It's Not Spring By a Long Shot

We've had some really nice days these last couple of weeks. Except for a little storm that produced slick roads with snow just barely covering the grass, this last while has been very pleasant with 40 degree sunny days and little wind.  Now this week, we are seeing a few days in the 50's.  I was outside this afternoon waving off some dear company and I noticed this:

My one lone spinach plant is still alive!!  I wonder if I put something over it in January and February it will live.  If it would I should be planting more seed now.

December 10, 2011

My Mom is a bird watcher so when we were there I was taking cardinal pictures for her.  We had 3 pair come to the feeders.

 Snow, December 7 

After the December 7 snow.

November 20, 2011

I planted some spinach seeds by the front step in  late summer, forgot to water them and forgot all about them.  One plant came up and have been slowly producing a few leaves.  It has been doing fine, until these last few days.  We are getting lows in the teens now.  We have had a lot of very lovely 50 degree days.  It was 32 for the high today.  Growing season is over.  If I had some sort of cover, I could keep it going a while longer.

October 22, 2011

I think I will be adding more things to this blog.  I was reading the paper this morning and realizing this is a good place to keep tips.

Next year I want to plant spinach and lettuce to harvest in the fall.  Our freeze date is Oct. 5, so I need to count backwards from the maturity date on the seed packet to know when to plant.  Water deeply, mulch, and cover on freezing nights.  Harvest early and often.

For best fall blooming mums.  At 4-6 inches tall, prune back, leaving two to three leaves, every 3-4 weeks until July 15.  They should be divided every 3 to 5 years.

October 21, 2011

This growing season is about over.  We had our first freeze, with no warning frosts on the 19th.  We had 24 degrees. Not everything froze.  The marigolds did, and the volunteer cantelope.  And of course, anything left in the garden, which wasn't much. I gave up on the tomatoes weeks ago.  There was a couple more zucchinis, so we ate one in zucchini scramble and the other one is still sitting on my counter waiting to be grated and frozen for zucchini bread. So, I still have flowers to look at, my pansies, and mums, and my petunias in the planters on the west side of the house.

I've been wanting to clean the leaves and cornshucks off the deck and patio, so I did that today.  It was gorgeous, and 70 with no wind.  I brought in all the deck flowers and cleaned up some extra things that live on the deck in the summer so it looks bare out there.  I want to bring the the deck cushions, but I'm going to wait until this very nice fall is over.  We've had some very nice weeks, 40ish nights and 60 and 70ish days. It has been a beautiful fall.

Finally, the mums are in bloom, just in time to freeze, thank goodness they do well in cold temps. 

A few pansies are still hanging in there.  

And finally the mum by the front walk.  Blooming at last.

And it very likely will be goodbye until next spring.

Oh, wait. I picked some mint and dried it to use for tea.  It took just a little bit in the dehydrator, and then I stripped the leaves.

And I planted some nasturtium seeds in my window box in the kitchen, where a basil plant has died.   

October 10, 2011

I haven't done anything else in the flower garden since the last weeding, which was late enough, that there isn't much weed activity going on.  The corn shuck blowing event missed us this year. 

 This is what it looked like last year. 

I guess the wind was in a little different direction.

Anyway, there are bright spots of color around this time of year, and STILL my mum by the front walk isn't blooming.  I better remember to get a photo.

October 6, 2011

I've been busy and it hasn't been with gardening.  We haven't had frost yet, we've had beautiful, sunny, 70-ish days, and they have been lovely.  Today however, is a different story.  We've had 30-35mph winds with gusts to 60 mph.  They corn shucks are blowing off the field south of us and piling up everywhere.  Last year we had a big mess of them on the patio.  We are getting some little tomatoes from our pots.  We get more plant that tomato off those.  I'm not picking tomatoes anymore. They were about done anyway, and Lynette and I went to Wisconsin.  Jim brought in the rest of the peppers tonight, two cucumbers, and three big zucchini.  I was supposed to write down when I planted them, but I think it was the last week in July.  Next year I would like to try middle July.  Our patio flowers are limping along. We've been forgetting to water them.  My big flower garden has been looking nice, but it won't anymore after the wind and corn shucks.  I still have a big mum out there that hasn't bloomed yet!! It is the one by the front walk.  My terrace flower garden has been over taken by volunteer cantelope.  There is one that might be ripe before frost.  I need to check it.

