Spring's on the Way!

Though the weather has been as chilly as it looks in the above picture. .there are plenty of things around my yard that say spring is here!!

Hyacinths are pretty much my spring time favorite!! The smell is delicious!! Sometime or other I have planted these babies in places I don't even remember planting!! There is a clump about 15 feet from my back door that just entices me to deep breathe every time I walk in it! And unlike tulips, which are finicky at my house about coming back every year. .these little treasures do!! I've already picked one to scent my kitchen!

My forsythia bush grows ever so slowly. .and the blossoms are scant so far. .but hey. .blooms are blooms at this time of the year!

The lilacs seem to have lots of buds popping.  I was quite surprised a few weeks ago already to be able to see the buds emerging from the twigs. .it seems a little early to me..but no complaints from me either! The only type of vegetation (aside from cedar and elm trees) growing here when we moved was two lilac bushes. .one white and one purple. .and a handful of tulip bulbs.  6-7 years ago when we added on a laundry room, storage space and a second bathroom, we had to transplant the purple lilac bush.  Not sure if it would survive that move or not, I took several pieces of new wood and root and transplanted them into a short row on the north side of my house.  They are slowly enlarging in size and have been blooming for the last few years.  I don't think one can ever harvest enough of these scented flowers for spring time bouquets!

The multi-stemmed redbud bush is starting to bloom. .from the ground up. .And my redbud tree is also very close to showing off it's stuff too!  I do love the colors of these trees.  A couple years ago, we bought 3 flowering crabapple trees. .Those should be popping blooms soon too.  I was sad to see that one of the three may not be coming back this year.  Some deer really did a number on the trunk 2 years ago. .last year it seemed to do well. .and I thought we would get by alright. .this year, not a leaf as of yet. .just some growth coming up from the ground, that I would trim off anyway.

The moon has been wrong for planting seeds. .and if the moon is right. .the weather has been wrong!! The tomatoes are taking off in their individual pots, and the butterfly weed is starting to root out the bottom of their pots.  One of the passion flower vines has 2 big, fat flower buds on it. .I can hardly WAIT to see that bloom!! I've also noticed that some of my cheap Walmart roots are coming out of the ground. .Hee Haw!! The weather will feel like spring again in a few days!! Maybe to stay! What's coming up around your place??

Hello!

Wow!!

My life is about to eat me alive!

I've neglected my blog this week. .and the sad thing is. . that I really didn't even care! I enjoy writing on my blog. .and really enjoy hearing from those of you that read my blabbering. .so the mere fact that I was so dis-interested was concerning to me!! Thought I might do a short update. .and then show you some peaks around the garden and greenhouse. 

I have been studying hard for a trauma class that I needed and took last week. It entailed two VERY long houred days in Wichita Thursday and Friday. And a lot of reading before hand. I am pleased to say that I passed. .and am glad to get that behind me.  I much prefer the fun learning classes like the one I will travel to in April. .in Boston!! Then I will be all "classed-out" for a long while! 

the meyer lemon tree has been in full bloomin' glory the last month!!

The weekend was really busy too! Grant had his friends over for a late celebration of his birthday. We met our family Saturday night for pizza to celebrate an anniversary. And last night I got to have my neice and nephew overnight. We went to see Gnomeo and Juliet which ROCKED!! Absolutely hilarious!! Go watch it!!  Today, I spent the day with my sister-in-law unpacking and putting away her kitchen.  They have been living out of boxes for a looooooong time now. .so I know it will be extra nice for her to finally be getting settled in! The kids had a fabulous day playing together. .something that they have NEVER done. .Ever!! It's so great to have them home!!

The weather has been fairly pleasant! The sidewalks were poured last Thursday. .J and I started doing the dirt work yesterday. .with much more shoveling and some rock moving to go. .can't wait to get it done and get to planting in it!

My little lemon tree has been blooming its head off. .they are so pretty and smell so yummy!

Won't be long until it is time to move him outside for the winter!

I enjoyed a quick walk about this evening. I love those this time of year, because every day you can see something new!!  The surprise lilies that I got from my mom are all coming up.  Once you transplant them, it can take several years for them to actually do anything. I believe that most of the foliage came up last year, but no lilies. I think that I have already found a few more spots of foliage than I saw last year. .so that is encouraging!

These may well be my favorite spring bloomers. .hyacinths.  The smell is delicious. .I love to smell them as I walk up to the house, or open my kitchen windows.  Gardening is a multi-sensual event around these parts!!

The sedum tucked into the rock by Grant last summer has done well, and offers a welcoming brightness in our brown monochrome environment.

In the greenhouse, the coleus cuttings are all lined up waiting for planting time. .

and this Bolivian jew succulent that I nearly kicked off last year is making an incredible rally!

