I have been meaning to post all the amazing growth from the yard these past few days. I kept walking past my lilac bush, and thinking I should snap a pic of this. I love this plant because I can see it right outside my bedroom window. It’s about as tall as our house and smells so fragrant this time of year. So the little rain and “trace” snow event that was called for Monday into Monday night did have us putting our hanging pots and some front porch pots in the garage. I did this because temperatures were expected to be low overnight. Luckily, we didn't plant much yet, just a new nine bark to replace the one we lost a summer ago. I wasn't too worried about much of the rest of the yard. I covered some new seeds and figured the light dusting of snow would be no big deal. Welcome to Colorado in May. Or what it usually looks like in January. In just a few hours, heavy and very wet snow continued to fall. I exchanged texts with friends who were concerned about the weight on the trees, since our trees were just beginning to leaf out. I had not looked outside in an hour or so and when I did it was devastating. I peaked out my bedroom window to see my lilac completely bent over and flat, covered in snow. The trees looked the same and I could no longer make out anything in the yard. The landscape architect put on his ski gear at 9:30pm and made his way to the front yard to try and remove what snow he could from our oak and pine trees. He said he could hear branches breaking in the neighbor’s yard (Sure enough our neighbor lost a large limb from his aspen tree). He made his way to the back, carrying a long tree pruner and trying to remove the snow he could from the plants and trees. He shoveled the driveway and sidewalk, all while snow continued to fall. We were expected to receive a few more inches, said the same weather man who hours earlier said we would see a trace amount on the grass. We went to bed and hoped for the best. When we awoke at the sound of the alarm, I looked out the bedroom window. I couldn't even see out. Ice and snow covered our window and it was clear that the snow had not let up at all. I looked out the front window to see that the once clean driveway was covered with at least 5-6 inches of new snow. The plants were once again flattened...snow continued to fall. Snow day in May. Never have I ever. We were blessed with about 15 inches of snow. Did I mention it’s May? As I write this, I have climbed around in the foot deep snow in the backyard. I have done my best to unearth plants in the locations I have to presume them to be, since they are completely unrecognizable. Now we have to wait for the sun to come, which it will tomorrow, to see what lies beneath. Many broken trees and branches. Colorado plants are resilient. I expect to see some damage, and hopefully this will be the LAST of the snow for the season. The moisture we had this spring has been great. Maybe just a little less of the frozen stuff. We had a sweet little dove family make a nest in our rain-gutter. We have had this in the past and always worry about the nest placement. We don't know if there was anything in the nest, but the parents have returned this morning. This picture is one I took over the weekend. We are hoping all is still ok. I will post an update soon. Until then think sunny thoughts! Over the last week or so, I had to perform one of my least favorite garden tasks. The spring clean up. This was done over the span of a week, small bits at a time. Honestly, it’s one of my
dreaded activities that I think to myself “WHY did I plant all of this!?!” Allergy inducing dry dead plant material. Can you think of anything more fun?. Yes there are some who love the task of weeding and cleaning out a garden bed. I just don’t happen to be one of them. I will say that after I start and begin to discover all the tiny plant life buried underneath last years beauty, I am excited once again for all that spring holds. Which brings me to the next dilemma of spring. Volunteer plants that seemed to have taken up residency in places I didn't plant them. I am a fan of what I like to think of as free plants. I didn’t go out and buy these, they simply began to grow all on their own. The one problem is that they often end up in places you don’t really want or need a plant. Since I didn’t plant these volunteers, the garden lacks structure that my landscape architect planned for. I have a miscellaneous lilac shrub here and there. A misplaced Aspen tree (or two). Hummingbird mint in the dry creek bed. A tall fence like structure of Cosmos in front of a small bed of Columbine. I just hate to remove a perfectly fine plant. So I tend to let them grow where ever it seems that they would like to. I have on many occasions let something grow that I thought was a plant, only to find out it's just a huge weed. I spent a great deal of time removing some of those. We have some plans this summer to transplant some of these volunteers to better locations and to just move some plants that no longer belong where they are. Some beds we have just lived with will hopefully get a bit of a makeover and some irrigation overhaul will be taking place. Until then, here are some early springtime pics. Most of the snow from last week's storm has melted away. As of today, there is just a small drift up against the fence that won’t melt for awhile since it’s in the shade most of the day. What a difference a week makes.
