Confessions of a Gardening Noob

Landscaping - before

2010-05-19T18:00:00.014-05:00

Back garden:

This will be cleaned out, plants moved around (if I want to save them) and sod laid.

The persimmon tree will be removed. Although it bears fruit, it's been dying since Katrina. It drops rotten fruit all over and attracts undesirable critters. I will probably find a place to put another one, since we do love the persimmons and it's an attractive little tree.

We will keep the roses where they are. I'm not sure of the rest, I will take his recommendation, although I do know which plants I want to keep. he says he can save and move anything.

"You can keep this if you want" he said. LOL. Well, John and Daniel built it so we will. It wasn't exactly what we had in mind but still. It does need to be cleaned out and maybe he will have ideas on what to plant in it. I envision it with a few plants around it but mostly the sod.

I am keeping the tree. I want some plants along the fence (vines I think) but other than that plain is fine. In the old herb garden I want some annuals I can switch out every season. I will move the herb garden to the front by the garage, which is far more convenient to the kitchen!

Maybe some sort of edging along the path? Monkey grass sounds good but I guess the regular grass and weeds would infiltrate pretty easily. I am all about low maintenance right now.

The "Secret Garden" on the side:

Weed and mulch. Maybe a ground cover. I'm pretty happy with most of the plants back there, other than the lantana that won't go away.

Through the arch to the veggie garden:

Weed and mulch the raised garden. Move the bricks away from the wall to avoid termites.

In the center I want the stone pathway and just mulch.

Along the fence I want another raised garden. I bought 2 kits at Sam's the other day. Maybe use those, maybe not. I want some pretty things there. Veggies are fine, but I want some flowers we can see form the hot tub (inside that long window).

Just a view of the veggies from the other direction.

And back into the small garden. There is a vine planted on the right - it should grow to climb the trellis and the pole (the clothesline will be moved but the pole left there for plants to climb).

Now, out to the side yard:

The shrubs will be removed. I want the herb garden here.

I don't know what to do with the walk...I want it there. Maybe mulch between the stones.

Here is one spot where I need design help. I'm thinking to extend plantings along the walk and have this part just bulge out. I want low maintenance and I want the kids to be able to play in the yard as usual.

This bush (Hawthorn) can stay or be moved.

Weed, mulch, edge, extend out. Maybe some annuals to fill in, but those are camellias and azaleas that will grow large.

On to the front:

Weed, mulch, edge, fill in with annuals (same as above).

He is going to clean out the shrubs. Many will be removed, the rest will be trimmed.

Another view.

I want the little hedge gone! I was thinking rosemary. Now I'm not sure. I'll listen to the guy first. Something that smells good sounds good to me, so I can catch a whiff from the hammock.

Thinking of just cleaning this up. I kindof like it like it is.

These are on either end of the porch, and I'm thinking easy-care perennials.

I want to move the lilies out of here and make this strictly seasonal annuals.

Dig out the swamp iris that doesn't bloom (since it isn't a swamp) and move the lilies here with some regular iris and daffodils for year round color.

More shrubs to clean out.

And more, ugh.

But I would like to plant something so it doesn't just come to an abrupt end.

I LOVE my azalea garden here. I would love to add more!! I would like to organize and improve the soil, make it look more put together. Some mulch and a bench.

Mulch around all the trees.

A small flower bed around the mailbox, for a vine or annuals.

Get rid of the hitchhiking lantana, and get rid of the old rotting wood edge, just grass around these.

Some plants I would like to see used:

jasmine
butterfly bush
zinnias
moon vine
morning glories

Now That I Think About It...

2010-04-15T07:07:00.002-05:00

...My grandparents had lots of money. And a full-time gardener. And no little kids playing football on the lawn or losing the soccer ball in the bushes (unless we were visiting).

I think I can ease up on myself. My problem is that I tend to be over-ambitious, then quit when the going gets tough. I'm going to just try to do the best I can and be happy with it.

With that in mind I planted my veggies in the square foot garden. I cheated and used pre-packaged Miracle-Gro garden soil, before I read on a garden forum that it was crap (I asked at the Garden center why anyone would say it's crap - apparently it has a bad rep for not being organic. I can live with that, frankly.)

I cleaned out the Secret Garden and trimmed the lemon tree.

I hired a friend's 13 year old to clean out the garden in the side yard, and I planted two of Dad's camellias, one azalea, and a bunch of annuals. I'm not finished with that yet, but it's started at least.

I sorta cleaned out a couple of the front beds, so at least they don't look horrible.

I trimmed back the cassia tree in the back garden.

Still needs doing soon:

Throwing out the trimmings of the lemon and cassia trees.
Mulching a few places with cardboard before the weeds get wild.
Find a spot to put the asparagus plant I bought. There isn't room for it in the veggie garden.
Clean out the herb garden...although, that is not exactly a "need" right now. Just a "really want".
Hire the kid again to do some more work cleaning out other beds. If not - no biggie, it can wait "one more year" like it has for the past 5 years!

I have some purple iris blooming and it's spectacular! I want to plant a ton more this fall.

Veggies I planted -

Cucumbers
Tomatoes (2 varieties, including the "Sweet 100" which is the only one I ever have real success with)
Jalapeno peppers
Serrano chilies
Tomatillos
Basil
Thyme
Mint (in a large pot. I learned my lesson years ago!)

I sprouted some garbanzo beans to try and also some kidney beans the kids sprouted.

That's it for now.

Yes, it's a Sunflower!

2009-06-22T18:38:00.003-05:00

There's another one growing nearby, too. I have never been able to grow sunflowers from seed, in spite of trying really hard. Yet they fall out of the feeder and thrive! Go figure!

The Great Zinnia Mystery

2009-06-15T18:54:00.002-05:00

You may have read about my giant zinnia.

I saved the seeds. A great, big pile of seeds, and then planted them around in various beds this spring. I wrote just the other day about the strange color of one of them - it was more red, where the original was bright pink.

Here is what has come up around the flagpole the past few days:

Here's another from the back garden. It's darker, but closer to the color of last year's original.

Here's the thing. The saved seeds came from ONE plant (see entry in the link above). ALL of those flowers were the bright, hot pink. Is it possible that the saved seeds could produce different colored flowers? I searched around on Google today, and all I found were a few people who noticed their saved seeds produced a different shade of the same color. No one, that I found, had completely different colors.

