Gardening in Atlanta

Pear tree troubles...

2011-08-31T16:38:00.001-04:00

In the Garden:

Pears!

My Pear tree out front has been keeping me very busy this year. Call it what you will, a blooper or a blunder, the ingenious idea of putting the veggie garden and the compost pit as near to the Pear as I did was just that, a huge blooper... or blunder.

Number one, the tree has never really grown any edible fruit for us, just the squirrels. They simply don't get big enough to get past that bitter, gritty, tiny stage. This year, I am surprised I didn't get to eat a few because I was so diligently fertilizing it without even knowing it!

Yep, here's number two, I went to turn my compost shortly after starting it at the foot of the tree and the tines of my fork hit roots! Lots of roots! Not a stitch of compost available for me to spread in my veggie garden, all the kitchen scraps where feeding the tree. Bummer. So I kind of have a new plan of action, that is to put the pit in over drive by throwing as much compost able stuff on it, that the tree can't keep up with it and grow into it.

Then there is the third reason why it has kept me so busy this year, every single tiny Pear the squirrels picked to eat the seeds out of the middle where dropping right into the veggie garden! It didn't matter if I raked it everyday, there would be the same amount again in just a few hours! I left them for a little while and they started to ferment right there in the garden. The smell of that is not so terrific. I was happy when the last ones dropped, but now the tree is dropping leaves due to the pretty dry weather, what a mess, and I know it is only going to get worse and repeat itself every year! I think I will install a few posts around the garden and put some heavy duty netting or even that clear corrugated material at an angle. Yeah, that's what I will do! On a lighter note, I have enjoyed the garden so much, the fresh herbs and okra that just keep coming are great. The thrill of the next growing season ahead is just beginning to set in.
So, my hats off to you gardeners who do things right the first time around, I am sure you exist... somewhere! If you happen to read this and have any fruitful advise, I would be much obliged.

The compost that fed the Pears!

Pears!

Linked up to http://www.attainable-sustainable.net/patchwork-living-blogging-bee-3/

gardening vs. laundry

2011-08-23T14:51:00.000-04:00

In the Garden:
Obviously the garden won the debate, I mean just look at all the incriminating photos below.
(Who wants to look at photos of laundry anyways?) This is interesting, did you know you burn more calories gardening than doing laundry? No, really, someone actually devised a chart with specific caloric burn per 1 minute of laundry vs. 1 minute of gardening, with a whopping 2 times or more calories burned during gardening. I guess they were bored because it really doesn't take a scientist to figure out which one gets you moving more, does it?

I am so glad I worked in the garden today, as soon as I stepped outside, I could feel the cool air, a definite sign that Fall is on it's way to Atlanta. Focusing on the vegetable bed, I pulled up the Green Beans and the Cucumber vines and collected my bamboo sticks to store for the Winter. I cleaned all the yellow and brown foliage off the 'Mortgage Lifter' Tomato plants and pruned them back a little. I removed the Ground Cherry plants that had gotten too wild, dropping fruit everywhere which I still haven't figured out how to eat or if I even like them. Ate a few right off the plant and it was just too strange, a little sweet and gritty with tiny seeds.

I raked the bed and then harvested my pots of 'Nikola' Potatoes, recycling the nice compost and peat mix by spreading it in the vegetable garden. I got enough for dinner tonight and I planted the too-small-to-eat ones back in a new pot for a Winter harvest. Then I spread a good amount of Garden-Tone all over and made note of the empty spaces I have now to plant my Fall/Winter crops. Tilled those areas up with a garden fork and planted what 'Dragon' Carrots, Radishes and Leaf lettuce Mix seeds I had. I layed out my new soaker hose, because my old one had a hole in it, spraying much needed water right up into the air. Turned the new one on for about an hour and then hand watered areas it misses. So now I have to remember, I have little seeds out there counting on me to keep them moist every day because, although it is cooler in the mornings, it still gets super hot during the day!

That wraps up the gardening part of my day, now... I will need to get to the laundry.

Eggplant all staked up

Eggplant

Crimson Okra Bloom

The Garden. I try to "wish" the dump truck bigger
so I can do some "real" landscaping.

