Winter is the most perfect time to plan for the new growing season and expanding your spring wish list. Seed catalogs are flooding our mailboxes right now, teasing us with those picture perfect flowers that they promise will grow and flourish in our gardens. But any level headed gardener knows that is not always the case, they tempt us knowing we can’t resist. One way to battle the temptations is to play around with your space a little and think outside the box, or in this case, inside the box. I have a lot of fun with theme gardens, it allows me the freedom to try new plants and produce an eye catching flower bed that has related species to a theme. . . .
I came across this article TWICE in one week so thought it prudent to share it with you.I mean, really, I don’t want to run into you on the street and have you accusing me of leaving you out of THE LOOP. You know, the groovy loop. The loop of all hip things in gardening. You have a right and a need to know, dear reader/gardening friend. YES YOU DO.
Odyssey Bulbs has long been a favorite of mine for unusual bulbs (including unusual varieties of colchicum) that you’re not likely to find elsewhere–not even at Brent and Becky’s. I...
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to bulbs
on Feb 10, 2008, 4:43PM
Posted by Kathy Purdy Reblogged by Old Roses to bulbs on 2008-02-11, 19:24:16
I came across an interesting blogging meme the other day. No, it's not another 8 Random Things About Me or 10 Reasons Why I Like Monkeys or any of the other ridiculous things making their way around the blogosphere. It's actually something related to gardening. I saw it first at InTheGardenOnline. Colleen posted about how she was going to start growing Lemon Cucumbers and Sage. How is that a fun new blogging meme you ask? Well let me tell you. . . .
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Posted by Anthony Reblogged by Old Roses to vegetables on 2008-02-11, 19:23:57
What do beginners need to know about lawn care? For starters:
How to use and maintain a mower
Weed control
Fertilizing
Irrigation
If you're open to new ideas, you may also be interested in hearing...
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to lawns
on Feb 10, 2008, 12:42AM
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to lawns on 2008-02-11, 19:22:45
Thats a topic I would bet everyone of you has been mulling about recently. Another good bet is that youve ordered more plant seeds than you have garden space for....
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to gardens
on Feb 10, 2008, 8:01PM
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to Gardens on 2008-02-11, 19:22:36
Normally, my busy time at work is finished by the second weekend of February... but that's not true this year, I'm afraid. It's been a long winter in that way.
Unlike many of my fellow garden bloggers, it seems, I have been lucky enough to escape the "winter blahs," or Seasonal Affective Disorder, or whatever you want to call it. I think that my regular walks, both with and without my four-legged gardening assistant, really help. Winter seems much less oppressive when you do not feel house-bound because of it. . . .
Sorry to say, I don't know what this is... is it in the poppy family? In any case, in various shades of violet, these are coming into bloom on the campus where I teach...
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to flowers
Posted by LisaBee Reblogged by Old Roses to flowers on 2008-02-11, 19:21:56
I was so excited to see that Melinda over at Elements in Time is hosting a challange to grow a new food. I'm so there! I've been throwing around the idea of growing green beans since I was enjoying a plate of delicious frozen ones the other day and dreaming of how fresh ones would taste. Now it seems I have no choice! I must do it! I have no seeds so I must find them and I must plant them!
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to vegetables
Posted by Gina Reblogged by Old Roses to vegetables on 2008-02-11, 19:21:44
sind mehrjährige krautige Pflanzen, Basis behaart und verholzt und enthalten einen weißen Milchsaft. Sie werden in unseren Breiten - Mittelhessen - ca. 80-100 cm hoch, wenn ihnen der Boden gefällt. Bei meinen Staudengärtner gefällt es ihnen, drum hab ich es gewagt und beide Sorten gepflanzt. Gründauer Dreh ist eine Eigenzüchtung der Staudengärtnerei Kustermann in Nieder-Gründau bei Gelnhausen. Eigentlich kümmere ich mich gar nicht um sie und sie danken es mir trotzdem mit einem tollen Wuchs! Stecklinge habe ich auch schon gemacht, sie gedeihen.
It's always nice to come back home, look in the orchid room and think there is nothing new, then upon closer inspection there is this flower and the other oe and by the time you stop counting there are at least six new blooms:
Top left, Cattelya Loddigessii from Brazil. I love this flower, but it was not a great grower in my orchid room, then two years ago I switched one to cork and it did great, now all of them are on cork and the difference is incredible, next week the "pilot" of that should flower and I will show it in detail. The one above was the second one I switched and it's still a small plant. On the right an Oncidium, I don't know where I got it or what it is but it is very nice and the picture came out really well. It is a long stem above a meter and a half with dozens of flowers. . . .
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on Feb 10, 2008, 9:25PM
Posted by Reblogged by Old Roses to orchids on 2008-02-11, 19:19:58
The coleus are coloring up already! They only have 1 set of true leaves and are the sloooowest growing plant I've ever started from seed (OK, might be a toss-up with the rodos and azaleas), but they have the most beautiful pinky/maroon coloring beginning to fill in with the lime green edging. Maybe they will look a lot like their mom after all.
Geesh... The things that make me happy!
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Posted by Tina Reblogged by Old Roses to seedlings on 2008-02-11, 19:18:48
Over the past week we have had lots of snow, and I mean lots of snow. Over the past 3 or 4 years my part of the province has had winters with below average snow fall. But this year we are making up for it. The photo above was taken on Feb. 3 and shows the garden under many centimeters of snow. . . .
Every gardener should have a flower press to preserve the beauty of their flowers. Read here to make the traditional flower press.
To make a microwave flower press, cut two pieces of thick cardboard - about 10 inches square - but the actual size will depend on the dimensions of your microwave. You also need sheets of newsprint the same size, and wide elastic bands. You can't fit the larger leaves or many flowers into this press, so you might want to have several of them so that you can do lots of flowers and leaves one right after the other. . . .
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Posted by Crafty Gardener Reblogged by Old Roses to tools on 2008-02-11, 19:18:13
With winter's presence there is not much to blog about in the department of gardens. Yesterday I transplanted my sad little lemon button fern into a bigger pot and I also cleaned up some of it's dead fronds. My winter has been consumed with being sick, getting better, getting sick again, getting rash from medicine, school, and homework.
Here’s one of the great writers - we garden writers like to claim him as our own - of our modern thinking on the food scene. Michael Pollan has written books about what happens when you look at the world from a plant’s point of view - I invite you to do this kind of thing in your own garden.
Check out this video and see if it doesn’t make you look at the world in a slightly different way.
via Growing with Plants on 1969-12-31, 19:00:00