But that ONE plant came from a packet of mixed seeds that I just dumped into the flagpole bed on a whim. Is it possible that some seeds lay dormant for an entire year? That the different colors of flowers are from old seeds - not the ones I planted there this year, saved from last year's plant?

I don't think that could be possible. Why would they have sprouted right when they should have (based on when I sowed the seeds)? Also I would expect some to be miniatures as were in the packet. These are all large.

This is exactly the kind of thing that will drive me crazy until I figure it out. Help!

Today's Pick

2009-06-07T16:25:00.008-05:00

Here's what I harvested today.

We have cherry and grape tomatoes, snow peas, eggplant, cayenne peppers, sweet and red onions (those were planted to provide green onions, not bulbs, so the bulb growth was a nice surprise), a Creole tomato, basil, tarragon, oregano, thyme, and parsley. Now to fix them for supper! Yum!

Here is the flagpole flower bed now. The zinnias are growing nicely. I saved the seed from last year's plants.

Please click the link to read about it from last year. Then come back here and tell me I am not blind and these flowers are a completely different color? Well, at least a different shade of the same color family?

This year's Zinnia:

Last year's Zinnia:
Yes, I am sure the seeds came from the above plant. If you read the story, you already know they were all from the SAME one plant. Can't wait to see what happens to the next batch!

Here are a few more finds in the garden today:

Now, here is a stupid question... When I saw this tall thing growing (below, and on the left side of the above picture) I didn't think it was a weed, so I left it alone. I thought it was a zinnia. I knew I hadn't planted one there, but there have been others sprouted around that I figure were spread by birds or wind. But today I took a closer look and it sure is no zinnia. What is it? Is it a sunflower?? That would make sense - it's right under the bird feeder! I think it looks like one, but I guess I won't know for sure until it blooms (I am no sunflower expert!).

Finally - a Deep Thought for today. "If you want to see the butterflies, you have to let the caterpillars eat your passiflora". (Just please leave the healthy red one alone....OK babies??).

Long Overdue Update

2009-05-24T21:18:00.008-05:00

My first "homegrown salad" of the season...onions, tomatoes, basil, snow peas.

In one of my last posts I said it was about to rain.

I think it did rain, then. Probably a pretty good rain. I don't remember it too well, because it's the last real rain we've had! Yes, while rain falls profusely upon other parts of the country, we are in desperate need.

My SFG has not seen a real rain since I finished it. A few scattered sprinkles, and city water from our hose. That's it. I'm positive everything would be doing much better with real rain - it always does. But I guess we're not doing too badly.

So far I've harvested grape and cherry tomatoes, snow peas, one cayenne pepper, and one eggplant. My green onions are doing well, and some of them have even grown fairly large bulbs. The basil in the SFG is doing great, although what's in the actual herb garden is not. The cucumbers are growing well although the one fruit that set AND grew, died pretty fast. I have since tied them up and they seem to be doing better.

Now, please do a rain dance for our area??

Gaura lindheimeri "Whirling Butterfiles"

The Waterfall garden is looking great!

Something is eating my patio tomatoes.

I love to eat these right off the vine, mmmm

My audience

Rose "St. Patrick"

Lemon blossoms...

...and young lemons

Sweet 100s ripening on the vine

Japanese eggplant. I harvested it 3 days later.

View into the "Secret Garden". The photo doesn't do it justice.

Frost?!

2009-04-07T18:09:00.001-05:00

It SHOULD NOT be allowed to frost in Zone 8/9 in April! Especially after I just got all the veggies planted!!

They're covered, anyway. Hoping for the best...

Better Day!

2009-04-04T18:37:00.002-05:00

Today I spent most of the day working outside. The weather was glorious, the temperature and humidity comfortable. I got the side garden (next to the sunroom) all cleaned out, the Meyer lemon tree pruned, ready to plant a few things and mulch over it. I can't wait to get back out there!

Also, with the help of hubby and Kid #3, we got the SFG box filled! I bought some more transplants to put there, including Sweet 100 tomatoes, and some more herbs. I may put the herbs in the SFG box because I don't know what's going on in the herb garden. Maybe it's too full? Maybe the dirt stinks. I don't know, but I'm leery of risking it. I got some flowers to put here and there so I can finish up the far half of the back garden.

After that, the major task is to work on the near half. That's my view from this desk, and why I didn't do it first is beyond me! Maybe because it's mostly grass and will be harder to clean out. But it's a small area, so I need to just dig in and do it (no pun intended :P).

It's supposed to be rainy tomorrow but hopefully I can get out there and do a few things. I'm feeling much better about it all now. :)

Discouraged

2009-04-03T13:21:00.005-05:00

I am seriously rethinking this Square Foot Gardening thing.

I'm a fan of the box, and the method seems to make sense. But I can't deal with this mix! The MIX is far and away the biggest pain in the rear associated with this thing. There must be an easier way, right? Some sort of mixer thingie I can rent from Home Depot? Similar to a cement mixer?

Today alone I spent TWO HOURS trying to mix up the goods. What I have to show for it are a sore back, dirty feet, out of supplies, and only got about a third of the box filled.

Planted....but I have to do something to hold that dirt in right away.

Oof! There is really SO much more I could have been doing with two hours in the garden this morning. Not to mention inside the house!

So - how important IS the mix? I'm really thinking I'll just fill the rest of the box with plain old-fashioned DIRT. It's not the expense of the stuff - it's the work involved. If it took me two hours to get a third of the box ready, it will take me four to finish, according to my admittedly lacking math skills!

In other news of the day - check out these herbs I had just planted in the herb garden.

Sage

Parsley

The thyme I planted at the same time is doing fine, the basil is not growing much but it's not dead (it's already flowering, which seems to me a bad sign for such a small plant and this early. But it's not dead.). I have no idea what's wrong with them. I put another parsley in the waterfall bed for caterpillars to munch - it is growing tall and bright green. Another I put in a pot - all bought and planted on the same day, by the way - it's doing fine as well. The rest of the herb garden looks great, but is all stuff from last year.

It's very discouraging at the moment. I have too many big jobs on the plate at once, all of which have to be at least worked on now, if not finished. It's overwhelming enough that it takes all the pleasure out of it. :(

Hummingbirds are Back!