Jalapeno Peppers

Basil

Fall/Winter Vegetable Garden in Atlanta

2011-08-16T11:38:00.000-04:00

Fall crop of lettuce

In the Garden:
It is almost that time folks, where we get to play in the dirt again. Yay us! I am so ready to start "planning" (not "planting" quite yet) my Fall/Winter Vegetables in the raised bed out front. I am ready for the stresses of keeping the Summer tomatoes, beans and okra wet to be gone. To add nutrients back to the ground, leaving me with rich, satiny, dark soil, in which to plant in. The months of August and September are the months the gardening calender says we can start planting most of our starts and seeds like lettuce, parsnips and broccoli.
Here are some tips:

Go here for your first frost date and simply punch in your zip code; http://letsgrowveggies.com/georgia/30340/frost_dates/ ; mine is 10/31.

Subtract the number of "days to maturity" on the plant from the first frost date, this is when you should plant. Just know that every crop is different and to do your research.

Make a list of what and when you will plant to keep things organized.

Observe your garden, if you have vegetables in it that are done producing, pull them, roots and all. If you have vegetables that you will not be harvesting for a few more months, like watermelons or pumpkins, do not disturb them.

Amend what space you have by breaking up the ground, adding a combo of compost, vermiculite and peat moss. Mix in and smooth out.

Plant seeds or transplants in rows or square feet areas and water well.

Watering is key in the beginning so keep it up in order to give them a good start, and when it is cooler, you will know you can reduce the amount you water.

Picture Post

2011-06-20T11:00:00.000-04:00

In the Garden:

Pictures is all I have time for today. I hope you enjoy...

Radishes

Dragon Carrots and Radishes

Dragon Carrots are orange inside

Dragon Carrot and Radishes

Veggie garden

Garden Guest Blogging I am...

2011-05-24T14:32:00.000-04:00

In the Internet:
So I have been guest blogging over at www.tipjunkie.com and I thought I would come out and share that with you all. TipJunkie is a creative place full of tips and ideas for everyone. Laura, the owner, shared with the public that she was looking for some gardening advice columns to be written for her blog and I threw myself at the opportunity! Here are the links that will get you to the three done thus far:
http://www.tipjunkie.com/container-gardening-101/
http://www.tipjunkie.com/how-to-flowers/
http://www.tipjunkie.com/top-5-easiest-vegetables-to-grow-from-seed/
And.... there is one more coming! I will keep it a surprise until it airs!
Thank you from the bottom of my gardening soul for all of you who read my stuff and, as always, comments and questions are ~~required~~ appreciated. Ha!

purple heliotrope

My "Skinny" Vegetable Garden

2011-05-23T08:53:00.001-04:00

My "skinny" vegetable garden
In the Garden: The reason for calling this "My Skinny Vegetable Garden", is because so far I just don't have enough of any one vegetable. My Sweet Peas for example, (I planted three) gave me one "snack size" zip-loc bag full! Hardly enough to feed my Family of four. The title of this should have been "Garden Rant" instead because that is what it is turning out to be! I do hope this "rant" will help you fellow gardeners in some way. Maybe now you will know the importance in planting enough. As I now know! Commencing rant, the Fractal Broccoli I babied from seed have yet to "head", and now it is just too hot for them to probably do so! (Future fix for this might be mulching to keep the soil cooler and installing a shade clothe over them to also cool them down.) So we will see if actual Broccoli will be eaten. If not, I swear I am going to eat the leaves! Then there is the sole Cabbage plant. He has a pretty good head forming, BUT in each layer is cabbage worm POOP! Really not looking forward to slicing into that and eating it! (Lesson, use an organic cabbage worm getter rid of-er from the get go! Me hand picking them off every day is just not enough.)

