Fleurs Fleurs Fleurs

From the top left, clockwise: lilacs, petunias, knockout roses, impatiens, and azaleas.

Things I have learned in growing these plants in zone 7:

• Knockout roses don't get their first blossoms until mid-May.
• White azaleas take longer to blossom than pink and purple varieties.  My neighbors have had blooming azaleas for 3 weeks now.
• Impatiens require more water than petunias.
• You have to remove the dead impatient flowers yourself or else the plant looks crummy.

Stay sunny!

Christine

Transplant Pots

I took these pictures back in March when it was actually useful to transplant.  Now that it's May, it's a little late but maybe you can tuck this away for next year.

Biodegradable Transplant Containers

You will need:

• Scissors
• Newspaper
• A bottle
• Tape or liquid glue
• Soil
• Seeds

Soil pictured far right. I'm pretty sure I was sitting on the seed packets.

Instructions:

1. Wrap the newspaper tightly around the bottle. 
2. Glue or tape the paper to itself to form a cylinder. If you use tape, you'll want to remove the tape later when you transplant into the garden.
3. Slide the bottle out of the paper tube carefully
4. Fold one end of the paper cylinder closed and tape or glue shut.  
5. Cut of the excess tube. You want your pot to be about 6-8 inches tall.
6. Fill with soil.* 
7. Plant seeds according to seed packet instructions. Water, etc. You're done!

*Note: With some plants, like tomatoes, burying the plant stem partially helps the plant develop a strong root system. To aid this, don't fill up your pot all the way to the top with soil.  Leave 1-2 inches free so that when your plants grow past the top of the pot, you can add more soil to the pot to bury the stem.

Finished tube for tomatoes. 

Window sprouting line-up. The ghost peppers belong to my husband. They never did sprout.

Stay sunny,

Christine

Garden 2013!

Back row: hybrid beefsteak tomato, heirloom tomato, hybrid beefsteak tomato
Second to back: sweet yellow bell pepper, sweet yellow bell pepper, cayenne pepper
Second to front: basil, basil, basil, basil, strawberry, rosemary
Front row: garden bean, garden bean, garden bean, garden bean, parsley


I am so excited at the addition of strawberries to the garden. My only regret in the layout of the garden is that I'm not sure if "garden bean" means pole or bush variety.  They could easily grow as tall as the tomato plants can... which would mean I'd have to tear them out.  If they're bush variety, they'll be fine. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Since I was a slacker in May when I should have been transplanting my plants, the only plants that I grew from sees are the garden beans and the parsley.  I have tomatoes, cayenne peppers, and basil in transplant pots in the house still, so maybe I'll be able to shove them in the garden if I kill any of the plants in the coming months.

Stay sunny,

Christine

Garden Beans

Beans always win in the category "Most Fun to Watch Sprout."

Go green,

Christine

Lilacs- Then and Now

You may remember the sad little lilac bush that I bought from a farmer's market last year on clearance for $29.99.  It was somewhat scrappy looking, so I bought it on an impulse.  I grew up with a giant lilac bush in the back yard and loved smelling lilacs wafting through the house on summer afternoons.  

This lilac didn't exactly look like the blossoming type.

BEFORE