2009-03-31T13:14:00.002-05:00

We weren't sure when the hummers would be back so we put the feeders out on Sunday evening. Yesterday we had several hummingbirds! I'm looking forward to another good season. Hubby is looking forward to taking pictures with the new camera. :)

Old post about hummingbirds, with nectar recipe

Garden progress, 3.29.09

2009-03-30T13:50:00.006-05:00

Here's what we did this weekend. I say "we", but I really mostly mean hubby and kids.

We built a new fence to block off the SFG area:

The main SFG is to the right. I want to move the clothesline and use the other side as well, but until then I'll just add a few things.

The gate for the new fence was once in the arch. Here is the arch now:

That rose is a "Joseph's Coat" and it's covered with buds! I can't wait to see it in full bloom, but for now here is a closeup:

On the right side of the arch, in the herb garden, there is a maypop vine (everything in the herb garden produces something edible). Turns out it's a host plant for the Gulf Fritillary caterpillar and they tore it up last year! But apparently it's coming back:

On the end of the SFG box we put in some cucumbers:

For the experimental plastic garden box we (thanks, hubby!) made a tomato cage:

And some of the flowers for this week:

I have two of these; they were here when we moved in. They grow very tall - should be visible over the fence pretty soon. I don't know what kind they are. Dark red, and fragrant.

The "rose corner"

The vinca vine doesn't bloom often and it's not showy, but I like it.

And finally, the zebra "cactus" that lives in my sunroom. I have collected zebra items through the years (not so much now that I'm in declutter mode) and bought this on a whim.

The long spike has an interesting little flower:

Square-Foot Solution?

2009-03-26T15:50:00.003-05:00

We're going to enclose the small area of the yard where we built the SFG box ASAP. That will solve the dog problem, but in the meantime I wanted to get some of what I bought into the ground. Keeping in mind that Mel says it needs to be 6-8 inches deep, and can have a solid bottom, I am experimenting with these:

The boxes are 7 inches deep. The mix settled a bit so I will add more. So far they seem to be doing fine. The onions are so close together because we planted them too late to get big bulbs anyway, so we're using them as green onions (in which case they can be planted that close together). The tomatoes are grape, and need to be staked soon. There are a few extra onions in the box with them, but they needed more space.

It's kind of an expensive option to do too much with, and not very pretty, but it seems like it will work.

Shaping Up

2009-03-25T11:01:00.005-05:00

It's really starting to shape up, now. Racing the coming rain, I spent a hard hour this morning - then, of course, it cleared up after my shower! But it's looking good.

Today I planted the Mexican Heather and dwarf mondo grass along the walk to the gate. There is already heather between the other side of the walk and the sunroom wall, and I love the way it looks. It's so far out for two reasons - concrete farther out than the walk, and it will grow and fill in that space pretty quickly. I put in the yellow rose and maypop vine along the far fence the other day. There are also now Moonflower seeds planted along the perimeter.

I'm still not sure what else to put in this area. I'll put some stones for walking on, but I would like to have plants in the rest of it. I'm really horrible at planning and design, so it will just be totally random. I don't want to hurry, but I want to get it done!

Just beyond the bird bath is a satsuma tree. Around that tree I planted various summer-blooming bulbs.

The stones are under the bird feeder. I want to have something underneath it so weeds don't sprout. Still thinking about how to do it.

The two plants in the right of the picture were also planted this morning.

The seeds I planted in the waterfall bed are sprouting nicely and may even need thinning. I'm so excited! I rarely have luck with seeds. Those are zinnias, blanket flowers, and coneflowers - hoping for butterflies! I put in a parsley plant for caterpillar food. Just the other side of the water feature is where I put the milkweed. They should be happy now.

I was thrilled to see the new daffodil has TWO flowers on it!

I put several herbs in pots - mint and oregano because they need their own space, and another parsley to put wherever (just because I like the look of pots too!). My garlic chives are blooming so nicely right now.

The sun room is the room right inside my garden area. I've been loving sitting out there doing my paperwork. Hoooray for portable laptops! Now the view is getting even better.

New Friends

2009-03-24T18:26:00.002-05:00

Saturday was my Mom's birthday. Wanting to get something she would have liked, I went to the Garden Center and bought this:

It's a St. Patrick.

Then I also could not resist this maypop vine:

I know the caterpillars like to munch on this, and because I want butterflies I won't stop them. Hopefully it will come back!

Both are in the ground. :)

Progress

2009-03-14T13:28:00.009-05:00

I bought some herb and veggie transplants last week: two types of tomatoes, cucumbers, Japanese eggplant, hot peppers, spicy globe basil, lemon thyme, parsley (enough to use as caterpillar food too), and cilantro. My goal for today was to get the herb garden cleaned out and planted.

Herb garden before we started.

I had some good helpers, at least for awhile.

Fire ants interrupted our progress. I was able, at great expense to my back (thank you Advil), to finish the plantings; I'll have to pull the weeds after the ants are gone.

So I moved on to the waterfall. I cleaned out the weeds and did some trim work, added soil mix (soil, peat moss and coarse vermiculite) and sowed some flower seeds: small orange zinnias (seed saved from last year), blanket flower, and coneflower. I added a parsley plant to host the caterpillars (and hopefully keep them away from my herb garden).

I spent a little time cleaning up my mess and taking pictures - not many, because I was racing the coming rain. As I was finishing up, hubby came home from mowing at church with a new resident for the garden...

He probably won't stay long, but at least he won't get run over by a tractor here!

A few minutes later, the rain came...

I hope it won't drown out my hard work. On the other hand, it will be much easier to pull weeds later this afternoon (if it ever stops, that is - which is not looking very imminent)!

Daffodil!

2009-03-08T21:19:00.003-05:00

That daffodil in my header is my very first one to bloom! It's located behind the waterfall so I didn't see it until I went around there to do some cleanup. I was so excited!

At first it looked like this

But a little later in the afternoon it was fully opened to this

I planted them late, as detailed in this post, and wasn't sure what would happen. I've been seeing them blooming around town and wondered again if I would have any.

Seeing it reminds me so much of my own Grandmother. And it seems especially fitting that the first one to bloom would be yellow - Mom's favorite color.

Dreaming

2009-03-03T12:51:00.004-06:00

I know you Northern types are dreaming of spring. All that snow seems cruel, but at least you're not being teased mercilessly with alternating frigid/springlike temperatures. It's hard to start gardening like that. So I'm dreaming.

