Garden Tour Inspiration

There is nothing like seeing a beautiful garden to get inspired. Today, I visited six local gardens. They’re not municipal or city gardens, but home gardens -- ones that people have built on their own or hired a landscape designer to plant and design. I especially like the ones done by the do-it-yourselfers. There’s something about those gardens that just ooze personality and interest.

Here’s a look at some pictures from today’s outing:

This garden was filled with several beautiful containers. I loved this one at the entrance to her patio. She often used statuary in her planters which I thought was very pretty.

This next photo shows this gardener's raised herb garden. It is about 3 feet high - perfect for easily plucking herbs for cooking. Love it!

This next garden was my absolute favorite. The gardener is a Master Gardener and her garden is a designated Wildlife Habitat. She has been cultivating this garden for 11 years. My pictures do not do her garden justice!

I absolutely LOVE the red poppies. I'm so excited that she shared some seeds with me!

The yellow flowers below are Texas Primrose.

The backyard features a sloping hill with a winding path through trees. I absolutely love the Texas Gold Columbine. I am going to have to get some for my garden!

The patio area features a koi pond. What a relaxing area!

Springtime in Texas

We have really had some awesome weather around here lately. It’s the kind of days and evenings that definitely remind me of summer in northern Minnesota.

It is weather like this that helps me gain perspective on gardening here. Now, finally, after having lived here in Texas for more than 14 years and having been gardening for the past 6 or 7, I think I have finally come to realize that plants here in Texas thrive at completely different times than they do up north. Okay, it’s not really that I’ve just figured it out; it’s that I’ve finally decided to accept it.

Purple coneflowers and a wealth of other plants that are "summer plants" up north are really “spring plants" here in North Texas. I can grow them here, I just can’t expect them to do well past the fourth of July. This is exactly what makes gardening around here so dang hard for me! How do I plant for year-round beauty when I was raised in a place where gardening practically began and ended from Memorial Weekend to Labor Day weekend?

And, tell me exactly what plants do well around here past the fourth of July anyway? That’s just about the time everything starts going on the downhill slide and we still have a good two to three months left of summer. Hot, dry and, did I mention the hottest months left of summer?

Each year I gain a little more knowledge about what works well in the heat of July, August and September. And, every year I try to apply that knowledge. The problem is I just love the plants of springtime. I’m trying very hard to appreciate it all and enjoy each season for its own beauty. Even if it means that my springtime beauties are dead and gone until next year.

Tonight, I am enjoying the new blooms and foliage of springtime in North Texas. Even if that means that some of them will be shortlived. I guess that's what they mean when they say, "enjoy the moment." I think it will be my new gardening mantra.

Whew!

Yea! We did not end up freezing last night so my garden is safe for now. In fact, our day turned out to be beautiful -- 70 degrees, sunny and low winds. Tomorrow should be even warmer (near 80) and windy. Talk about ups and downs!

I don't think I'll do any significant gardening for a few days. I have too many other things on my plate. Hopefully, this weekend I'll get all my last transplants completed so the yard will be ready to go for demolition. We still don't have a dig date yet for the pool, but it sounds like it may begin next week sometime.

Here's another look at my knockout roses. They're in full bloom right now and I'm praying that they don't get destroyed in the pool building process.

Freeze Warning

It almost always takes me by surprise, but I should know by now that it will happen here in Texas -- one more freeze.


Last night, my husband scurried around the yard covering plants while I dug around trying to find enough sheets and blankets. This freeze seems later than others (although I could be wrong). So many tender perennials have made a full appearance and I would hate for their foliage to get burned by the cold air.

I’m not sure if we have managed to dodge a bullet yet or not. When I first got up the news was reporting temperatures in my city at 38 degrees. Then, at the next update they said 30. Our thermometer reads 38. Later this morning I’ll go survey the yard to see what’s what. Until then, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that everything survived the night.

Little by Little

The weather was ideal yesterday for puttering in the garden. The high reached 82 and it was sunny with a breeze. I absolutely LOVE days like that!

I was able to accomplish several tasks yesterday. Most of it the same as what I’ve been doing for the past 2 weeks or so – relocating plants and preparing for big diggers and tractors to come tear apart my backyard.

Because of pool construction and its location in the yard, my husband and I have decided to do away with the corner garden. We agreed that a new landscape design would ultimately look better once the pool is complete.

