soaphouse's Blog
soaphouse's posts about: daffodil
Mar 22, 2008 | 6:08 PM PST
Tags: green giant , thuja , arborvitae , juniper , lorapedulum , creeping jenny , blueberry , solomon seal , viburnum , lilac , shade , autumn fern , honeysuckle , hyacinth , daffodil , double , phlox
The last couple of days have been full of wonderful spring gardening activities. We have had the most beautiful weather here lately! Highs around 70 and lows around 45, GORGEOUS! On Thursday afternoon, I had a chance to stop by home depot and check out their spring shipment. Most exciting was that I found 2 more green "giants" to replace the piddly little things from the mail order (which were starting to look like they may not make it). So, I picked those up and 3 creeping jenny plants which were such a good deal that I couldn't pass them up!
Of course, when I got home...I got to planting!
Here is a shot of the trio of green giants. I do hope they live up to their rapid growth rate I have heard so much about:
I can see them from the kitchen sink and it is nice to look out there and dream of what they may look like one day ;)
The creeping jennies went along the pathway in the back, by the nandinas:
I think they will look great mingling with the rocks and bottles too!
The next day (Friday), We had lunch with my mother and grandmother...4 generations of ladies all at one table! After a nice lunch, I got to dig up some goodies from my mom's yard. I got a nice sized clump of solomon's seal, which I have always wanted. They found a great home to the left of the newly planted camellia and will be a great addition to my shade garden in progress:
I also got 2 Viburnum Seedlings. One went just behind the existing one that is mature and the other went in the back of the azalea bed along side the newly planted lilacs. I wasn't able to get the best root system, so it will be interesting to see if they make it.
I have also been taking some time to really think about and make a list of things that are "missing" from my garden this spring and that I would like to have next spring:
More creeping phlox blooming
Add Hyacinth Bulbs in with Daffodil Plantings
Add Double Daffodils
More Crocus?
I saw some wonderful double hyacinths in the Van Bourgondein Catalog that I would like to add to the garden.
And, of course, amidst all the work, I had to take some time to have fun with my camera:
Clematis Armadii:
Spring Growth appearing on Autumn Fern:
New growth on Juniper:
Blueberry Bush:
Mardi Gras Honeysuckle (I think?)
Wax Mahonia Berries:
Lorapedulums:
Anyway....thanks for indulging my shutter bug!
Hope everyone has a wonderful and blessed Easter!
Mar 13, 2008 | 5:51 PM PST
Tags: kale , dianthus , daffodil , spring , mow , weed , viburnum , peach
We have had some wonderful weather here lately and I have been taking advantage of it in the garden! Over the past couple of days I have been doing bits of weeding here and there. Always doing a little at a time helps me keep up on it over the growing season. My girl and I took advantage of the beautiful morning and spent some time enjoying the garden :)
She likes the Daffodils:
We also took some time to examine the dianthus buds:
p>Later on, when she went down for her afternoon nap, I set out to do some more garden chores. I mowed the back yard, edged the beds, raked and weadeated. Always looks so nice when that has all been done!
Here are some more spring happenings I caught along the way:
Baby Peach Tree Planted last spring is flowering:
Viburnum is leafing out very nicely:
Clematis Armandii is starting to bloom:
Carolina Jasmine is doing its thing:
And last but not least...we have a surprise crop of kale growing from seeds that we planted last fall that never germinated due to the drought and total outdoor water ban. We have had so much rain lately that they decided to grow :) LOL
Mar 9, 2008 | 5:13 PM PST
Tags: freeze , frost , saucer , magnolia , daffodil , cut flowers
Well, this happens every year in my neck of the woods. We get all the signs of spring: the warm temps, the afternoon rains, the buds on all the plants. Then, lo and behold we will get a night back down in the 20's and it usually zaps a lot of things. Nothing new here, but none the less...."we" always act surprised. So, last night was that night...I promptly covered up the tender plants and then realized that my saucer magnolia with its hundreds of buds would probably be zapped and never allowed to realize its blooms this year....we brainstormed a bit on creative ways to protect it (but its a big tree) so we set out to take lots of pictures and I took some cutting for a vase to see if I could get some blooms indoors:
Hubby took that picture above....not too shabby :)
I also realized that all my daffodils that I have been enjoying so much would probably get it too...so I shot a pict and cut 20 to take in for a vase:
SO, I am excited to report that when I woke up this morning....everything looked OK!!!! The daffodils are still nice and perky and the buds on the saucer magnolia aren't showing any signs of frost damage. How exciting!!!! And, even better...the branches I brought in full of buds, are starting to open. So, I learned that I can do that and it works and now I get the blooms indoors and out....doesn't get much better that that!
