6 May 2013

Our weather has been crazy today. We started out with a slow rain that we need so very much and now we have high winds and sunshine. It isn't a great gardening day. I am stuck inside making bread and cleaning house. Not what I want to do on a Spring Day.

I do have a couple of flowers that are trying to brighten up my day!

 

 

 

Light Pole

We have a plain light pole in our front yard. It really bothered me to have a metal pole just sitting in the yard. I came up with a plan to add a little interest to the pole and to hopefully make it a little more attractive. I found a pot at Lowe's and had David cut the bottom out for me. It slid over the pole and looks great. 

 

The empty pot just waiting for some potting soil and flowers.

Unfortunately, we had a freeze after I filled it with flowers. I tried to cover it but our winds were just too much. So I have to replant a few of the flowers, but I don't really mind. I just like having another place to have flowers.

I still have to paint the light fixture but I think it already looks better!

 

Spring Flowers

Our weather has been crazy. One day it s 80 degrees and then next day we are 35.  Our poor plants don't know what to do. Thankfully I was able to get a few pictures of my Spring flowers before the wind destroyed them. I love the first flowers of the year!

 

 

Peach tree just starting to bloom.

 

 

 

 

Christmas Cactus

When I walked into the kitchen today I was greeted by this beautiful flower. It was a welcomed surprise. I am a little confused though....I am pretty sure when I bought this plant two years ago it had red flowers.  I am not complaining. I will take any flower I can get in February!

Sweet Potatoes

I planted my sweet potatoes last spring for the fun of it. I didn't really think I would get any for our table but the vine is pretty. I needed a cheap filler for the front bed and I had a couple of sweet potatoes that wanted to sprout. They were an unknown variety from the Commissary but they grew like crazy in the front bed.

 

Our first frost was predicted for last week - It never happened. I knew I needed to start the fall cleanup before the frost so I started pulling out all the potato vines. I ended up filling our dumpster with them. I only planted two little starts. Two. That's it.

 

They really really liked the front bed. Really. As I made my way to the heart of the vine I found a wonderful surprise. I actually had sweet potatoes! I was able to dig up a basket full from just one plant.

I love my little surprise harvest! I think I may actually try to grow sweet potatoes next year in the garden.

My flower bed looked really ugly after I pulled out the vine.

I still have a lot of work to do in order to get this flower bed ready for winter. I am collecting seeds for next year and trying to mark were the perennials are planted. I have a terrible memory and I know come spring I will be trying to figure out what is a weed and what is a flower.

Crazy Life

I feel like every time I mark one thing off the To Do List, I end up adding five more. I am running in circles and can not get off this crazy ride. David was in the hospital, Dallas is playing Tackle Football, and Alex is being a normal two year old. All I want is five minutes without hearing "MOM!"

Since I am so far behind on my blog I thought I would start with a few short updates. My front flower bed looks nothing like it did in April.



April

September

September

I have tried to keep the Sweet Potato Vine in check. I only planted two small starts in June but you can not tell it when you look at the flower bed. I need to dig them up sometime this week. Just one more thing on my To Do List!

18 July 2012

I actually like my front flower bed now that the giant sunflower is gone. Everything is in full bloom and looks great. Just a warning - There are a lot of pictures. 

I grew these marigolds from seed I collected last year. Dallas LOVES marigolds so I plant more than I should every year. This is only two plants.

Not the best picture but here are some of my Zinnias I grew from seed, along with Marigolds, Petunias, Russian Sage, Sweet Potato Vines, and one of my baby Ficus tree in the pot.

Cosmos and another view of my Sweet Potato. It is filling in the bare spots very quickly. I think it will become one of my regular plants for the front bed.

The bird bath that was hidden by the giant sunflower.

The other side of the bird bath. This is probably one of my favorite flowers. My Dahlia has moved three times with me and continues to look better every year.

I keep trying to get a good picture of this Zinnia but for some reason it is camera shy. So this is the best I have so far. I grew most of my Zinnias from seed this year and this one really surprised me when it opened its first flower. It is hard to see in this picture but it is almost pure red. I have a lot of orange Zinnias but this is the only red.
I love it!



I don't want to see the ground in my flower beds. I love the way it looks when the plants are mixed together and over flowing the sides of the bed. Unfortunately I have to leave a walking path through this bed. It is too big to work in without it. Maybe I will get used to it but I doubt it.

Giant Sunflower

I can not believe how long it has been since I posted. The summer is just flying by. I have been working in the yard but mostly in the early morning or late evenings. We are just too hot.

Yesterday I asked my Dear Hubby to cut down the sunflower. It was huge and had starting killing all the plants trapped under it. I did not plant it but it really liked the front flower bed. The neighborhood toddlers loved to hide behind it and play in the bird bath. They were so cute splashing around back there when they thought we could not see them. I am sure they will miss the huge thing more than I will.

Giant Sunflower

Dear Hubby by the Sunflower.

Carrying off the plant. He didn't want to stop and let me take pictures. I am just glad he was home to cut it down for me.

15 May 2012

I have survived the clean up and it really isn't as bad as it looked. I lost a couple of tomato plants and a lot of my potato plants. After removing the broken limbs and raking the ground, only I can tell the difference.

The buffalo grass with the dog's foot prints.

After raking the yard- it looks so much better.

A close up of some of the grass.

My hubby bought me Foxglove for the front flower bed for Mother's Day. He always buys me a new plant for the garden on special days. I don't like cut flowers - they just die. I am afraid to plant it until I know if we are staying or going. It is sitting in the flower bed looking pretty, just waiting to find a home.

We got about an inch of rain over the last week. It was a very slow, cold, soft rain that would not go away. My garden has really taken off with the cooler weather. Some of the garlic and onions are wanting to flower and I do not know what to do with them. Should I cut them off or let them flower? Back to the books!

Garlic



Onions

Fire and Ice Radish

Southern Giant Curled Mustard Greens

Stowell's Evergreen Sweet Corn

Creole Collard Greens

Tendercrisp Celery

Mystery carrots- I first planted carrots in the large bed by the backdoor, but the wind destroyed the bed and after a month, nothing had come up. I planted the second group of onions in that bed and found a new place for carrots. Now I have little carrots popping up all over the onion bed!

The new carrot bed with really little carrot plants! Yes, those are dog foot prints.



Red Cored Chantenay Carrots

 

Big Top Carrots

Broccoli, cabbage, and spinach after the dogs played. I think most will make it. I need to harvest the spinach soon.

Early Jersey Wakefield Cabbage

The potatoes, after the dogs. They are starting to perk up.

Spaghetti Squash with my first bloom!



Mr. Stripey Tomatoes

My first tomato flowers!

And my beautiful peach tree.