My Garden Diary

My tomatoes were a bust

2011-07-27T15:03:00.002-04:00

I got one lousy tomato off of four plants. And that one had a big split in it so I threw it away.

I don't know if it was too much or too little water, bad soil, too rich soil - sun or too little light - they just didn't grow!

I am not willing to try it again next year at the same location, anyway.

What a waste of time!

First and only Brandywine Pink Heirloom Tomato

2011-06-15T10:09:00.002-04:00

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-15T09:47:00.000-04:00

Bear in Marshall

2011-06-13T21:57:00.001-04:00

Wordless Wednesday June 8, 2011

2011-06-08T09:34:00.002-04:00

Baby Finches, Daylilies, Sky

2011-06-05T12:54:00.002-04:00

Wordless Wednesday 06-01-2011

2011-06-01T09:55:00.001-04:00

Daylilies

2011-05-31T14:47:00.000-04:00

Painted a Wall

2011-05-30T10:02:00.000-04:00

From a flat pinky beige to glossy white.

Spring Morning

2011-05-30T09:54:00.000-04:00

Wandering Jew

2011-05-30T09:53:00.001-04:00

This one is summering on the back deck.

Cucumbers in a Pot

2011-05-30T09:52:00.001-04:00

I don't know if they'll make it, but it's an experiment.

Chicken Turnip Portabella Stew

2011-05-27T15:34:00.003-04:00

6 chicken legs or other chicken pieces
5-6 small turnips, quartered
Large Vidalia or red onion, quartered
Portabella mushroom, quartered (optional)
Olive oil
4 cups broth or water
Sunflower seeds (optional)
Balsamic Vinegar
Rosemary
Parsley
Salt
Pepper

Brown the chicken legs in olive oil in a large Dutch oven so both sides are browned, about 5 minutes per side. Add turnips, onion, mushroom, 4 cups broth or water, sunflower seeds, and 1 tablespoon or two of vinegar. Season to taste with rosemary, parsley, salt and pepper. Cook, covered, 20 minutes until turnips are tender. Serves 2-3.

Wordless Wednesday May 25, 2011

2011-05-25T12:40:00.000-04:00

A Country Saturday Afternoon

2011-05-24T10:18:00.000-04:00

May 13th Spring Fog and Barn

2011-05-24T10:16:00.000-04:00

Wild Rambling Pink Roses

2011-05-24T10:15:00.000-04:00

Yellow Knockout Roses After 6 Weeks

2011-05-24T10:14:00.000-04:00

First Marigold Bloom

2011-05-24T10:13:00.001-04:00

Red and White Petunias

2011-05-24T10:11:00.002-04:00

Wild Pink Sweet Peas

2011-05-23T13:54:00.000-04:00

White Mulberry Tree

2011-05-23T13:53:00.002-04:00

Lotus Magnolia Tree by Barn

2011-05-19T09:46:00.004-04:00

This beautiful tree is at least 20 feet tall, if not taller. We get huge white lotus-flower looking blossoms for over a month each spring.

Geraniums by Tomato Plants

2011-05-19T09:41:00.001-04:00

Deep Red Blooms on plants with medium green leaves with dark zoning. Excellent heat tolerance. Wonderful mainstay that all gardeners, avid or casual, can connect with. Wonderful in containers. Dead-heading is necessary, make sure you break dead blooms off from the base of the stalk.

More impatiens

2011-05-12T10:00:00.001-04:00

Planted up a pot full to put on the brick patio, and added six plants to the front garden.

The hanging containers are now home to at least one pair of nesting finches. I think they're the same ones that lived on the porch last year.

White Lilacs

2011-05-12T09:57:00.000-04:00

Wild white lilacs growing on the Northeast of our property and in the Grape Arbor.

This old fashion lilac bears large fragrant white blossoms in May and is considered one of the most fragrant of all lilacs! Moderate growing shrub with dark green foliage. Used commonly for hedges, screens, and as a specimen plant.

Zone 2-8, 10-20' at maturity. May be kept shorter by pruning.

New curtains

2011-05-07T15:24:00.001-04:00

They are blue-green - a nice, cool addition for summer! I like the way they filter the light, but leave a bit of a view.

Wordless Wednesday 05-04-2011

2011-05-04T09:32:00.002-04:00

Lovely Cast Iron Planter Lady with Wandering Jew

2011-05-03T15:37:00.003-04:00

I put five or six rooted Wandering Jew plants in the planter. We bought the little statue at a thrift store in downtown Valdese. She could have been repainted, but I like that old, worn look.

