AngelsGarden's Blog
AngelsGarden's January 2008 Entries
Last Post 6 hours Ago
Jan 31, 2008 | 4:37 PM PST
Tags: daylily , elephant ear , autumn joy sedum
I have been impatiently waiting for the seed I planted outside to sprout. We just need a little more heat for a little longer to get things going. Problem is the nights have been pretty cold...thats slowing things down outside.
At least I can plant seed in seed trays. The veggies that like the warmer weather should be started about now for my area.
At least a couple of things are showing green. I planted this daylily the day I bought it. Its doing great. This is the biggest one that was in the pkg. It has really greened up and has baby leaves sprouting up.
This is the Autumn Joy, Sedum that I got. When I took it out of the bag it had some shoots already. They were completely white though. They have grown a little and greened up as well.
Here is a look at the elephant ear bulb that I got. I think its HUGE!! Can't wait to see how big it gets.
Jan 28, 2008 | 4:42 PM PST
Tags: composted manure , fish fertilizer , greens , peas , rosemary , herbs , asparagus , leaves , mushrooms
Today I was able to work outside. Outdoor temps were in the mid to upper 60s. Very nice to be outside without shivering like a chihuahua!
I picked up a few bags of composted cow manure at the Home Depot before heading home. Two of the bags of manure were mixed into the soil in one the beds that I had already cleaned up. I also mixed in some fish fertilizer.
I planted a variety of greens across the back of the bed. Right against the wire fencing I planted some early sweet pod peas. The soil is still pretty damp from the last few days of rain, so I didn't soak the pea seeds.
I also spread some of the manure around the Rosemary plant that I moved into that bed last fall. I was hoping that I didn't kill it. Its looking pretty good though. I want to plant some more herbs across the front of that bed that can just stay there.
One of the asparagus beds got some extra treatment. I spread out about 3 inches of compost/topsoil mix. I want to do that to the other two as well. They will all get some fertilizer mixed in before they start coming up too much. I can't wait!!!
I still have some leaves in the yard that fell over the last few months. I decided to make some immediate use of some of them. I raked them into the aisles between the beds. Hopefully that will keep the spring grass from springing forth in those areas.
I also noticed some very strange pinkish red, tubular...things laying in the perennial bed. I think they are some sort of fungi / mushroom. They were all laying on their side, like they were from this morning, but had fallen over. I am going to try to take some pics in the morning if they are still there.
Sunset ended my outdoor fun. The girls and I had a very nice evening outside. Gardening is most certainly good for my soul.
Jan 22, 2008 | 9:12 PM PST
Tags: daylily , sedum , autumn joy , elephant ear bulb , garden rake , sorting seed , cold weather crops
So, today I went to Lowe's. It was the last in a long line of errands. I really needed a garden rake to clean up in the garden. I left with alot more than a garden rake, lol. Almost forgot it in fact. Of course those smart salescoordinators position all of their new, neatly packaged plant roots right inside of the front door. They just call to you, you can even smell the peat that they pkg them in!!! "Take me home", they call "I will be amazingly beautiful in your garden". So you have to go and take a look to see if there is anything that you have been searching for. And of course there is.....of course, thank God!!! And they are such a good price really, compared to what you can buy later in the season for the same plants that are started and in pots. So I brought home some nice plants and seeds.
The daylily I got is called Rose Passion. The pkg said that there were 3 plants. I was surprised to find more. There were 3 lrg. roots, 1 med and 2 very small ones. Daylilies grow fast though, so I went ahead and planted them up since both of the small ones had a couple of good roots on each of them. I put them into the room where I have my plant lights. Need to hook those up tomorrow. I don't know if this daylily is a rebloomer, but it looks to be just the right color and shape that I like.
I also got one 'Autumn Joy' sedum. I'm hoping that they spread a little, I really like them and their fall colors. I saw through the pkg that it was sending up shoot. I didn't want it to get moldy in the pkg so I went ahead and potted that up as well and put it in the room with the lilies.
One of the coolest things that I got was an Elephant Ear bulb. It is simply ENORMOUS!!!!!!! I should measure it and post that in here. I can't wait to see how big it gets. I want to plant it near the faucet where it always seems to be more damp.