I peeked out my bedroom window this afternoon at my lilac bush, which is usually first plant to signify the spring season. I was super excited to see a few new buds. There will be lots of trimming and cutting back that will need to be done as the temps warm up, but it’s always nice to see a few glimmers of green starting to show. Which brings me to the sad state I left most of my pots this winter. In years past, I have removed many of the annuals and perennials from the containers and plant them somewhere in the yard. I usually try to buy plants that I know will come back and that I can repurpose somewhere else. I did manage to transplant my front porch containers into the yard, and replanted them with fall mums and pansies. They looked so great that I didn't want to pull them out and so I waited...too long and they froze and became part of my holiday decor as well. (Not the nicest display). Unfortunately, I did the same with the back yard containers. I managed to clean out some of the the pots. A few containers I put off for later in the fall, only to get busy and forget. One of my large pots had the prettiest Dianthus (that I got on clearance at Walmart) and Superbells Rising Star (from Proven Winners) that I loved, and well I’m afraid now it’s probably gone. Had I replanted it in the ground, it would have wintered over just fine. I’m pretty sure wintering over in a pot was not a great choice. (See the summer vs. winter version pics). Looking through all these summer pictures, it’s hard to believe it’s the same yard! Hello! I could make an attempt to explain the lengthy absence from adding anything to my garden blog, but I won’t. Perhaps what may be a better idea is to take a page from the upcoming Spring season and start anew. Maybe the inspiration came from spending the past 3 days inside during our “bomb cyclone” blizzard watching garden youtube videos as I watched my own yard sink into 3 feet drifts of snow. It could be that with the amazing amount of moisture we have received this winter which makes me think our garden will have a much more successful season than it did last summer. Most likely the inspiration came from shoveling out our poor sleeping plants this morning, and dreaming of when I will be catching the first glismp of lilac buds, or anything green for that matter. Oh and if you ever have the chance to watch “Garden Answer” on youtube, I highly recommend it. That is if you enjoy watching someone garden in the most incredible yard ever. I have never started this blog this early in the season, and thought it would be fun (for those of you still occasionally reading this) to show the very beginning of Spring to the very end of Fall. I need to remember that the posts don’t need to be spectacular or show some incredible project, but just to serve as a memory keeper of what we do during the Spring/Summer/Fall in the yard. Colorado’s rule is no new planting till the weekend of Mother’s Day. This usually insures that new plants will be spared of freezing temps and any last minute snow that is thrown our way. In most years, this has been a perfectly safe date. Some years we have hit record breaking freezing temps that exact weekend. This winter season has been pretty unpredictable. Today is our 3rd snow day from school, following a record breaking storm that dumped snow, wind and even rain. It’s our 2nd blizzard, and really the Spring snowy season is just beginning. Over the next few weeks, (while the yard melts), I will start to gather whatever seeds I plant this year. Last season, our seeds didn’t flourish at all. I am hoping this year we will see some better results. I usually get these planted in March, April or even May. I am open to any suggestions you may have of something new to try.
I won’t make promises that I will be able to post as often as I would like, but I am hopeful that we can share some of the changes and happenings of our little yard this growing season. As I think I have mentioned before, we plant a lot of seeds. I keep all the seed packets, but honestly sometimes forget what I have planted where. I have a great seed catalog that shows what seedlings look like and I use that to match up or try and guess what we have growing. This year there have been many strange plants emerging, many that I don’t recognize from the last few seasons. I spent some time pulling many I thought were weeds and trying to identify tiny green specks. I have had my eye on several feathery stocks, almost certain that they were growing where I had planted some poppy seeds. I did notice them last season, but they never flowered. They never got very big at all, and I have learned sometimes it takes some plants grown from seed several seasons to get going. Which was exactly what I thought about these. This spring, they were some of the first to emerge from the soil. These feathery stalks were in several areas and were growing faster than any other plants. I believed this to be the case since they were on their second year. I thought for sure they were poppies. Well, I was certainly wrong. You may have looked at these photos and known exactly what they were. After I found out, it seemed silly that I thought they were anything but those orange vegetables that rabbits love to eat. I would have easily guessed that if I had remembered the conversation I had with the teenager who needed somewhere to put his biology project. After unloading some new plants yesterday into the back yard, we walked past where one of the largest stalks had been growing. Just at the very top of the soil peaked out an orange top. I stopped and looked closer, and the teenage biology student giggled and peered over my shoulder. I didn’t recall the conversation, but I did recall the project for school at the end of his sophomore year. We walked around the yard searching for all the look alike feathery stalks, and low and behold we had a carrot crop growing. We pulled a few and left a few to see how much bigger they would get. Those pesky carrots had been growing last year as well, just much smaller. Since I didn’t think I was growing any harvest-able plants, I had just watched them as if they were a flower. In fact, while planting some annuals this year, I stumbled upon something I thought were old bulbs. I’m fairly certain those were old carrots from last year. :) Apparently, our biology student is a Johnny carrot seed. We had a good laugh over the whole carrot thing, and I was reminded of the carrots that were growing in my grandpa’s backyard garden. I always thought I was helping when I would “harvest” his carrot crop and bring them proudly inside the house to show him. I’m pretty certain they were never ready to be gathered, as the look on his face would tell me. He never got mad at me, just would take the tiny carrots and wash them off. I think we may try carrots again, just for fun.
