Veggie Gardening

So I decided besides doing all my flower gardening this year I am going to try doing veggies in containers. I can't wait to get my little area off the deck set up and start planting my veggies. I am hoping by doing a container garden close to the house I will have more control of it. I tried a bed one year and the critters ate everything as it came up then the weeds took over, so maybe this way will be a little easier.

Here's what I'm trying
Amish paste tomato
Better boy tomato (I think that's what it was called)
Green pepper
A hot pepper (I forgot the name)
Yellow onions
Italian basil (I'm thinking I need a couple more basil varieties)
Cilantro (Im starting this by seed, I could not find a plant anywhere

I wanted to do a salsa garden so I think I pretty much have it covered. I think all of these will be great for spaghetti sauce too!

I got a rickety old table to put some of my containers on and then I have an old galvanized laundry tub on a stand. When we add on to the deck Im hoping to have a place to put my veggies.

Besides all those veggies I decided I wanted some green beans and thought why not buy the pole beans (which was pretty hard to find this late in the spring btw) and plant them to climb up the arbor. I also bought some goard & mini pumpkin seeds to climb the arbor. This all might be too much for it, but I would just be thrilled if my arbor was completely covered this year, and how cool will it look this fall when the goard & pumpkins are hanging off of it. We'll see if what I envision actually happens :)

Well that's it for now. If it's not raining after work I hope to get more planted. I would get more done if the pesky gnats & mosquitos weren't trying to carry me away as soon as I walk outside and I swear insect spray doesn't even phase them.

Garden Goodies (or junk as some would think)

I just realized I didn't post pics of the garden goodies I got last week. I was searching for a bike and ended up get so much more lol. A guy in town has TONS of stuff to dig through and if your bring your creativity along with you, the options are endless with the things he has.

Here's what I got: a metal owl, a huge lightweight pot, a metal planter, a wood lamp base, some old light fixture parts, a chandelier, a huge bowl that is actually wood-it's from IKEA and a rusty bird bath

The chandelier I hope to get painted then adhere some teacups to it to put bird seed in then hang it from my arbor. The birdbath I might paint up and mosaic the bowl, we'll see how much ambition I have with it lol.

And here's 2 bikes I've gotten and I have to decide which one I want to keep.

Is it really the end of May?

I had to cover all my annuals last night because we had frost warnings! I don't know how cold it got but when I got up this morning at 6:30 it was 34 degrees, brrrr! I sure hope that was the last time I needed to cover them. One good thing about the cold, I am really really hoping that it killed off some of the young gypsy moth caterpillars, I don't know if the cold even phases them but I can hope :) I am so afraid that those darn things will end up defoliating all my trees.

I took pictures around last night but didn't get them loaded onto the computer yet, so I'll probably post those this evening. The lily of the valley is in full bloom and smelling beautiful and my bleeding hearts are in their prime right now and wow did they have a lot of blooms this year. After they're done blooming I will be splitting some of them to share. I might just do a few because I may have a fundraising perenial sale next spring for the snowmobile club I am in so I'll be needing some to donate to that. The phlox is all blooming too, some of it is on the downside. Next will be my peonies, I can't wait to see them blooming. My peony bed looks pathetic but I didn't really want to make any improvements to that this spring because our deck addition will be going in part of that bed.

I've still got lots of planting to do and Im still searching for pole bean seeds (everyone is sold out) and cilantro. Then I think I should be all done with my purchasing...hopefully at least :)

Flower Purchases

I just want to keep track of everything I've purchased this year that way it'll help me out for budgeting and knowing what to buy next year.

SHUTTERS
5/17/08
2-sweet potato vines 2.85
1-diamond frost 3.35
5-geraniums 3.35
1-6pk allysum 1.65

REEVES
5/17/08
2-redwine vine 3.69
2-creamy white vine 3.69
5/24/08
1-6 pk deep purple allysum 1.89
1-6 pk coleus 1.89
5/27/08
2-yellow gerber daisies 3.69
1-yellow trailing snapdragon 3.69

TWO MILE AVE. PERENIAL SALE
5/12/08
3-hydrangeas all for 10.00
5/17/08
Hosta 5.00
Hosta 4.00

URBANS
5/12/08
4-light purple firefly impatients 3.79
2-red butterfly impatients 3.79
5/16/08
4-surfina petunias, giant purple 3.79
2-pink million bells 3.79
1-peach million bells 3.79
1-ivy geranium 3.59
5/22/08
2-surfina petunias, giant purple 3.79
2-surfina petunias, lime 3.79
1-peach million bells 3.79
coconut liner 4.50
5/24/08
2-ivy geraniums 3.59
1-white geranium 3.59
2-yellow begonias 3.79
1-purple (?) 3.79
1-better boy tomato 1.15
1-Amish paste tomato 1.15
5/26/08
1-green pepper 1.15
1-hot pepper 1.15
1-italian basil 1.15
mini pumpkin seeds
bag of onions

