Twiggybet1's Blog
Twiggybet1's posts about: rain garden
Jun 12, 2008 | 2:30 PM PST
Tags: sweet potatoes , rain garden
...and this is the condition they arrived in:
Any bets that they will live???? And check out the moss the company uses to "keep the shoots from drying out":
I am SO dissapointed and upset.
The first thing I did was grab a small vase and RUN to the sink to put them in water. The next thing I did was examine them closely for any residual signs of life. It doesn't look promising, folks. So then I got on the horn and notified the company. They are sending me a refund, but I would have preferred a replacement. Unfortunately, they are done shipping sweet potatoes for the season. So that means NO SWEETPOTATOES this year. It just figures they would send me my order so late. I get so irritated. They sent my shoots late last year also, but at least they weren't dry as dust and they grew. I could have planted them any time after May 10th. I am fortunate enough to live in one of the warmest areas of the state, and most of the state is 1 or even 2 zones behind my area. But the growers refuse to send the sweetpotatoes here until June, after they filled orders for every other area of the country. And then they quit shipping them. *SIGH* Now what shall I plant here:
Maybe I could try putting in some watermelon or cantaloupe or honeydew, but they may not have time to mature before frost. *sigh, again*
Update on the rest of the garden...
the pumpkin and corn are growing nicely. And my broccoli is developing heads:
Sorry the photo is sideways. My daughter took these for me. Both her and my husband like doing the fancy sideways camera thing, and I uploaded it without checking it first. So tilt your head to the right to view...
The salad greens are doing good, and the beans are getting big. This picture was taken yesterday, and I did some weeding in this area this morning, so it looks a little better now...
I sure could use some advice on my rain garden. Here is a picture of what it looked like in the fall when I first put it in:
and here is a picture that was taken yesterday:
The garbage can lid is still there because I am still looking for my made-in-the-USA solar-powered bird bath/ fountain.
I had planted it last fall mostly with assorted bulbs and some bare-roots. Somehow, it doesn't look as lush and full as I envisioned it. I filled in a bare spot in the ring with petunias a couple weeks back. The outermost ring is comprised of lavender mountain lillies (lxiolirion tataricum) and pink alpine rosy bells (allium oreophilum) and yellow alpine bells. I think it would look better if I dug up all those in the outer ring, and grouped them in spots by color, rather than leave them mixed. I color coded the plants with twist ties so I could tell them apart later. My question is (anybody out there?) must I wait until fall or at least until they are done blooming, or would they survive if I rearranged them now?
Apr 24, 2008 | 10:17 PM PST
Tag: rain garden
well, my av
acado tree seems to be thriving, too bad my poinsettias aren't doing as well. I guess I should be grateful, they lasted this long.
Today was another beautiful day ( this keeps up, and I'm going to be spoiled. What ever happened to April Showers anyway?). I had planned to get out in the vegetable garden and set up some rows, but didn't get the chance to do anything in the garden today. Instead, I played chauffeur. We are a 3 driver, 2 car household to begin with, and one of the cars is out of commission for the time being. I shuttled hubby to and from work, and daughter to and from college. And ran errands. The car was supposed to be fixed today, but, alas, the part didn't come in so therefore it seems I'll be playing chauffeur for a few more days. Hopefully, everything will come together and the car will be fixed this weekend. The way things seem to be going, we will manage to get the car fixed just in time for the rain!!!!
Actually, I forgot, I did spend a few minutes early this morning out there watering my freshly seeded areas, and my rain garden. I had planted a lot of bulbs and a few other things there in the fall, and I'm getting excited watching some of the stuff coming up. I have some miniature daffodils in bloom now, but nothing else is ready to bloom yet. I did try to get plants that had different bloom times, so I would have color all season long (seasons, actually). I fear some of my plants are not going to come up. Either the squirrels raided some of my very pricey bulbs, or they didn't make it through the winter. I can see that I left myself lots of room to add more things. I planted 3 crown imperials, and so far I only see 2 of them. I also planted hardy cyclamen, and I don't see those coming up yet at all. I will have to hunt for my paperwork in case I have to call and let the nursery know. If I have time tomorrow between car trips, perhaps I'll take a couple pictures of the rain garden to post here. Still looking for that bird bath/ fountain!!!!