Well hello! If you are reading this, thank you! It’s been too long since I updated the garden sight and was looking back at all the posts from last summer. I’m so glad we have such a fun record of all the plants from last year. We will try to keep this updated and see how different the plants look this year. We had a dry winter, and my lack of winter watering took its toll. We lost several plants, and I would say that from looking at the photos from last summer, it seems many of the plants and flowers are off to a slower start this season. I haven’t spent much time out in the yard, just doing a good spring clean up and planting a quick bit of annuals. I haven’t even filled many of my pots yet! One reason is simply not having much time to dedicate and the other is weather. We have already had some hail storms that have bruised and beaten some of the plants, and I think my fear is that this may be the start of a volatile summer. As a result, I just may not plant as much as I normally do and see how my existing plants handle the weather. We have some huge Lupine plants this year. One that is an amazing deep purple and I’m sure it’s the biggest one that I have ever had. Some violet and baby pink are beginning to flower as well on the other side of the yard. I have success with these every year, but noticed my happy ones form last year are much smaller this time around. Our California poppies are everywhere, and just seeing a few blooms this morning. I planted a ton of poppy seeds this spring, of all different varieties. I can’t wait to see if they do well this season. The oriental poppy I planted last year, didn’t survive the winter. My thought is that it needed a bit more sunshine and the area I planted it in got a lot of morning shade. My photographer took some shots of the garden as it looked this afternoon. I’m hoping to repeat this a few times a month to show its progress. We have some Cottonwood trees that are going crazy and so the year is filled with little white puffs.
Thanks for reading about the start to our summer garden in Colorado. Cosmos are one of my favorite flowers. Mostly because they are hardy and self seed like crazy in my yard. They are late summer bloomers, so we get to watch them get taller all summer until their buds begin to appear. These, like my California Poppies, grow in the rocks and places where there isn't consistent water. They don't need tending and they love sunshine and heat. I have a few that are growing taller than some of my sunflower stalks! I came across this guy with two flowers in one. Its a cosmo flower from all different angles! The garden is getting overgrown with all the rain we have had lately. Some plants are beginning to fade out and need to be cut back. The pansies that have inhabited my pots and hanging baskets are showing signs of the end of their season. It's August already, so getting towards the end of the growing season here. School will be starting next week and busy life will begin again. Crazy how fast this summer went by! I went out this morning and took some pictures with my phone. I wish you could tell with these how big all of these plants have gotten! It has a wild and unorganized layout now for sure!! Our little gnome garden, that last summer had all small and tiny plants, is completely taken over. Its hard to see any of the gnomes anymore..and maybe they like that better. My assistant filled lots of our pots with hummingbird mint, and we have enjoyed having these at various places in the garden. I planted some zinnia seeds along with it, and this container had a variety of flowers that just ended up in there. It turned out really pretty even though we didn't put much thought into it's design. Here are some more pictures from this morning.
I will admit, my garden time has not been as frequent as it once was. I try and get out at last once a day to check out anything new or issues that may need to be addressed, but I am missing it! Summer classes wrap this week, so hopefully I will be able to tidy up some things. And maybe not get bit by any spiders! (The assistant and I have gotten more than a few bites lately!) A while back, my assistant editor and now apparently assistant landscape foreman, did some structural changes to the yard. We have a lovely dry creek bed running through the garden and though it contained some stepping stones to cross, it was often a lot of hopping and skipping over rocks. My assistant was kind enough to dig it up, and flatten the path so that walking would be a bit easier. (besides that’s my main path of ‘oh my gosh cover the plants’). He also designed and built a sweet little fountain/water feature. I can hear it when the back door is open, and can see it from my kitchen sink, so even indoors we are loving this addition. He also helped my parents make one for their yard out of a pretty pot, so it is above ground, on a cute little plant stand. I love the additions to the backyard, and the birds are loving their outdoor shower. Lots of rain and tons of sun have things growing like crazy. I honestly don’t think I’ve ever had such HUGE plants. Since August is here, the sunflowers are somewhat starting to bloom. This is early for them in my experience. And I don’t have nearly the crop I usually do. I planted the seeds before one of our late spring snow storms, and witnessed some hungry birds picking around, so I’m guessing it explains the lackluster sunflower showing. I have a few tall ones, but with the vast growth of the plants around them, it’s hard to see them at all. I have harvested a ton of seeds. Lupines, Cosmos, Poppies, Daisies, Pansies…. Some we have already spread some around the yard, some we have shared with friends, and my neighbor even took some. (Though some of my plants have ended up in her garden quite by accident.) I’m curious to see what next year will look like given how many things we planted and have re seeded. I know I have said it before, but I really think planting from seed gives the best results. I have never tried Morning Glory, but was given some seeds and just had to buy it a trellis to twist on. I planted these Peony Poppy seeds and found this amazing creature this morning. It has several more buds yet to open and I can’t wait to see if they are different colors. Seeds are a small investment, you can get more varieties, and you can get invested in what you grew. It's pretty rewarding. I was looking at the photos from the last post, and I would say most of the plants have tripled in size!! By far the best seed planting I did this season was from an old package that I wasn’t even sure if they would grow. This was a pack of the most amazing wildflowers. It took a little time, some love and care and they are one of my favorite things in the yard.
