End of Month View: June 2011

The weeds are whipping me.

I was going to take a little walk of my cottage garden and post it as a video, but I am too ashamed! (blush) 

You know how you walk through the garden and your mind's eye sees the finished product and not what is actually there? My mind's eye was gracious enough to disappear last night. Holy smokes.

Let's start with the good.

The Walker's Low catmint explodes, then I whack it all off, then it explodes again. It's terribly pretty.

This was a pleasant surprise in the Mailbox Garden! Somebody had sent me some Gaillardia seeds (I have since lost the label) which I felt indebted to sow. I don't usually like the normal orange/red combo, but this one bloomed and is a lovely rusten-red. Yes, rusten-red is an imaginary word, but that's what is it.

I may or may not have stuck my tongue back out at this unknown daylily.

The bees were busy-busy-busy at the Butterfly Bush last night. The purple one is nearly ready to open, but the pink one has a few days to go yet. I haven't seen any butterflies at them yet, but plenty of bees and hummingbirds! 

I know monarda can take over a garden quickly, but who can resist this striking color? It shot up at least a foot and a half taller than last year. I know it's going to outgrow its spot sooner than I think.

Overall, I'm very happy with the progress of the Vegetable Garden. I've decided that while I *love* the creativeness that the beds afford, I hate the fact that they are much harder to weed. The half that is Old School Rows is much easier to maintain.

Now for the bad:

Actually, I consider this one of the "good" weeds because I can pull it out with barely a tug. I'm not even going to honor the nasty roots-to-China weeds with the dignity of a photo.

 Weeding by Suffocation: the Lazy Gardener's Handbook. 

I spy...grass infested Hollyhocks functioning as a nightclub for slugs and aphids. Drat.

The shasta daisies are hitting the trashcan after they flower. I've had them for four years, and they haven't improved. I keep giving them the benefit of the doubt that next year they'll look better... but they have used up all of their chances.

Let's not forget the downright ugly:

And the moral of the story? Just like people, radishes should wear sunscreen.

Thanks to the Patient Gardener for hosting this humbling End of the Month View meme!

Welcome to Pinterest!

Are you on Pinterest yet?

Fair warning - before I tell you more:

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What do you do when you're puttering around online and find a great plant combo you'd like to try, a recipe or two you want to make, and a crazy idea for turning toilet paper rolls into wall art?

You probably either:

1. Bookmark it, then forget about it.

2. Jot it down on a scrap of paper, then forget about it

3. Think you'll remember, then forget about it

Enter Pinterest.

Pinterest is basically a visual bookmarking site - you "pin"and organize photos you find online onto your personal pinboards.  The best part is that you can follow other people's pinboards too! You need to have an invitation to join Pinterest - I'd be happy to give you one if you want to try it out - just make sure I have your email so I can send you the invite. :) 

Let's say you are busy reading Sweet Bean Gardening, and you come across my tutorial on how to make seed-starting pots. You think, "I ought to remember that for next year!" 

Once you have joined Pinterest, you add their Pin It button to your toolbar. When you're reading my post about the seedstarting pots, just click the Pin It button and all the images from that page will pop up.

Select what photo you'd like to pin. A little pop up will appear (which I couldn't get a screenshot of) and you can give it a little description if you'd like.

Now you see it posted to my pinboard, with a link back to my blog.

So now you have a visual reminder of how to make the seed-starting pots, plus you have the link back to the tutorial. This is so much more efficient than my usual routine of bookmarking-then-forgetting!

You can also follow other people's pinboards and see what they have been pinning. If you see something you'd like to add to your boards, you can repin it to your pinboard. We are talking crazy loads of inspiration here. And I thought I could get lost in the bowels of Etsy for days...now I have a place to keep all my garden inspiration ideas! 

You are welcome to follow me on Pinterest! I also have the little red "P" button on my sidebar.

I'd love to send you an invitation and see what you are pinning...I'm not sure my house & garden can handle all the ideas that are pouring through my head thanks to Pinterest!

