† Requires Javascript
Copyright © 1997-2009 Demand Media. All rights reserved.
|
| Page 1 of 2 | 1 |
2 |  Last |
We didn’t get to eat asparagus, though. Being the greedy person I am, I decided to wait one more day so we could have more of the delicious stuff.
After we got the onions in, my husband (hereinafter referred to as ‘C’ since he wishes to remain anonymous following yesterday’s rant) tried long and hard to start his tiller. Didn't happen. God is good! No plants were harmed through C’s over-enthusiastic use of said machine.
Meanwhile, I went back to cleaning up my holding bed. Virtually every plant over-wintered successfully: daffodils, day lilies, irises, perennial geraniums, hydrangeas, bluebells, dianthus, stonecrop, chives, forsythia, spirea, and even some heritage rose bushes. I’ve never been successful with roses. The person who gave them to me said she had actually tried unsuccessfully to kill them off. There has to be a lesson in that.
I was especially excited to see two peonies popping through the ground, discards from another friend’s bed. I adore the outrageously gaudy appearance of peonies, but there’s no room to accommodate them in my flower beds here at home. I once planted a pair of them on either side of a ‘telephone tower’ (those ugly brown aluminum things that are scattered throughout urban areas) at the edge of my lawn, but someone cut a cable and the linemen trampled all over them when they came to make repairs. (No, that time it wasn’t my dear husband.) I’ll have to protect them from the wind (and the tiller) with tomato cages later.
When we build our new home at the farm, I’ll have plenty of plant material to start my foundation plantings and the berm I’ve been designing (and revising) in my head for the past couple of years.
My attempt at making a ‘lasagna bed’ has met with mixed results. The only shady area on our farm is a curved row of spruce trees that border the lane between the barn and our vegetable garden. Winter before last I came across an article about creating a new bed using the ‘lasagna method’. “Aha!” thought I, “the perfect solution to making a shade bed at the farm!” I spent all summer long digging out the most persistent weeds – burdocks and dandelions – then section by section between the trees, laying down several thicknesses of newspaper that had been soaked thoroughly to prevent it from flying away and to accelerate its eventual decomposition. I covered the newspapers with a generous layer of compost, then a layer of spoiled straw, then a layer of pony and goat manure (It’s a good thing I value their droppings, because neither creature is good for much else.), and finally another layer of straw. Then, like Rumplestiltskin, I waited for Mother Nature to work her magic, turning straw not into gold, but into soil. Dreams of my beautiful shade bed made our long, dreary winter more bearable.
Well, Ma N did a fine job at the top end of the bed. But as she worked her way towards the bottom, she was prevented from accomplishing the desired result by an over-enthusiastic top layer of straw. I managed to circumvent the decomposition process by piling it on too deep. So I spent much of the afternoon turning the stuff over, bringing the wonderful rotten stuff to the top in preparation for another application of compost and pony poop. Hopefully, it’ll be ready to plant by fall, but if not, I’ll have another winter to design that end of the bed in my head. I must remember to take my camera with me so I can display my new, if far from complete) shade bed to all and sundry.
I’ve been splitting the perennials in my shade bed at home and moving them down to the farm. After years of struggling to grow in sticky clay, they’re luxuriating (along with a bumper crop of earthworms) in the new soil Ma N created at the top of my new bed. Thus far, I’ve planted five hostas, some wild violets, a couple of astilbes, several small bleeding hearts, a couple of clumps of lady’s mantle, and four clumps of silver mound that miraculously made it through the winter virtually bare-rooted in a pot above the ground. The silver mound nagged at my guilty conscience all winter long. A friend gave it to me late in the fall and I just never got around to planting it. How ungrateful! Early this spring, I moved the broken old plastic pot to my garage door intending to throw it on the compost heap at the farm. When I was about to put it into the back of my van, I noticed some new growth at the base. Lo and behold, I split it up into four sections and planted it in my new bed where it has thrived ever since.
Well, my friends, I hope I haven’t bored you with this long entry. Having typed it out twice, I’m definitely bored. Happy gardening to all, and to all a good night.
Today I got to watch/photograph a baby Hummingbird learn how to feed from a feeder. It was one of the coolest nature bits I have seen this spring!!