Enjoy some pictures from around the garden. Hello Friends! This garden girl has been busy writing college papers and trying to wrap up summer semester. Our backyard oasis has been busy growing and thriving. Hot summer days and lots of afternoon rain have given all our vegetation the ingredients to go crazy! This also means that the critters have been out in force as well. We’ve had lots of ants, grasshoppers (yes, we still have those pesky guys), ladybugs, aphids, butterflies, birds and squirrels. The kittens have been busy at the back-screen door, chattering at all the activity buzzing around the yard. These months are the part of the season where the first plants to awake in the spring begin to decline, and new ones take over. The beautiful Lupines have faded and gone to seed, the California poppies are mostly just foliage now, few still with buds. The bee loving Salvia have been cut and trimmed back, thought I am hopeful and optimistic I will get another round of flowers from them. The good news, from the sadness of biding some of my early spring plants farewell, is all the midsummer plants and flowers are just waking up. My Cosmo buds are coming alive. Remember the “Cupcake” variety I planted? While those are still just a few inches high, I have at least 5 that are growing and that I am still keeping tabs on. Many of the others are already blooming and are tall and happy! These Cosmos take the place of my favorites, the beloved Poppies, once all my Poppies fade away. Speaking of Poppies, the blooms are slowing down, but I still have the newest varieties I planted this season (see the Poppy post for these) to wait and see how they turn out. The Cone flowers are in bloom, which make the most amazing cut flower to bring inside to enjoy. Speaking of bringing blossoms inside, my lavender crop is wonderful this season. I have been cutting some sprigs daily to bring in, and mixed with my Candy Tuft, white Iceland Poppies and Cone flowers in a mason jar, pure love! (of course, this bouquet goes on top of a tall dresser so it doesn’t become a cat snack). The Agastache, Hummingbird Mint, that was given to me by my dearest friend, is beginning to show off its purple stalks. This flower LOVES to spread all over! It is hardy and the most beautiful lime green, which gives the garden great contrast. I lost several of my most established plants last summer during a hail storm, but have many, many additional ones this summer have popped up and they are just enormous! These transplant so well and we have put them in pots and even brought some up to the front yard. Yes, they multiply (like our bunnies around here) but they are easy to remove what you don’t want. The bunnies won’t eat them, which is why we transplanted a few to the front yard. Summer storms have been moving in almost every afternoon for the past week or so. My ability to cover up and protect my friends has diminished, due to the fact they have grown so much! The sunflowers are far past the point of safeguarding, as well as countless others. I was talking to my sweet neighbor the other afternoon, and she said something that I have been trying to keep in mind. She said how big all the plants were getting, and I said that I was having a hard time covering them when it stormed. She just laughed and said, “I think you will just have to let it be.” I have been trying to do just that. Enjoy this beautiful and peaceful place and know that if a storm comes, I have had many wonderful days in our backyard retreat. As I type this, thunder rumbles outside. Maybe I should try and cover some plants. Maybe just a few.