Yep, I bought seeds yesterday. I swear, this is it. I won't buy any more (this time). I can stop any time I want, honest.

Seriously - I've never had much luck with seeds. I keep trying, though. You know what they say - if at first you don't succeed, try, try again... I would add that if you consistently over the space of several years and many dollars don't succeed, get a clue and save up for established plants!

Last year, I was ready to quit, but then I got this. Clearly this was a message that I am to try more seeds again. How else can I take it? I mean - I saved seeds from it and everything! A massive pile of seeds...if only a few of them "take", I will have zinnias coming out of my.... eardrums. How about this pile of seeds!

**Note: I confess. I have no idea how to save seeds. So I saved the entire pod, and figured there are seeds in there somewhere and they will sprout when I stick them in dirt. Cross your fingers!

Here is another miracle plant. Mom and Dad brought me this plant from Hawaii. We're 99% sure that was in 2004. I know it wasn't 2005, because I had it then. As we packed up to evacuate Katrina, I stuck the small plant in its pot behind a bush and forgot about it.

So it lived through Katrina - albeit right up next to the house behind a bush - but still. And the following winter, and the winter after that. Probably not getting much water, up against the house like that. I found it the next spring - yup, that would be 2007 - when I finally got up off my (duff) and cleaned out the front flower beds. If you're counting, that's almost two years in a tiny nursery pot, up against the front wall of my house.

Well, I planted it. Here it is today. Well, it's the low plant in the shade...the leaves are not very visible. I was taking the picture of this flower - wow!

The plant - Dad calls it a leather leaf - spreads easily. There's a lot down there.

Dad took a leaf and put it in a plastic bag with a damp paper towel. Today he took it out and stuck it in dirt:
Look at all those shoots popping out of one leaf.

My azaleas don't appear to realize there are still freezing temperatures on the horizon. This is my favorite color.
They are planted all around the big live oak tree. When they grow up, there will hopefully be mostly this color with some white for accents as well as this:

And.....I need a new flag.

Disclaimer - grainy cell-phone pictures with bad light.

DOGS

2009-03-01T17:09:00.003-06:00

My garden has a dog problem.

Well...the ones in the big part of the back yard do. That's where the dogs and kids play. I realize I can't have a richly landscaped space back there just now, but I would like to have a plant or two. And it's really the only place I can see to put my big square foot garden box (it goes along the back wall and is 8 feet by 3 feet).

So the dogs have made HUGE holes in the lawn in general. What - are they trying to get to China??! I dunno. The dog trainers say pay more attention to the dogs, but they do get plenty of attention. Fact is they HAVE to be left outside for periods of time and there's nothing we can do about it.

Then I started to make the mix and fill the SFG box. I needed to get my onions in a month ago, but they're still not in. Why? DOGS! Dogs sleeping, digging and POOPING in my SFG box! So I'm not sure what to do now. Sure, I could fence it. I guess I'll have to. Durn dogs!!!!

Air Potato

2009-02-16T17:23:00.004-06:00

I'm having fun doing some "window shopping" and trying to plan my plantings. It's going to be hard to go slowly, but I really want to plant a few things this year and see how it goes before adding more next year. My problem is I want everything I see!

I really want some vines climbing the fence. I have three corms from something I've always called "potato vine". We had it planted at our old house, and I see it all over the place. So when Hubby brought some home (donated by a co-worker) I put them away for spring planting. I figured I could use them for a blanket of foliage for the flowering vines to grow on.

But I wanted to know more about it, so I went to my trusty friend Google. At first I couldn't find anything out. Using the term "potato vine" to search resulted in nothing but sweet potato vines. Finally by adding the term "seeds" and searching for images I was brought to information on "air potatoes". They really do look beautiful....

Well, I can tell you I'm torn about planting these seeds in my garden after reading this article. Wow - it is actually illegal to introduce or even POSSESS this plant in Alabama and Florida! I knew they were spread easily, and I knew that they produce hundreds of seeds (if not more) on a single plant. That's why people take them to work to give to co-workers, I guess. I just had no idea they were such a threat. They sound potentially as bad as kudzu...which certainly looks majestic but I wouldn't wanna live there!

Kudzu Invasion:

There is a picture on the page above of an air potato invasion.

I had these vines for years at my old house, with no problems. Usually the corms would fall to the ground and I would save a few to plant in the spring and give the rest away or just toss them. My parents had them climbing pine trees at their house, also with no problem. They aren't listed as an invasive species for Louisiana...

I need to think about this some more.

Aphids in the Sun Room!

2009-01-30T17:19:00.002-06:00

I need some ladybugs. For now, I got some spray...but it's really stinky.

I'm very glad it's not whiteflies again!!

Better Late than Never?

2008-12-26T19:49:00.002-06:00

Today I went out to plant the pansies I got for Christmas. They're beautiful purple ones. I love pansies, what a great way to add some color for the winter!

M. was concerned, though. I planted them in the flagpole bed, and she noticed for the first time that the zinnia was gone (I finally harvested the last of the seeds and pulled it up a few weeks ago). I assured her that by the time these flowers die back in the spring, it will be time to plant our saved seeds.

So I cleaned out the rest of the bed and planted a dozen pansies (I have a dozen more to go in other beds). Cleaning would have been a breeze, if not for the masses of fire ants that have taken up residence (with no hills to give them away!). I decided against spreading ant killer and now and planting later. I was in the mood to garden NOW, and that hasn't happened much lately. So I worked around the ants, and managed to come away with only one sting!

On the way out of the garage to the flower bed I noticed a plain brown paper bag sitting on a shelf. "Oh, no", I thought. I had forgotten all about my bulbs. I bought them in October, dutifully putting them in the fridge for two weeks before planting. But then Mom got sick, and everything happened so fast, and I haven't thought about my gardens in two months. Somewhere along the line they got removed from the fridge - probably to make room for funeral food - and stuffed away on a shelf, forgotten.

I can't even remember what they are, now. I have a box of 6 purple iris rhizomes, labeled, so those were easy. There was a bag with 10 light brown bulbs - I think they're yellow daffodils. Another bag had 4 purple bulbs that smelled slightly of onion for some reason. If I recall those are amaryllis maybe. I remember my friend Dawn was with me when I bought them and she talked me into those even though they were much more expensive. "The smell will make it so worth it!" Two are pink, I think, and two are purple, maybe.

