Farmville, for reals.

I love my Avocados, so I am trying to grow my own little tree. I thoroughly searched the web and found the toothpick method, so I am trying it out. I have a few more pits in moist towels in a plastic bag, hoping they will grow roots and germinate.

I also got pineapples and mangoes ready to go. Will post up pics of them soon. Hopefully I will have a tropical rainforest in my living room, but I doubt it, since of the lack of sunlight during the winter here. We'll see how the little project goes.

To be continued...

Alliums: Purple sensations 2

Collecting the Seeds.

My alliums have stopped blooming and now they are growing seed pods. I cut off the stalks and heads so I can dry them out and collect the seeds. Apparently it takes a few years for the seeds to germinate before they are mature to bloom. I'll probably end up just buying more bulbs at the floral shop, but I have to give it a shot since the seeds are free.

Here is what it looks like.

Mary Mary quite contrary, how does your garden grow?

Like this!

Here are some pics of my growing garden.




In the foreground is garlic we planted in the fall. Take a clove of garlic and plant it 3 inches deep and 6 inches wide. After the summer you can pull them out and will have a head of garlic ready to be eaten. In the background are Chives. It grows back for a few years, then you have to plant new ones.


Just planted new Dahlia bulbs. It's starting to sprout!!! Hopefully it'll bloom this summer.


Allium - Purple Sensation. Easy to plant and grow.


Pansies. Collect the seeds and grow them for next spring! Pansies last longer if you deadhead.


Parsley the kids and I planted earlier this spring. They grow back for a few years if you plant them properly in the garden. The peppermint didn't want to grow. =(

Alliums: Purple sensations

I love these flowers even if they smell like onions! (I haven't noticed it)

The past year I have been lusting over those beautiful flowers. I didn't know what they were called or where to get the bulbs. Finally, after searching 3 different greenhouses, I found a few Alliums already in bloom. Now I know I have to plant the bulbs in the fall, and I can buy them online or at the greenhouse as early as August.

They remind me of Horton sees a Who, and they are tall and just gorgeous!!!

Easy to plant, and grow. No need to shelter them in the winter either! EVEN BETTER!

I am definitely going to buy some more in the fall, and I am going to try to collect the seeds from the ones I already have. It takes a few years for the seed to germinate into bulbing flowers, so we'll see if I have the patience to do it. I guess it all falls down to how expensive the bulbs are.

Peonies

I love my Peonies, but they apparently don't like me.

I planted my potted peony in the garden last fall and it has grown but there are no flower heads. I know it can take several years for the peony to adjust to it's new living environment, but of course, I have no patience when it comes to that kind of stuff.

The ants had no problem finding my peony, and are anxiously crawling around the leaves hoping the buds will come soon.

I hate bugs in general, so I should have never grown an interest in gardening. I did pick up a few good tips on getting rid of the ants.

Take a bucket of cool water and add a tablespoon of dishwasher soap. Give it a swirl and give the peony a nice shower. The ants will be grossed out and stay away for a while. They'll come back in a few days, but it'll give a nice temporary result. It's kinda nice to do that when guests come, so you don't have ants crawling near your deck or what not.

If you are planning to cut your peony for an indoor arrangement, fill a bucket with warm water and gently dunk the cut peony in it to get the little ants off. Then let it slightly dry off before you take it in, so the head won't be heavy and droop.

I'll let you know if my peonies grow buds or even bloom. I'll probably throw some good manure in the mix to help it grow a little better. I heard it helps in the spring time when it is growing so fast.

If your peony ain't budding in 2 or 3 years, you probably planted it too deep. Keep the bulb 1 inch under the soil. If your old peony is started to wither or not grow, you need to divide your bulb in the fall, and get rid of the old part of the plant. You may also have root rot, so move the plant in a place with better soil drainage.

Yummy Berries

Kim has finished digging up my area for my berries. I finally have my raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries planted. I added some herbs, and some flowers. I am waiting for the warmer weather to plant nicer flowers.

Anyways, here is what it looks like now.

I also added pics of my ugly lawn. haha. We are hoping the new grass will grow within the next few weeks. =)

Buried Treasure

Um, ok...maybe more like digging up roots?

This is Kim's project.
You see those piles of branches? They are actually roots Kim dug up.
There are a few left, and he is scratching his head, trying to figure out how to get them out.



We are also making a nice area for my berries, and flowers. I have a blueberry and two different raspberry bushes. I also have strawberries, dahlias, hydrangeas, lavender, and roses just waiting to get their roots into the ground. =)

Here is the work in progress. It's been really hard since there are roots everywhere from the huge pines trees we removed last year. *sigh*

Rain and Weeds

The past two days it has rained, hence I haven't had so much to write about. We were home for the most part.

