Shades of Spring



Cover of Fine Gardening Magazine



 I've done it again.  I've gone over board with planting and designing the backyard.  I intended on only doing the bare minimum to keep the garden looking cared for and low maintenance but instead I started envisioning how the yard can look its best.  Once I clean up one area and make it look ready for spring, I think to myself, it really would make this section look better if I clean up and plant flowers over in this area across from where I am....and so on....and so on.  So what started to be "I will only plant a few flowers on the porch to attract hummingbirds" has turned into a corner patio table area, planting wildflowers across the fence, get a larger trellis for honeysuckle vine, a window box display, veggie garden, porch flowers, etc. 

After working in the yard last weekend, this week I have been itching to get back out there.  I've been looking through magazine and Internet photos for inspiration for flower combinations.  After looking at countless photos of flowers I came to the conclusion that I am most attracted to pink and orange together in the garden.  I don't know why it didn't dawn on me earlier because looking back I usually choose pink, orange or peach flowers.  It finally came together when I saw this Fine Gardening Magazine cover (photo above) and decided I wanted to duplicate it.  I started choosing other plants that were either pink, orange or the combination of the two and realized that most of the plants I was picking were flowers I have bought in previous years.  So there you go, pink and orange are my favorite colors in the garden.  Below are some of the flowers I intend to plant this Spring.

 I just bought a packet of these neon poppy seeds from One Stop Poppy Shoppe, an online shop that has tons of poppies to choose from.  I thought these looked very similar to the ones on the magazine cover.

Peach Melba Nasturtiums.  I bought seeds from Schmidt's that I will use as a filler along the fence because they mound up and cover a pretty large area.

Next to the porch and the container I am creating a hummingbird station I planted Goldflame honeysuckle.  Not only does it attract hummingbirds but it has a delicious aroma.  These vines grow up to 20 ft.  The trellis I had wasn't very wide so I just bought a larger one today (another expense I wasn't counting on this year).

Agastache.  I bough this last year as a start because it smelled like lemon.  It is a perennial so it should come back.  If not, I just found out our store carries the starts and the seeds.  I bought a packet of seeds today to spread along the house with the poppies and nasturtiums.

Penstemon, another hummingbird favorite.  I tried planting these last year but I didn't have luck. It was probably because I weeded that area thinking nothing had come up.  I think I took out some good plants when I did that.  Hopefully this year they will sprout. 

Lantana.  Another one of my favorites.  I had this in a container one year and it was beautiful all summer long.  The flowers change colors from the time they first open to the time they are ready to seed so the container was a nice mix of pinks, yellows and oranges everyday.

Normally I don't really like begonias but I absolutely love dragon wing begonias.  Ever since I discovered them 3 years ago I plant at least one ever year.  In my patio area I usually have them in 2 matching containers flanking another large container full of other plants and flowers.

As much as I want to get down and dirty in the garden this weekend I heard the weather was turning fowl on Sunday and Monday (my days off), so instead of battling the last of my weeds in the rain, I think I will take a break from the yard and head up to Portland and visit Amy, another former Schmidt's girl.  This will give me a change to hangout with a good friend as well as give me time to plot out just how I want to arrange plants and seeds in the rest of the backyard.  I still haven't even thought of the veggie garden or the patio yet...that will have to wait for another month I think. 

April Showers Can't Keep Me Indoors

After returning home from Germany a week ago I have been very busy at work.  People are ready to garden and shop for gardening supplies.  I've been so exhausted after work that I haven't had energy to blog lately.  But I was determined to garden this weekend no matter if it was sunny or not.  I was prepared to have my rain jacket and boots on just so I could get my garden Spring ready.  Luckily yesterday and today have been clear so far and I worked 5 1/2 hours total in the yard.  I removed the leftover garbage and litter from the fall, mowed the lawn, ripped out two shrubs that I hated, weeded, created a pole for one of my bird feeders, made the backyard puppy proof for when I get a puppy and planted veggies, hanging baskets and pots.  I still have a lot of weeding left.  I am fighting a never ending battle against blackberries and vinca vine that keep creeping over the neighbor's fence.  I wanted to share this blog with everyone so that you could get a glimpse of what I've been up to as well as remind myself when I planted and fertilized now so that in early June I will remember to fertilize again.

