Showing posts with label Fairy House. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fairy House. Show all posts

Sunday, June 01, 2014

Another week in my gardens

SHARING MY GARDEN CHORES and DOCUMENTING GROWTH AND BLOOMS


Fairy Garden Update
dichondra in the fairy garden
 I gave up on the beautiful moss; however, I notice the plugs of moss that were very bright green (the most alive) were not bothered so much by the sow bugs. I'm leaving the moss to see if it can survive those little rolly-pollies.

I have wild Dichondra growing all over my yard. 
It is a very small scale little creeper and it spreads by underground runners. 
I started transplanting little batches of it around the fairy garden. 
I think it will look great if the moss doesn't make it.
dichondra
 Here you can see it growing between the patio pavers. 

helper Stupid Kitty (his real name)
 This helper gets into the action anytime I am outside. 
He won't look me in the eye anymore than a glance.
work!
 Very heavy rains this week made pulling Bermuda grass much easier. 
You can see on the left what it looked before I started. 
Still have lots more to pull. 
turtle laying eggs
 This is a red eared turtle and she chose to lay eggs in the garden.
I'm not sure if she actually completed the act as they usually do this in total privacy. 
I was busy and didn't notice when she left but she didn't cover it up. 
making a pot herb garden
 I potted up a herb garden this week. 
The pot is not mine and I will be returning it next week.
Herb garden in a pot
 I'm not sure if this will work. Hope so. 
I used:
Hot Spicy Oregano
Spicy Globe Basil
Thai Basil
Garden Sage
Pineapple Sage Salvia elegans
German Thyme Thymus vulgaris
and
if you look closely, I tucked in tiny zennia seedlings in the bare spots. Couldn't help myself. 
purple cone flower seedling
 This made my day yesterday!
I discovered this little purple cone-flower Echinacea angustifolia var.
I had many many of these in all of my beds until we had chickens and guineas some years back. They eventually found every seed or seedling and disappeared. 
I have been on the lookout for a plant or seedling. 
I got the start from my Mom as a passalong plant.
She passed away in 1991 and these mean so much to me. 
purple cone flower potted
 I marked the seedling with a rock until I could get a pot. 

helper lady bug
 Right after finding the seedling, I spotted this lady bug.
They are always welcomed helpers.
helper of the day
 But this guy! He was the helper of the day as I had four holes to dig to finish up the Dwarf Nandina Nandina enana planting.
Dwarf Nandina
 This garden will be finished in the afternoon shade today with the addition of mulch.
I'm about to break my arm patting myself on the back.
old rose root
 Here is a rose shoot coming up and even though it is just old rose rootstock, I can't help but pot it up next week. 
I mean, why not?
It makes beautiful red roses once a year in early spring. 
brown eyed Susan view from think tank
 You've heard about my "think tank"?
Here it is and is the same color of Brown-eyed Susans Rudbeckia hirta.
When I mowed two weeks ago, these were in bud and I left them to enjoy. 
After two weeks, they look like this!
They are amazing!
FYI it only took me four hours yesterday to get it all mowed. 
A lot of thinking went on.
purple leather flower view from the think tank
 Another view from my think tank of wild clematis.
 Purple Leather flower Clematis pitcheri
They are on a pasture fence.
I anxiously wait for them every May.

That's it for this week. 
Except I didn't show or tell you about the Marigold seeds started on Monday and germinated on Thursday. Amazing.

One more thing, I can see the squash blooming from my kitchen window and that thrills me.


Sunday, May 25, 2014

This week in my Gardens with critters

SHARING MY GARDEN CHORES and DOCUMENTING GROWTH AND BLOOMS

A View

The week started Sunday on my "think tank" going around and around and around at least 6 hours. 

Zinnias
 I love Zinnias!
The cool thing is how fast they germinate. 
I over seeded this window box with the idea of transplanting some to the yard beds. 
Purple Wandering Jew
 Eventually I will move these rooted cuttings to a bed. I want to give them a good start first. 
They also do well in hanging baskets.

Blooms
Squash
 I promise!
I promise I will not show every bloom and seedling. 
I promise.
Pickles
But look at those pickle blooms about to go up the trellis. 

Garden Critters!
Add caption
 Imagine my surprise, shock and utter disbelief when I went out early Monday morning and discovered this!
rolly pollies aka pill bugs aka sow bugs 
What to do?
Well, I started going out each morning by 6:30 and collecting them in a cup with bamboo tongs and then transporting them to the compost bin.
I figured they might as well go to work for me since they mainly diet on decomposing things.
Here's the thing, I unknowingly created a fairy size ecosystem where during the day the pill bugs stay behind the white rocks that I placed around the tree and at night they come out to dine on my fairy moss. 

 This is what it looks like today. 
I gave up.

And then went to the garden and discovered a hole on a bigger scale.
No doubt made by an armadillo. 
Just a larger version of a pill bug. 
Don't you think?


 A Rose Garden Dream
on my "when I retire" list
three new roses in the first section
before in the second section

after
 I added a 4th rose and transplanted scarlet morning glories from the garden to the trellis. 

after
 A Bed in Progress
ready to seed

seed packets
How can you pass up 20¢ and 50¢ seed packets.
I'm a seed hoarder.

Saturday, May 17, 2014

This week in my gardens

SHARING MY GARDEN CHORES and DOCUMENTING GROWTH AND BLOOMS


egg plants germinated

dill germinated

cucumber blooming

my galvanized bucket collection is growing

buckets

compost bin doubled in size this week

new potting shelf behind the greenhouse

old bucket used for potting shelf legs

added Mexican Heather to upper patio garden

squash blooms about to happen

cherry tomatoes blooming

fig crop

pepper blooms

wildflower at the end of the garden
kitty in the background

transplanting moss
the fairy house moss garden

landscaping around the base of the tree

ajuga transplanted

Fairy Garden