bsmitch's Blog

November 24th 2008
Nov 24, 2008 | 12:06 PM PST

It has been freezing cold in the mornings and mid thirty's to low fifty's in the afternoon. It's raining right now. Yesterday I planted seventy five more tulip bulbs around the garden. I have twenty more that I'm planting in pots that I will bury up to the top, near the compost pile. In the spring, after they are putting on the buds, I will dig them up and place them in the house. I did one last year and it was a beautiful show. This year I will have three.

On November 9th, I posted a couple pictures of my miracle Christmas cactus and I noted it has forty or fifty buds this year. Well here is a picture of the first couple of blooms starting. It's amazing how fast they grow.

I want to wish all of you a very  Happy Thanksgiving Day.

Have a great day and happy gardening. Bill Mitchell

November 14th 2008
Nov 14, 2008 | 7:39 PM PST

It is amazing to see the colors, not just the trees, but some garden flowers maintaining  against  the yoyoing temperatures. There has been freezing and frost all around us. We live one third of a mile from the lake. The lake has an average depth of 150 ft. and it retains heat which keeps our area about 5 or 6 degrees above the norm. I took some pictures. Of course I did. Here are three views of the Cannas still blooming.

View one

View two

View three

Of course it wouldn't be me if I didn't include the " Old faithful " blooming passion flower. Since the temperature has cooled, the blossoms last for two days instead of one day, but it is truly a faithful bloomer.

I used to see this plant in landscapes all over Louisiana. It just wasn't for sale in Kentucky until recently. I have some decorative kale.

The two hanging pots of petunias still have a modest show going on.

I had a wonderul display of malva and they grew to eight feet tall and then gave up and died. Here are the results of their self seeding for next year.

When you have such a beautiful garden, " proud me", you need sentries to guard over it. These are my two guards.

You all know these days will change over night and I will document my early winter work. I am still waiting for a freeze to kill the impaciens so I can plant the hundred and fifty tulip bulbs I bought this fall.

You all have a great day and happy gardening. Bill Mitchell

Starting the inside winter show
Nov 9, 2008 | 11:37 PM PST

It's going into freezing temps in the early morning. It was warm in the afternoon two days ago. Here is a picture of Sandy and April in the golf cart waiting for me to take them down to the lake.

 

We had some rain about ten days ago and it helped bring more color into the trees. The leaves are falling but some are still holding on. Most of our white oaks will shed their leaves during late December. I love these colors.

This is my miracle  Christmas cactus. I let it stay on the back porch during a cold snap last week. That is suppose to make it bloom more. After a few days in the house. I discovered that it is indeed covered with buds, about 40 or 50. If they all develope into blossoms, it will be the best show it has done in it's life. I'll follow up later with another pictures or two.

I potted my first three amaryllis today. I am expecting two more in the mail in a few days and I will pot them as soon as they arrive. I have four more out in the refridgerator in the storage shed that are resting from last year. They bloomed beautifully and I allowed them to develope their bulbs outside during the summer. I took them out of their pots in September and cleaned them and stored them in cold temperature for two or three months. I'll pot them in mid to late December.

I have just begun my fall to winter garden preparation. I have so many projects on my plate. I'll be posting more pictures as I go from one to the other.

You all have a great day and happy gardening. Bill Mitchell