Nemesis Plants

Do you have a Nemesis Plant? 

I have a theory that all gardeners have at least one (or two or three) plants that just will. not. grow. no matter what you try. Never mind that the plant is flourishing two houses down at the home of the neighbor who whacks every plant down to its nub. Never mind that your friend can throw the seeds on her concrete driveway and the plant will miraculously thrive. 

The Nemesis Plant is the plant who mocks you to your face. 

"Sucker!!! Just try and grow me again!"

And of course, I cave and keep valiantly trying to grow the blasted things.

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I can proudly boast that I managed to get one sweet pea bloom three years ago. 

On second thought, that's not much to boast about. :)

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You have my permission to laugh, O reader. The humble nasturtium has bested me. 

I have visual documentation to prove that I had beginner's luck with nasturtiums in my very first garden. In fact, they grew almost too beautifully and as I recall, crammed over everything!

They must have had their fill of me because in the five years since, not *one* has decided to germinate. And I so was hoping to have nasturtiums stuffed in the nooks & crannies of my vegetable garden as a sacrificial plant for the aphids. Maybe next year! :)

Do you have a Nemesis Plant? 

And most importantly, have you ever bested it or is it still taunting you?

5 Theme Garden Dreams

I find theme gardens is particularly intriguing - limiting the garden design & palette in keeping with a single idea. Knowing myself, I could develop elaborate theme garden plans, but have a hard time restraining myself from shoving in "just one more plant." :)

Even so, of course I have a garden planning spreadsheet of theme gardens which I'd love to try someday!

1. Zoo Garden
The sweet beans love to help me garden, and they would *love* having a Zoo Garden. I can imagine a kid-firendly Zoo Garden is packed full of plants with animal names. If you wanted to get elaborate, you could even make several sections - a Butterfly Garden, a Wild Animals garden ("caged in" with a fence of course!), a Petting Zoo garden, etc.

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At one time, I had a monster list of animal-named plants that would be appropriate for a Zoo Garden. I can't find it right now, but here is a sampling of the types of plants you could include:

Tiger Lilies

Snapdragons

Lambs Ears
Spider Flower
Butterfly Bush
Zebra Grass

2. Moon Garden
A moon garden is designed to shine in the moonlight...silver & white are the main colors of this theme. Add some dark green foliage to counter the white flowers and make them appear extra bright. If you can add some scented flowers and tuck in a small water feature, even better. Make sure, though, that the spot you select for your moon garden will be in the moonlight. :) Seems obvious, but it's just the kind of thing I would forget about.

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The thought of enjoying a peaceful cuppa tea out in the summer moonlight is enough to make me start planning this garden straightaway. Good plants to start your Moon Garden off with would be:

Sweet Alyssum
White Petunias
Dusty Miller
Angel's Trumpet
Moonflowers
Baby's Breath

3. Calendar Border Garden
I've always dreamed of planting a Calendar Border Garden along the edge of a wall or vegetable garden. The border would begin blooming at the left edge with the earliest flowering bulbs. The blooms would slowly progress left to right throughout the season. At the end of the growing season, the last blooms would end up on the right side of the border. This type of garden would take some planning!

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Here in zone 5, the bones of a Calendar Border would probably look something like this:

Early Spring - Snowdrops, Crocus, Reticulated Irist
Spring - Forsythia, Daffodils, Tulips
Early Summer - Candytuft, Peonies, Roses
Summer - Echinacea, Phlox, Rudbeckia
Fall - Mums, Asters, Ornamental Grasses
Winter - Boxwood, Hollies, Redtwigged Dogwood

4. Family Garden
When my sweet beans were born, I (naturally) bought plants to commemorate their birth. My mom always talks about her mother's Russian Olive tree, monarda remind me of my mom, and peonies are my dear husband's (the Brute Force of the Garden) favorite plant.

A Family Garden would look different for each family, but it would contain plants that have meaning for YOUR family. You could have a small section with favorite plants for each person, or plant a garden in honor of someone in your family. Any way you design it though, a Family Garden would be a garden with stories to share.

