Container Gardening in Winter

I am not an active winter gardener. There is nothing I dislike more than spending time outside in below freezing temperatures. That said, I enjoy fresh, winter greens. See my dilemma?

This season, I think I've figured out a way to cheat the system. Rather than utilizing my raised beds in the side yard, full of delightful compost no less, I planted Swiss chard, broccoli and spinach in pots on the back patio. The plan is to reach out my back door and snip whatever I desire, then retreat into the warmth of my home in 10 seconds flat.

The Swiss chard has done remarkably well. I've harvested gallon bags worth for the last few weeks. All from a medium-sized strawberry planter that had been sitting empty for years.

The broccoli is now filling out. Little florets are appearing on healthy stalks. I'm so excited!

These are planted in two large plastic pots; the black ones that are readily available at big box garden centers. I suspect the broccoli plant roots will quickly outgrow the pots, but they were the largest I had on hand.

 

The spinach has not fared as well, hence no picture. I planted them in small, unglazed terra cotta pots which I suspect is part of the problem. (The only thing I have successfully grown in terra cotta pots are succulents.) Unglazed terra cotta dries out quickly and is just too high maintenance in my opinion. It is unlikely that I will repot them but I know better for next year.

 

How does your winter garden grow?

Bird of Paradise Update Part Deux

If you read this post and this one, you'll know that I'm trying to revive a gifted Bird of Paradise plant. I've managed to get new shoots to open but the planter still looked a little bare. I had a few young philodendron plants that I didn't know what to do with, so on a whim, I added them to the base.

Much better don't you think? It's my hope that the Bird of Paradise will continue to improve and the philodendron will fill out and spill over 360 degrees.

I'm also playing around with filters on my camera. Kinda liking the subdued colors and antique effect on this one.

Anyone, stay tuned for more updates!

There's Good News and Bad News

I've not done a great job this summer photo journaling my garden. Sometimes life happens and blogging is on the lower end of the totem pole. So when I had a few minutes this past weekend, I thought I'd snap these quick photos to share with you.

I have had an abundance of bell peppers and hot banana peppers this summer. And my bushes are still yielding in spite of the lingering heat and my lack of attention.

Earlier in the year, I had the bright idea to plant a pumpkin vine to have a pumpkin-lined front porch for the cost of a pack of seeds. This is what I had in mind:

My pumpkin vine was lush and green and spread like wildfire. There was blossoms galore. I just knew my pumpkin-lined was going to happen this year. But in spite of the blossoms and tiny, little pumpkins on the vine, there was one sole-survivor:

I don't even know what I'm going to do with it yet. So for now its my lone fall decoration on the kitchen counter.

Anyway, that's what I've been up to. What's happening in your garden?

Zinnia Bug Power

Every year I plant zinnias for Blinky. We love the vibrant colors and the assortment of butterflies and moth they attract.

There are patches all over our yard. But the one I get to enjoy most is in my compost. (Where do you plant the bajillionth seedling pack when you've run out of space everywhere else?) Today, I spotted these beauties:

 

 

  

 

In the first three photos, I believe these are monarchs because they lack the black markings on the hindwings of the Viceroy and the white spots of the Queen. But you decide here. The final picture is of a daytime moth. I am working on identifying it. (If you look really closely, you'll see a pesky little caterpillar, hence all the holes in my leaves.)

 

Other species visit the zinnias at night. I've seen hummingbird moths and a few others I haven't yet been able to identify. I'm working on that too.

 

Hope you guys have a great holiday weekend!

Zinnia-Mania

Aren't they pretty?!

The Fruit of My Labor

Updates Finally!!!

My amaryllis are in bloom and I have been waiting a week to photograph them but the rain won't let me. In fact, I'm afraid the blooms will start to fade long before I have a sunny opportunity to capture them. Bummer.

In other news, I have decided to enlarge the crape myrtle flower bed in the front yard with the azalea bushes that I wrote about in this post. I even purchased two bridal wreath spireas to add to it. I just love their cascading look and think the texture and color will compliment my bed nicely. Mine are very young, but here's a picture of a mature one:

Also, the hummingbird feeders are out. I've purchased a new, wooden bird feeder, even bought a large bag of bird seed, but I still need to get it hung. Baby steps.

But perhaps the best news of all is that my veggie garden is in! In fact, it was installed a few weeks ago, I just haven't gotten around to writing about it. Yet. It has benefitted greatly from the rain and the kids and I are looking forward to watching it grow.

Sadly, no bird nests that we've noticed around the yard. Even the bluebirds that have nested in one of my backyard birdhouses for years have gone MIA. {Sigh} Maybe next year.

What's going on in your neck of the woods?

My Favorite Things

Blooming daffodils means its officially spring and this chick couldn't be happier!!!

 

I'm not crazy! This is all part of my master plan!!

For all the times people looked at me like I'm a crazy bag lady for toting home:

• seaweed from the beach
• coffee grinds from work
• anyone's dead potted plants
• rabbit poop
• chicken manure

THIS. IS. WHY.