My Mother-In-Law had mentioned that she thought she may have seen a baby hummingbird yesterday feeding from her feeder and a male Rufous hummingbird guarding it and running off other hummingbirds that tried to get at it. She said that the little hummingbird was colored just like the female Rufous Hummingbird, but was noticeably smaller. She also said that it was as if the hummingbird was kind of "dopey" like baby birds seem to be when they first get out of the nest. I told her I didn't know if male hummingbirds played any roll in raising the young hummingbirds, but that it could have been the case.
So, today I was lucky enough to be sitting at my Mother-In-Laws patio listening to the hummingbirds "cheep-squawking" (I mean how do you describe the sounds those little things make when they're squabbling over feeders?) when I saw a tiny little hummingbird colored like a female Rufous Hummingbird land on the feeder. I remembered how my Mother-In-Law had said the day before how she had thought she saw a baby hummingbird and I figured that had to be the one she was talking about. After a second or two a male hummingbird ("The Guardian") came and landed on the other side of the feeder. He sat there drinking out of the feeder and keeping an eye out for other male hummers that would try to run off the baby. The baby hummingbird just sat there sitting on the feeder. After another few seconds, the male flew over to the same side the baby was on and showed it how to feed out of the feeder. Unfortunately that was cut short by a rival male hummer zooming in, so "The Guardian" male hummingbird flew off chasing it away. The baby hummingbird stuck around for me to take some more pictures, but was run off in the end as well.
I don't know if I am "allowed" to link to facebook or not, but I will include the facebook link to my Hummingbirds 2009 Photo Album. In that photo album there is the whole series of hummingbird pictures that I took today.
If that is not "allowed" I am going to include a picture or two below as well.
Above: The dominant Male Rufous Hummingbird. He tends to sit on top of that hook and keep a look out. This picture captured his landing. He is a larger male compared to most we've seen visit the feeders.
Above: The smaller Male Rufous Hummingbird and the baby hummingbird he brought with him. You can see how the little one (the baby) on the right seems to just look "dopey".
Above: You can see the Male Rufous hummingbird "The Guardian" showing the baby how to use the hummingbird feeder. The baby is holding it's head towards the male with it's beak open waiting for food rather than watching "The Guardian" hummingbird's lesson on how to use the hummingbird feeder. This makes me more certain that this is indeed a baby and father hummingbird.
Above: "The Guardian" hummingbird in mid flight. I can tell it's him because he has either messy/damaged feathers on his neck or he has a small growth causing his feathers to stick out a bit on his left side (the picture's right side).
I was so thrilled to take these pictures knowing that I was going to get to share them! What an awesome sight! I need to find out if this is normal for a male hummingbird to play such an important roll in the raising of their young. I will have to do that tomorrow (it's 12:30 a.m).
Gardening Bits -
I was VERY productive in my garden today, but I crammed all the action into a period of about 2-3 hours - I am so sore!! I am so happy with my changes that I made since yesterdays post. I wrote yesterday about how antsy and irritated I was with the way my garden has ended up over the years. With certain plants in places I don't necessarily want them to be anymore, and plants that don't do well in other spots. Soooo.......
Today I took a shovel to my garden!
I am happy with the way it is going so far....
I dug out and moved:
~ 2 Day Lily bundles
~ 1 Lavender
~ 1 small Columbine bit
~ 3 Iris bulbs
~ 1 group of Tulip bulbs
I re-planted the Lavender, Columbine bit, Day Lilly bundles (split one little piece off as an experiment), Iris Bulbs. I split the Tulip bulbs into various places in my garden to make more "spring" flower areas. Once the other sed of Tulip bulbs flowers I will do the same.
I planted some Black Eyed Susan's in my stump planters (I have 3 stump planters total). Earlier in the spring I planted the rest of my chives I had from last year, and some sweet pea seeds. The chives are doing well (although not very full bunches yet, but I hope they will over the years). There are 3-4 sweet peas coming up in two of the stump planters, and what seems to be quite a bit of sunflowers coming up in one of the stump planters (from last years seed I flaked into the soil this spring).
I also hauled 2 wheel-barrow loads full of more horse manure to add to my soil in the various areas that desperately need amendments. It was fast and furious digging, hauling and dumping (I was doing all this while Hannah was taking a nap).
