Lilies

Lilies.  I love lilies because of their shape. These flowers come back year after year and if you buy them on the discount, off that I-have-been-neglected shelf, then you will be rewarded the next year.  The peach ones and I think the yellow one were bought in that way.  I just shoveled them into the ground and hoped for something nice the next year and I got it! They remind me of little stars!  How wonderful, a garden to wish upon :).

All hail to the zucchini!

I have succeeded and I have proof!  The leaves are ginormous!  I am not worried about the spots because it seems to be from the trees in the neighbor's yard.

I started these little babies indoors when I could not wait to sink my hands into the soil and now...they are producing! Yay!

From garden to grill to belly!

Cosmo

Here is that little cosmo I spoke of yesterday.  I tried starting these indoors and that did not work out so well.  I have found that a cheap dollar-store ice-cube tray works very well for starting your little seedlings.  I got the idea from asking my Aunt what was in the egg carton outside....cheap ways to achieve beauty!

I really like the shape and color of these.  Everyone knows that I love orange but if the others had come up as well I would have had red and yellow too.  Next year ice-cube tray outside it is.  I find that doing this allows me to see the plant start so that it is easy to identify as a non-weed (sometimes I get a little over-zealous with my weeding) and to leave it alone and enjoy.  I love it! Little plant cubes :)

Growing

The garden is really coming along!  Apparently spaghetti squash is a climber! Who knew? My zucchini plants are so big that they look like something other-worldly and considering that I did not succeed with it last year- take that!  Last year, Sable kept eating the leaves, I moved the plant and it died.

I gained a bunch of free plants a few days ago thanks to my neighbor.  Neighbor D was given them because another neighbor could not care for them and alas they were bequeathed to me.  I hope I do right by them!  I gained a lot of basil, plum tomatoes, cucumbers (hope they don't get too crowded but just the right amount), and a couple more zucchini plants.

I am going to stop slacking on my garden blog because I know that I will thank myself next year for every entry that I make this year.

Those cosmos that I planted and forgot about? Well...I think I thought some were weeds and one still came through...a beautiful orange.  I am making better plant labels for next year; perhaps that will be my winter garden project.

Oh, if you haven't checked her out, www.yougrowgirl.com , this woman is awesome!  I have both of her books and I keep going to them an discovering new ideas.  My dad has placed a lot of gardening knowledge in me throughout the years and he is my go-to person and these books help foster the can-do attitude.  The books are not about things being "perfect" but just plain functional :).

Our Little Friend

We have this bird that has made a nest in our gutter. He sings and sings and sings but still no female comes to join him. Poor birdie. He moves from his home to the roof on our garage.  The bird is persistent, you must give him that!

Difference

I have decided to make the blog public. I took down the family trees and anything too personal. I want to write about life and have people read it. Perhaps this will push me into finally creating my own book. Who knows? But I figured I would tell ya'll that I am going public. I doubt many/any will begin to read it but hey...we shall see!

Weed identification

The first picture just straight up confuses me. I have no idea...it just looks strange. Any help would be wonderful :).






There are some weeds that I have never seen before and some that I am not quite sure are weeds at all. There is this one that grows along my fence-line that I am not sure what the heck it is but it seems to strategically grow so I wonder if it is anything good. Anyone know these? Oh...and if they are just straight up weeds...of course I never let them grow that high...it is a figment of your imagination. If they are something good..then I did it on purpose :).

Current State of the Garden

This is the side plot that I spoke about previously. A tree tried to kill our efforts but Steve's crafty maneuvering, only one plant was lost and even that one has not completely died so...who knows. Poor pepper plant.

The first image is a curby cucumber plant. I am a bit upset that I have not see any sprouts of the cucumber plants that I tried to start from seed. However, as you can see with the pair of pictures two down from this one, my string beans gave me the same fear and they are coming up with a vengeance now. Patience is a necessary virtue for a good gardener.

The plant with big leaves is my zucchini. Last year, I only planted one zucchini plant and I had to transplant her because Sable, the dog, was eating the leaves. Once I transplanted her, she did not thrive. This year I swore that I would have success with zucchini and, as is my nature, I may have planted more than I need and hence, you all may be receiving presents in the form of produce if all goes well. I am also trying out spaghetti squash but given the fact that they are both squash and have the same leaves...I am not sure if they are thriving or zucchini took over. Who knows? But time will tell me soon enough.

Currently testing out onions. That is the strange pic with the tip that almost looks like a flower but not quite. I do not know what to expect from it. These were onions that sprouted in our pantry and I decided, what the heck, let me shove them in the ground and see what happens. If nothing else, it is interesting to look at.

Current list of what I am growing in this garden plot: black beauty eggplant, basil (not doing to well yet), lemon balm (love this- can't stop smelling it!), tomatoes, sweet 100 tomatoes, yellow, green, and red peppers, zucchini, spaghetti squash, cucumbers: curby and regular (no sprouts yet:(), sugar snap peas, artichokes (which have not sprouted or anything), and grapes.

I hope to post pictures as flowers begin production on these plants and when they begin to bear fruit. Such a simple pleasure and so wonderful. Enjoy mother nature ya'll!

Peonies

When we have the good fortune of moving to a larger house, I swear I will have to dig up some of these peonies to take with me. I never knew what kind of flower they were before. Heck I never knew the names of most plants before we bought our first home. Shhh don't tell my father that I know this stuff now...it is our little joke.
"Cynthia, what kind of flowers are these?"
"Pretty ones," I always say with a great big smile on my face.

Well now... I am in a constant state of learning. I crave to be able to name every plant in my yard. I still don't but I am progressing. These peonies are mainly in our cesspool garden. Mom doesn't like it that I call it that but considering the other name that I would title it...I think this one suits it just fine. The things is...everything grows like crazy there. These peonies, to me, are such a sight of beauty that I have to stop and smell them every time I pass.

I hope to find my pictures of the garden in early spring too. During April-May this garden is full of crocuses and daffodils.

I plan on transplanting some of the peonies to different parts of the yard once they have bloomed out. I want to help mother nature spread her beauty to more areas of the yard. Any hints/ suggestions/ things to watch out for when transplanting?