Sunday, June 5, 2016

Flowers to Plant from seed in June

Flowers to Plant from seeds in June (Renees Garden)

 (my favorites, nasturtium)
simple to plant, long trailing vine and bloom, sweet lily pad like greenery on vine.  - seed packet, pencil, poke hole in potted plant, depth 1 inch,  cover with soil, water= long lasting flowers a month later.  germination 10-12 days, sun and part sun.  Easy to grow, edible flowers   

 

Plant flowers
in June from seed.
marigolds,  sunflowers, cosmos, zinnias, four o'clocks, nasturtiums,
annuals that usually burn out by late summer.
these produce a second crop of blooms around labor day

June and July -
start seeds for perennials and biennials to bloom next spring.
Sow in a protected seed bed.
Transplant seedlings in fall to winter over and bloom, for blooms in the garden the next year.

seeds- fast growing
Sweet alyssum, celosia, cornflower or bachelor button, marigold and cosmos. Zinnias, sunflowers and morning glories for color and quick growth, a favorite- nasturtiums 

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Notes to self - pruning in spring

My apologies to anyone reading this (other than myself )   ;)

These are my notes to self on how to clean up my flower beds each spring,
so I don't have to keep repeating research how-to's.
One day, my gardens will look cared for.

help  Mo Botanical
http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/gardens-gardening/your-garden/help-for-the-home-gardener/advice-tips-resources/visual-guides/yew-problems.aspx

Front Gardens

Garden 1
  • mulch  -
  • fertilize
  • hydrangea -keep old wood- add acid, coffee grounds - prune some in fall? as I go.
  • Russian sage - Russian sage
    Fertilizer every other year
    Cut to ground in April
    Or cut 6 inches tall .cut just above 2 leaves 
    Mulch?
    Cut again spent flowers for regrowth                                                                                                         prune early spring  6 weeks after last  frost end of may- first of June - pinch back at 12 inches early summer - prune away dead and damaged stems- midsummer prune dead flowers
  • cat mint - shear back, divide, cut spent flowers. needs shaping and dividing
  • lambs ear - control? replant?  would look nice with white aster or white daisy.
  • mums- good- leave alone- divide every 2 to 3 years
  • lavender-  Plant in amended soil, low to ground. Leave moat surround and raised edge to water 2-3 times a week.  Prune in spring. Never prune in fall.   Fall pruning weakens plant.
    Prune when plant starts to green up in the spring. May dead head in summer. Not fall .
                               don't cut old wood   - cut back 1/2 every three years- prune after flowering don't prune in spring or fall- old plants don't like to be divided
  • phlox- plant care - full sun moist
  • trim monkey grass
  • cut ivy WAY back
  • rhododendron and azaleas - acidic soil ph 5.5  - pinch back- prune early spring - gently they don't bloom for 3 years afterwards.
  • hostas  (clip ivy around) divide early spring, use a clean spade.
  • chocolate chip ajuga (add bright green hosta fire island contrast) avens  corydalis yellow - evergold  coral bells
  • Annabelle hydrangea - blooms on new wood - prune to ground ONLY in the fall- NOT spring . cut way back plant in a hedge prefer morning sun dappled afternoon shade plant  3 to 4 feet apart .  basic pruning - before AUGUST 1 st - remove dead stems  - prune to ground after 5 years
  • pee gee -remove cross branches
  • endless summer  - add gypsum - slow release npk ratio 10-30-10 

plant lilacs and Annabelle hydrangeas

2nd bed around tree-
ivy,
liriope,
lambs ear- add color or keep as easy care?

3rd bed
lavendar
blanket flower (doesn't do well, but like the color)
salvia
ivy
Stella D'ora
lambs ear


4th bed
River Birches- prune
ivy- cut way back
lavender
sedum stone crop and (brlliant) purple phlox
hosta
lambs ear and trim birds nest spruce
chocolate chip ajuga
(sedum harvest moon) . was beautiful, didn't return well


5th bed
- liriope
- ivy
-stella dora
box wood
azaleas
juniper
blue star juniper 

6th
swampthing-
award winning ?  Weeping Temple Juniper    look up care?
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/192604/
- liriope
- ivy
-stella dora
azalea
juniper
blue star juniper
bulbs
junipers

yews how to prune?
HOSTAS
a variety

Back Gardens

 Garden 1 

phlox
butterfly bush
When To Prune Buddleia: blooms on the new wood of the season and should be pruned in late winter /early spring to encourage new growth.  Prune before new growth starts to appear to approximately 12 inches (30 centimeters) above the ground. - highly benefit from a severe pruning.  "Hard" pruning Butterfly Bush promotes many new arching branches with larger flowers than if the plant had not been pruned. 
 