Nov 2, 2007 | 8:47 PM PST
Tags: bulbs , rain garden , Rose of Sharon
While digging out the grassless area I decided to make my rain garden, I dug up a couple of clusters of small bulbs that I know I did not plant. They may have been a gift from the squirrels. On a whim, I picked them out of the dirt and threw them into a pot thinking that maybe if I felt like experimenting, I would plant them in a pot and set them in the bay window and see what comes up. Of course they would have to wait until I finished up my current project before I did anything with them. The empty pot I tossed them in was just sitting on the patio and got rained in, and the bulbs were sitting in water and sprouted. So now I have them potted proper. I wonder if they are the bulbs I had planted in the spring in a pot that the squirrels raided. Wouldn't that be something?
I pruned the Rose of Sharon. It is still very small, as I first planted it last fall, but the few branches it had decided to grow absurdly long. So I pruned it back to try to shape it, and saved the trimmings. I put root hormone on them and have them in a pot on my kitchen table. My sister just planted a Rose of Sharon this year that she got from her father-in-law when he was moving things around in his yard. I hope it has different colored blooms than mine, so I can talk her into trading clippings. She's a pretty casual gardener, though. She doesn't especially have the interest to spend too much time gardening, so I'll probably have to help myself to a couple clipping when I visit her. I'll have to see it in bloom first, though.
I posted some pictures in my photo albums of the rain garden, in process and filled in. Surveying my work, it seems that I planted mostly bulbs, and the other plants are really small. I am anxious to see what it looks like in the spring. The only annoying thing right now is the leaves keep falling and blowing, and I'm afraid to rake it too much because I don't want to disturb my new plants and bulbs.
I think last night's frost finally killed the zucchini. I didn't have time to pull it today, so I'm planning on getting them taken care of tomorrow. It's supposed to be clear and dry, about 60 degrees, and that's pretty darn nice for November around here!
Oct 8, 2007 | 8:11 PM PST
Tags: compost , rain garden
Yep, this is truly Indian Summer. The temperature around here has been really unseasonally warm, for at least the last week. Usually, this time in October, we expect temps in the upper 60's or lower 70's at best, often cooler. All this last week, though it has been in the upper 80's. Of course, the warm weather wont last, so I have been doing my best to get done what I can in the garden. The warm temps have fooled some of the plants, though, into putting out more blossoms and fruit, so I hesitate to rip them up yet. I put a Rose of Sharon in last fall, and I wasn't expecting it to bloom until next year, but guess what? It has blooms. I might be mistaken, but isn't Rose of Sharon a spring blooming shrub? The zucchini is still (of course) putting out more fruit. It takes a hard frost to kill that. I was all set to yank up the cucumber vines, until I discovered more blooms and tiny cukes on them. I had harvested all the ripe butternut squash, and was going to pull those vines, too, but it also had tiny baby squash and more blooms. The few green bean plants I hadn't pulled yet are setting more blossoms, too. So, as an experiment, I think I'll leaves these be for now, and see how far they get before a frost hits them.
The compost area that I emptied last week was filled again this weekend with chipped and shredded tree trimmings. We plan to use this as mulch after I pull up the plants. I also got a lot of yard cleaning done. I am still wondering how I am going to go about setting up my "rain garden". Hubby is on overtime, 12 hrs. p/day and the days are getting shorter so it is already dark when he gets home, so I can't count on help during the week. He apparently made other plans for the coming weekend, so I don't think we will get a chance to start it then, either. I suppose I will have to try to get what I can ready, the plants are ordered and on the way.
