MARCH 21st 2008

Cineraria

Daffodils



















Euphorbia (above)
Hellebore (left)

These daffodils have very interesting pointed buds, which start out pointing straight up, then, as the buds start to unfold they start to bend over.

This morning I planted four new shade loving plants in my favorite pot by the front door.

Plectranthus, Nemesia, Fuchsia, Lamium.

Lots of Tulips in bud.

Many of these tulips were planted last fall, so I am anxious to see the blooms.

SPRING FEVER HAS A HOLD OF ME!

Somewhere in this mess, lies my future vegetable garden. I am having one of our friends come over with his bulldozer to level a site about 12x12 feet, or larger, for a series of raised beds. That is, when we get rid of the junk, and split and stack the pile of firewood. I am still at the planning stage, so I am not entirely sure what shape, size and how many beds there will be.

I just has to swing by the garden center on my way home from the grocery store, to see what new plants are arriving. Yes, I sure do have "spring fever" I could have come home with a car full of new plants, but settled on this Lily Of The Valley which I have in a put in a pot by the front door. This little plant has the sweetest fragrance which brings back a memory, of a garden full Lily Of The Valley growing at my Grandmother's home.

Every day there are daffodils opening their petals showing off the lovely orange and yellow trumpets, and red anemones making a splash of color on the dull days.

Last year, a friend gave me many large Hellebore, and beside some of them were baby plants, which I put into pots until they are large enough to be transplanted into the garden. I am pleasantly surprised to find many more small plants than I anticipated. I enjoy seeing the flowers of the Hellebore during the gloomy winter days when not much else, except a few primroses are blooming.

This is the second season for the Hyacinths and they sure are large and fragrant. I think I will be finding room for more of these beauties in different colors. I may plant some by the front door so visitors can enjoy the fragrance and colors.

These primroses seem to hardly ever stop blooming. Right now they are a little tatty looking due to the slugs having feasted on them. Time to get the slug bait out and get rid of some of the destructive pests. However, I do like to use a bait which will not harm other wildlife.

This is a good sign. The roses are leafing out and looking very healthy. I did cut them way back last fall as they were starting to get too large, and I am not as interested in Roses as I used to be so I was not too concerned if my drastic pruning harmed them. Apparently they did not seem to mind the pruning.

The weather is still not warm enough to spend too much time in the garden, but that time will be here soon and I can implement all my plans for some landscaping and my new vegetable garden. Well, at least I will do as much as I can. The one drawback of aging is, I have to rest more often. It does not seem that many years ago, that I would spend from sunup to dusk in the garden with just a break for a spot of lunch or a cool drink. I still get the same thrill out of planting and watching things grow. My grandparents on both sides of the family were avid gardeners, so I guess some of it has rubbed off on me.

Life in Keewee's garden in January

The Hellebores, which are planted in a sheltered spot along side the carport, have come into bloom, which I am thinking is rather early, but as these plants are new to the garden, I really do not know yet, their habits in this area.
Update 1/12/08 I have just been watching Ciscoe's gardening program, and have learned that these plant start to bloom at this time of year. See, we are never too old to learn.

Some of the daffodils are starting to make an appearance.

There is still some color

We have had a lot of rain, hail, frost, and very little sunshine, and there are still plants bravely putting on a show.

Calendula.

Primrose.

Hellebore.

Fuchsia.

Autumn is here

Yesterday was sunny with a cool breeze blowing, making me think twice about going outdoors to clean up the gardens before the rain gets here, which, according to the weather forecast, is coming up in the next couple of days. I told myself to stop being a wimp, and get out there and get the job done. After a while, I was warm from all my exertion and by the end of a couple of hours all the work was finished.

The garden does look scruffy right now, but with a little elbow grease it will soon look much better.

Surprise, one Gladioli trying to bloom.

A birdbath full of soggy leaves and to my surprise, a few Anemones are till showing green.

The lavender sure needs a trimming.

I have been working on this area for a while and I still need to add some more pavers and plant ground covers in between.This job will now have to wait until spring.

A couple of hours later, and all the dead leaves and twigs have been picked up, the brown stalks of plants going into dormancy have been cut back, and the gardens are looking tidy again.

Autumn is here

I finally finished planting all the tulips and daffodils which were delivered a few days ago. The irrigation system is drained and put to bed for the winter, and all I need to do now, is rake up some leaves and pull a few weeds.

There is still a little color left in the garden now fall has hit. This yellow daisy is nestled in amongst Catnip and blue Salvia, making for a pretty display.

The ever hardy primroses are still pushing out a few blooms.

Color In Keewee's Garden on September 2nd 2007

What is growing on August 1st

The fragrance from the lilies, is so sweet and delightful, as you walk up the driveway to the front door.

The two tomato plants are now five feet tall, and still growing taller. I have a yellow pear, which I discovered last year, on one side of the pot, and Super sweet 100 on the other.
Both of these tomatoes are super sweet and are abundant producers of small succulent fruits.

Super sweet cherry tomato, well on the way to giving us tomatoes for our salads, or to just to pop in the mouth and enjoy the taste. There is nothing I like better, than the taste of a sun warmed tomato. picked and eaten straight from the plant.

As much as I like the pink Hydrangea, I will change the soil PH so the blooms will be blue in the future.

There is a show of color from the red gladioli in the front garden. This will be the third year for blooms from the red Glads.

This yellow Gladioli is new to the garden, and now I know I can leave glads in over the winter months, I plan on planting many more.

I experimented with growing Cosmos in pots and they are doing extremely well. I do have chicken wire around the pot so the rabbits don't make a meal out of the plants.

July 25th 2007

I have this pot of petunias sitting on top of one of the fence posts surrounding one of the gardens.

One of my favorite Hostas.

If you look carefully at the globe flower in the back, you can just make out a bee busily gathering pollen.

A pretty little patch of flowers.

I had to put the wagon behind the fence as a couple of the wild rabbits were taking an interest in the flowers.

My spinach is doing extremely well in this styrene container. I pick enough spinach every couple of days to make a small salad for myself.
You can see the drip watering system I have installed to water the containers on the deck.

There are two tomato plants in this pot and they are now taller than the wire cage, I thought was going to be too tall when I bought it. I am now glad i did get the largest wire cage to support the tomatoes.

I am happy to see the Elephant Ears have come back this year. They were left in the garden over the winter, and being close to the house probably gave them a little protection from the elements.