Planting paperwhites

It's almost that time again. Get ready to plant your paperwhites. Here's a video to help.

How to Plant Paperwhites

July Gardening Checklist

It's the middle of summer but that doesn't mean you can't get out in the garden. There's still plenty to do...like work on your tan.

Check out this handy dandy checklist: http://realestate.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=13108257

Food from the garden

We had lettuce from the garden the other day. Wow! Yummy.

And this morning, I pulled off my first strawberry from the bush. Woo Hoo! SOOO Yummy! If you have a small sunny spot, I recommend getting a big (16 inches at least) pot, fill it up with good, well draining soil, a bit of fertilizer, and two or three strawberry bushes. So simple, so yummy!

Sadly, I should have taken a pic before I ate the strawberry. .... Oops! ;)

I'm Alive...

Biltmore Gardens in 2006

Hello out there in blogland. Yes, I am alive... just been busy in the garden. Have all sorts of cute stories to tell. But it's raining today, which is why I'm inside...blogging.

Laundry is in the wash and now I'm off to tackle the master closet. I do this about twice a year...it seems to stay sorta organized for about 5 months, then that sixth month, yikes!

Also decorating for Easter and visiting other blogs to see what friends are doing. Joy always has awesome decorations. More cute things over at Bless Our Nest... And at Southern Hospitality of course.

I've got all sorts of pictures to upload... maybe once I get the closet done and check out a few blogs. By the way, are you on twitter? If so, send me your url so I can follow you. :)

yesterday's progress

Yesterday's High: 80 (In March. First day of march = snow)

I divided several liriopes...whew, what a job! Transplanted them.

Divided my sedum into four new mounds.

Divided two of my day lillies that were too clustered together.

Planted two new roses, Climbing Peace and Climbing American.... poetic, don't you think?

Extended the bed that the roses are in.

Raked leaves and in general, weeded things as I went along.

On the 9th, I started a whole bunch of seeds, yelllow & roma tomatoes, impatiens, thyme, and whole bunch more.

I'm waiting for my other seeds to hit a growth spurt. It seems like they've all been the same size for a week now.

I have a few that are already spending afternoons outside getting ready to go into the cold frame.

Have also been organizing the garage, since the garage sale. And I've got my eye on the tool room in the basement....and my craft room of course.

Questions and Answers

Also known as notes to self.

How much to trim off of lantana: 1/3 to 1/2 per year, you can prune it back throughout the growing season to make it bushier.

How much/when to trim hydrangeas: about 1/3 of the oldest stems per year... now my grandma used to cut hers back to the ground and each year, poof, huge beautiful bushes. But then again, grandma has a super green thumb.

Can you divide a snake plant? Yes. Spring is best. Break apart the root ball. They evidently like to be pretty root bound, so I'm thinking mine will go into two smaller containers. Mine seems like to like terra cotta. I'd love to put it on the porch this summer.

Some great info on growing hostas in the south. I'm in 7b, just outside Atlanta.

More great tips for starting a compost pile.

More notes to self: acid-loving plants - camellias, azaleas, gardenias, hydrangeas, rhododendrons, and blueberries

Coffee in the garden? Yep! Starbucks gives away the used coffee grounds to gardeners to use in their gardens and compost piles.

Water Globes

I've been meaning to review my Water Globes for a while now. I got my first one for Christmas and by the end of the week I'd gone out and gotten more.

Rating: 5 stars

I love these things. In case you don't know what a water globe is:

They're a bulb shaped piece of glass that you pour water into, stab it into the soil of a pot, and let it water your plant.

What I love about them is that all my house plants look so much healthier now that I have them. They get a constant small amount of water, helping them grow better and stronger. I'm seeing more shine, more leaves, and more perked up plants.

I have 9 water globes, 8 are from WalMart.

