephant Ears, a geranium, spider plants, impatiens, and various other things. I pulled up a lot of geraniums and put them into a paper bag to store away until next year. I've cut the Castor Bean plants down, they were already blown over from the wind. Also cut down the Perilla, pulled the 4 O'Clocks out and am ready to start digging up the Canna's next.
I have a list, and I have checked it twice, three times, for things to be done before frost. I've collected seeds and sorted those out. Some I will keep for winter sowing (another post on another day soon), some I will give away and some I have all set for a seed exchange.
Leaves are falling in swarms now. Some trees are bare already and some are close behind. Raking and blowing them into piles to make mulch will be coming real soon. Walnuts are dropping like crazy too. Here is a picture of what we've collected so far, and I bet there is already that many more below the trees again and we've probably pitched just as many into the woods.
Speaking of trees, there is another thing to add to the list. We have loads of trees, some large and some small. There is a section behind the barn that has many smaller trees, 8 foot tall or less. There is Walnut, Maple, Elm, and Poplar. I need to go out and mark those as to what they are before the leaves fall off. We are going to transplant many of those to other locations on the property once they go dormant. Most of them are too close together and we really want to give the Walnut trees enough space to grow freely. Not that we don't have enough of them, but they won't last forever, so we are going to keep them planted at intervals so that maybe they could last for many generations to come.
Have you ever heard the old wives tale that the first frost occurs 90 days after you hear the first cicada begin its singing? I only heard that this year, in June, from one of the local news stations. We heard our first cicada July 4, which would make our first frost October 4th. Well, luckily, no frost yet, so that tale is ruined. Frost won't be far away though, you can feel the crisp coolness on the wind. It will be here soon, bringing SNOW shortly after.

Ta-Da...the finished chair!

2006-10-04T06:00:00.000-05:00

Well, I got the chair done. It turned out really nice, but I am not sure if I am pleased with it or not. I may deconstruct part of it and change it. I am going to leave it as is for a week or so and see if I change my mind.

Here is my handiwork with the foam. I use an electric carving knife (like what you use to cut a turkey) to cut and shape the foam. It makes it super easy, very precise, and fast to cut.
After fitting the foam pieces, they are each wrapped in quilt batting, then with cheese cloth. The arm pieces are then stapled in place. All of the other pieces are marked with an R or L for correct placement and then removed and set aside.
The fabric can then be cut to size, wrapped and sewn around the foam, or with the arms, stapled in place. Each piece goes back to the chair in a specific order, depending on how the foam was placed. With this chair, the order was, arms, wings, seat front, arm fronts, back of chair, seat, back cushion.
For crisp, straight edges, I cut pieces of poster board (thin cardboard) an inch wide and stapled the fabric to it, and then attached to the chair. These pieces were mainly used along the back side edges.

I used some black trim on the bottom edge for fun. I also happened to have on hand, some of the black fabric that you see on the bottom of furniture, to hide the inside. So I used it underneath for a nice finished look. I also gave the feet a fresh coat of black paint.

Here it is! It does look really nice. It is a much smaller chair than I envisioned it to be, but it is comfortable. The fabric stretched nicely, there are very few tell-tale puckers. Staples are all invisible too. I even made a nice pillow for it. I stuffed it with scraps of quilt batting and fabric. It now looks like a brand new chair. Remember what it looked like to begin with?

Flowers and Hypertufa...

2006-09-27T06:43:00.000-05:00

I want to show off this Balsam, also known as Touch Me Nots. The seeds were given to me and I sowed them late, as in late July. They are now in full bloom and really pretty. It is like a touch of spring.

Here is a close up of the blooms. Aren't they colorful? I am hoping that I will be able to collect some seeds and grow these again next year. I really do like them.

I made this sphere early in summer out of Hypertufa. I used a basketball, a sap bucket, and a cut down butter bowl as molds for each of the pieces. It was a lot of fun to make and I think it turned out fabulous! I hope to someday have moss growing on it.
Hypertufa is a mix of portland cement, sand, and peat moss. It is the modern, inexpensive version of the cut, light weight stone that old England used to make troughs. If you tried to buy some of those troughs now, they are very expensive. Hypertufa is a wonderful thing that can be molded into just about anything. You are only limited by your imagination. There is lots of info on the net about it. Here are a couple links that I have used to learn about it.

http://www.efildoog-nz.com/hypertufa.htm

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/gl_containers_outdoor/article/0,1785,HGTV_3561_4834334,00.html

http://www.gardengatemagazine.com/extras/53birdbath-video.php

I will talk more about Hypertufa and show some of my other creations in a later post.

I hope you enjoyed this today. I am off to work on my chair!

Fabric...