Wandering Jew is one of the easier type of plants to grow. This plant is unique. When given minimal sustenance it will spread out and grow. Cutting out its roots and planting in other soil will make it regenerate itself and start to grow. Wandering Jew plant adapts easily to various enviroments and conditions. It is difficult to control its growth because it spreads rapidly. It has oval shining leaves and produces three petalled flowers. Since it tends to vine it is used in hanging baskets and in areas where it can trail down. Wandering Jew plant produces flower in a range of colors from purple, pink to white which are usually blooming in spring and summer. It prefers moist soil and higher humidity level.

Taking care of Wandering Jew plant is very easy and is recommended for beginners. By pruning the ends it will result in having a more fully and bushy plant. Cuttings can be put in water to make roots and by this way you can make many new little plants. Fertalizing can be done once a month by using a water soluble fertilizer. Wandering Jew is native to South America. There are many varieties of these plants.This plant is really hard to kill. Wandering Jew plant is very pretty and also simple to grow and doesn’t require a lot of care.

A new walkway

2011-05-01T14:39:00.003-04:00

I had lots of lovely bluestone/flagstone around the faucet by the front steps, but I wanted a walkway from the steps to the new flower planter. So yesterday I moved most of the stones into a path configuration. With Leo's help, I put three bags of pea gravel around the stones, and for about $10, I have my walkway.

Upon second thought, I need about another three bags to fill in around the stones. I quite like the look.

I moved the maiden statue to the left of the path and planted it up with wandering jew, which I hope survives the summer heat. Well, it is in the shade most of the time, and is easy to water. I moved the sundial and ducks around, and the ghost rocker to make a more pleasing arrangement. Very pleased with the results!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-27T09:56:00.001-04:00

New light fixture

2011-04-26T08:59:00.003-04:00

We got this one installed in the downstairs bathroom after the old fixture burned out. I guess the switch was bad, actually, and we could have lived with the old fixture, but I don't like bare bulbs. This is using the new CFL's - save the earth one bulb at a time.

Mountain views - Mineral Springs Mountain

2011-04-25T16:26:00.004-04:00

Since we cut the pin oak at the South of the house, we can see views of Mineral Springs Mountain year round! What a treat!

Daylillies

2011-04-25T16:24:00.001-04:00

These are growing on the north side of my little potting house. I've got to transplant some - they're so beautiful!

Wild blackberries

2011-04-25T16:20:00.002-04:00

These are growing in the back yard by the bamboos. I leave them for the birds to harvest. I remember all too well the "chiggers" I harvested as a child along with the berries. The blossoms are glorious!

Planted tomatoes

2011-04-25T16:16:00.005-04:00

We experimented with a place closer to the water hose, but none get enough light. I'll have to haul water to them. I just hope they like their new home - a big, old-fashioned wash bucket. They are staked right now with "yard" twigs.

Brandywine Pink Heirloom Tomato

2011-04-21T10:07:00.002-04:00

I got my three plants yesterday via UPS. Now to plant and take some pictures.

The 'Brandywine Pink' Heirloom Tomato Plant dates back to the mid-1880s from strong Amish stock. This heirloom tomato has quite a following when it comes to gardeners and tomato connoisseurs. Brandywine tomatoes have won numerous taste tests and many tomato enthusiasts wait anxiously until their first Brandywine Pink of the season is ripe for the picking. These tomatoes average about 12 ounces, but have often grown up to 2 pounds. The fruits are reddish-pink, the flesh is creamy and the taste is superb. Brandywine Pink has large pinkish-red fruits borne on vigorous vines. Fruits are flattened and irregular, perfect for sandwich slices.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-20T14:22:00.002-04:00

Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-13T09:25:00.000-04:00

New Sage Green Wall

2011-04-12T10:20:00.001-04:00

I painted the hall wall sage green last week. This is the wall seen from the living room, so I wanted some more color to go with the green on the living room walls.

It is a lovely muted gray green, that changes colors based on the light and time of day. It never gets direct light, but I like the way it is softer than the living room colors.

It's amazing how the color changes. What does this have to do with gardening? Well, GREEN, of course!

From the Kitchen Window - Marigolds, etc.

2011-04-12T09:51:00.005-04:00

I bought seeds a few months ago from Burpee to plant in a three-tiered garden bed I also bought from them. Yesterday I transplanted the Marigolds from their started pot. I hope they do well.

The views here are all taken from my kitchen window. You can see the tops of the dianthus, yellow rose and azaleas that I planted earlier.