Crafty Gardener posted about water globes the other day and asked for opinions. I agree that bigger pots may need two globes or more frequent filling. I use a long bamboo skewer to poke a hole in the soil before inserting the globe. I use the same skewer to clean out any dirt from the globes tube. I find it easiest to fill all the globes on the same day, using the faucet in my bathtub (zero oxygen vs. the faucet in the kitchen that has a filter). I do them one by one, keep a rag handy for spills, and keep the skewer close by too. Smaller pots might tip over so I recommend bracing the globe against something (a wall, furniture) after insertion.

Having the globes reminds me to turn my houseplants (for even growing) since I poke the globe in a new hole each refill. They also force me to take a closer look at the soil and the plants versus doing a drive by watering. I have to say, my plants are happy and so am I. I can't wait to use these outdoors this summer.

Garden Journal 2/18/09

I did a little seed starting today. This past weekend I purchased a portable greenhouse, it's taken refuge in a corner of my kitchen near a bright window, above a heating grate. Since I did so much kitchen organizing yesterday, today it was the plants turn. I planted the last of my tulip bulbs in a few springish containers... I'll be sure to do this prior to, oh, February next year. Time just passed me by. I also can't wait to divide my bulbs. I'm getting so many since they've been in the ground about 3 years I think. See, this is why I need a journal. :)

So what did I plant today?

A mystery seed... it fell out of the seed packet into the container, but I think it may be Rock something or other. Rock Cress I think.
Zucchini
moss rose
nasturtium
sweet peas
coleus
black eyed susan
snap dragon
and grourds

I also found a great article on how to bring my poinsettias back for this Christmas, so I trimmed those back, watered a bit, and put them in the greenhouse.

Growing Potatoes

Mr. Husband and I had great success growing sweet potatoes last year so this year we have our sights set on regular potatoes. We can't wait!

As normal, I'm doing research to make sure everything goes smoothly and I thought I'd share a page that I found with plenty of info about growing potatoes.

It says potatoes like acidic soil (below a ph of 7) and I wanted a refresher on how to make my soil acidic. I found a whole page of ideas including mixing pine straw with the soil, using coffee grounds, or an acidic fertilizer. This afternoon will be a great time to take stock of what I have in my basement.

And as a side note, I found a neat video on how to plant shallots. I haven't had much...okay, any, luck with growing my own onions, so you can bet that you'll be seeing lots of tips around here about that. http://www.howtodothings.com/video/4036184/How-to-Plant-Shallots

Looking for something to plant?

I found a really incredible webpage with dozens of pictures of plants. So if you have something in your garden you're wondering about, or just looking for something new to plant, check out these photos and names: http://www.preferredlandscapetx.com/ee/index.php/galleries/plants/

When to plant Gladiolas

Mr. Husband, Mom-in-Law and I went to the South Eastern Garden show this past Saturday and it was fabulous as usual. I'm totally ready to garden. I saw a good deal on gladiola bulbs at Lowes and brought those home.

I already had tulips and since Mom-In-Law bought us this awesome auger (that's it's name actually) we had no excuse here in Georgia to start planting bulbs. Let me say, Mr. Husband and I love the auger. It makes such quick work of planting.

As for when to plant the Glads... I was wondering that so I came up to the ol' computer and did some research. As soon as the ground can be worked. So I went ahead and planted a row of five. I'll do another row in 10 days, and so on. Constant blooms.

Thanks to this website for the info on Glads... if you've got Glad questions, check it out.

Gone to the Birds

I have a family of birds hanging out around my back deck. Up on the curve of the gutter there's a nest with three baby birds in it. I haven't figured out what kind of bird it is yet. I'll have to take a picture as soon as I recharge the camera... which is a whole other topic. :)

But I'm enjoying watching these two birds take care of their growing family.

I found an awesome website for bird lovers: www.whatbird.com Really, check it out. You can identify all sorts of birds by color, location, etc.

Spring Time

It’s a gorgeous day, almost too pretty to stay inside. It’s got me thinking of all the outside projects I want to tackle.

One thing on my list is window box style planters for the back deck. I have two older ones that I’ve been using for years and I’d like to get matching ones to go all the way around. Probably five all together… but what to put in them.

Southern Living has a great idea for winter boxes. I wonder if some of those plants could work for summer as well.