August 11, 2009

This year we are having poor luck in the gardening department.  We picked about a gallon of tomatoes today, but so many of our Romas have spots.  I froze a gallon and a half of beans, canned one pint of dills.  The cucumbers are dying now.  One thing that is doing really well is our red potatoes.  The vines are dying and Jim has started to dig them up.  They are nice sized, and not lumpy and bumpy.  They look like the ones you buy in the store!!

Freezing Corn

We got our corn in the freezer for this year.  We took three days to do it. Five dozen ears, Thurs, July 28th, made 24 pints and took us four hours.  We did 10 dozen on Saturday, with 51 pints, and 6 dozen today, 28 pints.

Last week, I put a couple quarts of beans in the freezer and canned 3 quarts, 1 pint of Caddie Pickles.

Then with my few cucumbers I made 2 quarts of dills.

July 25, 2011

4 quarts, 1 pint pickled beets, 1 gallon of beans frozen a few days ago, Today I put 2 1/2 pints of blueberries in the freezer.  I got them for 1.88 a pint.  I baked two 4" blueberry pies, and froze one and a peach one, made out of one peach.

Canning Starts

5 quarts pickled beets, 6 1/2 pints zucchini relish.


http://newgrammaathome.blogspot.com/2011/07/canning-season-begins.html

July 20.2011

I'm trying to get an hour's worth of weeding in the flower garden every dry morning.  It's been so hot and humid, I've been out at 7.  Of course, I let the weeds get about a foot tall before I started.  So much for "doing better this year.  

I'm working on the side of the shop, too.  We have a bush there that is spawning two babies.  I put a columbine next to that, weeding around them, dropped some larkspur seeds, and blazing star and penstemon,  This is the north side, and I've blocked out the space with old 2x4's for now.  The west edge has a Stella d' oro lily at the corner, going strong, with some iris.  But there is a black walnut tree in the middle, and lots of brome grass.  I've finally got some holly hocks going, and I've dumped the other seed there, too.  (west side)  I think I will have to wait until next year and spray the grass early.  

I want to get some skinny tomato cages for the holly hock, delphinium, and something else, evening primrose?

Also, those taller frames that you can put flower pots on and display work well for spreading tall flowers.

Jim is just now watering the corn.  This week is the first we've had to water anything, we've had so much rain.  I planted some peas where the other ones only produced three on a new package.  They were a casualty from the cold, I imagine. We are eating green beans now, and zucchini.  The second planting of cucumbers is not coming up either. 

Jim at Work

June 4, 2011

We planted 8 more spruce trees along the south edge of our "vacant lot" and Jim installed a drip system to water them with the 8 from last year.  It is nice that he can do this so easily. 

June 28

Of course, the usual thing has happened, I didn't keep up with my photo taking or my weeding like I wanted to, I did other things instead.  It is, however, taking a long time to be hot and it's been raining about every other day, too.  Not, just sprinkles, but measurable rain!!  Four days ago we had 2", and we've had another nice rain with a little hail just a couple of days ago. 

I planted the mint in the terrace garden and it is doing fine.  The asters, I forgot to plant right away and they are doing NOTHING in the pots.  Just sitting there. 

Zane was a sort of help the day I planted the petunias in the front window boxes.  He was over exuberant in the watering department.

My pansies are beautiful!

(out front)

I think this is the gas plant I got from mom.  Your are supposed to be able to light the blooms after dark, they put out enough gas to burn.  This is the first year they've bloomed.  I've had it several years. 

(middle circle, main flower garden)

I love these larkspurs, the original seed came from Jim's dad flowers. I've had them all over in the garden, but I'm trying to keep them in this part just north of the house at the moment.  They tend to reseed everywhere. 

(dry garden)

 On the left, are my painted daisies are looking just like they do every year.  Scraggly and yellow.  I need more iron in my soil.    Usable iron, anyway.  These were yellow when I planted them.  One year later, they've reverted to pink. The photo on the right is spiderwort which we dug up by the Platte River one year.  It is a native variety so it does well without overtaking.
(by the pond)                                                                                                                                                                    (dry garden)

Daisies and Bachelor Buttons (blue cornflower) look so pretty together. 