Planting Potatoes:

 I planted 3 tubs full of potatoes.  Here are the products I used to do so.  Planting mix, Bumper crop and Potato tubs (you get two in a package).  All supplies can be found at Schmidt's.  I also had a leftover potato bin from last year.  I thought I would compare which container works the best.

 Planting potatoes is simple.  Chose a sunny location and just fill your container 6 inches high with a mixture of planting mix and bumper crop.  Place your potatoes in the container.  3 seemed to fit in mine.  I chose small potatoes, I you grab large potatoes cut them into smaller pieces and spread them out in the container.  Then place a few more inches of soil and compost above the potatoes.  And that's it.  When the potato vines stick out a few inches from the top of the soil cover them completely with more soil and bumper crop.  Repeat as necessary until the soil fills the entire container.  Then watch them grow for the rest of summer.

You'll know when its time to dig them up when the vines die back completely in the fall.

Build a Bird feeder Station:

I have this very cute log cabin bird house that my boyfriend's family gave me this Christmas.  The juncos seem to love it (there is one in the picture above).  I didn't just want to hang this one from the tree so I decided to make it a post to sit on and create a feeder station with other types of feeders such as a suet feeder, platform feeder and a squirrel log feeder.



 First, I bought an 8' post from Home Depot for $3.  I only wanted my pole to stand 4' high so I borrowed a circular saw and cut it down to 5' so that I could dig it 12" down for stability.  I dug a hole and place the pole inside and stomped the dirt back around while making sure it was straight.  If you want to cement it in the ground for added stability you can.  I chose not to because it seemed sturdy enough and the birds that land on it don't really weigh much to knock it down.

 I then found a scrap piece of fence board and cut it down so it fit underneath the lip of the feeder.  I nailed it tight on the pole and checked again to make sure it was level.

 Finally I set the feeder on the pole.  Eventually I will add the other feeders I mentioned onto the pole.  For now this was all I had time for but I will keep you updated on the other steps in the future.

 My new shaded gnome and bird feeder station.  There used to be a forsythia bush here but it was much smaller than the other two next to it so I dug it up and placed some log stumps here that were left in the yard, set some glazed pots filled with plants on top and added some gnomes and shady loving plants at the base. 

 I planted two hosta plants and hellebore in another part of the yard last year.  I moved them to this location to add a woodland feel to the setup.  It also saved me money because I used what I already had instead of buying new plants.

 I just saw a chickadee land on the feed while I am typing this post.

 This gnome looked really cut swinging in the tree.  Unfortunately the wind knocked him down already so I will have to find a way to permanently stick him up here so he can connect with the birds.

Bee and Bird Garden:

Last year I went a little overboard planting flowers and veggies.  This year I want to keep it simple and only plant a few things that way I am not spending all my mornings and evenings watering for hours.  This year I also want to plant flowers that attract bees and birds to the yard.  If you haven't figured it out yet, I love the birds.  I also love bees, without bees our world would be quite a bit different.  And since bee population have been declining, I thought I would help them out and plant flowers to aid their survival.  I purchased two packs of seeds, Save the Bees Mix and a Song Bird mix and scattered the seed along the fence line.  Whatever chooses to sprout will be the only flowers I plant.  It will be survival of the fittest.  I'm hoping most of the seed comes up, if not, oh well, I will try again next year.

I am also working on ways to attract hummingbirds to my yard.  Currently I have only seen them in the winter.  I put two feeders out all winter and saw three different hummers almost daily. But once the weather starts to warm up they leave my yard.  I am hoping by planting lots of flowers that have nectar than they will stick around.  So far I have penstamon, black and blue salvia, foxglove, fuchsia, cape fuchsia, and columbine, all of which should attract them to the yard.  Last year with all of these plants I still didn't see any hummingbirds during the summer.  So this year I am adding red petunias, more fuchsias, red nasturtiums, coral honeysuckle and whatever else I can think of that will be a beacon to visit my backyard.  