Cabbage

What else? Oh the Carrots. I planted these Heirloom 'Dragon' Carrots seeds directly in the garden early Spring and, although they are doing very well, there is only like eight plants that really set! Eight carrots will not go past ONE meal! The same goes for the Beats I sowed in the Spring. The number is only three though! Ugh! Now, all the above is talking about the "cool weather" crops and there lack-of success in my garden. The lack-of success though is ALL my fault and I have learned from it and it has not deterred me from growing all the same things once again. Now I know I want to plant a larger quantity, in nice long rows, in the Fall and in the Spring, that I will need to seed and re-seed more and not just except what decides to sprout the first time as it. The hot weather crops I have planted will probably be beefed up real soon, I do not want to repeat the same mistake again! Happy Gardening people!

Dragon Carrot

Cabbage

Beats

Fractal Broccoli

Dragon Carrots

Vegetable Container Gardening

2011-05-18T08:49:00.000-04:00

http://c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000zVcrKScsKcY/s/750/750/
Container-Vegetable-Garden.jpg

In the Garden:
Hello everyone! As you may know, I love container gardening! I believe I learned from the best of the best in Atlanta Georgia, many years ago. I learned outdoor container garden design, install and maintenance from what I think is the most elite landscape design and maintenance firm in this city, Planters @ http://www.plantersgarden.com/ . I learned interior container garden design, install and maintenance from the most posh plant retailer in the city, Boxwoods Gardens and Gifts in Buckhead. In all my years in the biz, no company ever came close to comparing in beauty and overall outcome to these two different companies.

http://ts2.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=
766882157361&id=f62bf10355af46d9f0e7e16b1fbf17e5

But back to container gardening, the one thing that was just about to get hugely popular right before I became a "Stay-at-Home Mom" was Vegetable Container Gardening! So, granted, I didn't learn from a reputable source, I could only imagine that gardeners could apply the same techniques used for regular container gardening to accomplish such a task. I guess you would have to be armed with some veggie plant knowledge, like which tomato plant is going to be small enough for my container and which veggies just won't hack it at all in a pot, because there are some. ie Corn or large Watermelon are not suitable for container gardening.

Lettuce Garden in a re-usable bag
photo by Kerry Michaels

Gardeners are getting very creative in there container choice too, like seen here in the ever popular, re-usable bag. It's quick and easy and a great conversation piece.

My Patio Tomato

You can mix blooms with your vegetables in containers like above, which has a Patio Tomato in the middle surrounded by Yellow Lantana and Purple Million Bells.

Southeastern Flower Show picture of large Tomato container

In a tasteful and fun way, you can try planting them up in bright pots with accent colors in the form of a trellis. New Potatoes are awesome in containers! Start out by planting your seed potato in the bottom of the container of your choice. As the foliage grows, bury it until the plant reaches the top! Then simple harvesting in the Fall by dumping the pot out and finding your goods! Involve the kids in this one!

Some things to help you along:

Choose a top quality, organic potting soil. This will ensure good drainage in your container.
To the potting soil, add some organic granular fertilizer, and water every two weeks with a fish emulsion or seaweed mix. As with any plants, be sure the soil is moistened and not dry before you fertilize.
Provide proper staking of Tomatoes, heavy Peppers and vining veggies.
Water, water, water! Get to know your pots, they will tell you how often they need water with the notorious "wilt", and start timing your watering to catch it before they do so!

Garden Party

2011-05-03T10:59:00.002-04:00

In the Garden:

Bouncy Time

Using my Birthday as an excuse, my fairytale garden party finally happened and here is how I did it! I thought it would be fun to celebrate with my children, my neighbors, my family and my friends. For the children in my life, a jumpy and plenty of water to drink. For all the rest of us, good food, some shade and a garden full of blooms!
To fluff the perennial garden I only had two holes which needed something, so I ran up to our neighborhood independent nursery and bought a 1 gallon Yarrow in full bloom and a 1 gallon variegated Thyme. After those were planted, the whole garden needed fresh mulch. My favorite is Natures Helper, with it's rich black color and super fine texture, it really makes the plants pop, perfect for party time. There were various bare spots in our lawn so I spread a bit of cedar mulch which had a great fresh fragrance and protected peoples feet from the dirt. Tissue paper pom-poms hanging from the Pear tree were fun and added movement to the air. And then there are the pots. I planted small pots with colorful annuals for the tables and large pots at the entrance of the buffet and groupings in the walkway to add splashes of color. Everyone had a great time together and it was nice to spend this time in the garden.