So, the corner garden that once never seemed quite full enough now seems like it houses a million plants!

Last week, I moved several plants to the beds by the driveway which badly needed a redesign. I thinned out the tall Ruellia (Mexican Petunia) that was already there and put edging around it to try to keep it contained. I took Summer Phlox from the back garden and transplanted it on either side of the Ruellia. Then, I split some Stella D’Oro daylilies and placed them in front of the bed. My plan is to finish this off with some annuals for seasonal color in the next week or so.

Yesterday, I spent most of my time transferring more perennials from the back bed to the side of the house. I also put several of the ones I’m not transplanting immediately into pots.

Today’s weather isn’t going to be as nice as yesterday, but I’m still going to head out there again. I have a few more loose ends to tie up before I can it quits for the weekend. My husband ripped out some overgrown shrubs by the driveway and we’re replacing them with azaleas (I was inspired by my mother-in-law’s beauties!).

I’m looking forward to sharing more of my progress on the side yard with you in the next few days.

Happy gardening!

Garden Sightings

I know. I have committed the ultimate blogger’s sin. I haven’t written a post in days!!

Well, I’m not going to make any excuses. I’m just going show you some garden pictures that I’ve taken around my home during the past 2 weeks. I've gotten some work done in the yard and lots of things have sprouted and even bloomed. Here's a look:

My HUGE knockout rose. It is so big (at least 4 feet tall and wide) and beautiful, and I'm a little afraid I might lose it when the work crews start digging the pool in a couple of weeks. I'm going to do all I can to save it because I'm not sure it will transplant well at this size. It sits outside my bedroom window where I sit at the computer. I absolutely love looking at it!

These are Oxeye Daisies. They are my first bloomers every spring. If you don't dead-head them faithfully, they will proliferate like crazy! This batch started with one 4-inch pot! Believe it or not, I have thinned this out several times. I'm sure mine would have a longer bloom time if I were better about dead-heading, but what can I say. Life just gets in the way sometimes and I end up with fewer flowers and loads of seeds!

This is the best my Clematis has ever looked! I planted it 2 years ago and it took awhile for it to take off. I wanted a smaller vine that would help camoflauge the air conditioner without becoming a nuisance. It's finally starting to do it's job. Now I just wish it were closer to the patio so I could enjoy looking at it every day! Guess I'll have to plant another one!

This Spiderwort plant is the offspring of a passalong that I got from a Master Gardener friend. It's indigo blooms are always some of the first to show up in spring.

I couldn't resist adding an image with my sweet little kitty cat! She's almost 15 years old and still prowling around my garden. The purplish-pink blooms are creeping phlox and the ornamental grasslike foliage in the bed behind her are heirloom daylilies from a garden club plant sale. They have been some of the hardiest plants I own. They aren't as showy as some of the newer hybrids, but a very reliable, low-maintenance plant.

I like this shot because of the stone horned frog in the background. (Go TCU!) In the forefront are blue salvia and guara. Both do well in this front bed that gets nothing but full sun all day.

Unfortunately, I had the camera on the wrong setting when I took this picture (I hate it when that happens!). I'm posting it anyway because my adorable daughter is standing next to one of my favorite sights of spring -- azaleas at my mother-in-law's house. I'll be going back there to re-shoot them because she has at least three huge azaleas that never cease to amaze me. They are fantastic!

Happy Spring y'all!

Online Gardening Anticipation

I’m pretty excited. On Friday, I received my pre-planned garden from Spring Hill Nursery in the mail and by Saturday afternoon it was all planted. Now it’s raining and I’m getting excited to see everything start to grow.

As a first timer at online ordering a pre-planned garden, I have to tell you I’m impressed so far. Spring Hill Nursery did an excellent job of packing and shipping the plants. And, the plants themselves seem to be very healthy and of good quality.

I had only one small hitch which was remedied easily. One of the plants they shipped – the Butterfly Weed – came in the wrong quantity. I was short one plant. No matter. I jotted off an e-mail to their customer service department and another plant is already on its way. Easy peasy.

To make me feel even more optimistic, my neighbor stopped by while I was planting my front bed. She told me she had ordered a pre-planned garden from Spring Hill several years ago when living in North Carolina. She said she had great results. Despite having a small twinge of negativity (because gardening conditions here in North Texas are quite a bit different than in North Carolina), her news gave me confidence.