The garden has been a busy place lately. Lots and lots of new flowers, some in which I don’t ever remember planting, are popping out all over. Our weather has been toasty hot. Not sure if that’s speeding things along, but we are enjoying all the changes. One of my most favorite blooms are that of the Corn Poppy. I had my first experience with these last summer as they came in a seed pack that my mom gave me for Easter. It was the seed packet that was the foundation for our little gnome garden. It is the Fairy Meadow Flower Mix by Botanical Interest. I have had great success with this brand of seed. I planted these seeds on one corner of the garden in early spring of 2016. We had the most fun trying to identify all the plants in this mix, and I will say we have seen each plant listed come up. Flowers like California Poppies, Spurred Snapdragons, and Johnny-Jump-Up. By far my favorites last summer were these Corn Poppies. They were just the most beautiful flowers, though very delicate and only lasted a day of two. They are in all shades of pink and red, some with white centers and vibrant yellow middles. Once they went to seed last summer I didn’t cut them back at all. Mainly because I wasn’t sure how to, and didn’t want to affect their ability to spread. And spread they did. Not only did almost all of this amazing fairy garden mix come back this year, but it expanded and spread to other areas of the garden. I love how small some of these plants are, as well as some that tower over the garden and act like little umbrellas. The Spurred Snapdragons were so cute and tiny and in so many different colors. And the Maiden Pinks sprouted all over this summer and are so delicate. These sweet Corn Poppies are one of those magical night blooming flowers. When I do my morning, garden walks, I can usually spot one of two that weren’t there the night before. I know what you’re thinking. How is it that I know some flowers are new? I keep track. I make several walks through the garden every day and can spot the new blooms. Pretty much everyone. And if I miss it, usually one of the boys see it. In addition to the fairy garden seed mix, I also planted a mix that my mom shared with me. She received it from a friend that brought it to her from Texas. My mom tucked it away and forgot about it. When she found it, we weren’t sure if it would be successful if we planted it, since it was a few years old. Since I didn’t have the best hopes for it, I scattered it a few places and was surprised how quickly it started to sprout. It rained and snowed and sort of gathered all the seeds in little groups, different than where I planted. My mom calls them little bouquets. The strange thing is what listed on the seeds as the contents are not what we have seen come up. I’m not exactly sure what some of these cute little flowers are, but they are super happy here. One variety I recognize is my friend, the Corn Poppy. These are much smaller than the ones in the gnome garden. I am excited for them to be in another area of the yard. My Oriental Poppy (see earlier post for more on this, called Princess Victoria) sort of bloomed and then fizzled out. I suspect it was because it bloomed so late in the season. It was the prettiest pink flower, but not nearly as amazing as I thought it would be. Hopefully, she comes back next year with a little more success. I did say Poppies are my favorite, right??
I swore this year it would be different. I wouldn’t stress about every storm warning and thunder cloud overhead. I wouldn’t check the weather 50 times a day worried about what could ruin my happy place. I wouldn’t let the threat of hail scare me into covering every plant I could. Who am I kidding? Weather in my great state of Colorado, is a bit..well..unpredictable. I believe there is a saying here that goes “if you don’t like the weather, wait 10 minutes.” I have seen days where we have all four seasons in a 24 hour period. Coming from California where the sun is shining and the weather is consistent, this Colorado stuff takes some getting used to. Weather in the Rockies is one of my favorite and least favorite parts of living here. Obviously, the weathers impact on a garden is vast to say the least. Our Colorado gardens go to sleep at the end of each fall, and wake again each spring. Our growing season is short and sweet. Snow blankets our landscape and cold temps keep us indoors in the Winter, which is one of my favorite parts. One day it could be snowing like crazy, and the next day the sun is bright and warm. I love that I can take a break from maintaining the yard, and plan any new additions for the coming Spring. Spring is my most favorite. (Or is it Fall?) Spring brings rainy afternoons and bright welcomed sunshine. Plants begin to wake up. What once was a brown and dry yard, begins to show tiny signs of green. I spend time each day looking at which plants are waking first, tying to remember what was planted there. I start collecting seed packets and plotting where they will go. When the sweet little Robin birds arrive, Springtime has too. Late Spring snow storms and freezing temperatures are what we experienced this year. Just as my garden began to wake, it was covered in snow. I had already done a decent amount of seed planting and had a lot of seedlings sprouting already. Never fear. The crazy garden girl is here. This passionate gardener, collects old plant containers, cat litter buckets (thank goodness, we have kittens), empty berry containers, pie tins, oatmeal cylinders, yogurt containers and other things you probably put in your recycling bins. These make great snow protectors and hail helmets for my little garden friends. Not to mention my innovative use of lawn furniture, beach towels and tarps. It’s weird, I know. I know what you’re thinking. This girl has way too much time on her hands. That’s actually not true. You see with careful planning and attention to weather reports, I sometimes have plenty of time for this protective measure. And I am not alone. I often wait for the neighbor behind me to cover their plants. And sometimes when I start to pull out the arsenal of weird recyclables, they come out and follow my lead. My Mom has her large container plants on little wheels, so she can move those heavy gardens into safety at a moment’s notice. I feel like it’s completely normal. Right? This past Spring when our temps dipped to record lows in