HOORAY!
Mar 6, 2008 | 2:56 PM PST
Tags: mow , compost , magnolia , azalea , daffodil
I guess its official that the daily chores of spring/summer began today since it was my first lawn mowing of the season. I mowed the back where the veggie beds are. I really have created quite an obstacle course back there with all those veggie beds and fruit trees...but my dream is to eventually do away with all the grass back there. It looks so nice all freshly cut :)
I also did the first spring turning of the compost pile and added some nice shredded leaves to bulk it up a bit and get it ready to cook away in the summer heat.
Tomorrow,
rain is in the forecast so i know all the plants will love it!
My tulip magnolia is starting to bloom, the daffodils by the azaleas are beginning to bloom, the tulips are coming up in the front yard, and the azaleas are bursting with buds...
THE EXCITEMENT CONTINUES....
Mar 2, 2008 | 4:52 PM PST
Tags: daffodil , hellebore , green giant , thuja , arborvitae , blue spruce , weeping willow , creek , erosion , crocus , sedum , shamrock , fescue sod
I've had a great week in the garden! Spring just keeps on springing and I have enjoyed watching it unfold in my garden :) On Thursday, the order that I had placed on-line for the "bones" of the creek plantings arrived. I ordered everything from Direct Gardening (which I had heard bad things about, but for the price...I thought it was worth taking a chance) I ordered 3 Green Giant Arborvitaes, 2 Weeping Willows and 1 Colorado Blue Spruce. The total order was barely $30, so I pretty much expected the worse, but thought it was worth a try. Needless to say, when I received the order, I literally stood in my kitchen, laughing out loud as I unpacked the wee plants! The "Green Giants" looked like twigs with a few roots. More like the jolly green giant. HAH! But, I thought...for the price and considering they are supposed to grow like 3-5 feet a year, I will just take my chances. What's even funnier is that they were packaged in vacuum sealed plastic bags. My order did include 3 of those baggies for the green giants...but, only 2 had plants! So, I called the customer service # and they were quite nice (to my surprise) so, hopefully I will receive that 3rd arborvitae :) Funny thing is that those were the most expensive out of the order and they were the smallest...the willows (which were $1 a piece) were the largest. The colorado Blue Spruce was a fairly decent size too. The order also included some freebie bulbs labeled shamrock and exotica. These were about the size of raisins, so I plopped them in the ground by my irises in the back and we will see what happens :) On Saturday I got around to planting the goodies...
The green "giants" found a home on the back creek bank to hopefully create a nice privacy screen:
I topped with a good dressing of compost and marked it with a stake, so hopefully he will have a fighting chance!
Here is a pict of one of the willows, planted on creek bank to help prevent erosion:
The Colorado Blue Spruce found a home where we took out the maple earlier this winter...I have great hopes for this guy:
On Friday I had a great day helping my mom in her garden. She is a landscape designer, so she always has some wonderful project up her sleeve...on Friday, I helped her lay some fescue sod in a pathway. I had never worked with sod before, so it was fun to learn how to do that...and talk about instant gratification! Of course, she let me take some divisions of things in her garden too. I came home with a great bunch of hellebore seedlings, 2 autumn ferns, and a huge clump of sedum autumn joy! Love those freebies :) I got them planted around on Saturday also:
Hellebore
s landed amongst the liriope in front of the azalea bed with the other variety of hellebores. Will be very pretty when they grow up to start blooming:
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/p>
The autumn ferns went under the fig tree with 4 other autumn ferns I transplanted from under my redbud (they were not getting along well with the vinca) I know the fig will give them a nice shady home come spring:
>
And, when they grow up all nice a fluffy...they will help hide all the utility nonsense! I am still thinking about where to put the sedums...