I’m not ready to start bragging about my possible success, but I do want to pass onto those considering following in my footsteps to do your research. I really think the key to successfully ordering plants still takes a small bit of know-how on the part of the gardener. I think you first need to know the conditions you’re working in (sun exposure, soil conditions, etc.). Also, research the plants themselves to see if they do well in your part of the country. I felt confident in my online purchase because I was already familiar with most of the plants in the grouping and knew that they do well here.

For now, I’m excited about my purchase. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it will flourish in my front yard!

Discovery Day

I put a pretty good dent in gardening this weekend. I received my “garden in a box” from Spring Hill Nursery on Friday and planted it all. I was going to blog about it today but it will have to wait.

Something kinda cool happened today when I decided to bring my ivy geranium outside from spending the winter in my house.

The plant was pretty messy and had several green, gangly shoots all over the place mixed in with brown dead leaves. No matter. I decided to just prune the heck out it and hope for the best -- an approach that has worked well for me in the past. So, I whipped out my handy pruners and got to work. In the midst of it all, I made a discovery: I found a bird’s nest.

I should first confess that this was not a huge surprise. I remember a little bird flying in and out of there last spring and early summer. But, of course, I had forgotten about it until now.

The nest was cool. I admired the bird’s handiwork. It had used grasses, a piece of plastic bag and even what appeared to be a cat’s whisker! Interesting. But, the best discovery of all came when I looked inside the nest. A perfect little egg shell sat in there completely undisturbed and left cracked open as if its former inhabitant had left only minutes or hours before. My heart did a little dance. I was pretty excited. I called the kids over to take a look and they were equally excited.

I love discoveries like these. It’s just another reminder of nature’s wonder.

Charlie Brown Junipers

I got my first-ever ordered-online plants in the mail. I knew they were going to be small, but let’s just say I’m going to have to be very patient in waiting for them to grow to any substantial size.

I ordered Spartan Junipers for the side of my yard that I wrote about a few entries ago. After doing a lot of research about what type of evergreen plant could help set off the entrance/exit and help create a focal point away from the composting bins, wood pile, and air conditioning units, I decided these were the right plants for the space. They love the sun, they are drought tolerant, and their growth habit should fit the space without overwhelming it.

It’s encouraging to know that the Spartan Juniper is a fast grower. And, I will tell you from past experience that buying large is not always what it’s cracked up to be. About five years ago my husband planted a Live Oak tree in our backyard. For budget reasons (and based on what we had read in landscaping books) we bought a small sapling. My backyard neighbors paid the big bucks and bought a Live Oak tree about ten times the size of ours. In the last five years not only has our tree surpassed theirs, but I daresay ours looks healthier.

So, I am going to remind myself of that when I plant these little beauties today. They will have little or no presence whatsoever when I put them in the ground. In fact, I might have to put a sign out there reminding my family not to step on them!

That’s okay. I still think it’s the right plant for the space even if they currently resemble the infamous Charlie Brown Christmas tree. I’ll give them the best soil rich in organic material, tap my heels together three times and chant, “Grow, grow, grow!”

It’s worth a try.

Golf Ball Trees and Other Spring Sightings

The other day I was driving my 4-year-old daughter to her Grammie’s house when I heard her ask, “Mom, what do those golf ball trees have on them?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. However, the funny thing is, I knew exactly what trees she was referring to. The Bradford Pear trees were in full bloom and their billowy white flowers did look like giant golf balls on the tree.

It is spring sightings like these that get me so pumped up for gardening. Daffodils, buds on our oak tree, perennials long dormant in my garden starting to poke their way through the ground…it all gives me the itch to get out there and start planting.

I stopped by one of my favorite organic nurseries the other day for some dried molasses for my compost pile, and it appears that I’m not the only one in the mood for spring gardening. Despite the fact that it was only in the mid 40s and windy as all get out, the place was buzzing with activity.

It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one with ants in my pants. Let’s just hope they continue to be the metaphorical kind instead of the real, fire ant kind. You and I both know it's a possibility when gardening in Texas!

Happy spring y'all!

Biting off more than I can chew?

If you read my last few posts you’ll notice that I have two good-sized landscaping projects on my to-do list: revamping my side yard and new landscaping around a yet-to-be-built pool. These are pretty good sized projects. Oh…did I forget to mention that I actually have two additional projects I want to get done this spring? Yes, there are FOUR total projects.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Ahem. Yes, I can do this. Repeat after me: “Serenity now.”

