yardgranny6's Blog

March
Mar 20, 2008 | 11:56 AM PST
Tags: Ipheion , seedlings , veggie bed , corn meal gluten , ceiling

has come and brought the winds of the north with her.  Lots of sunshine. One of those days that if you had some protection from the breeze, you could take a nice nap outside.

The bed I made on the bank in my front yard is having to be redone. I spent three days digging that ole wild bermuda grass out of one end.  Only half of the Verbena made it due to the heat and drought. The Knock Out Roses look wonderful though. I have some Ipheion "star flower" growing all over the place that is in the garlic family. It comes up very early with beautiful little blue flowers and when it quits blooming the whole plant dies down. Wonderful for in the lawn. I will put those all over the bank as I dig them up this spring. Then I have some Vinca Major with a variegated leaf that can spread like wild fire if you let it. Last year one plant tried to grow up the gutter downspout. It is a nice plant if you can control its wunderlust. Pretty purple flowers. My plan last year was to put some daylilies on that bank and I will continue that thought. Will also try some of that creeping potato vine in green and deep purple. Then I also have lots of the Purple Heart that might make it as well as some of the spider plant that is generally grown for in the house. It survives the winters here and it would spread as well. Will just have to experiment to see what will make it over this next year. 

My little seedlings got potted up this morning. Lots of Virginia Bell, Strawflower and Red Salvia. Now if they just make it a few more weeks inside. I have a couple of what I think are Flying Saucer Morning Glories that look really good and one Malva Zerbina (sp?) seedling which I hope will do well.  Thank goodness I didn't use all the seed I traded for in this attempt at growing inside. Have decided that if I do seeds inside again, I won't do but one or two trays. It is work caring for these little plants.

When the bank is finished I will build the screen cover for my little seed bed so it will be ready about the 2nd week in April. Just don't trust that we won't have a bit of frost before then. Lots of seeds will go in there. I love seeing the little sprouts come out of the bare ground, so I am excited to have so many different types to try this year.

Have been toying with the idea of a raised veggie bed. It would be great to have fresh tomatos, squash and cukes. Haven't gone beyond the dream at present. Won the book on Square Foot Gardening at a mini seminar at my favorite greenhouse last weekend. That is a nice concept and he is easy to understand with great pictures and diagrams.

In looking at all the plants in the gardens, most are showing signs of new growth. Clematis, hosta, fern, my new hardy cyclamen and even the guara (pink and white) that I moved is coming out great, the sedums are looking good also. Am hoping that the Plumbago I moved will thrive, it is not quite time to see it sprout, though very soon.

A couple of weeks ago I spread some Corn Meal Guten over the yard in an attempt to ward off so many of the summer weeds. The Gluten is used as a pre-emergence. This winter the weeds/grasses have been over producing. I am wondering if this is not a heavy growth this season. We have had a couple of very mild winters and if you don't prevent them they grow well. Just would love to see the Centipede grass grow as well as this winter grass (I don't know the name of it, but should, I am thinking a wild fescue?)

I ordered a red and a white Astilbe from Spring Hill Nursery. They offered me a free $25 dollar order. So who can turn that down. Most of the time you get 25 off a 50 dollar order. And I have taken a couple of those over the years. These plants are on their way, so I am watching for the postman with excitement.

The order I put in to Dutch Bulbs will start trickling in soon, the first to be expected are the Everbearing Strawberries and Hello Yellow Butterfly plants.  Also chose: Bleeding Heart, Firecracker Flower, Candle Flower, Louisiana Iris Black Gamecock (for my DH who loves the SC gamecocks) two Fuchsias and a hardy Fuchsia (which I can't remember is different from the other two). I love this time of year. Don't know which I love more, the aticipation of getting the plants in the mail or waiting for them to grow and burst out blooming.

In the midst of all this dreaming and scheming of planting flowers, we had to have the bathroom ceiling replaced. Had a leak in there at one time and with a plaster walled home we decided to just replace that ceiling with sheetrock. Now to clean up all that sanding dust and paint. Then to decide whether I want to just leave it Kilz white or actually put some color on the walls for now. This house was built in the 1950's and it has the black and white theme. White wall tile with black edging and the tiny black and white tile flooring. Bad but what do you do? Live with it was our decision.

Now that I have worn your eyeballs down to nothing, that is if you even made it to this point, my time is up.

More to Come Later                    whether you like it or not