Cupcake time

Chalk Time

Pom-Pom

Cheese

Perfect Garden Party Cake

Birthday girl gets 10 questions to answer

Small tabletop pot

Garden art with Foxglove and Fairy Roses

Annual pot with Tomato, Lantana and Callibrachoa

Light mauve Nicotiana in a pot

Fabulous Foxglove

Annual Pot

Yarrow in the Garden

Best of times

Garden Party

Understanding Tulip Bulbs

2011-04-03T10:14:00.002-04:00

In the Garden:
Understanding a plant is probably the only way that we gardeners can truly grow them in the first place. Now, I am not saying that we need to know everything about the plant, but rather a good base of info. Example, what is it's relationship to the sun, what size will it be at maturity and is it pretty to me and fitting for my design? If you start with this knowledge, everything else you learn is just gravy on top and will enable you to be a good "Mom" to the plant.

Nice grouping of Tulips

Tulips are interested in 6 or more hours of sun, it's mature size is quite quaint and therefore I am able to plant as many or as few of them I want to accomplish the size I want and they are pretty to me, "Duh!", which means they are fitting for my garden design. This is a cool way to think about plants huh?
The "gravy" about Tulips:

The Tulip bulbs you buy and plant have been groomed for blooming. Interesting fact; in Holland, the bulbs are planted in sandy, fertile earth, allowed to bloom but for a second and then all blooms are chopped off! They are not allowed to stay on the plant and suck the energy out of the sell-able bulbs.
Once we Gardeners in the U.S. plant the bulbs in our garden, do we enjoy their flowers until the very last petals drop from the plant? Yep!
In doing the above, the bulb underground morph's into a scrawny old thing and multiplies into a bunch of small bulbs that don't have the energy to re-bloom the next Spring.
Good news: There are some bulbs that are willing to re-bloom for about 2-4 years. These are proven to split at a slower pace and are somewhat perennials. The group of Tulips best known for coming back is the Darwin Hybrid. Which include varieties like 'oxford' and 'pink impression'. Also look for the Fosteriana Tulips which include the 'emperor' series in many colors.
The cost of Tulip bulbs is so low, that it has been my experience and observation, that most people treat these beauties as if they where annuals, taking them out of the ground when they are done and replacing them with brand new ones in the Fall.

White Impression Tulips, about to open.

My White Impression Darwin Hybrid Tulips on their 4th yr!

Orange and red Tulips

Re-blooming Tulips in a neighbors' yard

Tulip that comes back every Spring in a public area in the neighborhood, where I know no-one has planted in for 6 yrs.

Plant Identity

2011-03-30T22:44:00.000-04:00

In the Garden:

Two stories for you.........
This one is short and sweet. The other day I get a picture text from a friend and in the caption is the notorious.... "What is this?" It is a picture of a plant with large green leaves, a bit blurry and coming to me sideways. I love getting these kind of texts, really I do, and I studied that photo for a while. I couldn't figure out what it was. Later, I looked at it again, thinking maybe this time I would see what it was. Nope. Eventually, we talked on the phone and I asked her, where did she see it, asked her to describe it to me. Do you know what she said? "Well it's woody branches looked kind of Hydrangea like, but it's weird, the leaves look kind of Oakleaf like, what is it?" I started laughing saying, well 'Oakleaf Hydrangea'! She had actually identified this plant all by her self! Hahaha!

Aralia elata

So there is this plant that I have walked by many times in my neighborhood. It is so unusual, tall and thin with a woody trunk. It has no lateral branching at all and thorns, large and small, sharp as the dickens, covering the trunk. It is deciduous and come Spring, the foliage swells and opens up from the tip of each trunk. The owners of this plant must like it or need it because they have, through the years, planted more in a small row between their yard and the neighboring yard. Then the name 'Aralia' came into my mind while walking by it two days ago, I had my doubts. I wondered if that could be right, I don't know why that name came to mind because I don't know anything about "outdoor" 'Aralia'! Well, I looked it up today, and I was right! Now I also know that the owners do want it, they eat it! Today I looked at the row of plants and on one, all the foliage shoots were pinched off! In Japan, it is pan-fried in a tempura batter. Mmmm.... tempura anything is so good.