 

No matter how much you spend on fancy potting mixes at your big box store, nothing beats home grown, mineral rich, dark and lovely compost. My veggies will thank me later.

Encore Azaleas

A few months ago I was gifted five small Encore Azalea bushes from a colleague who were not going to use them. Total score! They're since been sitting on my driveway as I'm debating where to plant them.

My first thought was to create a new flowerbed in the backyard, just outside my kitchen's bay window. However that would use up a lot of the flat, usable space which Stinky uses to play ball.

My next thought (and probably what will happen) was to expand the front island that houses the kids' Crape Myrtle trees. There is a stunted Encore Azalea there already that needs to be spaced a little further from the trees' roots so that it can prosper. That would make six, which would enable me to create a nice little azalea ring around the island with three in front and three in back.

It's much too cold now to work on any of this so it will be a few weeks before my plan is set in motion. Still, makes for an exciting, albeit hard-working spring.

Neighbor Appreciation

It's always nice receiving a compliment from a neighbor about my landscaping. Yesterday at my daughter's gymnastics class, a gentleman who lives down the street from us told me how much he admires the flowers around my mailbox.

I appreciated his comment very much. I garden, not for the compliments, but because I enjoy it. Since we spend such little time in the front yard, there are only a few areas I beautify, this being one of them. So for someone to take the time to notice, and let me know that they noticed, is very special to me.

 

 

As you can see, the daffodils have died back but the hardy glads and amaryllis are in their full glory. Also, the lantanas are coming alive. As we approach summer, this area will take on a whole new look as the bulbs die back and the low-growing lantanas cover the area in a mass of orange and yellow blooms. Can't. Hardly. Wait.



I Am In Love!

Yes, I am in love! I am in love with Magnolia soulangeana!

This beautiful tree has many common names, eg. Chinese magnolia, saucer magnolia, tulip tree, none of which adequately describe its majestic beauty. Still, a rose by any other name...

I adore the pink hues bursting forth from the buds in early spring, giving way to showers of elegant pink and white petals. Its display is never long enough though. Still, whenever I come across one of these garden treasures, I am reminded that spring is on her way after a [very] long slumber.

 

 

I am planning on adding a saucer magnolia (how I was first taught to identify it) in my backyard this spring. In fact, I am removing a hillside flowerbed just to accommodate it. It will be a better fit and the flowers will be transplanted in other areas.

 

This tree has its share of problems including fungal diseases and pests, however, in my experience beauty always requires hard work.

Screw It!! I'm Gardening!

I haven't had much to blog about lately because its been too cold to go outside to do anything useful. That is, until I came across this funny meme the other day. Using it as my inspiration, I decided to update the area around my front bird bath with a few snapdragon and dianthus plants.

It will be weeks before they fill in and start producing lush blooms. Still, I feel like I've knocked one thing off my garden list in spite of the weather. And it beats looking at a brown patch from my office window.

Carry on fellow gardeners. 14 days till spring.

This is the start of a beautiful relationship...

Coffee County Master Gardener Class 2011

My Master Gardener Class wrapped up a few weeks ago. I enjoyed the intensive 12-week course immensely and made a few friends along the way. In addition to the 50-hours of class time, Interns are required to accumulate 50 volunteer hours over the next 12-months before we receive our certification. I'm halfway there and still enjoying every minute.

Honey-Do List

Fall is here which means it's time to work on that pesky garden honey-do list. These include:

1. Lowering the pH of my garden from a whopping 8 to a more reasonable 5.5 to accommodate my blueberries (See http://hubcap.clemson.edu/~blpprt/lowerpH.html)
2. Building a raised bed for my summer garden items e.g. bell peppers, tomatoes
3. Transplant asparagus away from the blueberries, although the alkaline soil has them growing like weeds
4. Transplanting forsythia and one butterfly bush as they are planted too close to the house
5. Expanding garden bed under crape myrtle trees
6. Consider planting a winter garden (yeah right!)

Tonight, the DH, kids and I got started transplanting the asparagus. Not going so well. We're doing a bang-up job on the roots so it will be a long shot if they survive.

Tomorrow it's off to Lowe's to purchase the necessary soil ammendments to achieve #1. Oy!

Digging Elephant Ears

There is a quarter-mile of Elephant Ear patches on one of my local highways. I'd been eyeing these for days. Finally, I convinced my digging daylilies buddy (http://gardeningalabama.blogspot.com/2011/07/digging-daylilies.html) to go with me. Our escapade took all of five minutes as these beauties were growing very near a stream and were a breeze to extract.

Now I have two new Elephant Ear patches in my garden and one in a pot for use later. YAY!

Hedge Trimmers Part Deux

Second time's a charm. We upgraded to the Black and Decker Hardened Steel Electric Hedge Trimmer. What a difference. Not having a battery reduced the weight and for nearly half the price, I more than tripled the power. I had my hedges tamed in about an hour.

Garden Therapy

Little is as relaxing as working in the yard on a cool morning. I felt energized all day.