late May, these covers saved my plants. Yes, it took time and was some work and looked kind of odd, but I would have lost most of the seedlings if not for my tiny berry container green houses. Will I always have time to cover my sweet plants to protect them? Nope. Am I able to cover all my flowery friends? Nope. Will I always be home when storms appear? Nope. But if I am able, I cover what I can to guard them from flying balls of ice. I cover new flowers, seedlings, plants that are delicate, plants I have been taking extra care of, and plants that are simply sentimental to me. I feel horrible for the ones I can’t cover, but many are tough and can withstand a bit of rough weather. Which is why planting native and local plants is best. Those guys are used to what Colorado, or your area, has to offer. Which here can be harsh.. from brutal low temps to scorching heat and everything in between. It looks silly I know. At least once or twice each summer, the garden withstands some damage. It makes me sad, which is why I do what I can to protect what I can. I nurture these little guys along and watch them grow and I hate seeing what a strong hail storm can do. Not only to nature, but to people’s homes and cars. Hail is an unpredictable force that comes and goes as it pleases, in all variations of magnitude. It can bring dangerous and violent consequences and it makes me a bit jumpy to say the least. So, this Colorado gardener is going to protect, risk injury (since I wacked myself in the head last year with a metal lounge chair trying to cover plants in a hurry) and give my garden a chance to reach the end of the season intact. My potted plants all get shelter up against our house. It’s a lot of work. It looks truly odd to my neighbors who don’t garden, and maybe even to the ones that do. They must see me sometimes in the wee hours of a summer morning, uncovering plants from the threat of an overnight storm, in my PJs and a sweatshirt, and think this girl is crazy. But they are the same ones who peer over my fence to admire our garden or tell me they enjoy my sunflowers looking over their fence.
Yep. Colorado weather makes this gardening thing a wee bit complicated. But I love it. Except the hail. Really don’t like hail. What kind of weather effects your garden space? Speaking of grasshoppers, we have noticed A LOT of tiny little grasshoppers lately. They are super cute, but I'm fearful we may wake up one morning and our yard will be gone. I don't have much experience removing these or wondering if I should remove them at all. Anyone have any thoughts on this? Okay so back to the patience. Anyone who knows me well can tell you that patience is certainly something I don't have. Gardening requires patience. When you plant seeds especially, you have to wait. I actually mark on the calendar the dates of when I plant seeds, and when they haven't emerged when I think they should according to the package, I am frustrated and sometimes heartbroken. There have been plenty of times when the seeds I plant don't yield a single green anything. I make a note of what doesn't work. Sometimes the seeds don't make an appearance until a season or even two seasons later and sometimes not at all. Which is why I keep all the seed packs I plant, grouped by year. I am constantly referencing these to check on what I planted and the stats and info of the plant. If the pack doesn't contain a seedling photo, I google it to keep tabs on what is what. I play "what is this" with fellow gardening friends when I don't recognize the seedling. I let things grow usually long enough to tell if it's a friendly plant or weed. Not that weeds aren't friendly. Funny side note on this. I once had this crazy tall vine creature growing in the garden. I had no idea what it was so I let it grow till it truly was taller than me with leaves the size of something out of Jurassic Park. My Mom suggested I take a clipping and a photo to the garden center to inquire, and after almost the entire staff passed it around, smelling it and looking at it, the head plant guy said calmly "Get rid of this. It's a nasty weed and it will spread." So the landscape foreman had to chop it down. Like a tree or a beanstalk. And I think it did spread. I had these little strange plants come up all over this spring. Some I pulled and some I left just to see if it was my Jurassic Park friend. I will keep you posted. So again back to the patience. Or should I say you, dear reader, must have the patience to follow this post. Plants are all about patience and potential. It's caring and nurturing seeds or reduced price plants that no one wanted. Its watering and waiting and protecting them from bunnies and grasshoppers. It's having the patience to start all over when hail damages your garden. It's believing in its potential. It's an investment and it's a risk. I truly get more from starting plants from seed. I know, me with little patience can wait for 7-10 days and then sometimes an entire season to see results. Some of my favorite parts of gardening is witnessing new flower buds and wondering what color they will be. How tall will this get, and better yet will it spread to other areas. I may be disappointed with the results and that's OK. I came across some seed packets at my local grocery store. Since I love the way cosmos multiply in my yard, I was thrilled when I saw these "Cupcake Mix" variety. ( I love all things cupcake!) It's late in the season to plant these, since many of my cosmos are already a few inches tall, but I decided to give it a try. And this morning I was happy to see, at only 6 days after planting, I had seedlings! Only a few, but I consider that a baking success (get it, cupcake). These are listed as annuals, but again I have had success with annuals coming back year after year. They also are relatively hail tolerant because of their wispy structure. And finally, I love planting with seeds because I get to try different varieties (like the cupcake cosmos) that you may not be able to buy as a plant. It's also relatively cost effective given most seed packs are between 1 to 3 dollars. I like the ability to disperse them around and with many of these plants they reseed on their own magnificently. If you haven't been able to tell, I enjoy a garden with a wild and random look. I do groups certain plants on occasion, but I like the free form style. Kinda like sprinkles on a cupcake.