I've been planning since last spring to start some bulbs. My grandmother had such lovely spring gardens full of daffodils and lilies and irises. I'm sure I actually had a plan at some point, probably even when I bought them. Now, I confess I didn't really feel like planting them. I sure couldn't remember any kind of plan. I can't even remember what's what. But I felt obligated to get them in, somewhere.

I put 3 irises around the flagpole, with 4 of the daffodil-ish ones a bit further out. If they grow, those should look really nice when the pansies are gone and the zinnias are not there yet.

The rest, I took into the back garden. I decided to plant all of the "smelly" ones back there where the scent is most likely to be enjoyed. By the time I got to that part of the planting I had really had enough. It was hot outside - we've had record highs all week here, in the upper 70s - plus it was incredibly muggy. I was tired of dodging ants. I didn't want to look at the mess the garden has become after two more months of neglect - still better than last year, but not where it was supposed to be. There were also several large holes made when the kids accidentally locked the dog in the area. Ugh.

Looking around I had no memory of any kind of plan...I just wanted to get back in the house and get a drink of water. So I started digging little holes, all around the water feature, which I have always envisioned with lots of greenery surrounding it. All around and among the other plants are now 4 amaryllis, 3 iris and 6 daffodils. I have no clue what it will look like, how it will all fit together, but as I dug it suddenly seemed fitting to have it all thrown together willy-nilly. Hopefully, if I didn't wait TOO long to plant, they will grow...and by the time Easter comes, there will be new life out there. Easter is the season of new life, and the reminder of everlasting life, and I think it will be especially meaningful to see those willy-nilly plants come of age.

Whiteflies

2008-10-26T17:53:00.002-05:00

I had to ditch the pretty croton that I had in the sunroom. it had the WORST case of whiteflies that I've ever seen, and it just wasn't worth the risk to me to have them spread. I was also not willing to expend the effort to get rid of them - they were THAT bad, and I was THAT busy, and frankly the plant is just THAT cheap. So, buh-bye, croton. I'll probably replace it - I love them, and it looks so nice in there.

I was in such a hurry to get it out of there that I didn't think to take pictures! Suffice to say I hope I never get the chance to take them again. Yuck.

Now, of course, I wonder where they came from!

Butterflies!

2008-10-19T17:23:00.004-05:00

We enjoyed watching 15 - 20 butterflies fluttering around in the zinnias earlier today. This video doesn't come close to doing it justice, but it's still cool!

And a few more pictures. I'm loving this little flower bed! I can't wait till next spring to have more!

Trumpet Tree

2008-10-14T09:47:00.002-05:00

This is an interesting plant I found on sale at the Garden Center this summer. They called it Trumpet Tree. Looking online, it seems like it's probably called "Angel Trumpet". It was so cheap, I bought it, but I was unsure what to do with it so I just put it in a pot. She did tell me to save seeds for next year, and to wrap the pods in pantyhose because they would just explode and let loose when they dry out. So I have 2 dried pods saved for next year. It's a beautiful plant, and I hear it grows like a weed. That could be good or bad - good, because my thumb is not all that green yet. So we'll see!

Closeup of the flower:

Then I walked out the other morning and something had spent the night eating every single leaf off the plant! I knew iut was eaten because there were NO leaves or any kind of waste anywhere around the pot. "It" even ate most of a seed pod! But left the other. Hmm...curious.

The brown you can see there is not a leaf. It's the piece of pantyhose from where I cut off the seed pod. NO TRACE of leaf was left anywhere! Just that lone seed pod!

So I have NO clue what ate my plant. I don't know if it will resprout, but I'll just leave it. Frost will kill it, anyway.

The jury is still out on this one - it's gorgeous, a showpiece. So maybe out front. Weedlike, I think I can handle...stay tuned.

The Giant Zinnia

2008-10-08T20:56:00.003-05:00

I wrote this a while back for my other blog:

(August 21, 2008)

In the spring, on impulse, I picked up a packet of mixed flower seeds. Why, I don't know...I've never, ever, even once, had any luck with seeds. Normally they're just an expensive gourmet bird food. But I had the new flagpole surrounded by little plants, and there was a bit of space left, and this variety pack said "Easy Grow! Tolerates Neglect!" Well, that's all I needed to hear. Once home, I dumped them into the dirt, covered them up, and forgot about them.

The flagpole is in the side yard, and I've been focusing on the back, so I hadn't paid too much attention. I took this picture on July 29, and called it "The Zinnia that will Take Over the World".

This is the same plant, a little over three weeks later.

Yes, I need to mow. Yes, the portulaca isn't quite as neglect-tolerant as advertised. Please ignore those; I'm trying to think of something else for next year.

Here are some kids in front of it for some perspective. The Boy is exactly 48 inches tall, and they are standing on a 2 inch thick stone.

Hubby says the tallest blossom is at 51 inches. The info I found says they grow around 3 feet tall - possibly bigger if treated with "tender care". Wow. I wonder how big it would be if I didn't completely ignore it?

So I'm saving the seeds. Who knows? I would love to have a row or two of those next year.

By the way - that is the ONLY plant to grow from that entire packet of seeds.

/end part one
____________________________________________

Interestingly, the very next week a storm roared though, I forget the name...the named one before Gustav, I think. It gave us a minimal amount of rain and a pretty stiff wind. The next day I went out and found this:

The thick stem (more like a trunk) of the zinna had split. Three ways! I was sure it was a goner. I cut off all the pretty flowers to put in a vase. May as well enjoy them while I could....and I pulled off the few dried seed pods to save for next year. I started to pull up the remains of the plant, but I left it. I was feeling lazy, and more than a little bit dejected, thinking to myself that nothing lives for long in MY garden.

I forgot about it for a few days. When I finally noticed it, I was amazed! The broken stems had curved back up to meet the sunlight, the buds that were left after I cut the blooms were blooming, new buds had formed. I hadn't touched it, other than to cut the flowers off with a long stem.

Yep! The main parts of the stem are STILL broken. I can't see how they could possibly still sustain life. Look at all those blooms, all those smaller side shoots popping out.

I can't explain it. It seems miraculous to me, because it looks impossible. It seems like there must be a message there, something spiritual maybe...maybe it's that God can take what looks impossible, and do great things with it. God can take something broken, and make of it something beautiful, even while still broken. And then add butterflies and hummingbirds (see header picture) to it for good measure. There must be a message in there somewhere.