Aralia elata

Pole Beans

2011-03-23T09:03:00.000-04:00

The beans have beans! (inside!)

White bloom and twisted vine action.

Pole beans

In the House:

In February, I pulled out all my vegetable seeds from the previous year and questioned if they where still viable. So I put about three seeds of each in a zip-loc bag with a moistened paper towel to see which ones where going to be okay and grow for me. To my surprise, all of them sprouted and where fine. Even though it was a bit early in the season, I didn't have the heart to just throw them out so I planted them in those newspaper pot I made. It was a few beets, burgundy okra, cucumbers and pole beans.

The pole beans took off fast! Since they where near my kitchen window that has big blinds, these beans said "Hey, we can climb up that!" And they did! It was really too early for them to make it outside, and with them SO attached to their new home, I have left them. Since then I have had to pot them up in a larger pot as they grew larger/longer! Now I am just amazed that they have several blooms and a few beans! I just had to share with you my newest houseplant!

Perennials, Bulbs and Veggies Oh my!

2011-03-14T17:53:00.000-04:00

In the Garden:

This vine is just budding up in my pot, getting ready to grow up it's trellis. It is a deciduous vine with wonderful fall color in reds and oranges. The leaves are similar to English Ivy but larger, muted green and very attractive. These vines can be handsomely manicured on the front of a house or on stone walls.

Boston Ivy

Hellebore are at there peak right now here in the South. The blooms are tall enough to be seen over the glossy foliage. Just beautiful!

Hellebore

It's not the best picture, but can you see all the blooms on my Pear Tree? They have super large white clusters of tiny blooms. Then they set fruit, hundreds of pretty green little pears that basically feed the squirrels!

Pear Tree

My surprise bulb that the previous owners of this home must have planted. It comes up every Spring right under the Pear Tree. Double bloom Narcissus. Smell great!

Double Bloom Narcissus

Well, I transplanted 1/4 of my Broccoli seedlings in the garden a few days ago. I am babying them, making sure they are standing up everyday and watering. Hope they do well!

Fractal Broccoli

The snowdrops in my back woodland area are a sure sign of Spring!

Snowdrops

Phlox Paniculata, also know as Tall Garden Phlox, is a gem in my perennial border. It fights through the heat of the South with brilliant purple flowers!

Phlox Paniculata

Euphorbia! Euphorbia! EuphorIA! I love the Chartruse color of this Euphorbia 'Wulfenii' variety in my garden! Did you know there are over 2,000 species of Euphorbia?! And that they all look so differently from one another?!

Euphorbia 'Wulfenii'

Oh my, I just learned that a lot of people in the world are trying to kill Lespedeza! Well, the one that grows ramp-id in there lawns that is! But this shrub version which has a dainty purple bloom that reaches like 5 feet is pretty cool. (Tip: To keep this one at a reasonable size for a smaller garden, you must divide it every two years. If you have it in a wide open space, let it grow!)

Lespedeza

The tried and true, creeping Phlox! Grandma's plant I know, but I still love it.

Phlox Subulata

Dragon Carrot! Yep, it's red, it's an heirloom and I hope I have success growing them!

Dragon Carrot sprout

Seedlings

2011-03-07T07:54:00.000-05:00

In the Garden:
They are all doing very well. The newspaper pots are holding up great! I am getting some true leaves on the tomatoes and the broccoli, so I started fertilizing them this week with organic Fish Emulsion. Smelly stuff but good for the babies. The next step is to transplant some into their own newspaper pot so they have more growing room. Then to plant them in their rightful place out in the new raised bed. I cannot wait! Happy planting everyone!

Tomato seedlings

Alaska Fish Fertilizer-Just started using on them

I call this my 1/2 focus shot.

Fractal Broccoli

Teeny tiny Ground Cherry seedlings

Tomato

Cucumber

Pole Bean reaching great heights in my window blinds!

