Spring! Glorious Spring!

Ok so I know I haven't put anything into this blog in several months. But it was winter! Cold, unassailable, desolate, etc. Mostly I was holed up inside the house, staring longingly at my houseplants and gardening catalogs. I feel bad about the catalogs... I sent off for 3 of them, and I haven't ordered anything from them. Everything just came from the greenhouse 3 miles down the road & the local Meijers.

But today we made lots of yard-beautification progress. :) We went out and bought 6 giant planters to go with the other planters we have outside. And about 3 flats worth of flowers to put in them. We built a 4'x8' raised plant bed and filled it with topsoil... from a giant dirt mountain from when they added on to the garage... and had to haul it over. And the dirt is full of rocks! Which is annoying because I'm having to rake them out.

We filled the planters with 1/2 top soil (bottom half) and 1/2 potting soil (top half) and then filled with plants. Dunno how they will look when they fill out but I think they look good now. I'll post up pics tomorrow, I was too tired to do that earlier.

All that is in the plant bed right now is a bird feeder on a shepard's hook, 3 'dinnerplate dahlias' and a 'sara bernhardt' peony. I have yet to find any 'golden bracelet' peonies locally and I really don't feel like paying $35+shipping to get 1 from online and have it shipped to me. So I guess that'll have to wait, we got the Sara's at SamsClub with 4 in the box for $16.99. Hopefully it comes up! The Dahlias were already starting to grow when we opened the box so I know they're good. Lol.

Still not sure what else I want in the box... I know I want to put a rosebush in there not sure what kind yet, or color. Guess it'll depend on what color the dahlia's are. Hmm. We saw a 'double delight' today at the greenhouse, smelled really good and was mostly white with some pink edging.

Anyway, it's a work in progress! And that's what's so fun about it, getting your hands dirty, having something beautiful when you're done, and enjoying the journey! :)

Spring is almost here!

All our snow here in MI has melted, it's been in the 40-50's and it's been raining! I love rain. :) Even if it's cold and damp instead of warm, it's still very peaceful, and it helps to melt all the leftover snow. We got a lot of snow this winter, and this winter was a lot colder and harder than it usually is.

I've sent for and received 3 seed catalogs one from Springtop nursery, Gurney's nursery, and Michigan Bulb Co. So far I'm leaning towards Michigan bulb because they sell complete garden kits. Not you know everything you need for a garden, but all the plants to make a specific kind of garden. This is interesting to me because as a first year gardener I feel a little overwhelmed when it comes to picking out plants that will mesh together. So I'm thinking I would get one of those kits for the 'full sun' garden and then add some extra plants that I would like to try growing. :)

I've also been thinking about planting some raspberry canes, I love eating them in my oatmeal and they would be delicious fresh! We had some when we first moved in (the last owner was a real plant lover) but they died out after 3 years or so and we planted grass seed where the plot used to be. I've been looking at Gurney's for the raspberry canes, and also for rosebushes and peonies. They've got some good deals on that stuff.

We're also looking into getting a new lilac bush to replace the one that was cut down when we put in the new septic system. The other 3 are the old french kind, purple, fragrant, and remind you of days long past. We're thinking of putting in a pink one, or a yellow one. They have an everbloom variety of pink that tends more towards shrub than tree in size and supposedly blooms 2-3 times a year. Even if it doesn't bloom more than once it's still pretty looking.

Right now I'm still in the design phase, but spring is coming up pretty quick, and maybe early this year! But I'll definately have to start creating beds by the end of April and send off for my plants so I can get everything in the ground in time to bloom this year! Or in the case of bulbs... next year. :)

Pics of the Peonies

So went to Home Depot today to get liquid sandpaper to degloss the paint in the bathroom and while I was there we looked at the seed packages they've just set out and also at the little plastic dome things they sell to grow seedlings in. I think some of the plants, like the candytuft will have to be grown from seed, I doubt I'll be able to find them at the local garden center already grown. Looks doable, I think I'd want to use the peat pellet ones because I tried to grow the ones where you add the dirt and it didn't do so well for me which is why I usually just buy them... but this time I think I should grow my own when possible.