A flower bed in my front yard needs overhauling and when we’re done installing the pool, the side fence will be relocated creating the need for overhauling a bed on the street side of the yard. Did I tell you that our house sits on a corner lot – a half acre corner lot? Oh…and that reminds me. There are actually five projects. My husband wants to rip out the scraggly-looking shrubs on the west side of the house and replace them with oleander.

So, yeah…it’s a lot of projects. Maybe I’ve bitten off more than I can chew. Nonetheless, I am still optimistic because I have a plan. The plan is to enlist the help of my husband (he doesn’t know this yet), take it one step at a time, and one area at a time. Plus, I’ve also done a lot of research on the plants I want and, to me, that is half the battle.

I’m pretty excited about the front yard bed project. In fact, I think I can whip that out in one morning. I’m trying something I’ve never done before. I ordered a fully landscaped bed from an online supplier this year. Spring Hill Nursery (www.springhillnursery.com) offers pre-planned gardens complete with a planting guide as well as the plants. My bed gets full sun, so I ordered the drought-tolerant sun garden. I’m cautiously optimistic about my results (maybe because I’m a newbie to this sort of gardening…could be a fiasco…dunno).

I’m also excited about my projects because I’m going to be blogging about them. I’ll write about the good, the bad and the ugly and I’ll be taking a lot of pictures. I really think it’s going to help me a ton. I am a very visual person and I think picture documentation will be huge.

Finally, I hope anyone who is reading this blog will feel free to offer their insights as well. I am all ears as to what plants work and what don’t. I want to hear from you!

Let’s get started!

Landscaper's Challenge

I have one particularly tough part of my yard to landscape. It is on the east side of the house and it is more or less a walkway between the driveway/garage area and the backyard.

What makes it so tough is that I have a several eye sores that need to be camouflaged and I have a huge oak tree that provides a mixture of shade and sun to the area at different times of day. Some areas receive full shade all day and then late in the afternoon it receives the full brunt of the Texas afternoon sun. Other areas receive full sun in the morning and then afternoon shade. To complicate matters further, the areas of shade and sun change by at least four feet from season to season as the sun changes position in the sky.

Another dilemma is that what I have been able to successfully plant unfortunately provides almost no structure or “bones” to the garden. There are too many perennials that die to the ground in the winter. Therefore, in the winter months, that area of the yard is almost completely barren.

Adding to this problem (as if there weren’t enough already), I have at least four plants that I can think of that my husband transplanted there to see if they would grow. At some point, he wants to move them to other parts of the yard. So, it’s not hard to see why this area remains largely unfinished, and in my opinion, a jumbled mess.

In order to solve the myriad of problems in this area I have forged a plan. And, as such, I’m going to document my plans and my progress.

To start, I am posting a photo of the area as it stands today, February 28, 2009. In the days and weeks ahead, I will post my progress and track what I plant. Wish me luck!

I have a dream...

As I sit at my computer gazing out onto my brown and barren backyard landscape I can’t help but dream about the lush backyard oasis that has been my goal since we moved into this house almost eight years ago.

Despite the fact that I have spent countless hours working on my landscape, I often feel that I am not even close to achieving the yard of my dreams. It is just not reflective of the hours that I have logged over the past several years.

Maybe not, but there is one thing that I know for sure: The last few years have been filled with valuable lessons that will undoubtedly pay off in the future.

When I started down this gardening journey, I started with a gardening reference point of plants that work in Zone 4a (Minnesota, where I grew up). Keller, Texas is in Zone 8a. It doesn’t take a Master Gardener to figure out that the two zones are worlds apart. It’s easy to see, then, why my gardening experience has led to a lot of trial and error, and sometimes more error than trial.

Many people would have given up by now. And, I daresay, that I have just about thrown in the towel myself on many occasions. (I will even admit to committing “planticide” in moments of frustration.) But, this year, I have a renewed sense of hope in my backyard oasis dream. Due in part to the fact that my husband and I have decided to have a pool built (which will require landscaping around it), and also because I am always wooed back by the sheer beauty of flowers.

There is something about nature’s beauty that makes me feel removed from the cares of this world; it connects me with nature, and thus, God himself. There really is nothing as beautiful as flowers and colorful foliage. It is intoxicating and awe inspiring. I am drawn in by it and I want to be surrounded by it.

