Gardening Week 5

Week 3 end

The Morning Glories in a matter of ten days have sky rocketed! We had been gone for a wedding and when we come back these little guys weren't so little anymore! The leaves are larger, the vines are climbing to the top of the small wire I did place up for them to grab onto.

These plants don't require too much care to grow, just keep the soil well hydrated and a little miracle grow once a month seems to do the trick. And sun. Lots of sun. We have two different sections of Morning Glories one patch in direct sunlight and the other in partial sunlight and the direct sunlight one is growing faster. So they love sun. :)

Did you know that Morning Glories could grow an average of fifteen feet in one season? I'm gong to have to build something higher for them to climb up that rests against the porch. We are trying to control the direction the Morning Glories go and right now they are so tall they want to reach across the screen and block our vision of the lovely pond. Time to get crafty.

Week 5 beginning

Look at those things go! the second flower plant you see there with the more pointed leaves are my Zinnias. They too seem to be doing well and growing several more inches up. I was glad to see them still alive after the cat decided to dig a few up. It's amazing that the cat is evil and my dog hasn't destroyed anything, So odd. I guess you never know until it happens what the out come is going to be. And now that I have said all of that watch the dog decide to play in my Garden....

These tall little creatures are my sunflowers! They are well over a foot tall and are getting taller. They love the sunlight so plant them were they can get direct light for most of the day. Beside them is a slightly plant and those are my two little pepper plants. I didn't grow them from seeds but my dad gave them to me already pretty big. My only concern was how they would transplant but they seem to be doing very well. Beside them are my radishes! The leaves are big and the radishes are growing. My husband has been keeping a close eye on them and can't wait to pull them.

Radishes

For all of those that didn't know Radishes are good for Spring, Summer, and Fall. So if you love radishes then they are pretty easy to continuously get. My husband loves them so I might be growing more when these are all done, but we shall see.

Another plant that is doing amazingly well are these. They are known as Brugmansia, or Angle's Trumpet. This flower loves moist soil and half sunlight. I have to be honest I was trying to kill the thing. This is a very scary plant for me because it is so toxic but it is thriving. I plan on placing them in larger containers within the next month that way they have more room to grow. Thankfully my animals have no interest in these plants, yet. So I am feeling much better about growing them. I am actually getting a little excited to see how long I can grow them for and what they will look like in my yard.

These are some of my plants which are doing very well, I did have a few cuttings of roses I tossed and I go into the planter and pull all weeds every morning. I water during the day as the soil dries depending upon the plant. As I continue to garden and learn new things I will share my experiences with you. Me failures and accomplishments both, because we can not learn without a few mess ups.

Thank you for reading,

-Brenda

Gardening week 3

On March 30th I planted Morning Glories along with several other flowers in starters. After about a week they were all starting to pop up and I started to take them outside to get some sun. after a few more days and on April 8th (Give or take) I planted all my flowers in their own little spot in my long planter boxes alongside our porch. Because I know the morning Glories are vine flowers I also stapled wiring to the side of the porch and planted the Morning Glories closest to the porch as to allow them to climb upwards.

The only downside to the planter boxes are my cats. Apparently the little critters decided that planter boxes and littler boxes were the same thing and it has been an on and off battle to keep them away. They have decreased my flowers by a few, but there are plenty there! They started growing faster as of April 20th. It's like they are all having little growths spurts.

they aren't the only plant doing well. The Radishes, which I had planted on April 6th, are looking beautiful. At this stage what I should do is thin them out. Part of me just wants to let them keep growing and see what happens.

I just transplanted my tomatoes. They got big enough that it was time to upgrade containers. I think the transplant was good but we shall see. Apparently some plants endure a shock from the transplant and not recover... resulting in a dead plant and a sad face for any new grower. I know I'll be a little sad if I kill all my plants, but that's why I had a good dozen seeds of everything started so that it would be harder to kill everything. Something should live!

These are my little Tomatoes freshly replanted. I might transplant them one more time. For now I have to take a trip and will be gone for about ten days so this will just have to do. For now. But they are growing and I am so happy about it!

Little Secret... I don't eat Tomatoes. :D But it would be great to make something for my family with them. I think that is going to be the best thing about growing veggies being able to cook something from what was grown.

Okay, I hope everything does well since I am off for ten days, thankfully I have family gong to run over to my house to water them and feed my cat. Here's to the trip and looking forward to seeing what they look like when I come home.

--Brenda

Gardening Day one!

I took the plunge in Gardening today. Well, more like I got my toes wet, fingers to be exact. I decided that I wanted to plant flowers and so I did it. Wish me luck on this endeavor! :)

I had wanted to plan out when to plant them so that they would all bloom at the same time, but my husband urged me to just plant them all since I got a big enough starter kit. This is just my tester year after all. What could hurt? So I will be posting up here each week to let you know how Gardening is going and what I have done in that area. If you have any advice or recommendation just post a comment.