( main flower garden)

Silver mound with dianthus

(main flower garden)

 My beautiful vining pink mini rose, in my depression glass cup and saucer. 

 Climbing Rose, it sure should be doing better than it does, but a lot depends on our soil, which is white clay, and we likely don't fertilize effectively. 

(rose garden)

I THINK this is a "nearly wild" rose bush.  I love them and it blooms it head off a couple times a season.  It tends to grow very long branches part of the time and needs trimmed off. 

(front of the house)

Blue Flax next to coral bells.  This reseeds itself well, and not too much.  I have to watch to keep it where I want it.

(main flower garden)

Double Delight rose, gone wild.

(main flower garden)

I see that last years petunias have reseeded themselves and come to join the pink ones. 

(window boxes)

Clematis

(Flagpole garden)

Our red dianthus, so pretty, and it keeps coming back.  It is usually good for three or four years. We like to put blue lobelia in with it, but couldn't find any this year. 

Jim has extended the trellis for the clematis.  It grows bigger every year and is doing splendidly.  The first year or so, it grew slowly and died all together, which is a normal problem with new clematis, as they get older they should do all right. 

May 22

We have had a lot of rain lately and wind and cooler days, so I haven't been out to do much weeding.  I went out tonight to take pictures of the flowers in bloom right now. 

Hardy Geranium, Snow on the Mountain (I think), Thrift

Columbine, Purple Iris, Heliotrope (I'm not sure)



Dianthus and Silver Mound

Columbine

Perennial Bachelor Button

Coral Bells. Snowdrift

White Iris

May 10

Jim planted another two rows of sweet corn.  I spent a little time cleaning out a section of the main flower garden. The easiest part.

I love lilacs.  They are one of my favorite flowers.  I say that I am finding about a lot of things.  They are my favorite FRAGRANT flowers, how about that.  We have a row to hide the shop from the road.

Here's one with a bumble bee in it.

The King's Bathtub

If you take the petals off a violet blossom, you can see the king taking his bath.

Pictures here 

May 7

I've been busy, but the gardening is still going on, slowly.  This spring is way behind.  Our ash trees aren't leafed out yet. And it has been so windy.  Jim planted 2 rows of sweet corn May 2nd.  We had a freeze that night. We might have gotten frost the next night, too.  Our cherry tree was just starting bloom so I think it will be okay. We'll have more cherries than we will want, need or use, if all these blooms make cherries!

This little bush is one of my favorites.  It's a pink flowering almond, and like so many of my chosen plants, there is a story behind the reason I have one. 
My paternal grandfather worked in the laboratory of Mount Arbor Nurseries in Shenandoah, Iowa, and my grandmother worked in the office.  We had from them roses, and also a little bush like this one.  I used to visit and admire it when it bloomed in the spring, and I remembered what it looked like. Years later when I wanted a bush like that for my own garden, neither Mom nor Dad, remembered we even had a bush like that.  So on my journey looking for it, I found this HAS to be what I'm looking for, same leaf shape, same blossom.  However, the one my folks had was a nearly while blossom with a very faint pink.  So, either, I'm not remembering the blossom color correctly, or they don't have that kind anymore.

Blossom close-up.



I couldn't decided which of these pictures was the best of the bush itself, which is is rather sad shape, as these are taken before the half the died was cut out.  These are growing suckers underneath it, and making new little bushes under the old.

 Main Flower Garden

Creeping phlox are just gorgeous, and we used to have 6 ft solid plants along here, but they've most of them died out.

Our lavendar ones.

White, purple and a tiny bit of magenta, accented with another very popular and well known flower.

They are being taken over by this pointy leafed WEED, that started out as a beautiful plant.  It grows, insidiously underground with a network of fine, easily broken off roots.  It has a tall stalk with very pretty purple bells, but it spreads so fast and is so hard to get rid of, that it isn't worth having. We have been fighting with it for several years, and it seems like it it winning, not us.

These are my later tulips.

I had the furnace still running May 2, and now it is 90 degrees today, so the air conditioner is on for the first time.