So, in the next few weeks, I will be digging up several plants and shrubs that I want to save from all the pool construction. I will be putting pencil to paper and will be perusing garden centers and gardening web sites all in an effort to create my backyard oasis. It’s going to take a lot of back-breaking work on my part, but I’m actually looking forward to it. Because all of the labor involved means that I can get excited about my dream again. And this time, I am equipped with the knowledge from the trials of the past. Maybe now my dream will finally become reality.

And the Oscar goes to...

After watching the Oscars last night, I was inspired to come up with some of my own award winners. This is not a complete list of all the greatest plants out there, but it is a list of winners that I have personally experienced, admired and appreciated.

I’m always on the lookout for great plants, so if you have a list of your own winners, please share it!

Best ongoing summer color (flowers continuously from June - August)
Plumbago
Lantana
Vinca (periwinkle)
Blackfoot daisy
Summer phlox

Best (most) heat-tolerant
Yucca
Stonecrop
Mexican petunia (ruellia – both tall and short varieties)
Azure Skies Blue Heliotrope
Skulcap
Russian sage

Best shade lover
Wood fern (as is most of the fern family)
Hosta
Impatiens
Oxalis

Best landscape shrub (low maintenance)
Indian Hawthorne
Nandina
Yaupon holly

Yucca (just about all varieties)

Ornamental grasses

Best ornamental tree
Red bud
Crape myrtle
Althea -- also called, Rose of Sharon (I’ve seen this listed as both a tree and a shrub)

Best Vine
Clematis
Wisteria
Star jasmine
Passion vine
Mandevilla

Best herbs (easy to grow)
Rosemary
Parsley
Cilantro
Basil

Lavender

Best perennial
Daylily (antique and hybrid)
Summer phlox
Russian sage
Dwarf Mexican petunia

Best all around favorite
Hydrangea

Gardenia
Knockout rose
Texas mountain laurel
Wisteria

Best planting/gardening books

The Southern Living Garden Book (it’s my gardening Bible!)

Plants of the Metroplex by John Howard Garrett

Tough Plants for Southern Gardens by Felder Rushing

Lasagna Gardening by Patricia Lanza (You will love this one if you have clay soil like I do!)

25 Random Things about Gardening

A list has been going around Facebook called, “25 Random Things.” When you receive it, you’re supposed to write 25 random facts about yourself. A friend did it for her blog about Celiac’s Disease (www.thesavvyceliac.com) and I thought it sounded like a good idea for the topic of gardening. So, here goes:

1. No matter how large or small your garden, there is always room for improvement.

2. St. John’s Wort and spearmint (the entire mint family for that matter) is best kept in containers (unless you want it invading your entire garden).

3. Knockout roses truly are disease resistant and bloom a lot during the Texas growing season.

4. Never plant rosemary too close to the house or near areas where children play because it attracts a lot of bees.

5. If you plant hanging baskets in Texas be prepared to give them a good soaking every morning (and sometimes in the evening, too) in July, August and September.

6. Never underestimate the importance of dead-heading and pruning.

7. A Moonflower plant is extremely drought-tolerant, loves the sun, blooms beautiful big, white flowers at dusk and has an enormous root system. If you let it grow past 6 inches tall and then you decide you don’t want it, be prepared to dig a long, LONG way down to get rid of the roots. And, if you don’t get rid of the roots entirely, the Moonflower will definitely reappear!

8. Don’t let the dainty facade of the Cypress Vine fool you. It is very hardy, loves the sun and heat and will drop a bunch of seeds ensuring you’ll have plenty more next year. You’ll also find it in several locations throughout your yard!

9. A new favorite plant for me is Plumbago. It seems to love the Texas sun and heat and blooms almost continually.

10. Just because a nursery tag says “full sun” on the label, does not always mean it’s meant for full TEXAS sun.

11. There is almost nothing better for your garden than amending the soil in the spring (and maybe even fall, too!).

12. A few of my favorite Texas annuals are: Vinca (a lot of people call this periwinkle), Wave Pentunia, Sweet Potato Vine (almost every color) and Purple Fountain Grass

13. A few of my favorite perennials are: Daylilies, Russian Sage, Moonflower, Summer Phlox, Creeping Phlox and Blue Salvia

14. No matter how early spring starts in Texas, you can almost always count on a freeze around Easter.

15. There is almost nothing more beautiful than Texas wildflowers – bluebonnets, in particular – growing along the state’s roadsides and ranch lands.