Today: March 30, 2016

What I did?

Using a starter kit that has premeasured soil (good and healthy mineral rich stuff) I placed 2 or 3  seed about a quarter way down and covered them. Follow the directions on the starter kit you have for adding water. After planting and marking each row of flowers so I know what the heck they are I covered them and placed them inside my house where they will stay until little greens start showing.

What kind of Flowers:

Morning Glories Milky White and Heavenly Blue

Vines grow 10 to 20 feet in a season. Morning Glories have dark, heart-shaped leaves and produce breath-taking trumpet flowers up to 3 inches in diameter. Morning Glories don’t like to be well fed. If they are, they will grow huge and lush vines, but won’t flower. Is it past the Summer Solstice date of June 21st ? Morning Glories are “short day” plants, meaning that they will only set flowers when the days are shorter than 12 hours. As summer continues past the Solstice (the longest day of the year), the days shorten and nights lengthen, eventually triggering blooms. Depending on your geographical location, some gardeners will not see blooms until late July, August, or even early September in temperate areas.

http://www.wikihow.com/Grow-Morning-Glories

Zinnia (Giant Violet Queen)

https://myfolia.com/plants/373-common-zinnia-zinnia-elegans/varieties/8471-violet-queen

"Zinnias are very, very, very easy to grow, but they must have full sun which means at least 6 hours each day. Plant zinnias after the danger of frost is over.  Broadcast the seed over an area of freshly turned soil and then rake the seed into the soil or rake a small layer of soil over the seed. My favorite way to plant zinnia seed is to make little holes in the soil with my finger (no more than ½ inch deep) about 6 inches apart.  I drop a single seed in each hole and close the hole by pressing the soil around it.  I always water after I have planted my seed.  I find that 6-8 inches between the large zinnia plants produces strong healthy plants and large blossoms.  Sometimes this is enough distance so that air circulation around the individual plants keeps the powdery mildew at a minimum.  I am not aware of a zinnia variety that is not susceptible to powdery mildew.  A slow release fertilizer, 5-10-5, is all you need to feed zinnias well."

Quote from: https://www.landrethseeds.com/newsletters/Volume%202/Issue%20V%20-%20The%20Zinnia/

Blue Bachelor Button

http://homeguides.sfgate.com/grow-bachelors-button-blue-boys-43170.html

Also known as cornflower, bachelor's button "Blue Boy," (Centaurea cyanus "Blue Boy"), is a hardy, drought-tolerant wildflower, valued for its intense, sky-blue blooms. Bachelor's button "Blue Boy" requires little maintenance and thrives in poor, dry soil, including sand or clay. Plant seeds directly in the garden after the last frost in early spring. In frost-free climates, plant the seeds in autumn for spring blooming. Although the plant is an annual, it usually reseeds itself for a repeat appearance year after year.

http://www.planetnatural.com/growing-bachelor-buttons/

Sunflower (Mammoth Russian)

And last but not least is the beautiful Sunflower. I've always loved them for their brightness and size so of course it would be on my must grow list. And I'm not kidding I'm starting a "Must Grow" List.

Thank you for reading, again, if you have any tips or suggestions just post a comment. :)

-Happy Growing
-Bee

Thinking about Gardening

I want to start gardening! But I'm a little lost where to start. I have these seeds packets for flowers that were given to me and the weather is finally starting to get lovely outside.

Burst into song “Spring is in the air. Everywhere I look around.”

So I am thinking about pulling out my little planner and taking lots of notes. The kind that say What was planted and when and don't forget to water them or else. Yeah. That sounds like a descent plan to me. Something to keep one on track. Not that I plan on planting 100 things, this isn't Story of Seasons or anything, but I still need a little reminder on what the heck I planted.

Monday: planted little flowers.

Tuesday: Watered non existent flowers

Thursday: Violently waters plants again because I was worried I forgot.

Friday: It pours (I never check the weather)

Saturday: Why water when it rained?

Sunday:...

Monday again:....

Tuesday: Oh crap! Waters the A LOT

3 weeks later....There's still nothing.

“Why!” Begins having a mental break down and points the blame to hubby. Gives up on life. Refuses to plant again. Curses all of hubby's attempts. Gets angry and starts talking to flowers that hubby brings home. Everything beautiful suddenly brings about bad memories. The I decide that if I kill hubby I won't get any more flowers; no more flowers mean no more bad memories......

Yeah. I mean, I really love my husband so for his safety I need a planner for planting. His very life depends upon it!! :)

With all that being said wish me luck. :) I am going to plant sunflowers. I'll let you know if my husband survives—if I am successful I mean.

-Bee