WIGGINS
5/12/08
1-yellow begonia 3.69

GARDEN GROUP
5/21/08 Everything was free
clump of asiatic lilies
clump of irises
clump of ladies mantle
clump of thistle
spirea shrub

MOM & DAD'S
2-clumps of a hosta
1-clump of a sun tolerant hosta
1-clump of another hosta
Some cuttings from yellow clematis

RUSSELLS
4-purple coleus
3-green coleus
1-purple fern leaf coleus
1-sweet potato vine
2-mosaic coleus
2-Ireland bells 1.95
3-astilbe
1-vine

SHOPKO
3 bags potting soil 3.64
goard seeds

Garden Club

I joined a garden group through my church's summer connections and yesterday we met for the first time. Coleen hosted it and she has lots of flower gardens and had lots to share with us ladies. I love getting mature perenials from other gardeners. I actually got everything, with the exception of the spirea, planted last night. They really helped with filling in the beds and I can't wait to see everything bloom! Coleen shared some asiatic lilies, irises, ladies mantle, and thistle I think it was plus a spirea shrub for my landscaping.

Here's a pic of my goodies loaded up into my wagon ready to be planted.

I also decided that I wanted to have a bike in the garden with flowers planted in the baskets. Im really looking for a rusty one but I guess I can't be too picky. I wasn't sure how I was going to get my hands on one of these bikes so I called the local radio station that has a buy & sell call in show and asked for a bike on there. I didn't get not one but 4 calls from people with bikes! I picked one up on my way home from work yesterday and to my surprise it came with the baskets! What a bonus! I will be checking out 2 more tonight and since Im the type that has a hard time saying "no" I will more than likely end up with at least 3 bikes! I have a friend who will take one of them, if anyone who lives by me is interested in one please let me know, my husband would greatly appreciate it LOL. He wasn't too impressed with the one I had at the house and really loved hearing that he will be making a delivery to Waupaca with another one hehe. Anyway, here's the bike I picked up yesterday. I'll get pics of the other ones tonight & I'll also post some pics of ones that have had flowers planted in them to tempt you with wanting a rusty bike of your very own :)

What's blooming

Lots of flowers are coming up which is exciting but right now just the phlox and the bleeding hearts are blooming. The peonies have buds on them and I would expect to see some flowers in a week or two.

Here's some pics of the blooms. I took these before I weeded and Im still waiting for the lawn to get mowed :)

The pholox are looking even better now, especially after I weeded :) These are the ones over by the shed, the ones by the fence aren't quite blooming yet. I think I'll get some more pics tonight since I got more planted, or maybe I'll wait until the lawn is mowed ;)

Spring has finally Sprung!

It's finally half way decent out and the flowers are starting to bloom! It's still getting close to freezing at night so I haven't planted the annuals yet. I think after tonight we should be ok. I haven't posted for over a week because I've been busy working in the flower beds weeding and planting. I think my beds are finally getting full, I've gotta work on the shade side and the front of the potting shed yet and plant some glad bulbs and I think I'll be satisfied with the perenial portion of the beds. I'm hoping after this weekend I will have everything planted then onto the fun embellishing with the garden art. I've also been tossing around the idea of starting a bed in the back corner of the lot, we'll see though.

Will it ever warm up?

Spring has just been hesitant to come the flowers are still pushing on regardless though. Im actually surprised how much more they've grown in 9 days. I actually had a chance to do some weeding last night. The beds look so fresh and clean after the weeding but kind of bare too, I need lots more flowers :) I also picked up a couple annuals yesterday. Im trying a new impatients that Urban's got in this year, it's a trailing impatient, Im excited to see how it does this summer.

I took some more pics when I got home from work of the beds. The bleeding hearts are starting to bloom. The plants seem small, but Im sure they'll be getting pretty big soon. The phlox is starting to open up too, I love phlox, I just wish it lasted longer.

The peonies are coming up good, the usual 2 plants don't look like they'll get any buds again this year, Im not sure what the deal is with them. Maybe after I transplant these when we redo the deck it'll be different.

A pic of my biggest peony plant.
My sea of lily of the valley which was here when I moved in. I've shared lots of this with family and friends. I can't wait for the flowers, it smells so good when it blooms.

The hosta bed where the bleeding hearts are coming up.

Some close up shots of the bleeding hearts.

The white bleeding hearts never get very big, they look really small this year.

I think the hostas are really hesitant about coming up this year :)

The begonias and trailing impatients (butterfly & firefly impatients) I picked up. I haven't decided yet where they're going to go. I initially bought the yellow to go with the red but Im really liking the yellow with the purple now.

Here's the red one. I hope these impatients don't get all spotty towards the end of the year like the regular ones do. They sure are pretty right now. Still deciding where these will go too.