5. Soap Opera Garden
I mentioned in June's Garden Blogger's Bloom Day that I wanted to plant a soap opera garden.

My soap opera garden would be called The Bold & The Beautiful and would feature big, exotic blooms with bright, loud colors. I don't normally buy these types of flowers (because I'm going for a tranquil cottage garden look), but they would be perfect in the right setting.

Soap opera plants could include:
Canna lilies
Hibiscus
Red Hot Pokers
Cactus (don't soap operas always have some prickly characters?)
Oriental lilies

What kinds of theme gardens would you like to plant? 

Rained Out Garden Review

I'm finding myself looking longingly out the windows at the garden this week.

You know, that same antsy craving-to-get-dirt-in-your-hands feeling that comes over you late winter?

It's been rain and rain and wind, and cool, and oh yeah, .... more rain.

 I love living in Indiana, I really do. Let me be clear though. The weeds are going to EAT ME ALIVE by the time I can finally get in the garden again. I can almost see them laughing at me.

But since I'm the one with the hoe in my hands, my laughter sounds much more threatening. :)

This is my first year growing dill and it's almost too pretty to harvest. I love how delicate it is. I need to research how to harvest & dry it for use over the winter - has anybody done this?

Amish Deer Tongue lettuce that gave me a several cuttings worth before it "bitterized." I ripped out the last of the lettuce plants before all this cool rain hit. The Tornado begged for a taste of the bitter lettuce, so I let her have a bite...hahaha! Don't think she'll go for that again!

 We ate our first swiss chard two nights ago, sauteed in olive oil with garlic scapes & mushrooms. Risky to plant something you might find you hate, but I have always wanted to grow swiss chard because it is just so lovely. I figured if we despise the way it tastes, at least it is ornamental.

Early Girl tomatoes living up to their name!

Of course I can't leave out the flowers...sucker for blooms that I am. I almost threw out these Farewell to Spring seeds, but I'm so glad I didn't! I have a nice large mass of these blooming outside of the window that I've been spending most of my time staring out of. :)

My common white baby's breath have not followed the Gardener's Proverb!

First year sleep,

Second year creep,

Third year leap.

They wanted to leap in their second year instead and have ballooned way out of the space that I had given them to creep on. Note to self: transplant these babies in the fall.

These summer bulbs have gotten stuck with the name Triple Lilies. They are another manna plant for me, sending up long green shoots in the spring, then finally blossoming in early summer. I'm not sure why I started calling them triple lilies, but triple lilies it is.

What's going on in YOUR garden?

Dirt Cheap: Finch Feeder (Semi-Fail)

There is a time for everything. (Ecc. 3:1a)

We sing this verse a LOT in our household...usually reminding little sweet beans that it's time to do something they don't want to do...you know,  life-shattering jobs like brushing your teeth. 

And today it's time to share a Dirt Cheap Semi-Fail.

Usually my dirt cheap ventures work out fairly well, but there are definitely times when the project dive bombs. This one didn't go immediately into the trash, but neither do I give it a soaring review.

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 I kept hearing about making a super-easy Finch Feeder out of nylons and good old nyjer seed. We love seeing the pretty little goldfinches in the summer! Recently they have been fluttering around the garden & trash talking at me through the window. 

"Got any good seed? Used to be a regular buffet over here, musta gone outta business! C'mon lady!"

Kindheartedly I complete the following steps for a Homemade Finch Feeder:

1. Drag out an old knee-high or length of nylon stocking

2. Carefully pour nyjer seed in through a funnel

3. Knot the loose end

4. Make a few small snags in the hose to allow the birds to get to the seed

 

After two whole weeks, do you think the finches have the decency to at least pretend to eat from my feeder? Oh no! They flirt around the rest of the yard and leave me on the Goldfinch Blacklist.

Puh.

I was in the middle of writing this post and very nearly published it off as a Fail, but wait-

Little stinker! :) I'm glad he found it though. Maybe he'll bring in some new customers!