While I was over there by the manure pile, I remembered that there were tons of wild roses in that area and decided today was a good day to dig some up. I dug between 6-8 wild rose roots/clumps to transplant. I have decided to fill in the whole back area with them this year. In the past I had only one layer of them, but it just isn't thick enough (well, not to my liking). I amended the soil with horse manure and mixed in some pine needles to help lighten the clay soil. While I planted the roses, Hannah filled a bucket full of water so I could water in the transplants. She's such a helpful little girl (well.....sometimes....LOL!).
I will post some pictures of my re-vamped garden in the next few days. I still have a ton of work to do, but feel good about the progress I made today in the 2-3 hours I was out there speed gardening.
I hope you have enjoyed my pictures as much as I enjoyed seeing that wonderful hummingbird sighting!!
Have a great week and Happy Gardening!!
~M~
P.S. - I forgot to mention that I received 2 huge bundles of Daisies today. I will take pictures of them tomorrow to show a before and after pictures of when/how I "DIVIDE" them and where I plant them. Speaking of "DIVIDING", a BIG thank you to my friends for reminding me of the word I couldn't quite put my thumb on last night - DIVIDE! THANKS.... LOL!!
~M~
Just wanted to share a little beauty, with my friends... Happy Gardening Everyone !!! reba
We are well into spring here at soapHOUSE and loving every minute of it! I took some picts yesterday of recent garden happenings:
Nic
e shot of one of the beds in the back
That deodor cedar in the back will grow up big one day to hide that fence :)
I am loving the viburnum!
The Iris looks so pretty with the virburnum in the background:
Pe
onie In Waiting:
This hosta suprised me...I thought I had gotten them all moved to the azalea bed, but this one remains in the hydrangea bed and is looking quite nice this year :)
Hellebore seed heads:
The autumn ferns have lots of new growth in the front porch bed:
Another view of the front porch bed:
The vinca is really doing its thing this year!
Despite a major aphid infestation on my roses and Iris, they seem to still be doing ok...the Mdme Alfred is blooming on the arbor:
I think I may go around with a soap spray this weekend. I did some internet research on this and I was hesitant to spray with soap b/c I read that this affects the beneficial insects as well...but the aphids really are all over, so I do believe spraying is in order. I don't know why I have so many this year. I did read that they particularily like fresh spring growth and with all the rain we have had...we have a lot of that, so maybe that is why?
Work on the deck continues and hubby will start laying down the decking tomorrow - HOORAY!
Saturday morning, I finished my new flower bed I put out mulch. About dusk dark we had rain. I mean rain, rain ,rain !!! I was so afraid it was going to wash all my mulch away. It did a little but not bad. I also set out my bee balm Bill sent to me. I worked hard all day long.
Sunday morning , I went out to check on my bee balm , I was so afraid the rain might have beat them into the ground. But they were fine. I then put some bricks around them and some mulch. My daisy's had smiles on and the Iris's were standing at attention.
This morning, was a little too cool for yard work, so I cleaned house and cooked a Carrot Cake. My honey's favorite !! That will put a smile on his face. By afternoon , it had warmed up and I was on my knees in my flower bed. I said, Thank you LORD for such a beautiful day! It was great to feel the fresh breeze on my face and the sunshine on my back. I add some soil to a bed ,planted some iris's, replaced some bricks and put fresh mulch down. These are some flower pictures that are blooming now for me. Tomorrow I will try to remember to take a picture of the flower bed I overhauled...LOL and I will put it on here. Well thats all for today. Good night garden friends... Reba
I found this iris blooming under the pecan tree in front of my office window yesterday. What a coincidence, it was our 38th wedding anniversary and I carried iris in my wedding bouquet 38 years ago yesterday. Not blue, tho, I had white iris, but still what an odd little coincidence. I absolutely adore iris, so I'm so happy it's there. I've been watching the bulbs growing there for a while, but wasn't sure what they were - now I'm so happy. I can't wait til the rest of them bloom.
Today I went back to Ellis Pottery to pick up the Japanese maple that I saw the other day. They had them for only $9.99. Good thing I went early. Everyone had at least one or two in their cart and and they were selling like hotcakes. I went to pick one up and someone took it right in front of me. I laughed and told the man, "Hey, I was going to get that one!" and he, very seriously, said, "Well, someone took the one I wanted!" and stomped away. I mean these people were serious. But I still got a very nice one and I have a nice big pot I am going to plant it in. That way I can take it with me when and if I move.
