mikalla1217's Blog

Nasturtium from seed
Jul 21, 2011 | 7:28 PM PST
Tags: flower seeds , nasturtium , nasturtiums

Okay, so last year I planted a bunch of jewel-blend nasturitums.  At the end of the season, I plucked about 30 seeds and stored them away for the winter.  

 Spring arrived, and I was able to get one of them to sprout!

 So, my nasturtiums are the first flower I have ever taken from flower, to seed, back to flower!  

 My photo album shows how I put them in the ground and supported them with a decorative plate holder that I bought for $8 from the local second-hand furniture store.  I feel so smart!

 

 

Sunflower Bouquet
Jul 20, 2011 | 6:27 PM PST
Tags: sunflower , bouquet
Last week, I told you about a bouquet of Zulu daisies I received.  I learned my gift lasts 10 weeks, so I'll be receiving surprise bouquets every Tuesday.  This week, I received sunflowers, and they were so big that I didn't have a vase in which they would fit, so I used a 5-gallon bucket until I could figure out what exactly to do!

Knotty tomato
Jul 20, 2011 | 7:18 AM PST
Tag: tomatoes

I was wondering if any of you have seen something like this knot that I found in one of our tomatoes.

First tomato ever!
Jul 16, 2011 | 6:49 PM PST
Tag: tomatoes

Today, my husband and I snipped off the first red tomato I've ever grown to full maturity!

 We are going to eat it with our meal tomorrow night!!

 Gardening makes me soooooo happy! 

Giant Hollyhock still growing!
Jul 15, 2011 | 7:40 PM PST
Tag: Hollyhocks

Two years ago, I spread two packets of hollyhock seeds near the edge of my house.  Being the naive gardener that I was, I thought they didn't take because nothing became of them until the following summer.

 Lo and behold, they started sprouting this spring (as I subsequently found out they would be), and the first one to sprout has grown 10 ft. tall (okay, 9 ft. 11 in.!)

 I save my packets, and one says the seeds inside will grow 5 to 6 ft. tall.  The other packet says they will grow 5 to 8 ft. tall.  I guess this is the one from the latter packet!

My hollyhocks have inadvertently become the neighborhood buzz! 

Attracting hummingbirds
Jul 14, 2011 | 5:55 PM PST
Tag: gardening for hummingbirds

Yesterday I talked my husband into going to a local, out-of-the-way nursery just to look.  I told him that we had only one rule--we couldn't buy anything!

We walked through the annuals, and almost bought a small, mango-colored flower (can't remember the name now). 

So, when we were approached by an employee in the perennials, I felt confident.  When she introduced us to the minty smelling hyssops, and then suggested an orange sherbert color combined with a red one, my husband caved and bought five of them for me (3 orange, 2 red).

 We placed them near our hummingbird feeders, and we're hoping to see more hummingbirds because of it.  What's even better is that they are perennials! 

Zulu Daisies
Jul 13, 2011 | 5:35 PM PST
Tag: bouquet

Although I have no Zulu daisies planted in my garden, I have already shopped for seeds to grow next spring!

One of the parent's of a star student of mine gave me the gift of a weekly bouquet for the summer.  Check out these scrumptious flowers!  They close at night and open during the day; the are vibrant and alive!