Pole Bean

Trees Atlanta & Water Conservation Contest

2011-03-06T13:30:00.000-05:00

In the Garden:

Trees Atlanta is a local, non-profit as I understand it, group that finds a need and a place for some trees and plants them! They are so diligent in their job that they always follow up with a strict maintenance schedule for those newly planted trees to ensure there survival and that it was not a waste of time to plant!
So I just stumbled across a water conservation contest by 'Rain Bird' that they have entered and submitted a conservation project that will cost a lot to build. If they win, they get the money for it! Woot woot! So please go to this link http://www.iuowawards.com/Projects.aspx#project|ae1b9f79-dfc9-4393-bc48-7a9550ed9aa7 , vote for them everyday if you care for Atlanta's natural sky scape!

Southeastern Flower Show pictures

2011-03-01T15:12:00.002-05:00

In the Show:

Southeastern Flower Show

Here are some pictures of my visit to the 24th annual Southeastern Flower Show! This show is near and dear to my heart and I was very happy to have gone!

Variegated Agave

Firepit

Atlanta Florists' display

Butterfly, crystal, ribbon romance!

Anthurium floral arrangement

http://www.southeasternoutdoors.com/flora/flowers/relict-trillium.html
Trillium reliquum

Pregnant Onion Plant on right, Grape Hyacinth on left

The winning 4" Begonia

Begonia

Beehive and veggie garden display

Nice wood patio

Ranunculus

Notice the trowel plant labels and those are mixed nuts as mulch!

This was a cool assortment of plants and labeled perfectly!

Okay, so a mini landscape, it won 1st place in it's category.

Moulin Rouge depiction display

Floral Centerpiece

Eggplant and marigolds in purple pot

Great table scape by Atlanta retailer

Contorted Filbert

Bulbs, azaleas and blooming tree

Moss chairs!

Amaryllis

2011-02-24T10:15:00.001-05:00

Amaryllis

In the House:
The Amaryllis bulb, a popular bulb that will grow and bloom indoors. If you have ever had one, you know that it offers a large reward for very little effort. The effort: take it out of the box, plant in a pot, place anywhere in your house and water about twice a week. The reward: four flowers the size of your head, on the end of a tall green stalk, some strapping foliage and if your lucky, two stalks with flowers!

Some more per-dent information:

Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Monocots
Order:	Asparagales
Family:	Amaryllidaceae
Genus:	Hippeastrum Herb.

Amaryllis

The real name of the Amaryllis, or genus, is Hippeastrum. This is the name to use when looking for information on Amaryllis in plant books.

One tip that will hasten the speed at which your bulb will come out of dormancy is to place the base and roots in lukewarm water for 1-2 hours before planting in a pot. (You can also do this after you have planted it and it has not grown at all, just carefully remove bulb from pot, soak and then re-plant bulb.)

Water sparingly until you see stems starting to grow and then you can add more water each time as the plant gets larger.

After it has bloomed, cut spent bloom off stem. When stem starts to yellow, cut it back to the top of the bulb.

Allow the foliage to keep on growing and developing until it starts to yellow. Cut it back to a few inches long and lift bulb from pot, shake off dirt, trim back all roots and store in a paper bag maybe in the garage until October-December. This is when you can plant your bulb again and enjoy!

Amaryllis and Friend

Two bloom stalks the size of your head!

Amaryllis

How to prune roses

2011-02-17T14:10:00.001-05:00

In the Garden:

I hope everyone had wonderful Valentine's Day! Along with being a time to celebrate the people you love, it is also a great reminder to prune your roses. It's fool proof really, the constant remnants of "roses" are everywhere right before the big day! So as long as you do the deed around Valentine's Day every year, you will have some happy roses all Summer long!

Before pruning

As of right now, I have three 'Knock-out' Roses, a 'Mutabilis' Rose and a

'Fairy' Rose and here is how I have learned to prune them.

Tips to think of for pruning ALL roses:

Weapons of choice

Start by cutting out any and all dead or damaged branches.
Make angled cuts, 1/4" above bud and with the down bit pointing away from the bud, so rain water will not trickle onto the growing bud.
Use sharp tools for cutting. Use a keyhole saw or lopper to cut thick, woody, old canes on plants.