I also bought some more bedding plants and have been busy today potting up some containers. It's amazing to me that we can be planting already here in NE Texas. I talked to my son back in Bremerton, WA yesterday and he said they had snow again about 2-3 days ago. And here today it's about 80 degrees or close to it.
Severe thunderstorms blew through the region yesterday. High winds uprooted trees and downed tree branches. Fortunately our property was not damaged nor were we affected by power outages.
This morning three white allium with their softball size spherical heads were still standing tall at the end of their stiff leafless stalks.
Also beneath the ornamental grasses popped up an Allium moly and an Allium roseum. Plus a real surprise - a small miniature white iris - peeked out from some green foliage.
The brilliance of our iris certainly is helpful in taking the edge off the unpredictable weather that continues to serve up unseasonable June days.
I had a good weekend in the garden. I was able to get a lot of routine chores done. Mostly weeding. I am happy to report that things are looking pretty good! We haven't had a good rain in a while, though...so things are a bit wilty. My watering time is tomorrow morning, so I will hopefully be able to help that situation soon.
The veggie beds are just growing like mad and I am looking forward to a bountiful harvest! Everything looks pretty good so far, but the broccoli is already showing signs of trouble (like last year). I think I may just be better off buying this at the store. HAH! Also, it seemed to have gotten too hot too fast for the sugar snap peas and the spinach, so I am going to fill in the holes with some similar warm season varieties. We did harvest the first sweet Gypsy pepper over the weekend and it made a nice addition to our dinner salad:
I also collected another bowl full of radishes today that I will add to our salad tonight. This time I will just cut them up raw and forgo to greens.
Today, while working on the weeding in the back, I noticed that my astillbes seem to have mealy bugs, so I sprayed them with insecticidal soap - hopefully that will help. Also, The Bearded Irises that had the aphid infestation got a nice trimming way back on the affected foliage. It looks better. I am hoping that I didn't cut so much back that they will have trouble storing up nutrients for the blooms next year...we shall see.
So, tomorrow I hope to get some watering done in the morning and I will continue to do some weeding in the front.
Although there were intermittent thunder showers throughout the weekend, the garden did reward us with its first iris blooms.
Yesterday, Memorial Day, was ideal. The parade and cookout played to sunshine with temperatures approaching the 70s.
Today, the thermometer fell into the low 50s. Nevertheless there were three bright spots in the garden. Firsts for the year: a daylily, a poppy and an iris.
Daylily
Poppy
Iris
What wonderful weather we have had. I have a jasamine on a pergola in my back yard and it is loaded with blooms.
I have another iris blooming.
I think that one may be Wayne's favorite. He put up a decorative birdhouse for me last weekend. It is on a pole and in front is a chickenwire cage with a climbing rose on it.
We talk a lot about the problems we have with squirrels. Well, I have 2 of the worlds most ferocious squirrel dogs. If one so much as thinks about coming down the tree, these 2 are on it quick, fast and in a hurry.
First is Pablo, the wonder dog. He can leap over small piles of leaves in a single bound and wishes he could climb trees. He can not abide a squirrel.
Then there is Peter Marie. She can not abide a squirrel either and chases them with wild abondon. She doesnt know she isnt a squirrel dog and we have never told her different. She also doesnt know that she COULD climb a tree, should the notion hit her.
Tomorrow I am going to look at some roses with a girlfriend. Hope we find one or two. I havent grown many since we moved but I am getting the rose bug again.....what can you do?
Talk to yall later.
We had a nice shower the other afternoon, then the sun came out.
I am often humbled and awestruck by the beauty of nature and the Wonder of God.
Here are a couple more irises that have finally bloomed for me this year.
Finally, a red amaryllis.
Wayne rooted a few hydrangeas yesterday and I am still watching my seeds sprout. I threw out a lot of zinnia seeds and am happy to report that they are coming up everywhere. I also have a few balsom coming back. Those things can get weedy at times, but mine are under control so far. I have only 1 bed left to clean up and I think I will go do that now.
Yall have a good day and see yall soon.