2006-09-25T18:07:00.000-05:00

Well, here is the fabric that I picked to cover the chair in. I am not brave enough to try a pattern yet! I worry that I won't match it up correctly or will attach it crooked and be very obvious.
So I have picked safely, although I did have a great time looking at everything. I am going to do the seat in the blue and the rest in the chocolate brown. I am also thinking of doing the piping in the opposite colors, blue on brown and brown on blue.
These are both medium weight fabrics. I don't always pick an upholstery weight fabric, because I really don't want it to last forever. I can only stand looking at the same colors for so long and having two boys in the house...well, it wouldn't last forever anyway. I will probably be ready for something new in 5 years or so and it will need it.
Hopefully in the next couple of days I can get started on putting it together. I am excited! I have a lot of fun and get a lot of satisfaction redoing a chair.

End of summer...

2006-09-23T07:33:00.000-05:00

Well, unfortunately, it really is here. The end of summer. I have been taking cuttings of Perilla and Impatiens and putting into water. The Perilla has quickly grown a mass of roots in the bottle I put it in. I dug up and potted my Poinsettia. It has really grown a lot this summer, but was beginning to suffer from the heat. We are having cooler temps right now and it really loves that. I potted up a variety of sedums and planted those into a hypertufa planter that I made. It too will be coming inside within a few weeks.

I still have many, many things to dig up and repot, an Amarylis, which I think has a couple of babies attached now, several Geraniums, an Orchid, and an African Violet. There may be more, but I can't think of them at the moment.

I still have day lilies to plant. I haven't any idea what variety they are. I found these sitting in a wheel barrow marked free along a back road nearby (I couldn't pass up free plants!). I have lots of stuff that I still want to dig up and relocate.

I also still have plants setting seed that I want to collect. Among them are Amaranthus,
Castor Bean, and
4:00's.
I have a half whiskey barrel that I want to plant some lettuce and spinach in real soon. We are having perfect temps for those to grow.

We are still enjoying a few things blooming. Sweet Autumn Clematis mingling with the Amaranthus. There is also one lone Jackmanii Clematis bloom mixed in with those also. Pink mix Cosmos is still going strong, as are the Moss Roses. Balsam plants are just beginning to put on a colorful show. I sowed these seeds late, the end of July, and it looks like spring in that area! I think I will sow more annual seeds later in the season next year. What a nice surprise to have that second flush of new flowers.
I have one Aster that is still blooming well. It is not in a prime viewing location though, so it will be moved also. There is also Plumbago (the perfect color), some Canna's, a few blue & salmon colored Flax, Muscari, Great Lobelia, and mini-Hosta's.
Purple Mist Shrub is still absolutely beautiful. What a wonderful surprise when I found this shrub crowded in the middle of some Red Buds. I moved it into a more open, sunnier location and I think (I hope) that next year it will be even better.

There is still a lot of outdoor work to be done before it gets too cold. Leaves will be dropping soon and in one area, they all fall at the same time. It is quite spectacular to see, all the leaves coming down in waves, so thick that you can't see past them. These will all need collected and hopefully shredded to put into the flower beds. There is wood that needs to be cut, so we can enjoy the fireplace (my favorite place in the winter!). Branches to be broken down into kindling.

I still want to gather flat rocks to continue some pathways and also some bricks to line some beds.

There is still a water trough that needs emptied and water plants to be stored.

So many things, but they are all items that will make next years gardening even bigger, better, and have more profuse flowers. At least, that is the idea, the hope, the reason for gardening...

My craft...

2006-09-21T06:35:00.000-05:00

Well, I don't have a specific craft that I do. I am more of a Jill-of-all-trades! I like to try them all! I keep waiting to come across that magical one that calls to me and begs me to continue to do it over and over again, but I haven't found it yet.
I have tried many named things; stained glass, reupholstering, hypertufa, painting, bowling ball art, amongst others. I thoroughly enjoyed each and every one of these projects. Some can only be done with specific weather (hypertufa can only be done when night temps are above 50 degrees-that's only about 5 months of the year, here). Some require expensive equipment to do at home and some I have found that I lack the skill to do it very well!

I do have quite a chair collection. Reupholstering them has probably been the one thing that I have done frequently over the years. I get a kick out of getting some crappy chair at the flea market and making it look new. Now people give me a chance to take their cast off chairs before sending them to Goodwill or the dump. It is rare for me to turn a chair down and even have a few in the barn waiting for me to get to work on them.

Here are a couple pictures of the current chair that I am working on. I got this from my mother-in-law and it may be hard to believe, but it is going to be a beautiful comfy chair when I am through with it!

This is the point I am at with it right now:

I am at a stand still until I go and find the perfect fabric for it. I don't have a specific color/pattern yet. I wait and see what jumps out at me. There is so many wonderful fabrics and I like to look at them like art before making a decision. I will keep you posted on its progres...

New for me!

2006-09-20T11:20:00.000-05:00

Hi All!
I am super new to blogging and it was quite by accident that this was started! But now that it is, I may as well continue on with it!

As you may have guessed from the title, I am interested in both gardening and also creating/reusing junk! One man's trash is a woman's treasure...

I hope you will enjoy this blog, or at the least find something amusing or interesting about it. Maybe even learn something new or give you some ideas.

Thanks!