Dahlias

Well Hello There! It seems I have forgotten I have a blog! : ) 

 

With all this snow on the ground, I have been thinking of my garden beneath it and what I want to work on and enhance this year.  With the success of my last minute mini cutting garden, I wanted to get some more cutting flowers for next year. 

 So this year I am going to get some Dahlias. 

 

Dahlias are amazingly beautiful giant flowers that bloom in the summer and fall, and I am excited for them!  They will look great in arrangements, but I fear the plants themselves might look a bit messy, but that will be my neighbors problem since I am putting them behind the garage! : )  I need to figure out a good layout for my cutting garden plants around our (hopefully) new shed, in a way that won't look too messy.  But that is a task for another time with all the snow we have right now.

 

I had a hard time deciding on which Dahlias to get since they are all so amazing. I also wondered how many I should get, since I don't know how hard they will be to grow and tend to.  I decided on 6 different types, and we shall see how it goes!

 

These are the 6 I got, plus a 7th as my "free gift"

(free when you spend too much money!)

 

 

They are all from Swan Island Dahlias.  They should arrive in the spring, then I just need to research how and when to plant them, tend to them, and come summer it will be flower time!!! woo hoo!!!  Then I need to research how to dig them up and store them for the following year, but that is also a task for another time. : )

 

And here are just some lovely images for you to droll over on this chilly afternoon:

these are not my images, just ones from google
and clearly I have "wedding" on the brain : )

 

 

The little gardener that could

I wanted to plant a small cutting garden this year, but never did it...then around mid summer, when I started seeing Zinnias around, I got sad that I didn't have any of my own. :  (

 

 

So on my way home from work one Friday I stopped at a garden center and found the saddest spindly Zinnas around, but they had them and they weren't dead (or at least not totally dead).  I grabbed a few with a good old box of miracle grow bloom booster and set my sights on a late-in-the season mini cutting garden.

When I went up to pay, the zinnias were off to the right, and the miracle grow was toward the left by the cashier, he rang that up, but didn't see the zinnias, so I motioned towards them.  He looked at them, he looked at me, he looked back and them....then said "how about I only charge you for half of those" HAHAHA the owner of the garden center was surprised I bought them.  But that was good, other than the miracle grow, which I needed anyway, my cutting garden investment ended up being $4.

 

 

 

I didn't feel like cutting in any new beds (rather colin didn't feel like cutting in any new beds) so I just stuck them in the bare area next to the grill.  They are only annuals, so my commitment to that location ends with the frost.

I planted them, then cut off all the flowers, so the plant could focus on growing some leaves, and I watered everyday, and miracle growed (regular or bloom booster) once a week.

 

 

No those images are not weeds, that are my cutting garden! And pretend the photo with the flowers is to the left and one without is to the right, since I planted them, THEN cut off all the flowers.

I didn't want to re do the picture : /

AND check it out!

 

 They actually filled out and are growing.  Granted they are not a good as if I had bought and planted them early while they were more healthy, but all I wanted was some zinnias to put around the house, and I achieved my goal.  I have zinnias until the frost takes them. : )
 

 

check out that bounty!!!

 

The long term plan is cutting in a new bed along the side (back) of the garage for an better cutting garden, but next to the grill works too,  since this girl needs her flowers.

2014 Plants!

The garden is a work in progress and we get a little more done each season.  This summer, we got the side of the house planted and filled a corner with a Hydrangea!

 

When we moved into our house,  the one side of the house was loaded up with overgrown plants. I don't have a good "before" picture to show you, but it wasn't pretty.  So when the guys came to do our patio, I asked if they could just rip them all out while they had the machine. 

 

 

When the plants were ripped out, we noticed there was a small bed bordered with brick, since I wanted to keep that bed on the small side, we just left it as is, brick included.  Last year all we did was mulch and keep it weed free, so this year it was about time to get some plants in there! 

I decided I wanted some Carpet Rose.  It was a good sunny spot for them, plus I wanted a plant that stays on the smaller side so when they grow they don't look like they are eating our small house!

 

 

 

Carpet Rose are considered easy to grow roses since they are more winter hardy, drought tolerant and disease resistant that the more delicate high maintenance roses that you typically think of. 

When they are mature they should be 3'x3' balls of glorious pink blooms! 

I will need to look into when and how to prune them in a few years, but right now they are pretty small so I just want them to grow grow grow.  And I did buy rose food at Home Depot to help them out.  If I notice any mildew or other rose related problems I will keep you posted and troubleshoot, but so far they have been easy!

 

We put Boxwood on either end for some evergreen and to match the boxwood along the back,

 

I wanted the medium pink color, but the nursery didn't have them the day my Dad and went to get them.  They had a super crazy bright pink or a pale pink. 

After much deliberation, I decided on the pale pink ones.

So now I have roses in my garden! Yay!  And although these pictures for from the summer, right now, in November, they are still blooming! Amazing!

I also got a Annabelle Hydrangea for the garden this year.  The corner where the perennial border meets the fence could stand for something larger and I thought a big white summer blooms would fit the bill!  We took too long to plant it, and it got a little stressed in the pot it came in, but I fertilized it and watered it and I feel good about it coming back strong next year!

 

 

 

I meant to get a straight Annabelle Hydrangea, but I accidently got a "Incrediball" Hydrangea, which is a variety of the Annabelle with larger flowers.  Although I noticed the flowers were more of a lacecap shape than a puff ball shape, so TBD how it looks next year as it grows. : )

 

YAY PLANTS!

Annuals Part 2

Summer annual season is almost over, and I realized I still had pictures to share!  I had shared my large new planters, but I still have more annuals to share with you.......