The geranium has been blooming all winter. .and finally looks to be growing too. .it started as one little stem cutting off the mother plant.  And just because it makes me feel better to tell you. .I flunked the basil cuttings. .they were a failure.  I also killed the piece of oregano and thyme that I potted!!

The butterfly weed have been transplanted. .and the tomato and peppers still need to go to bigger pots too! They have really grown just in the last few days!! I have simply not had time to get this task done. .but hopefully this week.

Here is the passion flower vine that I was able to root from my friends garden! I took four cuttings. .the second time. .and left 2 in the water and 2 in rooting hormone and dirt.  The water cuttings never rooted. .but they didn't die either. Finally a month ago or so I took them from the water and put them in soil.  They are both rooting well now! I can hardly wait to see how they do here this summer.

These yellow squash plants will soon go to bigger pots and into the greenhouse. I should have a jump start with those in my garden!

I took out my flower seeds Saturday to see what needs to happen over the next few weeks.  I think I will try to get a jump start on some of them under my grow lights.  I have been itchy to put plants in the ground. .and noticed at Lowes last weekend that they are getting shipments in now.  We are enjoying the nice weather to get outside. .and hope you all are experiencing some springtime yourselves!! Have a great week!

Gardener Mishap

As you all know, I started many of my garden seeds in my greenhouse several weeks ago. I thought that you all may enjoy a mishap that I encountered in my seed starting journey. I know it always makes ME feel more human when I read about other people's STUPID mistakes, so I wanted to share my stupidity with you. I am not ashamed or embarrassed, just irritated--so laugh out loud if you like, it won't hurt my feelings. I have been starting seeds in my basement for probably 7 or 8 years now, but this is the first time to start them in a different environment (AKA my greenhouse). The only real problem that I have encountered until this year was the year that I had a mouse loose in my basement. He enjoyed mowing the little seedlings down to the dirt before we caught him! (Grant was checking that trap the morning we caught him and yelled upstairs "No mouse" right before I heard a blood curdling scream of "It's ALIVE" that occurred right before the mouse jumped out of the middle of my seedlings and ran straight into the mouse trap, catching him by the foot--we don't care HOW we catch 'em, as long as we catch 'em!) Oh yeah, AND the year that C was in the hospital with RSV and J was supposed to be tending my seedlings. We were also in the process of remodeling the kitchen. He placed my flats of seedlings on the front porch to be out of the way. Needless to say they didn't survive the early March Kansas winter night when he forgot to bring them in. Any who, this spring it seems that my seeds weren't sprouting in as timely a manner as usual. That being said, I wasn't sure if it was the seed company from which I ordered, or the temp of the greenhouse. We have it set on about 70 degrees, but peppers like really warm soil. Only a few of the tomatos had sprouted and none of the peppers or coleus--so I picked up that flat and took it to the house. In the past, I have used an old water bed heater under the flats for warmth, but all I could find this year was the heater--no cord or thermometer for it. BOOOOYYYYYYSSSSSSSS! I finally settled on putting the flat in my lower oven in the kitchen. I warmed it up and then shut the door, leaving the oven light on, so as not to forget they were in there. Two days later in the excitement and busy-ness of having extra crew to cook for, I turned the bottom oven on to cook something. About 10 minutes later upon opening the oven to put my food in, I was greeted by the odor of melting plastic. You'll notice in the above picture what a flat SHOULD look like, and in the bottom photo, what my flat NOW looks like.

Don't worry Becky, the black Krims are sprouting in the greenhouse and looking good. So there you have the saga of impatience and bubble-headed-ness!! The seeds still aren't sprouted and quite probably will NOT now. Friday morning I ran out and replanted some tomatoes and peppers, thinking that they would at least bear later rather than not at all! Live and learn baby, live and learn!

Thought I would also share a little tutorial on seed starting/transplanting just for interest.

Yesterday I transplanted some of the black eyed susans and purple coneflowers into bigger pots. I broadcast multiple seeds into my flats to be sure that they germinated well. Many of them were developing their first true set of leaves--which is when you should transplant. Above you'll see the tiny set of new leaves coming up between the first big round leaves. I used a popsicle stick as a dibble to lift the plants and their roots out of the tiny cells.

Look at those big long roots that came with the leaves. Next I just put them into a larger peat pot filled with potting soil and filled it up a little. Now they will have adequate space to get bigger and will be easier to repot again if necessary before putting them out into my new flower bed. I love purple and yellow flower combos, and both of these make excellent cut flowers--not to EVEN mention that they are great native plants in my area, and are super additions to attract bees, butterflies, and birds to the yard--all of which I happen to adore!

Now we'll just keep them watered in good, until they are ready to go outside by the first of May. HMMM if I can just get that dear guy that does ANYTHING for me, to head his trailer north for another load of rocks--I gotta finish, er. .I mean start constructing the flower bed these will go into!! Nothing like counting your chickens before they hatch!