Marigolds
Family: Compositae
Scientific Name: Tagetes sp.
Origin: South America-Argentina and New Mexico
Classification: Annual, herb
Use: Bedding plants, pot culture, edging, cut flowers
Height: 6 inches to 4 feet
Spread: 6 inches to 3 feet
Hardiness: Tender
Stems (Bark): Herbaceous
Flowers: Orange, yellow, mixed, red, cream and maroon; rounded or flat heads
Fruit: Ineffective
Foliage: Lacy, feather-like, finely dissected, opposite, often pungent odor
Texture: Medium to fine
Growth Rate: Rapid
Form: Rounded
Soil Requirements: Good garden loam, moist, well drained
Maintenance: Keep soil moist but not wet. Remove spent flower heads for continuous flowering
Situation: Sun; flowering delayed if planted in shady areas
Insects & Diseases: Spider mites, spittle bug, aster yellows, wilt
Remarks: Propagate from seed sown indoors in March, April, or direct seed outdoors in May after danger of frost has passed.

Pink Impatiens Walleriana

2011-04-04T14:16:00.004-04:00

I bought two hanging baskets of impatiens for the front porch, where they won't get much light - which seems to be what they prefer. Birds found both our plants last year and raised families in them. They're welcome any time. I think they were finches.

Impatiens (sometimes commonly called bizzy Lizzy) is the most popular annual bedding plant in the U. S. today. For easy-to-grow, non-stop flowering in shady conditions, it has no equal. It is a bushy, succulent-stemmed tender perennial that grows in a spreading mound to 6-24” tall depending on variety. It has been extensively hybridized to produce a large number of cultivars featuring flowers in various shades of pink, rose, red, lilac, purple, orange, white and bicolor versions thereof. Showy, slender-spurred, five-petaled (some doubles are available) flowers (1- 2 1/4” wide) typically cover the plants with colorful bloom from spring to frost. Single flowers have a distinctively flattened appearance. Ovate to elliptic leaves (to 3” long) are light green to dark green, sometimes with a bronze-red cast.

Ours are a pink color, very similar to the Pinks (Dianthus) I planted a few weeks ago. That color should show up well. The red ones we had last year were a bit hard to see under the eaves.

Trouper Azalea (Glenn Dale)

2011-04-04T14:11:00.003-04:00

Bought two azaleas at Lowe's in Morganton for $5.00. Yep, 2 for one sale. I am amazed at how cheap they are! The last time I bought an azalea is was around $32.00, but of course, that was in Minnesota.

The Glenn Dale evergreen hybrids were developed in Maryland from R. indicum, R. kaempferi, R. simsii and many other species and hybrids. They are compact, spreading, evergreen azaleas developed primarily for cold hardiness along the mid-Atlantic states. Flowers are borne in showy trusses of 1 to 4 per cluster. Bloom time is late April in warmer areas and as late as mid-June in cooler climates. This is usually a back of the border azalea because most of the Glenn Dales are taller, though not all. Do not be alarmed if plant drops some leaves during colder weather. Filtered light is best. Plant as you would any of the other azaleas: high and in well-drained, acid soil, rich with organic matter. Though azaleas have a potentially large list of possible pest and disease problems, they are usually trouble free if planted correctly in proper cultural conditions

New Garden Art Statue

2011-03-23T15:37:00.001-04:00

We bought this old cast iron statue from the Foothills Thrift Store in downtown Valdese. I like that she has multiple coats of paint and a "ready made" patina of age.

I will plant some Wandering Jew in the little planter in a few weeks.

She has a real "Mona Lisa" smile.

Building a new Garden the easy way

2011-03-22T09:52:00.003-04:00

One of the easiest ways to make a new garden bed harnesses the natural forces of the sun, weather, and earthworms to transform bare turf into rich, plantable earth. Once you layer cardboard, newsprint, and compost on top of the turf, and wait several months, the turf decomposes into 6 to 8 inches of topsoil. Build the bed at the beginning of one season and it should be ready for planting by the next season. For example, pile up the layers in early spring; the ground will be plantable by summer. No digging; no sweat. (from Better Homes and Gardens website: http://www.bhg.com/gardening/yard/garden-care/building-a-flower-bed-without-digging/

This is essentially what we did with the new Front Garden. (see previous post about the Front Garden). We did it mostly with mulch, sort of by accident. I had ordered a huge truckload of mulch to mulch the side yard by the driveway and had it dumped in the front yard. We moved wheelbarrow loads for six-eight months and then gave it up, as move of it washed away in the rain.

What was left in the front yard eventually became the new Front Garden.

