Surprise Out My Window June 06,2011

It's 8:30 in the morning. I'd finished my post on Good Morning Monday.  I walked into the computer room to get my camera and what do I see out my window by the deer feeder? A beautiful doe licking on the salt lick.

Don't move to fast, she'll see you.  Take some more pictures!  Hurry before she leaves!

The fence is in the way! But if I go upstairs she'll be gone.  Take some more pictures!!

Hurry! Run upstairs quick!  But be quiet!.........She's still there, take a picture!

Oh darn!!! The flash was on!  Try again!

She sure is beautiful!

Perfect Picture!

Thank you Little Doe, for sharing your land with me!

My Gardens and Flowers Today May 14, 2011

I froze my fingertips off taking these pictures! It's only 43 degrees. My plants are really slow in coming this year.

The last 3 pictures are the gardens right next to the house. They get a lot of shade, and as you can see, even the ferns are struggling right now.

These 3 are next to my driveway. The only thing blooming are the Violas that I planted years ago in a different garden. They reseed themselves all over the place.I love them!

The round garden in my front yard. And behind this garden is the one that follows the fence line.

In this garden I've got Beebalm, Phlox and several different kinds of Lilac Bushes.

The Lilacs are just starting to bud. I had to use flash in the middle of the day just so you could see it!

Then there's my garden that used to be beautiful. It was full of Hostas. I lost most of them last year. The only thing I can think of is maybe all the moles that are devestating my lawn are now starting on my garden!

The next one is my big garden.

I had to take it in parts so you could see what was growing in it. I'm constantly adding something new to this one. It's part shade, part sun and part shade and sun. I'm having a hard time finding which plants will thrive in it!

My pond is right in front of the big garden. I haven't cleaned it out yet because the mice got a hold of the pump I use to pump it out. They chewed the cord in half. You can't tell in the picture but all my wild violets are blooming.They're beautiful in full bloom. I only wish they lasted longer.

Then there's the few things I've got around the deck. There's more of the same around the back of the house but my hands got so cold , I stopped here! Will keep that for another time. Well, now it's time to make supper for Hubby and then it's plant shopping time!! My favorite pass time! Bye for now!

Reminicing About Warm Weather and Flowers

I was just day dreaming about warmer days. I sound hopeless don't I? Spring and summer are never going to come. So I picked up my computer and started looking through my pictures of past years.  I'd like to share a few with you.

 

The fall of 2009, I started two new gardens in my front yard. In this garden I moved some of my vintage yellow iris's and also planted some new flowers.

As you can see my soil is not the best, but with the advice of  some of my B & B friends hopefully this year I can change that. As anyone who has done any gardening at all would know, it is an ever changing and growing process.

This is the same garden, spring and summer of 2010.

My Black Iris's.

My Daylilies at twilight.

And this is late fall of 2010.

My second new garden I started on the fence line of the picture above. I think the only thing planted at this time was a lilac bush.

Then I added a few more small lilac bushes,

Different color Bee Balm to attract hummingbirds, and a few other perenniels.

I can't wait to see how everything comes up this year!

My new garden that I've started this spring is at the far end of this garden, on the other side of the far fence. Hopefully I'll  be able to grow some healthy tomato plants in the new one.

This picture is looking the opposite direction from the outside of the fence.

This is the before picture.

And this is the after picture. It's far from being ready, but that's what happens when you get one sunny day out of seven!  I started working on it yesterday, but as you can see the street is wet from rain. But, I'll keep you posted!!

What Happened to Spring?

What happened to Spring this year?  Here it is almost May 1st and the only thing I've got blooming in my yard are crocuss'.

I've got somethings coming up but everything is so late this year!

What ever happened to Spring?!

Planting Seeds 2011

I have planted seeds before but have had very little luck getting healthy looking growth. They were always tall and lanky and didn't do well once in the garden. Then I met some really great people in a group on Birds and Blooms Website and that all changed!

Before, I just threw a bunch of seeds in a big container and put it in a window. Now I've got a neat setup down my basement with lights.

.

Before, I just put soil right from the bag into the container. But I found out from my new friends that you need to mix the soil with water before hand, in a large container so it's moist all the way through before you using it.

They told me to plant the seeds and cover them with saran wrap. But I bought the Grower Starter Kit that comes with a clear plastic lid.

 Keep them moist with a spray bottle of water untill the plant emerges, then place under the lights. Make sure the lights are always 2 inches above the plants. I put my lights on chains that I can adjust the height. Also at this time I started watering them from the bottom, using a tray underneath.

The person that helped me the most,  her nickname is Wilderness, told me to make a solution of  water and listerene,  1 tsp.listerene to 1 pint of water,  to prevent  fungus. She says this is a big problem with new seedlings.  Spray them every other day with this solution and also put an oscillating fan on them for part of the day.
When they have a double set of leaves like the tomato plants in this picture......

it's time to transplant them into a larger container.  I used small butter containers, yogart containers and pop bottles cut off like in the picture above.  All of these ideas were given to me from my newfound friends on B & B!  Now, check on them daily, water as needed, spray  with vineager water,  give them lots of love and they finally end up looking like this........

I can't wait to plant them in the garden! Thanks to all my good friends on B & B!!!