16. In my experience most “pass-along” plants are passed along for a reason – they go to seed or creep like wildfire!

17. Too much rain in the spring can kill drought-tolerant plants.

18. There really is something great about growing your own tomatoes.

19. Kids LOVE growing their own gardens (and harvesting them). It’s a great learning experience for everyone. My kids especially love growing strawberries!

20. Herbs I love to have in my garden are Rosemary, Thyme, Parsley, Chives, Cilantro and Basil.

21. Sometimes you just have to take chances in the garden – be open to trying new plants.

22. Rejoice in the successes and learn from the failures.

23. Gardens can be therapeutic – especially when enjoying their beauty!

24. Nothing is more rewarding for all your hard work than seeing flowers in full bloom.

25. Don't be afraid to get dirty -- most of the time it is worth the effort.

The Eye of the Beholder

Nearly all people that work hard in their yards will tell you that, without a doubt, dandelions are weeds and they have no business making a home in their lawns and gardens. But, no matter how hard we try to kill them organically, manually or chemically those pesky suckers just keep coming back.

However, not everyone considers the dandelion to be a weed. To the under 10 crowd, in fact, the dandelion is a flower – and a very beautiful one. When my 4-year-old daughter sees a dandelion, her face lights up like a Christmas tree. She’ll run across rugged terrain and boys holding Nerf guns just to pick one.

To this age group, it does not matter if the dandelion is in full bloom in all its yellow glory or if it is white as snow bursting with seeds. It just begs to be picked. They must hold it in their hands, give it away to moms, grandmothers and teachers or – best of all –blow it into the wind.

And, it’s because every toddler, preschooler and elementary school kid in America must blow the dandelion seeds into the wind that we will always have little yellow flowers growing freely amongst our beloved grass. I don’t care if you use Scott’s, Ortho or the mother-of-all herbicides -- the dandelion is not going away any time soon.

The gardener in me dislikes the dandelion. But, I have to confess that it does have the tendency to win me over at times. Today, I received a handful of dandelions from my kids when we picnicked outside. As they ran around and picked every flower they could find, they proudly placed them into my hands. They gave them to me as if they were giving me buried treasure. I cherish these moments and, because of this, the dandelion will always hold a special place in my heart -- even if it is a weed.

Update:

This morning while driving to preschool my daughter was looking out of the car window from the back seat. Out of the blue she said, "Mom...I love dandelions."

I had to chuckle to myself because I had just written this post. Then I said to her, "Really? Why do you love dandelions?" Her response? "I love to blow the seeds."

All I could say to myself was, "I rest my case."

Always Ready to Share

I’m definitely a novice when it comes to gardening. My yard is not “show” quality. I don’t know everything there is to know about plants (or landscaping). I am not a Master Gardener. I don’t have a leg up on what Internet or garden catalog companies are the best. I buy plants from all sorts of places including Wal Mart, Lowe’s, Home Depot as well as specialty garden centers (and I’ve gotten pass along plants from friends). I’m learning as I go. In short, I am simply a person who loves plants, appreciates beautiful gardens and aspires to have one myself someday.

Over the past few years I have learned a ton about various plants through the school of hard knocks. I have succeeded and failed. Parts of my garden have flourished and others have failed miserably. I have gotten my hands dirty and even thrown out my back by splitting and relocating plants, moving stepping stones and the ever popular and always necessary task of weeding. Even so, I still have loads to learn.

That’s really why I started this blog. I began this endeavor for several reasons:

-I am a writer and wanted to write about something I’m passionate about.
-I love plants and find myself utterly frustrated and completely elated at times – I needed an outlet.
-I’m hoping through others I may be able to transfer information and knowledge about plants and thus, shorten the learning curve.
-Maybe through my trials others like me can learn something.
-This blog will help me keep record of what I do each year so I can refer to it if necessary (the memory is not so great these days!).
-I can meet other online gardening friends.

So, I can’t promise to be the world’s greatest resource, but I can promise that I am always trying, always learning and always ready to share my successes and failures.

The Crazy Composter

I have a confession to make. I steal from my daughter’s preschool. (This also happens to be my place of employment as well as a Presbyterian church.)