I put the new garden rake to good use late in the afternoon. I cleaned out part of the garden and loosened the soil. I will need to add some fertilizer before planting seed. I also want to be sure that I read over my papers that talk about companion planting. I really believe that some plants are better neighbors than others.
Lastly I sorted through all of my seed, adding in what I bought today. I made a list of what I need to plant early....from tomorrow until about the middle of February. Its good to go through your supply like this so you don't end up getting double of something you won't use that much of.
Planting list for January 23 through February 14~~
Onion, Shallot, Arugula, Swiss Chard, Mesclun, Spinach, Greens, Lettuce, Kohlrabi, Radish, Parsnip, Carrots, Peas(4 kinds), Sweet Pea flowers, Snapdragons, Tulip bulbs and Hyacinth bulbs.
Yeah, I finally have a plan!!! And that will be plenty to keep me busy until warmer weather blows in.
Jan 16, 2008 | 5:27 PM PST
Tags: Vegetable seed , Flower seed
Today when I got off of work, I had a little time to burn until I picked up the kids. So I went to one of my favorite places (Home Depot) just to see what there was to see. I admired some fruit trees and a red maple. The maple was $70!!! One of the fruits was peach, they already had some buds swelling and I even saw a couple of flowers open. All of the dwarf munsa trees looked dead! :( Completely brown. I don't know if they are just dormant, hope not. They had a large BURPEE seed display that was nice and neat, with all of the seed pkgs in their rightful spots. I couldn't resist. I did need to refresh my supply of a few of the varieties. So here is what came home with me.
SWEET PEPPER, Carnival Mix
MESCLUN, Sweet Salad Mix
ARUGULA, Rocket
BEET, Burpee's Golden
PEA, Super Sugar Snap
CILANTRO, Coriandrum sativum
SWISS CHARD, Burpee's Rhubarb Chard
SHALLOT SETS
ONION SETS, Yellow
I also picked out 4 pkgs of flower seeds that especially interested me.
POPPY, Watermelon Heaven
COLEUS, Rainbow Mix
CONVOLVULUS, Enchantment Mix
BELLS OF IRELAND, Moluccella laevis
Jan 15, 2008 | 11:38 AM PST
Tags: Iris , Narcissus
Today, I am thrilled!!!!! Some may say, beyond all reason. LOL But, it truly brings me joy to see that I have iris buds coming up! It has been at least 18 months since I planted them. Thats the gestation time for both of my children combined!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL I have been dying to see what the iris blooms looked like since I planted them. I received them in the mail from a GG member that had way too many. I am dying to take pictures of the buds......lol, but I don't have a digital camera anymore. I called my MIL, and she has been kind enough to let us borrow hers. I must buy a camera!!!!!!!!! If you have an opinion about what type you like, let me know. I want one that has an image stabilizer (shaky hands) and also will focus on flowers and etc really close up. After the irises bloom I will be rearranging them just a bit. Kind of glad that I didn't do it last fall, as I don't think they would have bloomed right after a move. All of the paperwhites are up too. I have even seen some blooming around town, in really sunny spots. I also bought a couple of gardening books today at the bookstore. I have serious spring fever...........lets all get those hands dirty!!!!!!!!!!!
Jan 6, 2008 | 6:02 PM PST
Sleepy is a good description for how my gardens look right now. Some cold hardy plants are actually growing slowly though. Lots of Daffodils have their foliage up and the winter kale and pansies are enjoying the cool weather.
I did a few minutes of trimming while out checking on things. Its the first gardening work I have had time for in awhile, I enjoyed it, even if it was just a little. I trimmed back the last of the Asparagus that had dried up. Trimmed the Hibiscus and the Cannas. Also the Angel Trumpets were close so they got a trim as well. I certainly noticed there were some plants that are in need of transplanting due to their growth habits. Hopefully this year we can do alot of fine tuning and tweaking what we have, so that the general design is more appealing to the eye.
We also gave the Chickens a little treat of some overgrown Flat Leaf Parsley. They were pretty happy about that.
Happy New Year Everyone!!!!!!