 

So here you go, you can savor them on the screen, while I savor them in real life before the frost gets them! Boo Frost!  Please note these images are from the beginning of the season, they grew lusher as the summer when on.  Also, if you want to know what anything is, just ask me!

I saw these fun pots at Home Depot and just had to have tons of them one of them! : )  I have it on my outdoor coffee table and it looks just lovely!

 

 

 

 

I have a small pot by my hose, which might be my favorite due to the fabulous color combinations!

 

 

 

 

 

I have lots of pots on my stoop.  Since we moved in I always have wanted one really low large planter there, but big planters are expensive so I keep putting lots of smaller ones clustered up there.  Last year I had all my herbs up there but it ended up looking so green...aka no color... So this year I mixed some flowers in with my herbs, which was a great idea.  Now I have things to snip when I cook AND color!

 

 

These purple ones are pretty right...well don't plant them! They never flower!  They were green and bare most of the summer, and I even was using Miracle Grow!

 

 

I forgot the name of these red plants, but how fun are they!

 

 

 

 

 

 

I put a small pot in my potting bench which you have already seen, and is basically what I did last year.  I planned on adding a few more plant to the potting bench, but never did...next year!

 

 

 

 

A few weeks after I had done my annuals, my family got me this fun rubber boot planter, so I headed back to the nursery for a few more plants.  I set it up by my potting bench since I felt I needed a little color there.  I clustered it with some a few more herbs, some mint and some basil, since the first basil I had bought was not taking off.

 

 

 

 

 

Now to the front yard.....I love my cast iron urns, but I have to be honest, I don't have great luck with planting things in them.  Not sure if it is because of the sun/shade conditions in the front yard or the lack of soil in the containers.  Next year I am going to do more shade loving annuals and see if that makes any difference. 

I noticed last year, the pale purples and yellow I did in them didn't really stand out from the street, so this year the goal was BRIGHT! Bright colors that would pop from the street and side walk. So I went with bright green, peach and bright pink.  Not what I normally would have put together, but it works!  I will update you with pictures later in the season so you can see the full effect.

 

 

So there are the rest of my annuals.  : )  Yay Plants!

Annuals - Part 1

I love planting annuals in my pots. I love trying out new color and texture combinations, trying out new plants, and filling otherwise bare corners with life!

I was every excited to do my annuals this year and do more than last year, since I didn't go crazy our first year in the house.

I'll start with the biggest and best pots!

 

 

 

I haven't done big pot in a few years since my last house, mainly since we didn't have any!  So during the late winter/early spring I started looking for some pots.  I wanted a very traditional style square faux lead paneled planter, but I figured I was dreaming since they are usually pretty expensive.  But a stroll though a nice garden/home furnishing store did the trick since they had a pair of 15" squares at a great price.  A price so great, the lady at the store assumed they were mismarked! ha! SO they quickly came home with me! : )

Cumberland Square Planter

Now, time to fill them!  So many options....so hard to narrow it down....The key to a nice large annual planter is a main larger planter, some medium level plants, then some plants that spill over the side.

 

Here is an image that you may find helpful when picking annuals for medium to large planters:

from Proven Winners

For the larger planter I went with a pale orange Hibiscus, then layered down with Blue Scaevola, Wave Petunias, Million Bells and Bacopa.  The trailers are Sweet Potato Vine and Creeping Jenny.  The Hibiscus, Petunias, Scavola and Sweet Potato Vine are the main elements, as the rest are small or towards the back of the planters and not that noticeable.

(links may not be the exact flowers, but close)

 

 

 

This is the first time I have used Blue Scaevola, and I love it!  The Hibiscus on the other hand, not sure if I love.  When in bloom it looks awesome and adds a nice color contrast to all the green and purple BUT it is rarely in bloom. : (  It looks great one day, then flowerless the next and it is really annoying when you have company on the flowerless days.

Enjoy some pictures as this planter has taken off this summer.

 

 

 

 

 

Here you can see where I put them and when they were first planted and you can still see the pots themselves. Sadly, a critter (deer? ground hog? monster?) ate the hibiscus to the left, so my symmetrical planters are not quite symmetrical at the moment, but it is starting to fill out again!

grrr critters!

 

 

I planted more annuals, so stay tuned for the others!

 

Enjoying my Garden

Hello, I have been working way more then I usually do in the summer, leaving me little time to blog and enjoy my yard as much as I would like, but I have been taking a few minutes to cut things from the garden and bring them inside to enjoy myself and to share with family.  Check out these blooms!

 

 

For anyone who is interested, these plants are Endless Summer Hydrangea, Purple Cone Flower and a variety of Daylilies.  I LOVE the coral one with the red throat.  I almost ripped that one out last year before it bloomed since it is kind of behind other plants crammed again the rock wall. 

 Good thing I didn't!

 

 

 

 

I bought some new mason jars for gifting flowers but put my name on them so they find their way back to me. haha Not that I am cheap and don't want to gift inexpensive vases BUT if you return then, I can give them back to you over and over with flowers! : )

 

 

 

 

And I also left the metal ring on per this post I noticed....hard to tell in my pictures, but I do like the look.  They are many copy worthy things in that post, that is one of my new favorite blogs. Check it out!

ps I have been thinking about "water marking" my photos, so I played around with some options in this post, not sure why I need to watermark since no one reads this blog that I don't know, but it has been on my mind....so I played around with it

The Cone Flowers are here!

Do you want to know one of the best parts of July????  The cone flower are in bloom!!!

 

 

 These pictures are from last year since they are only just about the bloom right now.  I love cone flower and I was lucky enough to move into a house where the previous owner had planted 2 of them.  I think they are so fun and they have a nice long bloom period!

 

 

 

I wante to add some white ones to the garden at some point in the future.  Enjoy!