Weed Blocker

2008-10-02T14:36:00.002-05:00

I heard about using newspaper for weed blocker a long time ago. I've done it here and there for years, but couldn't remember where I heard it - which caused a few comments from doubters! But I recently found this article, where I learned that I could use cardboard, too! So I've been cleaning out the back garden, and covering it with a nice blanket of newspaper for the winter.

This

turned into this

I'll just let it sit for the winter, adding fallen leaves to the blanket as we rake them. In the spring it will be all ready for planting. I'll have all winter to measure and web-surf and dream of what I want to plant! I do want to plant a few irises this fall. I don't have a lot of money to spend, so that will limit me to a few, plus after reading up on how fast they spread I think a few is a nice start. Maybe a few more for the front beds. Heehee.

I am pulling up most of the weeds first, even though it says I don't have to. For one thing, it's sort of a therapeutic thing at the moment. When I get tired of pulling, as I did this morning, I leave most of it to be smothered. Another reason is that the ground is still very uneven. So in the process of weeding I use the hoe and shovel to smooth it out a bit (which should also help the paper stay put).

I'm very pleased with my progress! :)

I do have some nice boxes I'm reserving for the stubbornest area on the other end of the garden. That is on next week-or-two's list.

Hummingbirds

2008-09-15T08:13:00.003-05:00

We've had a LOT of hummers this season! I'm not sure what makes this year different from the past but they've been coming steadily and been a great source of entertainment. I've enjoyed sitting out on the patio with a cup of coffee and my camera just waiting to catch them...hard to do with our slow camera but I've been lucky a few times! My current header picture is one I took - that is the zinnia out front. I have more to post later but for now the laptop has a broken fan, and that's where they are.

I think this is the first year we've had to refill feeders before the food had time to spoil! So I was looking up the recipe for the umpteenth time just now and figured it would be a good idea to just post it here.

Artificial nectar:

Use one part ordinary white cane sugar dissolved in four parts water.
It's not necessary to boil the water. The microorganisms that cause fermentation don't come from the water; they are transported to the feeder on hummingbird bills.
Store unused syrup in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

This mixture approximates the average sucrose content (about 21%) of the flowers favored by North American hummingbirds, without being so sweet it attracts too many insects.

The recipe was taken from this site, which has a lot of great info on hummers, plus a really cool video of hummers at the feeders.

Enjoy!!

Old post, 9/17/07, Secret Garden

2008-09-11T19:55:00.003-05:00

Note: I love looking back on my old posts! I especially love that there has been progress since this was written. I'm so glad I took pictures and recorded my thoughts.

****************************************************

We woke up to some beautiful fall-like weather yesterday morning! So as long as it lasts, my early morning will be spent with coffee on the porch rather than here at the desk. Don't worry, it won't last long - it never does!

But it's great while it lasts. I was out in the back yard yesterday and decided to pull a few weeds on my way to do something else, and got completely sidetracked!

The background - our back yard is an odd shape. There's an interesting little area right behind the sunroom, then the shop juts out to separate that area from the main part of the yard where we have the pool, trampoline, shed, vegetable garden, etc. My plan when we bought the house was to make the small area a lovely butterfly garden. I was working on it before the hurricane, and parts of it actually survived! However, in the process of removing the pine tree and rebuilding the fence, what survived Katrina was devastated. The area has been ignored for 2 years, other than the dog digging holes in it. Every once in awhile someone mows a path through the weeds to the gate. I've put working back there on hold while I concentrate in the front porch area, mainly because the pine tree pushed the concrete patio slantwise and it needs to be removed first (lest it all be destroyed again!). The insurance money for that was long ago spent while H was unemployed, and it's not high on the list. So there it sits, a jungle of weeds and mud puddles.

So I passed through yesterday. My plan was actually to mow a path, but it didn't need it too badly and I was lazy, preferring to join the kids in the pool. But I stepped into a small area of the garden where there is still a lemon tree. We had placed a small garden fence there to keep the dog from watering it...LOL. At first glance there was nothing left there but the tree and some elephant ears. Everything was tangled in some kind of vine that seems to have taken over! My initial thought was to kill everything but the tree and start over, so I went in to ruthlessly yank some things out. Once I got the big stuff out, I could cover all but the tree with plastic and kill it off.

But I can't do that! You see, once I started pulling, I found all kinds of treasures down in the weeds. Just like the potted plants from the ruined patio that I couldn't believe were still alive. Everything buried under weeds 2 to 3 feet tall. There are actually lemons on the tree! Lots of lemons! A little creeping plant called "Ragin' Cajun", with gorgeous bright red flowers that attract butterfiles and hummingbirds, is right under the tree where I planted it.

There is an interesting plant my parents brought me from Hawaii - I don't know the name of it. I planted it after the storm; it lived through Katrina forgotten, in the nursery pot next to the house. Didn't even topple over, LOL. It's there and has spread as well.

There's a beautiful fern that apparently grew wild, and a couple of nice shoots of the lantana that was destroyed when the fence was put in.

I couldn't believe it. The beginnings of a great garden, hidden in the weeds and vines, just like in the book!

So I got into it, and spent a couple of hours back there! Rather than ripping things out as I had planned, I had to be careful not to disturb the good plants. The vines could easily pull lemons off the tree, so I had to cut, untangle, cut, untangle.

I have to admit, it felt great. Garden therapy at its finest. I hope I can get it looking good again. This spot should be far enough from the patio that it isn't harmed when that gets chopped up with a jackhammer. I still won't put effort into finishing yet, but I can get it cleaned up.

So, here are pics! Click on the thumbnail to see it big if you're really interested.

This is a view of the whole little side area where I worked. You can barely see the tree!

The tree tangled in vines

Lemons on the tree. I counted 10, which is a lot for this tiny tree! I can use them in my Mulligans.

You can't really tell how BIG this pile of pulled weeds/vines is. Just trust me.

This is the outside corner by the roses.

That used to look like this:

This is what the dog has done by the sidewalk:

View of the cockeyed patio and remains of the pine tree stump from both sides:

The archway trellis was an anniversary gift and will be used as a divider between the garden and the rest of the yard when we finally get to work.
(This one was right after the stump was removed)

Another view of the side garden

Found these under the weeds near the roses. It's vinca vine.

