The area underneath my deck was once wasted space, nothing growing there. Over the past few years I've been converting it to a fern bed, and it's been doing well.
It seems that I'm trying a new type of mulch this year. It was really easy to apply, and the price was right: free! The strangest thing is it's one of those colored mulches too, and I hate those!
This is becoming a regular thing, where I use Friday to collect all of the week's tidbits and roll them into one scrumptious post. Well, I can't guarantee the scrumptious part, but this is certainly a random collection! Starting with the ducks...
I've already mentioned a few times that I will be buying fewer plants this year. In fact my goal is to buy none but that's just not possible, so I adjusted my goal to "less" plants.
You know how some siblings don't really share a resemblance, even though they have the same parents and might have been born only a year or two apart?
I often hear other gardeners talk about some interesting "volunteer" in their garden, a plant that grew out of nowhere in just the perfect spot. For me this does happen once in a while -- except for the "perfect spot" part, as I usually have to transplant.
I started showing you Wiethop Greenhouses last week, and I left off showing you the door that leads to the perennial greenhouse.
I'm determined to not only visit more area nurseries this year than I have in the past, but to share the visits with you as well -- something I've not really done over the years. Remember the other day when I gave you a little view of Sherwood's Forest Nursery and my stone supplier Kirkwood Material Supply that was right on the other side of the fence? Sharing the other (north) fence with Sherwood's is Wiethop Greenhouses.
Although it snowed a bit last night and the next couple of days will be chilly, I think I've timed my edible plants seed starting quite well this year. I say that as if it's really in my control...
I'm dedicated to success with sprouts right now. The first sunflower sprout crop was a bit of a disappointment, as the true leaves came in before the sprouts were big enough. We still ate them though. The second set of sunflower sprouts -- also grown in soil like the first -- were given less light but appear to have the same issue. We're still eating those.
I started my current sprouts experiment eleven days ago on February 6, and although enough time has passed that I should have a verdict on this growing method, I don't yet -- I'll explain why shortly.
Today is a simple question, perfect for a Friday post when my brain is not up to the task of using too many words: "why?"
If you've been reading for a while, you know that I love trading plants with people through the mail. Sometimes the trade is for specific plants, but often times "surprise" plants are included. Earlier this year I traded Amorphophalus "babes" with another bamboo grower and plant lover (Steve). I sent him Amorphophallus konjac, and he sent me an Amorphophallus titanum seedling among other things. A. konjac is dead simple to grow, and I actually had it showing up unexpectedly in other pots this year, but A. titanum is apparently more fussy.
I tend to focus on the "big" aspect of overwintering plants: dragging the towering potted papyrus inside, digging up the huge colocasia (elephant ears), mulching the bananas with 250 cubic feet of leaves or more. There's the small side of overwintering too, the little details that might get overlooked.
You probably already know about my walkway garden, how I created it a couple of years ago, and just expanded one of the beds this spring.
Japanese maples in the spring are wonderful, their foliage so fresh and perfect, as yet untouched by the blasts of summer heat. Plenty of water available, cool temperatures, vibrant colors -- but this post is not going to be a survey of my maples.
I was originally going to write about my main springtime garden nemesis (violets), but as I started photographing I realized that there are more than one, and violets are probably not even at the top of the list.
With all of the days this week until Friday forecast to be mild, I took a chance on my edible seedlings yesterday. Before I get into that though, let's take a look at them.
I have two favorite times during indoor seed germination season -- which is now for me. My first is possibly obvious, but it's when the seedling breaks the "soil" surface and you get your first glimpse of green, confirmation that the seed did still contain life.
I removed the covers from my veggie beds the other day, as I wanted any plants inside them to enjoy the two days of 70ºF weather that was coming. Toward the end of January I planted lettuce seeds on a warmer-than-normal weekend and covered that bed with plastic.
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