The bleeding heart bushes on the shade side of the shed. I really need to get some mulch/bark in there to help with the rain run off on the roof, it makes such a mess.

Some shots by the fence, here's some day lilies, sweet william and an asiatic lily.

A shot of the phlox by the fence.

The clematis is looking better than the last pic of it, I definately have hope for it now. Now I just gotta wait and see if it'll get some blooms on it.

And this is the last pic for tonight, this is the label for the clematis, I keep forgetting the name of it so I thought Id put a pic of it on here even though it's a little blurred. Maybe I should've whiped the dirt off it before the pic. It's a clematis chalcedony.

What a beautiful spring day

Well this weekend didn't turn out half bad after all. Sunday was just beautiful, sunny and in the high 60's. I was able to get out in the yard and get some much needed yard work done, this is only the 2nd time I've been able to do that. I got the front landscape all cleaned up and boy I sure wish I had a better place to get rid of the leaves, it sucks to have to arrange getting the trailer to get them loaded up and hauled to the compost. Those who have curbside pick up sure are lucky.

I also got some pics of what's coming up in the flower beds. It's exciting to see all the flowers poking through the ground.

The beds don't look so good since I haven't done much with them yet but heres some pics from around the yard.

Here's some of my peonies with tricolor seedum (lovely basement windo huh lol)

Not a really good pic but do you see the little spikes poking out of the ground. That's my hostas! I love hostas and I need more :) These are late ones I think because My niece's hostas area already all opened up and full, it'll be awhile before I see that with these.

This is the same bed as the hostas, these are my bleeding hearts coming up with a few tulips (which I don't like) scattered around. Im planning on splitting these this year, they're getting a little out of control. If anyone has any tips on when/how I should do that please share.
Another pic of the bleading hearts.

This is one of my asiatic lilies over by my fence. I got these last year and boy were they showy, I loved them, I think I might pick up some more of these this year, my beds are so sparce I would definately have room somewhere for some. Hmm a closer look at this pic looks like something has been munching on these, I just might have to spray these.

Ok, Im such a novice gardener this pic is proof lol. Last year I bough a clematis from Home Depot because they have a one year money back guarantee on their perenials. Ive had clematis before but they died. I decided to just leave this one be because I wasn't sure if I was suppose to cut it back or what, well it looks kind of sad but look there's some new growth going on there, do I cut the old stuff off now? I don't know, Im just so excited that it's got something on it after last year. I might even have to buy some more this year, if I can figure out what to do with this one.

Another asiatic by the fence. Or is it one of the orientals by the shed hmmm.

I think this is my oriental lilies by the shed.

Here's the front of the shed with creeping lemon thyme around the stepping stone that I transplanted last year, Im surprised how much it's spread already, I think I might have to add some more of this to the shed area. You can also see the 2 yellow colored seedums, and the rest is weeds :) I need to add to this part of the bed but dh is suppose to be replacing the little deck which scares me because I can just imagine what the flowers will look like when he's done. Last year he smooshed the seedum, we'll see if it comes back.

Here's a view of the shade side of the shed. All I have there are 3 bleeding hearts that my sister gave me and one tiny hosta. This year's goal is to get more in this part of the bed because once the bleeding hearts are done that's it. I do have a window box, last year's addition and that helps. Maybe I'll plant some impatients or coleus for some color. Id really like to keep perennials in there though.

Another view of the shade side of the shed with my bleeding hearts coming up. This was after I weeded it all. As you can see I have some rain run off problems, not sure what to do about that.

Hey look another lily. I think this one is my oriental by the shed which means the others are all asiatics by the fence. I dunno, at this stage they all look the same LOL. Or maybe it is an asiatic, I thought I cleaned up around the oriental b4 the pic. I dont know Im all confused now lol.

Now this is a day lily that I can't wait to see bloom because I don't think it got any blooms last year. I bought it from someone who was have a perenial sale at their house, they were thining out some of their beds. The other plants are sweet william, something I purchased 2 years ago from a lady out by my work. I didn't think these were gonna do anything but look they're looking pretty good. There should also be some foxglove in this bed from the same lady but Im not sure if it'll come up. The rest of the stuff you see in this pic is weeds :D

That's all I have to share for now. If you have any tips at all to share, please do, I love learning new things about gardening.

My new gardening blog

Well it's that time of year where I should be heading out to the yard to do my gardening...if the weather ever breaks. I haven't even had a chance to get out and get some early spring pics it's been so crappy outside.

Anyway, I thought I'd start another blog all about one of my other loves, gardening. I hope you enjoy browsing through my blog. Basically I'm just starting it as a place to keep track of things going on in my yard and to have a spot to keep all my links to other garden blogs and sites. I hope you find my garden blog helpful too.

Maybe I'll get a chance to get some pics loaded on here soon, if I get out this weekend to get some pics.

Thanks for stopping by.