Posts from the ‘Flower & Garden’ Category

Jul 27

What I’ve Learned About My Gardening Style

I recently had an ‘aha moment’ about my gardening style and decided I need to work on my patience and organization. I figure by sharing some of the mistakes I’ve been making, others can hold me accountable and maybe learn a little in the process.

Here’s a list of my more common gardening mistakes, followed by the plan I’ll follow to become a better gardener.

If I love a plant, I buy it. This is only a problem when I don’t have anywhere to plant my new treasure and end up putting it in the first open spot that’s big enough. In most cases I end up moving the plant at a later date.
I don’t plan before I plant. I do this mostly because I need to get it in the ground quick before it dries out. As a result, I get clashing bloom colors, taller plants in front of smaller plants or plants getting too large for the space. Again, I end up moving the plant at a later date.
Instead buying three or more of the same plant, I buy one. I’ve noticed lately that I have a lot of single plants scattered throughout the garden instead of plant groupings. This makes for a messy look in the garden. I really love the way plant groupings look — clean and uniform.
I get plants from other gardeners or plant sales. In other words, I have a lot of random nameless free plants. This is okay until it’s time to get more of the same plant or someone asks me the plant name.

Being a Better Gardener Will Take Patience & Organization

To start, I’ll do a little reorganizing and create a garden plan. This includes flagging plants NOW that need a new home in either my garden or a friend’s garden. Since I’ll do most of the moving in the fall, I have plenty of time to evaluate the new location to make sure it’s best.

I will document all plants in my garden and create tags with plant name, size, bloom time and color. This new labeling approach should help me from planting orange poppies next to pink peonies again. And by having the plant details I can purchase more of the same plants I’ve grown to love.

In the future, when purchasing new plants, I will carefully evaluate what I need and where it will live in the garden. If a plant will look fabulous as a grouping, I will sacrifice getting other random plants and purchase multiples of the same plant instead.

I’m glad I finally realize what I’m doing wrong. The chaos of blooms, colors and random plant heights finally pushed me over the edge this summer. Now, it’s your turn to hold me accountable.

Jul 16

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What’s Blooming this July 15

Here’s everything that’s blooming in my garden this July 15, 2009. I thought about cheating by taking pictures of flowers that were almost blooming – but I didn’t. Enjoy.

Jun 7

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9 – Hosta: My Top 10 Favorite Plants

I can never have enough Hostas. I buy new ones every year and still seem to need more. Even today I was thinking I needed some Hostas for under the Magnolia – the hydrangeas just aren’t enough. I love the big leaves, the colors, and the different shapes and sizes.

I’m always on a mission to find a huge leaf hosta. I have a couple big ones – but not THE big one. Maybe next year.

May 16

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8 – Lilacs: My Top 10 Favorite Plants

I didn’t purchase a single one of these lilacs. I dug each of them up from random people’s yards. I then dug them up and moved them all again. That’s why they’re a little on the small side.

Another reason they’re scrawy, is because I was inspired to prune the lilacs to be more like trees. What seems like forever ago, I saw pictures of a town/island on the east coast known for lilacs (can’t remember the name) and all the lilacs were trees and not bushes. I think they look elegant this way. So, until they fill in and get more mature they’ll continue to be on the scrawny side. This doesn’t bother me since they still produce beautiful fragrant flower clusters and for some reason I can be patient with these plants.

I’m already looking forward to next year.

And YES, we have a movie screen on the back of our garage. Nothing compares to watching movies outside in the summer. In the garden.

May 3

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My Trip to the Master Gardener Plant Sale

My treasures

This was my first year attending the Snohomish County Master Gardener Plant Sale in Mill Creek. It was well worth the trip. Not only did it have plant starts and a vast selection of tomato plants but it also had a couple specialized nurseries selling unique plants.

I found two real treasures today: Aeonium Arboreum (plant in front) and Heuchera Marmalade (orange/pink plant in back)! Loved both of theses the second I saw them.

For the garden I also picked up Aeonium Pinwheel; Aconitum; and 2 Hostas (both big leaf one blue one green variegated)

For the herbs I purchased Berggarten Sage; Salvia Microphylla ‘Hot Lips’; Golden Sage; Rosemary; Cilantro; Italian Parsley; Dill; French Thyme; 2 Sweet Basil; and Mammoth Sweet Basil. Since I don’t have room in the new herb raised bed, I guess I’ll have to dig up some pots – that should be pretty cute.

For the vegetable garden I picked up some peppers, including Blockbuster Bell; California Wonder Bell; 2 Jalapenos; and a mystery pepper with a poorly written name. I also got six tomatoes: Ildi (yellow cherry); Gardener’s Delight (cherry); Big Beef; Stupice; Big Rainbow; and Ensalada (Roma).

This was my last big plant buying trip of the year. I still need to cover up that pesky fence and get some bamboo to shade the chicken coop.

There were a couple nurseries there that had amazing plants, including White Picket Gardens from Stanwood and the Desert Northwest from Sequim. Desert Northwest is were I picked up the Aeonium. He also had a great selection of eucalyptus plants; and some day I will have a eucalyptus tree in my yard. He did mention that he can ship plants if needed so check them out.