fairygarden's Blog
fairygarden's adventures
Last Post 48 minutes Ago
Jul 8, 2008 | 9:30 PM PST
We had an honest to goodness thunderstorm Sunday night. Dumped a couple of inches of much needed rain. By today, my yard had totally changed. Although I had been watering faithfully, it does not compare to rainwater.
There is a baby cantaloupe on the vine and we have baby cukes. We were late starting the cukes and squash. We are getting at least one tomato a day. Yesterday we had 2 and ate them both while still in the yard. The grape tomatoes are starting to turn red. Ate some at my sisters today and hers were so sweet.
My new kitty is a boy--Thomas O'Malley. He is learning to climb up my leg into my lap. I am covered with scratches. What a joy for us! My 1 yr old female cat is not receiving him with open arms. She has been fixed and I thought that would calm her nerves, but she is really not a nice cat. Any suggestions? She will let me pet her but anyone else she bites and scratches. Can cats take antidepressants or nerve pills?
I hope to get some weeding done this week. I have been focused on house work for the past week (does that tell you how far behind I was?) I bought a 'Coral Nymph' salvia and a "Black and Blue' salvia last year. This year those 2 have taken off. They both bloom constantly and the coral one throws babies. What more could I ask for? The bees love them.
Peace and Love
Jul 1, 2008 | 9:12 AM PST
Is it just me or is this year flying by? I dont know where the time has gone.
I made a round in the yard this morning, everything is looking pretty good in spite of having very little rain. The Weather Channel is forecasting some for the weekend and I sure hope it comes. I am not watering as much now, hopefully most plants that I planted last month are getting established.
My zinnias are so wonderful, mostly pinks and lavenders. The bees stay on the sages and basils. Sunflowers are blooming and tomatoes are ripening. Weeds are growing in my beds and my coneflowers are starting to open. What more could a girl ask for??
I have a bare spot that we are going to plant zinnia and sunflower seeds in. Hopefully it will come up and give us some late season color. It is a sunny spot, but so dry. I will have to water it.
Today is a day for housework. Gotta get to it. I do have 2 new cosmos blooms, one yellow and one orange. They are so pretty. I think I will add more of those next year.
Peace and love and Happy 4th of July to all my GG friends!
Jun 28, 2008 | 3:44 PM PST
Tags: hollyhock , moth , sunflowers
I have a new hollyhock bloom. She is called Creme de Cassis. 
Here is a luna moth we found on a tree this afternoon.
Still not much rain, but we are hoping for some tonight/tomorrow. This morning we had to do serious grocery shopping. Whew! We cook big on Sunday and eat left overs for several days.
Here is yet another sunflower. I cant get enough of them this year.
As we took our 3rd or 4th walk around this afternoon, Kitty went with us and played in the grass.
We are kitty-sitting for my daughter this weekend. That gives us 5 cats to care for. We love it.
Finally, something that does not pertain to gardening but is big in my world. I got my sunroom cleaned this week!! If you look close you can see my new kitten curled up on the back of the couch. Now, if I can keep it clean...
Peace and Love.
Jun 23, 2008 | 8:31 AM PST
Tags: sunflower , zinnia
One of Waynes co-workers had kittens! I got one! I have wanted another kitten for a while. Thomas or Thomasina? The vet will have to tell me.
It rained Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Not heavy, but enough to keep us from having to water. We have a 30% chance today, too. I tried a few sweet pea vines this year. Next year I want to try it on a larger scale.
Here is my zinnia patch.
This is a volunteer sunflower.
Last is a picture of the new bed taken close to dark. It was so pretty out last night after the rain.
Peace, love and happy gardening!
Jun 19, 2008 | 4:35 PM PST
Tags: hollyhock , lily , yarrow , Sunflowers , zinnia , phlox
Still no rain to speak of. Looks like a good chance for the weekend. We have been following the college world series, pulling for LSU of course.
Here is my black hollyhock. I am so proud of it. I will be saving seeds.
Next a lily. This one didnt bloom last year and is over 5 ft tall this year. It has made multiple stems, most with a few buds on them.
This is a yarrow called Paprika
I am totally in love with sunflowers this year. This one looks a little chewed up, but it's ok.