Other Backyard Projects:

 I made my own hanging basket with the starts from the Schmidt's sale last week.  I have creeping charlie, three fuchsias and nemesia in this shade loving basket.

 For all of my plantings and transplants I used the Gardner and Bloom Starter fertilizer mixed with Bumper Crop to make my plants really bloom this Spring and Summer.

 I replanted my strawberry basket.  I chose to use this type of container hanging by the back porch because we have been having trouble keeping rats out of the yard.  I put it up high so that they couldn't eat the strawberries.  Last summer the rats ate all of our corn and tomatoes before they were just about to ripen.  We might have to take serious measures against the vermin this year.

 I planted a white bleeding heart bush underneath this tree.

 Here is Aberforth lending a hand in the garden by taking weeds out with his wheelbarrow.

  My flower bed is looking full this month.  Most of the daffodils are blooming and a few of the pink tulips are up.  There are more flowers growing than I thought.  The squirrels (Bret and David Bowie) left me lots of holes from digging up bulbs and replanting them elsewhere in the yard.

Mannheim's Trip through Germany

Hello All, Mannheim here. I was finally able to sneak onto Jessica's computer while she's out gardening to post my own photos and tidbits I picked up while traveling in Germany and France.  Most of the time I was stuffed inside a purse but I did get out and talk to the locals and find out how they live.
 

Here I am at the airport.  Music is a great way to bring different cultures together.  I'm listing to this  gentleman's ipod.  He has fine taste in music, and clothing if I might say so.

To save energy, I always take the moving walkway.

Notre Dam Strasbourg, France.  A beautiful Gothic cathedral.

Luc Arbogast in front of Notre Dam.  Sorry the video is sideways, Jessica couldn't figure out how to rotate it.

On the balcony of the Best Western.  A beautiful morning this was.

Outside the Cochem Castle.  It was common to see murals like this one on the castles, cathedrals and buildings in each town.

This horn centerpiece was used as a wine glass.  It was passed around the table until it was empty.

The two tall steins hold 5 liters of wine, the small one holds 1 liter.  This was the daily ration each man and woman was allowed to drink.

A vine covered sign in Cochem

Here I am in front of Constantine's Basilica in Trier, Germany

In the courtyard of the palace next to the Basilica

This was the first local I met on my trip.  He was quite drooly and not much of a conversationalist.

I saw a few local gnomes from a distance.  They were all pretty busy and didn't have time to chat.

A neighborhood sign in Hemsbach

Finally, some real gnomes to talk to!

I don't know what these gnomes have been eating but they are quite a bit larger than American gnomes.

After all the people were asleep, I snuck out the attic window and met up with these fellas at the pub.

This movie sure looks a lot like Mall Cop.

Here I am passing through the check point at the Air Force base in Rammstein.

Sitting down for dinner inside the Air Force Base mall.  The Germans have much larger beer mugs than in the States.

Overlooking the Bavarian Alps.  Its good I'm not scared of heights because one false move and I could have ended up in pieces on the bottom of this mountain.

On the other side of the lake with the Nurnberg museum behind me.

The podium that Hitler stood from at the rally grounds.  You might be able to see me, I'm standing in front of the rails.

A closer view.  Its a very impressive structure.

Looking out on to what used to be the Nazi rally field where they held troop assemblies and parties.

Now it is a race track and a park.

Ausfahrt means exit in German.  It became a joke that Ausfahrt is the largest city in German because every exit leads you to Ausfahrt.

This is what a German toilet looks like.  Its pretty similar except the handle to flush is missing.  Instead you press the button located on the wall about the bowl.

Looking out onto the charming town of Heidelberg.

There were lots of pugs here.  Jessica and Lauren went a little crazy and took lots of photos of each pug they saw on the trip.

You should be able to recognize this song.  Its Achy Breaky Heart from Billy Ray Cyrus

Gotta run.  I hear Jessica coming back in the house.  Until next time...