Gardening 101 - Year 2

You would think, that after attempting a garden one year, I would be better prepared (or at least trained) for a second year...

So far, I've planted Dahlia bulbs, yellow roses (mini), pansies (purple and orangey-yellow), geraniums (red and white), three other types of blubs which I can't for the life of me think of what they are at the moment, and a bleeding heart. 

I would like to get a strawberry plant (or two) and a rhubarb plant...

It's been pouring rain (sometimes on and off) for the past week, but it seems to be clearing up (maybe?) today.  Oh, and I revamped the blog after ignoring her for almost a year. 

J
"...at a certain point in the journey all you can do is laugh."

Garden Update: Mostly Green With a Dash of Red...

cucumbers w/onions and beets...

radishes...

....hanging strawberry plant with lots flowers!

onions...

beets (not growing so well =(

rows of tomatoes

bunches of baby carrots!

...and lots of baby strawberries!

...and the dash of red - the rose in full bloom with droplets from the recent thunderstorms

"...at a certain point in the journey all you can do is laugh."

It's Alive!!! Mwwwwah...

...or something like that ;-)

I have something growing! Whether it's the seeds I planted, I'm not quite sure (the black thumb/gardening idiot thing at work), but something's growing! ;-)

...carrots perhaps?

...radishes, methinks...

...and cucumber seedlings with mushrooms, of course... ;-)

"...at a certain point in the journey all you can do is laugh."

Last day of vacation (sigh...)

So why did the very last day of my vacation turn out to have the nicest weather?!  It probably reached high-teens to mid-twenties, at least.  Grrr.

Despite my wanting to lay around and enjoy the sunshine (my legs need a bit of colour!), I did get some gardening done.  Laid down almost all of the soil (only 3 bags left, which I should be okay for) and planted some veggies (and herbs!):

(I sprinkled bits of wood chips from the rabbits so I would know where everything was! ;-)

* carrots - 5 rows (we like our carrots! ;-)
* chives - 1 row
* parsley - 1 row
* tomatos - 3 rows
* beets - 2 rows
* radishes - 1 row (though there are radish seeds in with the cukes - or so the directions of the package suggested...)
* onions - 2 rows
* cucumbers (a small, pickling variety) - 1 long row

I also planted ... (four bulbs) in the shade bed infront of the hostas.  The lungwort appears to be perking up a wee bit (the leaves, anyway).  Maybe all is not lost...

Now I just have to cross fingers that everything survives my black-thumb, the weather, the dog and the squirrels!

"...at a certain point in the journey all you can do is laugh."

Butterflies...

Went for a walk with Charlie (the dog) this afternoon.  I should have been out planting, but it's suppose to climb to the 20s tomorrow and Sunday, so I put it off until then...

There is an old railway line that's been turned into a nice little wooded path, which is where we went.  As Charlie sniffed and, ah ...watered... everything ;-), I saw 5 (!) butterflies.  I think they were (thanks to wiki!) Milbert's Tortoiseshell, but my butterfly identification is apparently not up to par...

(photo's are from the wiki page, since I didn't have my camera... sigh)

"...at a certain point in the journey all you can do is laugh."

Weather, weather me not!

I started outside at 8 a.m. (was up at 6:30 for buttercream making - gah! I'm definitely going to need a nap later...) and at that time, it was sunny and warm and nice, with a slight breeze...

Oh, what a small hour can make!  I managed to get in the sweet woodruff (I planted it around the bricks for the bird bath), the fern, the major clump of lily of the valley, and the lungwort (though she looks a little raggy and might not make it! :-(

And then the weather decided to go cold and overcast and threatening to rain.  Grrr!  And I'm most definitely going to need more soil...

On a happier note...

I was out yesterday grocery shopping and picked up a few seed packets (I found my four o'clocks! in two varieties! happy happy joy joy!!), including...

* Moonflower "Giant white"
* Four o'clocks "Kaleidoscope"
* Four o'clocks "Mix"
* Alyssum "Royal carpet"
* Carrots "Chantenay red"
* Radish "Sparkler white tip"
* Chives
* Parsley "Forest green"
* Dill
* Spearmint
* Lavender

...and two books, The Canadian edible garden: vegetables, herbs, fruits and seeds by Alison Beck (2008) and Herb Gardening for Canada by Laura Peters (2005), both published by Lone Pine, Edmonton, Alberta.  As if I don't have enough books, but the pictures are big and bright and the text seems to be black-thumb friendly! ;-)

Cheers, Jenn
"...at a certain point in the journey all you can do is laugh."

Dirty Hands!

(source: http://www.offthemark.com/main.htm)

There was a frost warning last night and today, but it got nicer this evening.  Thus, I went out and got my hands dirty! ;-)  Emptied about 10 bags of soil into the shade bed - the small one, of course, and I think I might even plop another one on.  Unfortunately, that leaves only 10 for the sunny (and larger) bed - and this is the one that needs desperately to be built up (it was all patio blocks at one point, so the earth is pretty much all gravel).  I think I'm going to need more soil...

Also made a place (with a few bricks) for the bird bath underneath the ash (where the bird feeder lives) in a corner of the shade bed.  The plan is to plant around it (something trailing?) so it covers the base of the bath...

Cheers!
Jenn
 
"...at a certain point in the journey all you can do is laugh."

Happy Mother's Day!

xxoo Jenn

(All of the new plants are now in the house since we have a frost warning tonight!!!)
"...at a certain point in the journey all you can do is laugh."

Plants (in a) Downpour

Despite the all-day downpour and damp spring weather, it's been a productive gardening start to my vacation (despite the waning moon)!  A friend from work (who is a gardening guru!) and I went to a local church plant sale first thing this morning.  For $8 (!) and her expertise, I bought...

* purple coneflower
* lilac (light purple)
* varigated lily
* beesbalm
* chinese lantern
* liatris
* trumpet vine
* knotweed
* purple flag iris
* and one more that I failed to get the name of...

Afterwards, we drove to her house, where she gave me...

* some hostas (three colour varieties)
* woodruff
* forget-me-not's
* lungwort
* a fern
* lily of the valley
* some white-flowered ground cover that (once again!) I've forgotten the name of...

While we were on our way to the store (she was kind enough (since I don't drive) to take me and get soil (at a $1 per bag, it wasn't a bad price, either!), we just happened to drive by a house that had about 6 or 7 half-whiskey barrels sitting out for anyone to take - for free!  So we picked up three: one for me, one for her, and one for a girl we work with. 

All in all, it's been an excellent day!  (All except the UTI I found out I had last night - OMG! I've never had one before and I never want one again! : (

Unfortunately, I can't find the plug-in to connect my camera to the computer, so I'll post pictures later (once I locate the little thingamajig).

Blessed be!
Jenn

"...at a certain point in the journey all you can do is laugh."

Intro...

"Horticulturally Hopeless" is my online garden (and other bits) journal, as I (a non-green thumb) attempt to plant the otherwise barren landscape known as the backyard.

I have no experience with gardening or plants, beyond watering my grandmother's plants as a child, a summer job in a local nursery and lots of reading.  My plan is to create a small vegetable patch, have a few herbs, and fill the rest in with flowers.  Carrots and strawberries are a must, and possibly some tomatoes.  Beyond that, anything is up for grabs...

I've blogged before, but unfortunately (cough, cough), I have a tendancy to let my blogs lapse after a few months (faulty memory, distractions...excuses, excuses! ;-)  I'm hoping (crossed fingers!) to at least blog here for the summer and the fall - and hey, maybe I'll get back to it next spring! ;-)

Blessed be! 
Jenn

"...at a certain point in the journey all you can do is laugh."