A surprise lantana by the roses. I don't want it there so I'll probably remove it, though I hate to!

Vine covered roses

Yep, they sure do need a trim.

Ick. Not looking forward to this.

The possibility is what motivates me.

Old post, 8/27/07, Garden Journal

2008-09-10T23:38:00.004-05:00

Taking notes from this year's garden. So many things were purported to be "heat and drought tolerant". Ha! So this is for next year when I am swayed by all the purty flowers.

More recent notes are in blue.

LSU Garden when first planted

LSU garden in later spring

LSU garden plants:
Brachycome
Then:

Now:

Verdict: Jury still out on this one. It's looking OK so far in the heat.
Info: http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Plants/Asteraceae/Brachyscome_multifida.html

It died off that winter and didn't come back.

Blue Fan Scaevola
Then:

Now:

Verdict: Um. Not good. I'm fairly sure it was properly taken care of. Heat is supposed to be a fricking PLUS. I'm not going to pull it out yet, still in wait and see mode. I may cut it back and see what happens. Although from the info it seems like it should still be looking good. Grr.
Info: http://www.naturehills.com/new/product/annualsdetails.aspx?prodid=2402&Campaign_id=69&user=shareasale&SSAID=71112

Never came back.

Butterfly Bush
It's the long purple flower in the top picture.

Overall I am pleased with this plant, although it's not as formal looking as I had first hoped. It gives the garden a wild look, not in a bad way really, just not what I originally envisioned. It came back great after last year, and flowers pretty profusely. If definitely attracts butterlies! Next year, if I can find a good spot, I would like to try some different colors of this plant.

Info: http://butterflywebsite.com/articles/bgq/buddleia.htm

I need to find out if the butterfly bush needs to be deadheaded. I did it the first year but it never seemed to grow so I didn't this year. It grew, but looks horrible with dead things on it.

Need to find the name of this one:

So far, I like it. It hasn't flowered the entire summer though, like it said it would. There was about a 6 week period of NO flowers at all. Not sure why. But at least the plant grew and looks good regardless.

Still looking pretty good, with or without deadheading.

Front gardens:

Whirling butterflies
Then:

Now:

Again - a disappointment. I read that I should cut them all the way back and they will be nice again for the fall. We'll see.

Nope.

Need name of these white foliage things:

Those are a definite keeper. They are from LAST year and all I had to do was cut them back - they get pretty leggy, as they are looking now. They did not freeze back at all. I'm actually thinking of redoing this entire garden with those, some mums (bloom in fall) and begonias (bloom in spring and summer). That way I will have color all year round!

I did plant more and it didn't look as good as I expected.

Vincas:

I like them, but I don't like them in this garden. They are heat tolerant, but very needy water-wise. As careful as I have been they are still yellowing, and I don't like how leggy they have gotten.

Don't know what this is:

But I like it. I'll see how it does over the winter. The sticks in front of it are butterfly weed, which was eaten by aphids. By the time the ladybugs found them it was too late. Hoping it will come back but leaving the stems right now so the ladybugs can clean up the buggies. No chemicals for butterfly gardens. (ignore the weeds! LOL!)

Green thing died back and while it's not dead, it has only like 2 leaves on it. Milkweed never came back. Weeds holding strong. :P

Again, don't know name:
Then:

Now:

Nuff said. But they were so pretty when they were nice, that it may be worth it. They're supposed to be perrenial so we'll see if they come back.

Still don't know what it is, never came back, will buy again and treat as annual

Maypop (passion fruit vine)

It needs somewhere better to climb, like a fence. But this was the best I could do at the time. I like it and want other colors of it.

Tried to save it when we had the tree cut. It's in back by the herb garden and doing OK but not great.

Need name of the flower

I like it a lot and it's doing great although it was not in flower when I took the pic.

The vine is sweet potato vine. I like it, but it needs a fence or something too. I had no idea it would grow like this. I call it the vine that wants to eat my house! Look how it grows in the bushes - it's as much as 15 feet long in some spots:

I would cut it back but it will die at first freeze anyway.

The Bird Garden:

I love lantana. It was also not flowering at the time, but full of buds. Perennial, doesn't freeze, impossible to kill, many colors, how can you argue with that?! It does look wild, but I planned that in this garden anyway. These are red. Butterflies and hummingbirds love them!

I also have pink up by the house:

Note the Mexican Heather in the above pic. I can't say enough good about this plant. I love it, and I have yet to manage to kill it! Here, it's perennial, although in northern zones it's an annual.

Hydrangeas and begonias don't like it here so much:

Probably need something in the soil. And for sure to get rid of weeds. They look just good enough yet to not give up on.

They look worse, but not dead. Story of my garden life. :(

Potted plants on porch:
Shrimp plant. Nothing to say but YEAH baby!

I don't think it would do well in the ground though. It also comes in different colors and I would like to try more.

Apparently praising a plant causes it to die. LOL. No, it froze even though it was up by the house. I would still buy it again, this one lasted 2 years.

More vincas. Can you say high maintenance?? But they were a Mother's Day gift.

Whatever it is, it looks nice, but needs to be trimmed regularly to keep from getting too leggy. It was part of one of those mixed bowls from Lowe's. It had some other stuff including vincas (still doing OK) and impatiens. Why they put those two plants, with such opposite-spectrum needs, is beyond me!! But it was only 10 bucks and we enjoyed it.

These, I rescued from my back patio where they had been forgotten and neglected. They're supposed to have light sun and plenty of water, and were in full sun and no water for over a YEAR. I can't believe they lived!

Angelwing begonia:

Variegated Hibiscus:
This one hasn't flowered at all that I've seen. Garden Center says repot and fertilize. Still on the to-do list.

Finally, this is my porch after cleaning it up. I love it! We replaced the regular lights with ceiling fans and got some nice furniture. It's one of my favorite places!

This is the side we usually sit on, to the left of the front door:

The bench on the end is actually a glider and my early birthday present for this year. Big Kid works at the pool store and called H when it went on 50% off clearance (plus his discount. yay)

The right side of the door:

And this will just give an idea of the whole front (it's from last year so things have been rearranged):

My front porch makes me happy. We all hang out there if the weather is nice. The little kids play there, the big kids take their guitars out there or just chill. Daddy reads bedtime stories and then we chill out with a cold beverage. When friends call me I take it out there to chat. This fall I will be working to transform my junk room back into a sunroom, and the back mud pit back into a garden. I want to post pics of how it looks now but would rather end this entry on a happy note!