I am indeed a happy fairy. I got to visit with family and friends this week and even work outside a little. My seedlings are coming up and everything is so green and pretty. I bought some pentas, lantana, pink sage, purple salvia and white periwinkles for my front beds and got that planted. I have a few more irises that have bloomed.
I also have a few rose blooms.
The above rose was one of those $4 packages from Walmart labeled as a 5 petal red rose. What a surprise! We will keep it.
The other morning I had my sprinkler on and red bird came for a shower.
Hope yall can see him up on top of the fence. Every time I run the sprinkler, he comes for a bath.
My jasamine is starting to bloom and the back yard smells heavenly. Yesterday afternoon I stayed outside and crafted and was visited by so many birds and even a good many butterflies came flittin' through.
I started more seeds yesterday-cosmos,gaillardia,bl
ackeyed susan and of course, more zinnias. I found some zinnia seed called fruit smoothie. They are supposed to be purple and orange. Sounds pretty.
See yall later.
Despite the Iris Patch having a MAJOR aphid infestation, they continue to bloom :) They have never really done too much in seasons pasts (they are relatively new to my garden- passed along from my husband's grandfather's farm), so its fun to see what color they are. So far we have white and today, the purples are blooming. In the picture, they look more maroon colored. It depends which way the sun is hitting:
p>
I am also very pleased to report that some of the veggie seeds are starting to come up already and the freshly planted hostas are looking good. Also, the peony buds look like they might burst open any day now!
Oi Vey! Just had to take a quick break from writing this to go tell 3 neighborhood kids to get out of our creek and not mess up all my freshly planted goodies! They were swinging from bank to bank from the grape vines that I cut back! ARGH! I hate being THAT neighbor....but really, I don't want them to get hurt either, would be our liability you know. They quickly sauntered off with their tail between their legs.
And it was a beautiful morning. Sun alternating with clouds. A little mist of rain this afternoon. As I have said, this is my 3rd year in this garden. I transplanted a few things from my former garden and started some new plants. Last summer was hot and dry and not everything thrived. This is the first year for this iris to bloom.
Of course, I am very pleased with it. Here is a stand that grows beside the drive.
We inherited a fig tree.....it has quite a few on it this year.
Wayne says maybe he can get enough to make one whole cup of perserves.
The new garden I made beside the brick wall is filling in. I used mostly divisions from my existing perennials for this, as well as throwing in wildflower mix. It is coming along.
I am so interested in getting some butterflies and dragonflies to visit. Hopefully, wildflowers will do the trick. I sat for a while and watched the birds and just enjoyed the beauty of the day. I have a chair under a tree and this is my view of the back half of my back yard.
Tomorrow promises to be exciting, as I am going to visit another gardening friend and get a look at her yard. Isnt that so much fun, to see what other fanatics are doing. Good Night and Sweet Dreams.
We had a little rain last night. This morning everything looked fresh and new. Some pictures of my bed this morning.
We spent most of the day sitting outside watching the birds. We did put down some lime and fertalizer and changed out a few annuals in some pots. Mostly, took it easy and enjoyed our day.
Peace and Love
Have spent the past few days catching up on things. Today, hubby planted our small veggie area--tomatos, cukes, banana pepper, marigolds. Started seeds for a hollyhock called Indian Spring. I found these at Dollar General for 4/$1. They are suppose to bloom the first year. Let us cross our fingers.
Had a few crafts to finish up. This is my planter box.
My amaryllis beside the house bloomed...this is the biggest flowers it has ever had. I think it's happy.
Finally there was a toy horse that my sis found at a yard sale that needed some love.
I have a stand of iris getting ready to bloom, They didnt bloom last year so I cant wait to see them. I can see enough on the tops to know that they will have purple on them. Here is a pix of a blue iris in my front bed.
I moved my portable greenhouse out of the sun and took the plastic off for my remaining seedlings. It was getting much too hot in there. My jasamine looks like it will bloom soon...cant wait for that. Our neighbor gave us a big catfish he had caught and tonight my darling husband made a stew. My sis and her family came over and we had a delightful meal and were able to sit outside a while and shoot the breeze. Love this time of year before the heat and humidity sets in. Talk to yall soon.
† Requires Javascript
Copyright © 1997-2009 Demand Media. All rights reserved.