This Sunday afternoon, I just did a couple of odds and ends: some weeding, moved 2 artemesias from a shady spot to one where they will get more sun, and leveled out some ground in the back of the azalea bed ( the former owner of this house, used to dump his house plant soil in a mound back there). I also took a few minutes to take some pictures of the early spring bloomers:
Minia
ture Daffodils:
Larger Daffodils planted under redbud in the front yard. I love the white...just brightens up that spot perfectly:
The
Georgia Blue Bells are full of blooms and such a wonderful blue color:
And, the first crocus has shown itself:
>
In the next few days, my husband will be working on the rest of the chicken wire surrounds for the veggie beds...planting time will be here before I know it :)!!!
Oh, and on a side note...turns out the "owl" in my previous post was actually a hawk! My mom noticed from the picture and then it was confirmed again when we saw him again this weekend! Guess we will have to come up with a name for him too :)
Feb 14, 2008 | 4:31 PM PST
Tags: compost , tea , pruning , pole pruner , blueberry , daffodil , crocus , clematis
I am very excited that our little cold front was a small one and we were back into the 60's today. Yay! When the little one went down for her nap, I began work on my to-do list. It actually didn't take me much time at all :) I did some various small pruning tasks and then set out to try my new pole pruner. It was a bit tricky...but after a good lesson from my hubby, it seemed to do the trick. We just took off some lower branches from a large tree in the backyard...to keep things opened up. My husband was kind enough to pick up a load of compost on his way home from work, so I also got that spread. I spread it around the back porch where I plan grow a flower garden from seed this spring. It looks great and the small bit of leftover compost is sitting in water tonight for a good batch of compost tea that I will use to water the azaleas with. Tomorrow is my hubby's day off, so we will hopefully get the veggie beds finished up :)
Here are some fun shots I took around my front yard today in between chores:
The daffodils are emerging under the redbud tree:
p> Double Knockout Rose Bushes are forming their new leaves:
>
Crocus bulbs emerging: ( I always forget that their foliage has that great variagation on it until I see it each spring)
>
Clematis Armandi forming its buds:
p>And finally, the blueberry bush that I transplanted in the fall seems to be happy...its forming its new buds :)
I am just loving the anticipation of spring!
Dec 27, 2007 | 2:20 PM PST
Tags: pine straw , mulch , winter weeds , weeding , knockout , alliums , tulip , daffodil , hellebore , linten rose , new year , bulbs , madame alfred
I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! I have been taking advantage of both the season end sales at the garden centers and my time off from work to get a lot of things done in the garden. My local garden center has all their left over bulbs on sale for 75% off, so I planted 20 purple and 20 orange tulips in the front yard. I also planted 30 daffodils by the azaleas in the back yard. I am still waiting on some allium bulbs I purchased on line. Those will go in the back yard so that I can see them while I do dishes :).
I got 2 more double knockouts for 50% off to compete the grouping by the bird house.
I also spent a good bit of time applying a generous layer of pine straw over the front beds. It took 36 bales! It used to take 90+, but now that the plants are growing in niceley...it takes less. It feels so good to have this done. Here are some picts:
Yesterday, after taking down most of the Christmas decor, I spent a majority of the afternoon weeding the back yard and getting it ready for its winter pine straw application. I have 2 Madame Alfred Roses on order that I will plant on either side of the arbor in the back. I selected this particular rose because: it is thornless, evergreen, climbing, and blooms white....the only rose I could find that met all of these criteria (which is what I wanted for the arbor).
While I was doing this work in the back, I noticed that for the first time, my hellebores are blooming! I got these as little seedlings from my mom's garden 4 yrs ago...patience pays off!
Can't wait for my goodies to come in the mail...but I really can't wait to see the bulbs come up in the spring!
Happy New Year Everyone!