The kids are still buggery, and they've been going to daycare in the mornings. Although I am hoping for my grass to grow a bit better because of the rain. I've been waiting it to rain, funny eh? I have so much moss growing on my lawn, that after I treated it, there are huge, brown, dryed out patches. Plus the soil we added to even out and lay new grass seeds, make my backyard look even more pitiful. haha.

My husband thinks I am psychotic, since my OCD tendencies start to shine through. I swear I was a lazy bastard back in the day, but after having kids, and having to work to get the house stay clean...my obsession of having things looking proper is ridiculous. I turn into this psychopath who rants and raves how things can't move from the place I left it.

Anyways, here is a perfect example; I went outside with a knife, and was going to pull out weeds. I thought I would start off with the big ones before they start blooming..but after 1 hour, I pulled out all of them. Yes all of them. A whole bucket full. The bizzare part is that I enjoyed doing it. So much so, that I didn't want to stop, and everytime I closed my eye I would see a weed taunting me to kill it! hahahaha

I feel sorry for my husband and what he has married into.

All hands on Deck

Today I oiled in our wooden patio. It was cold, dreary, and took a good hour or so just to put down the first coat. Hopefully it'll give the deck a nice luster, but since it is old, it'll just help it from not cracking any further.

This past weekend we received a HUGE trampoline and swing set from my hubby's aunt and uncle. The kids love it! Although I have no garden left! I need to grow new grass and re-level the lawn, but since these huge objects are in the way, I might have to wait. But knowing me, I am too darn stubborn to let a project die...so I'll probably force my hubby to dig up all those wood chips and help me level the lawn anyways. I'll have to figure out a way to keep the kids off the lawn for a week or two, and trick my hubby into "wanting to dig."

=)

Buying flowers.

Today we went to the flower shop, or rather the huge flower store chain, and bought some flowers and candle accessories for my hubby's grandma. My eyes were wide open and I was slightly salivating since I LOVE buying flowers. I wanted to buy a whole bunch of flowers so I can plant them in my garden.

Then it hit me...we have to re-garden the whole backyard. Since we removed two huge pine trees, there are holes with wood chipping everywhere. I did some research, and it is going to take FOREVER to grow anything in those patches. Between the wood decay from the chipping and the roots underground, it will take years for anything to grow. The only thing that might grow are mushrooms. YUCK! Plus I want to make little areas so I can plant my flowers, so we'll probably have to set down some stone borders. More money literally out the window.

Aw well. I still like flowers and I really want our backyard to dry up so I can rake the leaves, and start getting dirty. I bought some blue violets for my windows in front of my house...but I forgot to buy the dirt. DOH! I'm going to have to do it tomorrow.

Here is a shot after we took down those trees.

Hydrangeas Part2

So as you know, I bought a hydrangea this past week. I noticed that there was some spoiled foliage at the base of the plant, and I found some mold, probably from all the dampness in the plastic packaging.

I tried to dry it up by placing it in the sunlight and removing most of the dead and moldy leaves, but the past few days my poor little guy got sadder and sadder.

I am scared that it is a fungal disease and not root rot. I hear that they won't die of fungal disease, but they will be sad for a long while. Does anyone know any good tricks to perk up the little guy?

On a side note, I think the kids trampled on my hydrangeas I planted in the front of the house. Mainly because the snow kinda hid it, and when they are playing in the snow, it is hard to notice. I hope they survive, but one really got battered. *sigh*

The Lima Bean Project.

Do you all remember growing Lima beans in school is a glass jar or cup? It was one of those phenomenons where you didn't need soil, just water and some thick tissue. It even worked in a dark room.

Well, we didn't have any Lima beans but we had some lemon seeds. We are testing to see if they will grow. If they don't start growing roots in a week, then we will move them over to pots with soil. I will show you the progress. We did this last year with Smultron (mini strawberries). They gave use a whole summer of yummy treats.

I am planning to pot them outside in the summer. Hopefully in a year or two they will bear fruit. Then I can drink Lemonade all summer! =)

Hydrangeas

So every time I go to the supermarket, I pass by the flower section, and I drool over the hydrangeas (hortensia). They cost about $10, which isn't so much, but when you try to stay thrifty with certain things, it does start to feel like splurging.

Since Morgan is going through his Annoying 6, I decided to give myself a piece of happiness by buying some flowers for myself.

I love flowers. I go crazy every spring, and start planting fruit and veggies as well as perennials. I had a whole strawberry and pansy phase. Now it is all about Peonies and Hydrangeas. I am waiting for the frost to stop, so I can start planting in our garden.

In the fall I planted two Hydrangeas in front of my house, I don't know if they survived the winter. But I do hope they will bloom again soon. Hopefully they will keep their vibrant Violet/Blue if the PH in the soil will allow it. I don't feel like fussing over the PH, I have a whole garden to plan.

Here is my lovely new Pink/Violet hydrangea. Hopefully it will hold up well, so I can plant it outside when the weather gets warmer.