Here is my first yellow zinnia of the year.
Last is some phlox.
My lantanas are blooming. The peppers are making good. We pulled our first tomato today. I have a lot of sunflowers coming up under my bird feeders and I planted a pack of mixed colors. Cant wait to see what they do. I am seeing more butterflies this year than last. Also I have a lot more robins in my yard this year. I am thinking maybe because I have mulched so much more and have a lot more earthworms.
Peace, love and go TIGERS!
Jun 9, 2008 | 6:41 AM PST
Tags: black eyed susan , sunflowers , bee balm , coreopsis
In this heat, some plants are thriving, some only surviving. Here are a few pictures of the happy plants. The first is what my Mama called black eyed susan.
I have ''twin" sunflowers in the same bed. I am so excited about growing them this year.
Here are some of my rescue plants. I have great hope for them.
My bee balm is blooming for the first time.
Next is a coreopsis that we started from a seed last summer. It did nothing last year but really took off this year.
My few glads are starting to bloom.
I forget the name of this pepper...cowhorn or something. Interesting looking.
Finally one of our tomato spots with volunteer sunflowers.
Peace and love and happy gardening to all.
Jun 5, 2008 | 6:52 AM PST
Tag: compost mulch
I was able to stay out from 6:30 til 9. Then the heat ran me inside. Got some weeding and watering done. I have a bed on the side of the house that I had not mulched yet. I had bought a bale of beautiful pine straw to put down. Finally got around to it this morning. Yall, all I could think about was how much I really wanted something in an advanced state of decomposition to put around my flowers. I found the straw to be too "new" and hard and prickly. I have learned my lesson about changing out mulch and straw. I will certainly continue to use the straw that I rake up, but I have got to have soft, crumbly, aromatic, earthy, composty mulch. Guess I better go turn my compost pile! Hope you all have a good one!
Jun 4, 2008 | 7:53 PM PST
Tags: zinnia , blue basil , cosmos
I have a few zinnias blooming. So far I have lavender and pink. Oh joy!
The African Blue Basil is getting bigger and attracting more bees and butterflies.
I have a before and after shot for yall. This is the "before" with grass.
We got rid of the grass and planted zucchini,squash and watermelon, cucumbers and tomatoes. Then we got a load of free city mulch and mulched it all in good. Around the perimeter I planted my rescue plants. I have coreopsis, pincushion flower, salvia, marigolds, lantana, moss rose, and more. I will get another pix in about a month.
As you can see, it gets morning shade and afternoon sun. Perfect nap spot for the 'little fat dog'. (he likes to be called that!!!) I am so pleased with this area because I think it will help me attract more bees and butterflies. I am seeing at least 3-4 butterflies a day now. We get tons of bees and a good many dragonflies. Only saw the hummer twice so far. Here is a pix of the canteloupe we are growing in a container.
Here are a few more flowers.
I can hardly wait to get up each morning so I can see what is happening in the yard. Of course I am still sprinkling seeds over that new mulch and keeping it damp. In different areas I have cosmos, zinnias, poppies and balsams coming up. I also have some sunflowers getting ready to bloom. Here is my first cosmos of the year.
Yall have a good night. Peace and love.
May 28, 2008 | 7:42 PM PST
Tag: rescue plants
Went by my Daddy's today and got some petunias and black eyed susans. Came home and planted them out, then it started to rain. Hooray! You know you are fanatical when you get the umbrellas out so you can walk around and look at your plants. That is just what we did. Lowes has reduced priced plants and here is a list of what we have managed to snap up:Salvia Pink Friesland, oranges and lemons blanketflower, marigolds (50cents a 6 pack),moonshine yarrow, catchfly, cardonna meadow sage, beard tongue, and lyre leaf sage. A lot of the perennials were $1 each. We got a 2 graft rose bush which blooms 2 colors. However, it has buds but no blooms at the moment. So we have no idea what colors it will be. Wayne wants me to go back in the morning and snatch up as many of those reduced priced plants as possible. He says he will find places to plant them (you see why I love this man so much?) Oh ,and a white latrius (sp?) was $1. It is a big healthy clump and hasnt bloomed yet. So this evening, when the rain let up to a sprinkle, out we went and planted. I will get pictures and post when the weather permits. Yall have a good night.