Valley of the Shadow of Strawberries

Even though I'm walking through the Valley of the Shadow of Strawberries,



I will be back into the land of the living next week.

Red with strawberry stained hands, sunburn & all. :)

Bloom Day: June 2011

Happy Garden Blogger's Bloom Day! 

I'm always a little giddy when the 15th of the month rolls around. :)

All of the June roses are shining in their glory. This blaze rose makes me gasp a happy little gasp every time I see it snuggled up these stunning strawberry foxgloves.

The common blue bachelor's buttons are bursting out all over the garden. I used to see these alongside the road and we always called them cornflowers. The blue is the prettiest, I think, but I have pink ones too. 

I dare any bachelor to have prettier buttons!

The orange lilies have a love-hate relationship with me. The color is a bit garish for the calm, serene garden mood I'm going after. They are so exotically beautiful when they bloom though, that I can't bear to pull them out. 

Maybe I'll plant a soap opera garden someday - The Bold & The Beautiful - and they can be transplanted there.

Isn't this the sweetest tiny delphinium? She's only about a foot high - and full of the bluey blues that I love so much. I almost missed this one; she was hiding under the butterfly bush.

What's blooming in your garden on this June day? Don't forget to check out the hundreds thousands of blooms for Garden Blogger's Bloom Day over at May Dreams Gardens!

Dirt Cheap: Homemade Row Cover

I've always been intimidated by row covers.

They seem like a tool for the Professional Gardeners among us...you know, the ones who have a 3 acre garden which they cultivate entirely by hand? Plus, the prices of the row covers I have seen in gardening magazines would require me to sell a kidney to have enough funds to purchase one. Or if  not quite kidney-worthy, maybe a lesser organ like an appendix. :)

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Row covers can be invaluable though, even for the novice gardener. They let you get a jumpstart on the gardening season by creating a mini-greenhouse atmosphere, and they also let you extend the garden season by providing frost protection. Here's how to make your own for under 20 bucks:

How to Make a Homemade Row Cover:

1. Decide how large your row cover needs to be. I wanted mine to fit one of my veg garden beds, which is approximately 4x10.  I spaced each piped support of my cover about 2 1/2 feet apart - so I had 4 pipes in my 10 foot row. You could space them a little farther apart if needed, but keep them relatively close so that your cover doesn't sag terribly.

2.  Armed with this info, hit up your local hardware store. You will need to buy:

- 2 short pieces of rebar for each piped support

- a length of flexible PVC piping for each support

This sounds scary for the non-handy gardener, so here are my tips: Waltz in, and ask. :) Or...

Waltz in, find where the concrete is, and you will find the rebar. It's a metal bar/pipe, looks rusty, and will get your hands dirty. Take a wipe with you! The piping is a little trickier. I found it near the electrical supplies, but your mileage may vary. It comes in several lengths and a big coil, so your price may increase if your row cover is significantly larger than mine.

The waltzing is non-negotiable.

3. Pound the rebar into the ground using a rubber mallet. I found it was easier to slide the pipe on if I put the rebar in at an angle, but again, that may vary according to the size of cover you need.  

4. Measure off the distance you need in between supports (see #1) and pound in the rest of the rebar you need for one side of the row cover. I used a very non-accurate wooden stake pictured above.

5. Slide one end of the pipe over the rebar.  Making progress!

6. Use the pipe as a guide to determine where you need to pound in the other piece of rebar (on the other side of the cover). As an alternative, you could measure precisely first, pound in the rebar on both sides of the cover, and finally slide on the piping. My eyeball-as-you-go approach works too.

7. And there you have the row cover skeleton! The only thing left to do is cover it up. You can buy specific row cover material, or use a homemade substitute like sheer curtains. I've even heard of some magical stuff called shade cloth which helps you start cool-weather crops in the heat of summer.

I'm planning on testing out some different kinds of covers and ways to secure the covers in the fall, and I'll do another dirt cheap post on the results. 

Looks a bit like Millennium Park, eh?

Can you imagine the sheer number of lettuces you could grow if they got a row cover on that? :)