Front Garden

2011-03-21T14:21:00.002-04:00

Mums (yellow and white), yellow and purple pansies, Firewitch Dianthus (Pinks) and a yellow Knockout Rose. A nice little "Toad House" and an old family quartz rock keep guard over everything.

This was a pile of mulch two years ago that we gradually wore down by running the truck back and forth over it. This gave me a place to plant something, as the "native" soil there was nothing but hard packed clay and moss.

Japanese Holly (Ilex crenata)

2011-03-21T14:19:00.002-04:00

Planted two in planters on the steps facing the west garden. There are yellow and purple pansies planted around the bases.

Japanese Holly (Ilex crenata)

Japanese Holly is among the most valuable of all the Holly species. Japanese Holly has a distinctive, dense branching growth habit and fine-textured evergreen foliage. It actually resembles boxwood more than traditional Holly. Slow growers, Japanese Holly shrubs may live to over 80 years of age. There are hedges in Japan that have been maintained for so long and have become so dense that they can be walked upon and you would not fall through.

Japanese Hollies grow from 3 to 15 feet tall, depending on the variety. A typical shrub will spread 2 to 10 feet and have a dense rounded habit.

Japanese Holly leaves are small and broadly oval, 1/2 to 1 inch long, up to 1/2 inch wide. They have fine-toothed edges rather than the distinctive-spined leaves of most Hollies. They are a glossy dark green above, lighter beneath. Leaves of some varieties are slightly cupped.

Japanese Holly flowers are so tiny that they are virtually insignificant. They are creamy-white and have 4 tiny petals. Male flowers grow in small clusters where leaves join stems. Female flowers are solitary or in smaller clusters on separate shrubs. Flowers of both sexes appear in late spring or early summer. They are favorites of bees that aid pollination. Inconspicuous black berries, about 1/4 inch in diameter, develop in mid-autumn and last into early spring. Some varieties have yellow berries.

Japanese Hollies can withstand very severe pruning which is why it make such wonderful hedges. The key is to not prune new growth until it hardens off, which is when the tender green stems begin to turn woody.

Knockout Yellow Roses

2011-03-21T14:18:00.004-04:00

Planted two - one in front garden and one in west garden below the deck.

Knockout dependability and fragrance too!

•Fast growing, so you dont have to wait
•Drought tolerant, means no watering
•Pest & disease resistant
•Long blooming, up to 9 months!
•Adapts to many soils and conditions
•Fragrant flowers, a first for knockouts
Delightful new shrub rose from the Knockout Rose series. Now you can add sweet lemony yellow to your all-summer rose show. Sunny is the first Yellow Knockout Rose and it comes with a neat little twist. Amazing abundance of bloom and a lovely scent too. The flowers open bright golden yellow and age to a soft buttery hue. Excellent vigor even in cold climates.

You’ll enjoy excellent disease and pest resistance from Sunny Knockout Rose.
Knockouts are incredibly easy to grow shrub roses. They adapt to most soils and a wide range of climates across the country. So reliable, they are a favorite among landscape professionals and homeowners too. The blooming just goes on and on when you grow Sunny Knockout roses. This free flowering shrub rose is one blooming machine from late spring until frost.

Firewitch Dianthus Pinks

2011-03-21T14:16:00.002-04:00

Planted three - two in the front garden and one in a pot in the west garden.

The Perennial Plant Association selected Dianthus gratianopolitanus Firewitch' (Feuerhexe') as its 2006 Perennial Plant of the Year. Also known as a cheddar pink, the perennial dianthus is an excellent choice for use as an edging plant, as a rock garden specimen, to soften retaining walls, and in container gardens.

Firewitch' has hot pink flowers that bloom profusely in mid to late spring, with some repeat bloom in summer and fall if you deadhead faded blooms. As an added bonus, the flowers have a spicy clove-like fragrance. The bluish-gray evergreen foliage forms solid mats, making it an excellent ground cover, even when not in bloom. Plants reach only 3-4 inches tall, though the blooming stems add a few more inches.

Dianthus performs best in full sun, though light shade is helpful in particularly hot locations. The plant is rather adaptable, but well-drained soil is a must. Plants are hardy in USDA zones 3 to 9. Plants are easy to propagate by division or by stem cuttings taken just before or immediately after flowering.

This particular selection of Dianthus was introduced by a German nursery in 1957 as Fererhexe' but was mostly unknown in the United States until the late 1980s, when a Connecticut nursery (Sunny Border) took up its cultivation. Commonly sold now as Firewitch' in the United States, you can find it in many local garden centers and mail-order catalogs, wherever perennials are sold.