Shrub Roses & Hybrid Tea Roses:

Cut out all branches that are thinner in diameter than your pinky finger.
Relieve any and all intersecting/touching branches by pruning one of the branches completely out.
On an established plant, you will want to reduce it's hight by about 1/2 - 3/4, which will usually leave the plant about knee high when done. Use the proper cutting tech. as mentioned above for ALL roses.
Cut to an "outside" facing bud to create a wider, more airy shrub. Cut to an "inside" bud for more upright growth on a plant that has a tendency to sprawl.
Make cuts at "uneven" heights for a better appearance, not straight across!
Choose 4-8 strong basil "canes" to leave and remove ALL other growth. This is an important step, don't be afraid of it, the rose will grow so rapidly after being cut hard like this.
Now, rake and weed around the plant while your there and your done.

Crowded Rose Bush

Proper angled cut

Diseased branch

Crossing branches

Finished 'Knock-out Rose

Finished 'Mutabilis' Rose

Let's sharpen up those felcos

2011-02-12T12:41:00.000-05:00

In the Garden:

My weapon of choice

With rose pruning in the near future, (like in two days, yikes) I have taken a minute to arm my weapon with a sharper blade. The weapon... FELCO #4 bypass pruners. The rose... is going down. (Well down by about 1/2 it's hight!) I will get to the roses and how to prune them correctly in a couple of days, I just wanted to let you know to get ready for it by sharpening your pruners. Here is a quick how to:

Materials: WD-40, Steel Wool, Sharpening Stone

Wash pruners in warm soapy water.
Scrub blade and bypass with steel wool to remove grime.
With them open, hold pruners in a comfortable position.
Hold sharpening stone on the beveled edge and with firm pressure glide from inside the blade to the tip, swiftly, about 10-20 strokes should do.
Spray all the working bits and the blade with WD-40, open and close a few times and you are done.

My stone, been with me for years

Very dirty, dull blade

Very clean and shiny and sharp

Newspaper Seed Pots

2011-02-09T08:48:00.000-05:00

In the House:

I used Fafard Seed starting potting soil, which is light and airy.
I placed them in a window box saucer to capture the excess water.
Put them in an afternoon sun window.

Here are some shots of the finished tray of newspaper pots and vegetable seeds planted.

I sprouted bean and cucumber seeds in zip-lock bags last week.

Seeds & Newspaper

2011-02-08T11:13:00.000-05:00

My seeds!

In the Garden:
I received two fabulous things in the mail today, and I would like to share. The first is a manila envelope holding an awesome assortment of vegetable seeds! A friend and I have decided to share the task of veggie gardening this year by way of, she ordering and paying for the seeds, and I growing them out indoors until it's time to transplant outside. She picked 'Aunt Molly's' Ground cherry (bot. Physalis pruinosa, which I didn't know much about, here they are in this link:http://www.seedsavers.org/Details.aspx?itemNo=912(OG)), Dragon Carrots, two types of Watermelon, FRACTAL Romansco Broccoli (which I am very excited about!) and last but not least, another I am excited about, the 'Mortgage Lifter' (Halladay's) Tomato! The ones that need to be started indoors, I am going to plant today!

So as I said, there were two things, the other is this ridiculously large stack of the "Truck Paper" want ads. I bet you are wondering, "Is she going to buy a truck?", no, I am going to make newspaper seed starting pots with it! You can make your own newspaper seed starting pots with me! Below are some pictures of the process. These are so simple to make and so good for the earth because, they can be composted when you've moved your seedlings to the garden!

Start with a newspaper folded in half once

Fold it in half long ways again

and again, lay cup on one end

Roll cup up in paper so there is a few inches above lip of cup

Holding paper and cup tight

Tuck in the paper all around

This is what it will look like, then gently remove paper from cup

Push cup into pot to flatten the bottom

Finished pot

Hellebore (Lenton Rose)

2011-02-05T08:03:00.000-05:00

In the Garden:

Here in mid. Georgia, it is always a pleasant surprise when you have these beauties planted in your Garden right about now! They are hiding little secret blooms for you, underneath their robust foliage! So go outside and check your Hellebore plants, they just might have some blooms to brighten your day.