stella dora
lambs ear- texture
veronica
stone crop
lavender
Pruning: Lavender is a woody subshrub, and pruning techniques should reflect this. Do not prune in spring until new growth appears, and leave plants alone for the winter. Plants may be sheared back and shaped after flowering, but do not cut low into old wood. If older plants become unsightly, cut back by a third every three years.DO NOT TRIM FALL WINTER
hosta
Annabelle hydrangia
china girl holly
hosta
columbine- needs more sun
hostas
phlox
digitalis
black eyed susans
tall white phlox
bushy daisys
hydrangea
Coreopsis -

by studio 

phlox
butterfly bush
lo and behold butterflybush
stella dora
lambs ear 
cat mint
veronica
stone crop
lavendar
Annabelle hydrangia?
black eyes susans
tall white phlox
becky daisys
Coreopsis
liriope
azalia


potted plants

holly
butterfly bush
peonies afternoon sun
drought tolerant
sedum yarrow
feather reed euphorbia coneflower aster hollyhock Russian sage
aster daisy veronica

Garden by Back Wall  
  
lambs ear 
cat mint
stone crop
lavendar
Blushing bride hydrangia
black eyes susans- not growing? why?
becky daisys  not growing clay??
sweet pea? not growing? why 
boxwood
skyrocket holly
evergreen tree a ?
liriope
HARSH CLAY CONDITIONS

BACK GARDEN BY WINDOWS

Lace Leaf Maple
Dog wood
Blue Evergreen
3 white pines
Blackeyed susans didn't grow
Daisy's didn't grow
knockout didn't grow
Euonymus bush - trim
neon pink spirea
purple loosestrife- non propogating (love it)
Mexican Bush Sage
Salvia
Sage 
phlox
day lillies
evergreens yew
stella dora
lambs ear
veronica
stone crop
lavendar
hosta
Annabelle hydrangia
peonie
black eyes susans?
tall white phlox
Coreopsis -
irus


Garden back 
hosta
roses
catmint
daylillies
hydrangea

Conifer garden
false cypress
false cypress



YEW
help  Mo Botanical
http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/gardens-gardening/your-garden/help-for-the-home-gardener/advice-tips-resources/visual-guides/yew-problems.aspx

cut back to side shoots or buds to leave a natural look. Be sure and use sharp pruning shears. Good pruning is an art that develops with practice, but here are the proper pruning techniques to use for some of the common evergreens.
Pine: cut or pinch off up to one half the length of the new growth, as they elongate in late spring. This should be done yearly to keep plants small.
Arborvitae: shear along sides and top to keep the growth thick and the plant at the desired size. Prune in early spring or in mid-summer.
Juniper: this is a large and very popular group of evergreens. Shear upright forms regularly at the sides and the top to keep the desired shape. Prune shrub forms by cutting back the most vigorous branches to side shoots. Pruning can be done at any time of year.
Japanese yew: shear or selectively prune back to side shoots or buds depending upon the effect you want. Light pruning throughout the year is best, but severe pruning can be done in early spring if the plants are overgrown.
Spruce: spruce needs very little pruning. If growth is rapid, open spaces may develop. To reduce open spaces at the top, cut the leader back to a lateral bud in the early spring before new growth begins. If the pruning causes a double leader to form, remove one of the leaders as soon as you detect the problem. Although spruce can be sheared, the effect is unnatural and not generally recommended.



Friday, January 8, 2016

January- Time to Paint the Garden!


This has been a time of great loss for my family.   I'm thankful for my beautiful mother's life.
Through the year we've also lost my mother in law, a sweet elderly friend and my husband's best friend.  
...I'm not going to write about it.

Because it's January!  
Time to PAINT the Garden.  

Oh! how I love to paint my garden.  (It's always much more beautiful in my dreams.)  Reality requires work.      

How to paint a garden?  Use the months of January, Feb and March and April to dream about what your window vignette should look like.  Imagine each window as a frame to a beautiful, ever changing painting.  With God as the artist, it is always a masterpiece.

Imagine paintings changing season by season, day by day.    Add in bark and evergreens for wintry days plus lots of color for spring and summer.  

Yes, my garden is still an all you can eat buffet for the many critters living nearby, deer, squirrel, fox, groundhogs, and raccoon.  Last year, we caught three groundhogs in Have-A-Hearts. Then turned them free miles away in the woods (last spring). Could the same ones return? or do we have three new Groundhogs?
My dad and mice- too funny!
...when dad caught a mouse in his Have-A-Heart, he painted their toenails with bright red fingernail polish (toes peeking through the cage below).  
Even when driven miles away, red toed mice would show up again and again in our have-a hearts.
Wonder what those mice thought?


Did I mention I haven't been taking care of my garden?   This just happened last year, despite my neglect.  Beautiful!   

My husband watered




Guess who I discovered in the shower one early morning!?




  
I saw wee bits of nature while at my parents home in West Virginia.  
It's not a stretch to see where ideas come from.  

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Petunias *sigh*




I've been away all summer and came back to these perfect petunias! 
No care- how did this happen?

