The Catalogs keep coming!

I love the spring catalogs.   They have such rich, colorful pictures of vegetables and flowers!  Of course, they are fully mature, probably 4-5 year old plants!  The way I see it, you better be patient in order to get those type of results in your garden...and lucky.  The last couple of years I've had some nasty critters eating away at my tomatoes.  I hate using pesticides....or fungicides for that matter.  I'd be happier if I could just get huge 'maters without using anything besides a good rich compost on them.

Well, now's the time to be planting those seeds.  So, Ladies, START YOUR SEEDS!  (gentlemen too:)

Spring is coming!

Yes, it is.  I know that it's gonna be a while still, but it is February and then it will be March.  March is spring!  So, to get ready, I've been pouring over my catalogs and looking up fact about plants on the web.  It seems like the perfect time to get ready, also you could start some seeds now if you have plenty of sunny window space.  If you don't have lots of sun, the plants will "draw" toward the light.  They will grow tall and spindly.  Not the best type of growth.  About the only thing getting tall and leggy is good for is tomatoes.  You can dig a trench and plant the whole thing in there except for the top two inches or so and it will develop a great root system.  Just bend the top and firm the soil around it.  At every possible joint along the stem it will develop roots.  That's about the only one that you can do that with.  We always (my Mom and Day) started tiny little plants like Petunias in January.  The seed is so little that you have to transplant it at least twice cause it comes up in clumps. I remember my Mom transplanting the tiny little things holding a leaf with her fingernails.  Ah, those were the days in the greenhouse.  Always warm in there, even in the coldest of winter days.

So, start looking at the seed catalogs now, and take a look at perennials.  Some take two years to bloom, so you might as well get them in the ground now!

Until next time, happy gardening!

I finished!

Yes, just yesterday I received my diploma from Stratford Career Institute!  Isn't that special?  Now that it's late fall/early winter, I can't go outside and do much except clean up and wait 'til spring.....but I sure can plan!  I have some cool ideas ready for whenever I can get everything together.  Both on the front of the house and the backyard.  I promise I'll take before and after pics for everyone to see.  For now, sleep well little plants.  :)

New Plantings

I usually don't like fall much.  It always shows the ending of things.  Trees drop their leaves.  Grass begins to turn brown.  Summer bloomers are dying down and tender plants will die soon.

This year is slightly different.  Although all those things are still happening, I'm planting for next year now.  The perennials I ordered have been delivered and I've planted all of them.  As they begin to dig in and get their roots established, I'm reminded that next year they will perform for me!  Also, I'm planning a new landscape for the back.  The front will have to wait a while, but the back will have a new look.

I have a problem looking "outside the box" for this project.  But cutting down all the spent plants leaves a different landscape and lets me gain a new perspective.  I'm able to "see" some new stuff!  So, look forward to pictures of new things next spring!

I'll talk to you soon, you can be assured I'll keep you updated!

Judie

The Mailbox

Well, I thought it was time to update the mailbox this year.  By Labor Day, it still sported the weeds that took over after the spring bulbs died down!  What a mess.  It was full of crabgrass, I had to pull it all out.  But then, with it freshly cleaned, I began to think about what I would like instead.  I finally ended up with some Angelica Sedum.  It will look amazing next summer and fall as it turns many hues of bronze, yellow and orange.  Behind that I planted some Blue Salvia.  One problem.  The Salvia didn't have much information on the label and so I was taking a long shot with it.  I didn't know if it was an annual or perennial.  Seems it is a perennial in the southern states!  It's zone 9!!!  We're zone 4-5.  I'll have to give some special care to get that little cutie to come up next spring!

I've been cleaning out back again.  Try as I might, I can't seem to see "outside the box" to come up with something that I really want back there.  I did plant some Pampas grass that I dug up from an empty homestead in Polk City.  They say Pampas grass won't grow here.  But it was growing in Polk City, so it should grow here!  I hope so.  That and a few other things will be a big cover-up in the corner of the garden.

Pictures are coming...I promise!  Until next time then, Plant something!

It's Raining

Yeah, it's raining today.  The yard is only partially cleaned up, I still have a couple of areas to cut down garden phlox and pull weeds from.  I guess I'll have to wait a while for things to dry up.  Hopefully there will be some good days that are fairly dry and fairly warm yet.....I have some planting to do, like those around my mail-box and I can't plant in mud!

I know pictures make this blog much better, but this time of year, all you can see are the empty places!  That might give perspective tho, so I'll go snap a few as soon as it stops raining!  Meanwhile, take the time to clean up YOUR garden.  Stuff left on the ground from this years growth can carry forward lots of unwanted insect infestations and fungus.  Don't use the cut down infected growth in your compost pile  (if you have one),  you'll be spreading the spores and insects into your humus.

Take care, and go plant something!

The Mailbox

As I think about the perennials I ordered for around the mailbox, I can't help but think how much different it will look!    I have had bulbs and annuals there most of the time I've lived here.  It will be nice to have it kinda take care of itself!  Again, I'll post pictures when it starts looking decent!

BTW.. I was surfing around looking for information on Garden Phlox when I came upon a good site about gardening.  This might be a  reference for lots of garden know-how.  I feel that this person has been gardening a long time.

http://www.douggreensgarden.com