Hellebore, also know as "Lenton Rose"

Raised Veggie Bed & Compost Bin Construction

2011-01-28T14:56:00.000-05:00

In the Garden:

So I am really tired now, but I am happy with the progress on the veggie garden and the ~~added~~, impromptu, compost bin. I know I said I was going to build three raised beds, I want to let you know I did do that first yesterday. The thing is, when I woke up and went outside and started taking pictures of them, they resembled grave plots! Especially when I put my arched trellis to the back of one of them! I had to change it in a hurry, it freaked me out and I could only imagine what the neighbors where thinking I was up to!

Both are bordered using lumber from trees removed from our back yard last Summer. What is left to do is to add more soil to the raised bed. I have been doing a lot of research into Mel Bartholomew's inventive, "square foot gardening" and plan to use this method for the veggies. He says he uses a mix of 1/3 compost, 1/3 vermiculite and 1/3 peat moss, with much success. Sounds good to me! Here is a link to more info on that http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_foot_gardening. There is only room to add about 3" more of soil, which should be just fine, since the ground is tilled and loosened about 3" deep, that will give me 6 good inches to start the vegetables off.

6' x 12' Bed, with enough room for the mower to get around it on all sides.

Reachable from both sides, means no stepping in the garden!

You can see here, it is not a high border, but it will do.

I like this view.

Compost is full of leaves from this Winter that are already decomposing.

I can already see the kids climbing all over these!

Kitchen scraps, here we come!

Early Vegetable Gardening Preparations

2011-01-26T10:38:00.000-05:00

In the Garden:

Okay, I am playing around with the idea of building 3 raised beds in the front yard, behind the perennial garden! Going to give you more information on it as it comes to me, but here is a start!

January Garden Maintenance

2011-01-05T12:27:00.001-05:00

In the Garden:

Seed catalog during breakfast

Had a nice breakfast, with the company of a new seed catalog, before heading out of doors to tackle some much needed garden maintenance. You see, in this climate zone, in January, funny things start happening in the perennial garden. Under all the leaves, tiny signs of life start to emerge because the weather is so temper. By now, all the perennials you might have left standing for seeds for the birds and fall/winter interest, are done and can be cut down. The fallen leaves can be raked away from the crowns of plants to make way for the new shoots. Buds start to swell and become evident on the roses and the signs of weeds sprouting can be seen...

where you don't want them. Below are a few reminders that you might need to know this month, as well as the months to come, for your perennial garden.

If you are like me and like to rake the leaves out of your garden, (some like to leave them for the insulation and compost, which is great too!) then doing so in January one last time is good, just be very careful not to break any new growth, cause it's their.
After raking leaves away, be sure to put a layer of mulch down. This will keep moisture and heat in.
Check your local forecast for freeze warnings, and before a freeze, be sure you have mulched and water the entire garden during the day. The water will keep the temperature near 32 degrees and prevent freezing.
After a freeze you might see some frost damage, it is best to resist the urge to prune this off. That will only encourage new growth again. Wait till Spring flush to prune.
Weed, weed, weed. So you can stay on top of it.
Divide any perennials that you remember from the Summer as being "monster-ous" and overgrown. Then share with family.
One extra side note is that Valentines Day is next month! No, seriously, this is my reminder that it will be time to prune the roses. So gear up for that and if you are not sure how to do it, I will be visiting this issue in a couple of weeks!

Aster ready to be cut to the ground (which I did today, smile)

New shoots on the Aster, surprise surprise.

Dividing the Lespedeza that got Monster-ous!

Lespedeza

Wishing you the best of Gardening in the New Year!

2010-12-31T12:15:00.000-05:00

In the Garden:

And so we have reached the end of another great year and I wish you all the best in the new one! Keep gardening, share with me your new year landscaping projects and keep checking in for a new year of info on gardening in Atlanta!