Saturday, February 14, 2015

Dreaming of Lavendar Gardens


Brutal Winter go away, I'm dreaming of Lavender Gardens.
Andrew Lawson  Beautiful!
Lemon kniphofia spike through a line of silver foliage plants, including lavender, 
lambsear?, santolina and larger-leafed brachyglottis


Beautiful!  This garden takes my breath away.  My garden inspiration for my dry hot patch of weeds behind my art studio.  Looking forward to big laughs ahead!
Will use multi-lavendars, with lambs ear. not sure what the lambsear-esque plant is. Don't see santolina? help?

Lavender Phenomenal YES!
Lavandula angustifolia Violet Intrigue- YES!
L.x intermedia 'Silver Edge'
love this!  may use rather than lambs ear.



Lavandula x intermedia Grosso
LOVE!
Lavandula x intermedia Phenomenal™
LOVE!!


Lavendar- care- Take care to not cut into old brown wood.  Lavendar will not produce new shoots from the old wood. Shear to a few green leaves above brown stems.  Keep your lavendar hedge full and as level as possible.

Lavender Phenomenal is a new and improved Lavender with bright silver foliage

Saturday, May 31, 2014

Notes to Self - March

to plant from seed this year...


grasses  

1.
Blue Fescue
deer res.
18 inches tall 


From White flower farms inspirations   www.whiteflowerfarm.com


Not all perennials are good candidates for starting from seed. Some need to be propagated vegetatively- by division or cuttings- in order to produce cultivars or cultivated varieties that will be identical to the parent plant. But seeds of the flowers listed below are gardener-friendly. They are easy-to-grow choices that reward a little bit of effort with a lot of garden color.
Black Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia) — From summer to frost, the 2-3" gold-petaled, daisy-like flowers with dark centers add easy care color to the garden. Plants grow 25" tall. Direct seed in the garden spring through midsummer.
Blanket Flower (Gaillardia aristata) —With its spectacular, 3-4" yellow and red flowers, blanket flower provides plenty of color on 25-30" plants from June to frost. Easy to grow, they can be direct seeded in the garden.
'McKana's Giant Mix' Columbine (Aquilegia) —Large, spurred blossoms in shades of white, pink, violet and blue sway gracefully above a mound of ferny foliage. May be direct-seeded May through July for flowers the following spring.
Sweet William Mixture (Dianthus) — Large clusters of small, carnation-like flowers in a mix of white, pink and red on 15" tall plants add color to a sunny spot and provide blossoms for cutting. Can be direct seeded.
'Russell Mix' Lupine (Lupinus) — The tall spikes of flowers in this fancy mix bloom in pinks, blues and reds in June and July. Adaptable and easy to grow, the seeds of these 3' tall plants can be sown directly in the garden.
Purple Coneflower (Echinacea) —Blooming from midsummer until frost, this easy to grow perennial bears large, rose-pink, daisy-like flowers. Plants are heat and drought tolerant and have few insect or disease problems. Easy to direct sow.
Shasta Daisy (Leucanthemum x superbum) — Perfect for a sunny spot, these 18-20" tall plants are covered with white daisies with yellow centers in summer. Tolerant of tough growing conditions, their foliage is almost evergreen, especially in warmer areas. Can

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Dreaming of a garden...

I love this garden and can't take my eyes off of it.  It isn't my garden, but one I found years ago and kept a photo for research  ( apologies to the owner of this garden)

inspirational  - from Missouri Gardens
Guesses?
Front  
Purple phlox and 
maiden grass 
or lily in the front

spires to the left are purple Salvia or  Purple Sage, or Veronica
low yellowgreen plant?  
lambs ear  
coreopsis
yellow sun- coreposis? 
feathery leaves


around the first curve, 
catmint or lavendar?  --------yellow low color? sun- coreposis? feathery leaves
low lambsear
dianthis
something feathery and bluegreen- 
I have this but the name excapes me...
second layer is
bigger droopy leaves, middle row - a peony
red behind - barberry
maybe catmint?
yellow gold feathery med height
orange lily
larger mass of feathery yellow greens
blackeyed susan
feathery type grass?
russian sage behind
behind is some yarrow (yellows)
not sure what is next hidden?
tall something (butterfly bush next to fountain grass)
something blooming med in front
something low and green in front
five things not sure of?


silver blue 2 to 3 feet tall plant not sure of?


rudbekia (husband is very allergic- but I love)
blue green feathery not sure of med height
Annebelle hydrangia
iris in front of




lambs ear
salvia
Mums
grass
diantis or
butterfly bush
butterfly weed

Physostegia virginiana 'Pink Manners' 

white yarrow
veronica
cosmos
juniper
dusty miller
Coreopsis Sienna Sunset
maiden grass
Lady's Mantle  Cranesbill

Campanula persicifolia Grandiflora Alba
Coreopsis Sienna Sunset