May 27, 2008 | 11:25 AM PST
Tag: malva
Here is a picture of one of my malvas. I do love them. Several of my hollyhocks are getting buds and I am so excited to see what color they will be. We started most of them from seed last year. In the above picture you can see my neighbors hydrangea sticking through the fence. I love that!
It is getting hot, folks! Lots of baby tomatoes and peppers. My zinnias have buds but no blooms yet. Things are right on the verge of busting out!
Yall have a great gardening day!
May 26, 2008 | 7:21 AM PST
Tags: hydrangea , yard art
I am happy to report that everything is growing and looking lovely. One of our hydrangeas is blooming.
The new bed by the pool is filling up and will get cedar mulch today.
At the end of the pool, we put 2 "palm trees"--actually rescue house plants from Walmart, but they look good.
On my fence, I have 2 jars filled with water. I am sticking clippings and cuttings in them to see if I can get something to root.
I have done a few crafts:
And I want to ask Hillbilly Bill Mitchell if cats can read--
My herbs are doing good and I have a 5 foot tall coreopsis. I have never grown coreopsis before and my daughter calls it the big weed.
Peace and love and Yall have a safe and wonderful Memorial Day!
May 15, 2008 | 8:17 PM PST
Tags: new beds , lilly , zinnia
As I have mentioned on previous blogs, Wayne has been hard at work in our yard, cleaning up and sprucing up. Here are some pictures. The first is of the overgrown azaleas that he pruned up (they were getting snakey looking). We will kill off the ivy-english and poison- and probably plant some annuals under there for color.
Next is a lovely pink lilly growing up through the butterfly bush (which is getting tiny buds!!!)
Next is the bed beside the driveway. Once it had only stella daylillies, which was fine, but I needed more. Now we have the lillies, salvia, pepper, tomato,zinnias, a rose,yarrow,hollyhock and an angel trumpet.
Next is a picture of the fence line that had the daylillies, monkey grass and cannas. It took Wayne a while to get it thinned out and cleaned up. It isnt mulched yet and may be hard to see, but it looks so much better and will get more plants as the summer goes on. On the other side, you can see that we will be making another bed by the side of the pool
Last is a nice blue salvia that something (dog, cat , wind) tore about half of it off. We saved a piece and stuck in the ground and it looks like it has taken.
I am calling this "The Year of the Zinnia". Last year we started some from seeds. They were mostly pink and lavender with a few orange and yellows. I would deadhead them and drop the seeds in all of my beds. And during spring clean up this year, I scattered packs of seeds. I have so many seedlings. Some are even in the grass. Oh I can not wait to see their pretty little faces. Mostly I grow lilliput and thumbelina. Even with those types, they grow really big.
Peace and love and happy gardening.
May 13, 2008 | 8:48 PM PST
I had a wonderful lunch with my sister, neice and daughter. Came home and looked at my seedlings.....pretty sorry looking. I got moody about it. Fortunately my husband (hero) came home and saw my despair. He planted me about 20 hollyhock seeds and predicted they would be up by Sunday. He then finished cleaning the daylily/canna bed and planted me 2 roses--Double Delight and Liberty Bell. He had already planted my Trumpeter rose. Oh and he gave me a lovely coral carpet rose for Mothers day and I found coral petunias to plant around it. It is sweet.
Ok.....so he is digging up daylillies and tossing them aside. This is Ok because he says we will get a pink butterfly bush to plant in the open spaces. Then he picks up the shovel and starts to clean up a space by the pool. "What are you doing?" I ask. "I am planting a daylily by the pool" he replies. YIPPEE!!!!!!! I had been asking him if we could make flower beds around the pool with heat tolerant plants....maybe..maybe not..we'll see... And then tonight he did it, just like it had been his idea. I love that man. We ended up with 5 daylillies out there and that is a great start to a beautiful new bed. I will try to post some pix tomorrow.
Good Night and Sleep Tight.
May 8, 2008 | 7:46 PM PST
Tags: pets , iris , birdhouse
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.
May 7, 2008 | 10:48 AM PST
Tags: iris , amaryllis , rainbow
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.