What are your favorite plants to grow from seed? Comment your favorite! My lovely Aunt Betty asked if I had any blue Lupine. I have lots of Lupine growing in the garden. And none of them are blue. Just yet. I did plant some Texas Bluebonnets last fall from some seeds I received from my good friend living in Texas. I have noticed green foliage on these bluebonnets, but no flower stalks have emerged. I have also noticed here in Colorado, Lupines started by seed tend to take a season to get going. What was a small plant last year, this year is huge. Most of mine come from seed packets. I did have two pink ones when we started the garden that I got at nursery centers, but both of those only lasted the season and didn't return in the spring. Lupines are some of my favorites. The beauties from this year are enormous. The flowers are some of the biggest and tallest I've seen. Most of mine are already going to seed, which I will harvest and replant or share with friends. We had a hail storm a few weeks back and I was able to cover them with using some plant stakes, beach towels and empty pots that were large enough to flip over. Hail is not friendly to these at all. The larger the leaves and flowers, the more damage the plant receives. While these are hardy to most types of weather, hot temps will cause the leaves to wilt if they haven't had a good drink of water. Another danger to my Lupine forest are those cute little furry wiggly nose bunnies. Which I successfully kept out of my garden all last season! The year before they wreaked havoc and ate nearly everything I planted. The landscape foreman spent an entire day sealing up our back yard and it was very effective. Until today. This morning, Olivia the kitten was chattering at something and low and behold a bunny had made in. I ran out in my PJ's and chased him (or her) back under the hole he had dug under the fence. (think Peter Rabbit and Farmer McGregor) I quickly did a search of the yard looking for more of those wiggly nose fluff balls and then sealed up the tunnel under my fence. Hopefully, it will be the last we will see of them. Sweet Ladybugs you can stay.
So that's the lowdown on the Lupine. Good morning! So a few updates from previous posts. First off if you are reading this, I thank you. (Hi Mom) The site manager and I are still trying to see what works best and working out the weeds. I mean kinks. So the Mysterious wave petunia turns out to be the prettiest shade of dark purple. I know you were completely losing sleep over this. (I kinda was) I even added some pink and purple petunias to the basket just in case they were really not as lovely as I would have wanted. I should have been patient and waited for them to open. Mother nature rarely disappoints. Now I think the mix of purples and pinks is gonna be nothing short of happiness. Also, I added a much better photo of yesterdays 'cupids dart' which when the sun went down completely closed up. I am still liking this addition so much and hoping that it spreads a bit so I have more than one next season. And finally a little sneak peak of our evolving gnome/fairy garden. I started this last summer and love the way it turned out though it is still a work in progress. When trying to find little residents, I found these gnome buttons at Joannes Fabric and we hot glued them to rocks for stability. I'm not sure of how long they will last out there in the sun and heat, but they are fun additions for now. Know who else doesn't sleep.? Spiders. I know this because when I went out into the garden this morning I walked through a whole lot of webs that were not there last night. Eek. Since I have been getting out to water early in the morning (Colorado has been toasty) I have been amazed at how much changes overnight. Like this little fellow. He is a cupids dart that I picked up at the same plant sale I got Princess Victoria..(you know the poppy) It's the neatest plant. I picked it because it was tall and lanky and the most pretty silvery green color. It had no flowers, just buds that looked like little silver alien heads. I had no idea what the flowers would even look like. This plant was growing like crazy but the flowers never seemed to appear. I googled 'cupids dart' and found that its flowers were a pretty blue color and I could see a bluish tinge under the silvery fuzz. Last night it was still closed up. And this morning... Hello pretty blue flower. Almost a purple.
