I planted seeds!
TRAY 1:
Gigantor marigolds
Jacob's ladders
Mimulus
Astilbe
Canterbury bells
Pampas grass
Delphiniums
TRAY 2:
Parsley
Shasta daisies
Cupid's darts
Asters (white with blue fringe)
Zinnias
Cosmos
Bachelor's buttons
GROW MY PRETTIES, grow, grow! Ahahahahahaa!
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Awesome idea from the April ish of Canadian Gardening: a circular patio, with garden beds around it divided up by paths like spokes of a wheel. This way there is a nice spot to sit and enjoy the garden, beds of manageable size, access to weed everything, and beds that can be viewed on three of four sides. Dammit, I should have taken masonry instead of carpentry. I could be doing my own hardscaping. Paying to have someone lay something down like that beautiful spiral of cobblestone would probably be insanely expensive.
Further awesome idea: "underplant[ing a tree], in the style of an English cottage garden, with...spring bulbs of every colour." I spy a use for the ground around the white pine out back, yes I do. In fact, sometime this week I am going to march out there and stick my tulips in the ground, since the snow is off the back of the yard. I figure since I did leave them outside over the winter there is the remotest chance they might come up, although I doubt they'd have frozen as hard in the ground as they did sitting in the carport.
Also inspiring from said magazine is that the gardens featured that aren't professionally designed and planted are typically the product of 20-odd years' work. So it's no tragedy that my gardens have not looked like that. My mom has remarked that it takes 10 years for a garden to really "arrive". And the idea of spending 20 years on the same garden is oddly appealing, despite my typical impatience. After all, you do get gratification year after year in between.
Further awesome idea: "underplant[ing a tree], in the style of an English cottage garden, with...spring bulbs of every colour." I spy a use for the ground around the white pine out back, yes I do. In fact, sometime this week I am going to march out there and stick my tulips in the ground, since the snow is off the back of the yard. I figure since I did leave them outside over the winter there is the remotest chance they might come up, although I doubt they'd have frozen as hard in the ground as they did sitting in the carport.
Also inspiring from said magazine is that the gardens featured that aren't professionally designed and planted are typically the product of 20-odd years' work. So it's no tragedy that my gardens have not looked like that. My mom has remarked that it takes 10 years for a garden to really "arrive". And the idea of spending 20 years on the same garden is oddly appealing, despite my typical impatience. After all, you do get gratification year after year in between.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
It is seed-planting weekend! Woo! So must buy peat pellets and rustle up some planting trays. Also in honour of spring, I will make a Vesey's order. I had mixed success with their stuff last time, but now that I have a yard that promises to be semi-cooperative, I am going to give it another (slightly more frugal) shot.
Shopping List
Red Tickseed, 3' tall with big flowers; drought-tolerant and sun-loving, so probably a front yard plant.
Joe Pye Weed, or a compact version thereof, which blooms late and stands 3'-4'. I tried to start these from seed a couple years ago and had no luck.
Crocosmia, also a late bloomer, 2'-4'. Love the red flowers.
Astilbe, a pretty shade-lover which technically I can buy at the grocery store, but 3 for $10 is a pretty good price. Had one of these at Jamieson and loved it, and kept meaning to buy more. Figured buying more was probably less trouble than digging the previous one up.
Hmmm...I had Begonias and Rudbeckia on my list, but the latter I can get from mom's garden, and the former I can get from the market already in bloom, so maybe never mind. Images, however:
Liatris, which are 4'-5' tall, funky-looking, and late-blooming.
I was sorely tempted by the giant hybrid lilies, which stand up to 8' tall by three years, but I would probably have to go crazy with pesticides to keep them from getting devoured by beetles. Still...8' lilies...SO TEMPTING. The evil voice at the back of my head tells me that they're hybrids, not asiatics, so maybe the beetles would leave them alone...but the voice of reason counters that they're still PART asiatic lily, and the goddamn beetles are not that finicky. Siiiiiigh.
Shopping List
Red Tickseed, 3' tall with big flowers; drought-tolerant and sun-loving, so probably a front yard plant.
Joe Pye Weed, or a compact version thereof, which blooms late and stands 3'-4'. I tried to start these from seed a couple years ago and had no luck.
Crocosmia, also a late bloomer, 2'-4'. Love the red flowers.
Astilbe, a pretty shade-lover which technically I can buy at the grocery store, but 3 for $10 is a pretty good price. Had one of these at Jamieson and loved it, and kept meaning to buy more. Figured buying more was probably less trouble than digging the previous one up.
Hmmm...I had Begonias and Rudbeckia on my list, but the latter I can get from mom's garden, and the former I can get from the market already in bloom, so maybe never mind. Images, however:
Liatris, which are 4'-5' tall, funky-looking, and late-blooming.
I was sorely tempted by the giant hybrid lilies, which stand up to 8' tall by three years, but I would probably have to go crazy with pesticides to keep them from getting devoured by beetles. Still...8' lilies...SO TEMPTING. The evil voice at the back of my head tells me that they're hybrids, not asiatics, so maybe the beetles would leave them alone...but the voice of reason counters that they're still PART asiatic lily, and the goddamn beetles are not that finicky. Siiiiiigh.
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