Anyway just thought I'd give an update on the rosebush, still doing good and opening up a bit more but none of them are completely opened yet. And I need to fill it with some water because it's starting to dry out.

Oh! And I went back to the peonies website and took copies of the pictures they had of the peonies I liked. If you want to check the website out for yourself you can do it here: http://www.paeonia.com/html/catalogue/cat_ac.htm

And here are the pics:


This is Nellie Saylor


Golden Bracelet


Felix Crousset


Faith Fenton (very similar looking to fairy's petticoat)


Fairy's Petticoat


Evening Star

Sorry, I know a couple of them are pixelated for some reason... not sure why it's only those two but whatever. Lol.

Plant Research

So I've been reading a book called 'The Weekender's Garden Manual' it's one of my used book purchases but I like the idea of it. Obviously I'm going to have more time than the people in this book expect you to have which is only about 2-4 hours a week to work in your garden. I can easily put in twice that without a lot of effort. But they had garden plans and easy to grow plants that you could use in your garden and I thought that sounded like a good stepping off point for the novice gardener such as myself. A lot of their plants were annuals so no biggie if I decide to change the garden around after awhile. Anyway here are the plants they recommended. A couple are no good to me since the garden faces south and will be exposed to sun all day long but most can tolerate or thrive in full sun conditions.

Recommended:
Bleeding Heart (PS)
Chives
Crocus (S-PS)
Daffodil (S-PS)
Iris (S-PS)
Jacob's Ladder (PS)
Peony (S)
Snowdrop (S)
Bachelor's Button (S)
Bee Balm (S)
Balloon Flower (S)
Black eyed Susan (S)
Candytuft (?)
Day Lily (S)
Feverfew (S)
Marigold (S)
Chrysanthemum (S)
Sedum (S)

Others that I would like try:
Painted Daisy (S)
Geraniums (S)
Coral Bells (S-PS)
Rose (S)
Columbine (PS)
Begonias (S-SH)
Hostas (SH-PS)
Snapdragons (S-PS)
Zinnias (S)
Butterfly Bush (S)

S = sun, PS = part shade, SH = shade

This sounds like a lot of plants to put in the garden though, and I want the garden to be small at first, and add on to it later when I feel more certain of my footing. I'm thinking maybe half of the space that I can have. Not sure which half I want to work with though. So I need to winnow this list down, there's a lot of tall flowers in it and I need to make it work with some short, medium, and tall or maybe just have one tall section. And I'm not sure yet whether I want to have a 'formal' or 'informal' garden style. I'm leaning towards informal though, I've always liked cottage style gardens, I think they are lovely.

As I stated before I'd like to put the mini rose bush I've got now into the ground in the spring if it survives living in the house over the winter. If it doesn't make it, I'll probably go out and buy another rose bush to plant in the spring, but as for the peonies I don't think they'll end up in my garden. They are wonderful plants, and we had 4 of them growing on the side of the garage (detached) when we moved in here 13 years ago, but slowly and through various means they have all died and have been so for the last 4 years. So what my mother and I plan to do is buy several different types of peonies, and I have picked some out, and plant them back on the side of the house with some good fertilizer thrown in, and this time stakes to hold up the blossoms and a little fence around them so that my dad doesn't get weed wacker happy and take them out again. Lol.

The varieties I liked the look of were:
Evening star (white) (good smell)
Felix Crousse (reddish pink) (faint smell)
Faith Fenton (pale pinkish white) (excellent smell)
Fairy's Petticoat (pale pinkish white) (excellent smell)
Golden Bracelet (white with yellow 'bracelet' and more white) (excellent smell)
Nellie Saylor (striped reddish pink, pink, and white) (faint smell)

If anybody actually reads this blog, lol, I would like some input on the plants I have chosen here, or the peonies, or well just about anything gardenwise in general. :)