It looks similar to a daisy. And it was really sunny this morning so I will try and get a better picture when it opens up all the way. But I was so excited. In the background you can also see those bright pops of royal blue. Those are California Bluebells. I have several patches of these, some from seed this year and some that returned from last summer, even though they are considered an annual. which is the reason I love seeds. But more on that later. So I suppose I am thankful that plants don't sleep. Because what sweet surprises they offer each morning. Spiders? Please take a night off. I really like poppies. I have a cat named Poppy. For a while they were a wish list flower. You know the ones you see and never buy because you love them so much you are actually afraid to plant them. (I feel this way about Peonies. I have yet to plant one.) My Mama gave me a packet of California Poppy seeds. Since I wasn't hopeful they would grow here in Colorado (It does say California in the name) I mindlessly tossed them into a sunny location in the garden and hoped for the best. And well. They grew. And they spread. Everywhere. It's been about 4 years and yes I have added additional seed packs, but they now fill my garden and I love them. Last summer I planted corn poppies. Love them too. This year they have returned, so stay tuned for their beauty later.
I also planted a seed packet of Iceland poppies (As I had now caught the poppy bug) AND nothing happened. Until this summer. Hi Iceland poppies. I love you too. This spring I planted Three additional packs of poppy seeds. ( I told you it was a problem) I sprinkled Premium Select California Poppy Mission Bells from American Seed. I chose these because they show not only orange but pink and cream. I haven't seen evidence that these came up. (insert sad face) I also added Burpee Giant Peony Poppy Mix. (Did you catch that? A Peony and a Poppy!!) As well as Burpee Ladybird Poppy. I planted these in pots and the garden. Unfortunately, we had a late cold snap that wilted the ones in the pot. But the ones planted in the garden seem to be coming along in the sunny locations I planted them. Stay tuned. A side note on these: They are not really listed to grow in my plant zone. So they may be just an annual instead of perennial here in Colorado. And the icing on the amazing Poppy cupcake, was a find at a local garden sale. An oriental poppy named "Princess Victoria". (I had just finished watching the PBS series on Queen Victoria so it was surely a sign I needed this plant.) Princess Victoria has two buds. I can't even. Really. These are a delicate bunch, these poppies. (Though my sweet furry Poppy kitten is far from delicate). Colorado weather can do a number on these lovelies. California poppies are tougher, withstanding late spring snow storms and hail. They take a beating and a few days later perk right back up. I have a alot of hot rocky locations that they love. As far as the other members of the poppy family, I am quick to cover them if any dicey weather is predicted if I am able. They don't fair up as well due to their delicate petals. Height on these beauties can be tricky when covering them, but I've gotten pretty resourceful (Think tarps an plant stakes). So if you have a flower you are wanting to try, I say just plant it. You may be missing out. (Though I am missing out on those peonies.) I would say that about 50% of the plants we buy come from the clearance area of the garden center. I feel like sometimes all these little fellas need is some water and some pruning and a whole lotta love. I head for that area the second we go in and in many cases I can find the plant I was looking for at a much cheaper price.
Take a recent shopping trip to Lowes. The poor little plants in the reduced price section (In our Lowes they are marked with a yellow price sticker and usually look sad and unhappy) sat a whole lot a Wave Petunias. These are great for containers and planters since they will grow over the side, like a wave of color. (Like the name says). All of these sad little guys had no flowers, but otherwise looked healthy, ( I'm guessing the reason they were on the reduced rack was the lack of flowers) So I grabbed one for 3 bucks and decided it would fill an empty metal container I had yet to fill with garden delight. I had no idea what color it would be since there were not any buds and the tag did not give any indication. It's the chance you take, and I always love a good surprise. Today I see buds. I am making a guess of either dark purple or even a cool black petunia that I have been scoping out at other garden centers. Any guesses out there? Give the reduced rack a try. We have adopted many plants like candytuft and cosmos, pansys and petunias, dogwood shrubs and dahalias and my favorite find this spring, a Mango Popsicle Hot Poker. (you have to check back for photos when it blooms) Most importantly you can give these little cast offs a great home and be able to add more to your garden for less. Once a long long time ago, we moved to Colorado. Our yard was lovely. And since we moved in the fall, most of it was dead...or what they call "sleeping". I had no idea what plants were here until spring when I was surprised at all the cool emerging plants and flowers. Our back yard was mostly grass with a rock border some pines and iris. Fast forward to the summer of 2013, when our amazing landscape foreman (aka husband) used his landscape architect skills to remove the sod and add rock paths and two huge areas for garden love. He gave me a few good foundation plants and the rest is all me. This blog will be a diary of sorts of all things in our sweet little garden. I have an extraordinary assistant and photographer (aka son) who waters and tends and photographs and designs. A cool landscaping husband who buys us plants and digs the holes. So we hope you enjoy checking back to see what our garden goes through in a Colorado season. The crazy weather, the creatures, the changes and how much fun we have tending our sweet little happy place.
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AuthorCrazy plant girl who likes all things flowers, gardens and kittens. Together with my landscape foreman and photographer/site manager, we are watching our garden grow. Archives
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