Porch still makes me happy. :)

Too HOT already!

2008-09-10T08:22:00.004-05:00

It's 8:15, the kids are off to school and this is the time I enjoy going outside to putter in the garden before my morning coffee. But it's too HOT! It's almost 80 degrees already with 91% humidity. Maybe that doesn't sound so bad, but walking to the bus stop was stifling. I'm thinking there's not too much to do that can't wait another week or so *crossing fingers* to be done...right??

It's not bad in the evenings, but then of course the skeeters are out. Ah, welcome to gardening in the South.

Old post, 10/10/05: My Garden

2008-09-09T09:57:00.003-05:00

As I mentioned, I want to re-post some things I wrote elsewhere that are garden related. Here is the first thing I ever wrote about my garden. I'm so glad I decided to write some stuff down! It's fun to look back, especially with pictures. Success or failure!

*****************************

One reason I fell in love with this house (we moved in a year ago) was the little area of the yard that was set apart from the rest. I decided to make a garden to attract butterflies and hummingbirds. Now, mind you I have not gardened in AGES and I was not too good at it then! There was also an old but usable greenhouse. This coming spring I was going to buy seeds and start them there. I had already been poring over garden sites to make my plans. I didn't get to do too much to the garden this past spring but here is a pic of it in about May.

Now of course I am pretty much back to square one after the hurricane. I worked hard on the garden last spring and it was worth it, for my enjoyment of doing it as much as anything else. I have been trying to clean it out since the hurricane but can't do too much till the weather cools off. One bright thing that happened is we lost the pine tree that was there (We were going to get it cut down ASAP)

This is a shot of the greenhouse after the storm. I hope I can get a new one by next spring.

Last thing I want to say is, it was funny what was destroyed in the storm and what was not. Big old trees toppled, shingles came off houses. But in my garden there were still persimmons on the tree, a swim diaper hung on the clothesline, and while many of my plants died just from the beating rain and wind, this one seemed to PROSPER because of it.It has easily doubled in size since the storm. I am not sure what symbolic value is in there but I am sure there must be something, lol)

**************************

Well, it took a long time, but we finally got started. I'll be posting more of our progress along with the old stuff as I get the chance.

Lazy!

2008-09-09T00:04:00.002-05:00

I always liked having plants around, but fake ones were much more my style! I can't count the times I managed to kill a sturdy, idiot-proof houseplant! I tried a small garden in front of our first apartment when we got married. I don't know how it turned out - we moved away before it had a chance to stand or fall.

We moved from there into a house with a yard. it was March, and the first thing we did - sneaking onto the vacant property before we closed on it - was to dig a garden in the back. A vegetable garden, to be exact. We do pretty well with vegetables - well, as long as they are Sweet 100 tomatoes, it seems.

My first gardens were very basic. Square or rectangle shaped - perhaps a circle around a tree. Landscape timbers formed the edges (not that there's anything wrong with that! In fact I'm planning to do some more of those soon.). Plants all evenly spaced, like little soldiers. Colors matched or coordinated. Usually I ended up with plants together but having different needs...I didn't pay too much attention. I didn't spend any time preparing the bed first...just a small handful of Osmocote in the hole and a quick watering after.

I'm a little farther than that now. I look for unique plants, I mix and match things that don't obviously go together, I space them in ways that seem interesting. But it's hard for me to get away from my old lazy ways. I know real gardening takes work, and I love the way I feel after spending some time at hard labor. Old habits are hard to break! Time for this old dog to learn some new tricks.

Why I garden

2008-05-29T20:51:00.000-05:00

Why, at my age, did I decide to try gardening?

Seriously - it's (potentially) cheaper than therapy! :P

I was beginning to be interested in gardening some already. The house we live in now has a greenhouse out back. We liked that - if for nothing more than growing our own winter veggies. There was also a mostly separate, oddly shaped area of the back yard, just outside the sun room, that I thought would make a lovely sitting area. It already had a nice little garden with established plants, and a small patio. I immediately started dreaming of additions - even though I had never had any luck with anything before.

I planted some new things that first year, just a few, but I was pretty pleased with it. Then Katrina hit. The garden actually made it through, but the big pine tree in the middle broke in half. When it was removed, it was poorly done and had to be ground three different times. The result had my lovely butterfly garden looking like a war zone. :(

So between that and a little run-in with the neighbor on that side of the house, I focused on the front. When I had any energy...which was rare. But when I did get out there in the dirt, it was much needed therapy. We had lost several trees in front, and I replaced them with small gardens. Working out there when I was able got me through some rough times. I had a little setback when the roofers came and killed an entire flower bed with the tarp they put on to "protect" it...but I jumped back in.

My grandparents were avid gardeners. Camellias were their specialty, and they won many prizes in shows. Their garden was spectacular. I remember Easter egg hunts and just hanging out back there...irises and daffodils, rows of roses, and of course camellias! People would come from far away to drive past and see the garden. They were famous in the state Garden Club. I went to school one Monday in 6th grade and my teacher asked if I was related to them! She had met them at a Club thing and noticed the name.

I never expect to be able to do as well as my grandparents. I wish I could have gotten tips from them. I want to learn how to grow the things they did - especially camellias and irises. I want to learn to use the greenhouse. I want to learn to grow things from seed - I've never been able to do that!

It's an enjoyable hobby, doesn't cost too much (if I can resist the urge to get too fancy), gets me outside and keeps me busy. The kids are, theoretically at least (I have six!), old enough to do for themselves while I work and to keep out of the plants. It's quiet and peaceful out there. That works for me. :)

Introduction

2008-05-29T20:04:00.001-05:00

Welcome to my garden journal. I've written about my gardens before; I will probably move those entries over here at some point. I decided I want a separate garden journal so I can learn from both my successes and failures, and that I didn't want it to be private so that maybe someone will happen along with something to add!

I live right smack on the line between Zones 8 and 9. We have fire ants, mosquitoes, brutal heat and high humidity. Our summer days are unpredictable - alternating between yard flooding and long periods of drought. It's been an experience trying to pick stuff that will do well here. Every time I think I find a keeper, something gets it.

Well, I am new at this, I can't expect to be an expert overnight - right?