Okay, well it’s not really stealing. It’s my job at the end of each preschool day to clean up the coffee pot in the kitchen. The church does not recycle or compost so I am supposed to just throw the used coffee grounds in the trash. Well, it just seemed plain wasteful to me – a gardener and a composter – to throw out those valuable coffee grounds. So, you guessed it, I started bringing them home. So, it’s really not stealing. It’s stuff that would have been thrown out anyway (at least that’s what I tell myself).

The first time I did this, I accidentally left the grounds in a container in my classroom. One of the teachers took one look at it and after ascertaining that the contents were indeed coffee grounds, she guessed it must belong to me (I guess I have “crazy composter” written all over me). When I saw her the next day she gave me a strange look and asked, “Is this yours?”

I admit it was a little embarrassing. I mean, who saves coffee grounds for God’s sake? When people learned what I was doing they did look at me a little differently. (You know the look…it’s the same look a dog gives you when you ask it a question and it cocks its head to the side.)

My embarrassment lasted about two seconds. This stuff was gold to me! My husband and I don’t drink coffee so being able to bring some grounds home for my compost bin was like hitting the mother load. Just the thought of that stuff enriching my compost pile, and eventually my garden had me singing in the car all the way home!

Sure, I could hit up the local Starbucks (which I have not completely ruled out, by the way), but why bother when I can get it from work?

So, before you throw out the grounds in your coffee filter each morning, just think of me, other gardeners, the planet, etc. and maybe you’ll be inspired to start your own compost bin. After all, it’s not nearly as embarrassing as stealing composting ingredients from a church.

February Flu Bug

It’s February 17 and I’m already wrist deep into planning my spring garden. The timing seems about right. Just about this time each year I start noticing sure signs of spring -- a few green leaves poking through the barren ground, the bud of a daffodil and a few buds on trees or shrubs. Just the sight of these phenomena sends me into a tailspin. The mere prospect of new spring growth causes the gardening gene in me to resurface. Maybe I should call it the “gardening bug” instead of gene. It’s like an illness that I have no control over and from which I am failing to recover.

Every August as I look at my brown, wilting garden, I swear that I am not going to buy a million plants next spring. I swear I will not fall prey to beautiful garden landscapes in magazines, local garden club plant sales or neighbors enticing displays of nature’s wonder. Instead, I swear that I will dig up all flowering and out-of-control perennials, replace them with standard builder-grade landscaping shrubs and call it a season. I’ll become a container gardener…just have a few, gorgeous containers, and let the yard be a boring, clean-cut, landscape that is relatively easy to keep up. But, nooooo. Each February, the bug bites and I am totally and utterly screwed.

I mean, I just came home from WalMart with gardening supplies for God’s sake. It’s February and even here in North Texas, it’s a little premature! The real reason for the trip? To buy Tylenol, soup, crackers and Sprite for my son who is home from school with the flu. Oh sure, I came home with the stuff for my son, but I also came home with 2 seed starter kits and a new hanging basket for my backyard -- a basket that I will not be able to fill with plants for at least 6 weeks.

Okay, I will confess that my WalMart purchase was premeditated. I am trying something different this year that makes my early gardening spending spree plausible – dare I say, even downright smart! I am trying to save money by starting plants from seed this year.

I have started some plants from seed in the past with relative success but I have never done it for the majority of my garden. But this year I am going to try to start all my annuals and a few perennials from seed. Crazier yet, I am going to do this all within the confines of my small laundry room. This should be interesting, maybe even crazy! Am I delirious?

For now, however, I am going to feel good about my new venture. I’m even excited about it! Yep, the gardening bug has gotten me good again this year. I didn’t even have to crack open a spring issue of Better Homes and Gardens. Dang, here I go again.

The Accidental Gardener

I am an accidental gardener. By “accidental” I mean that I didn’t plan to be a gardener. It just sort of happened. It happened because I am a sucker for nature’s beauty – especially in the form of flowers.

So, when my husband and I moved into a new house eight years ago I bought a few annuals to fill the space where the builder’s winter flowers had been. Then, I decided I didn’t like the arrangement the builder had created, which led to ripping out shrubs, flowers, etc. After I tackled the front yard, I moved onto the back. The back needed perennials. After all, I didn’t want to be planting a jillion annuals every year back there. Then, I realized that not all perennials are created equal. This led to the constant roaming of local nurseries. The next thing I knew I was gardening.

I have to confess, it came as a surprise – being called a gardener. Four years ago when my husband’s relatives were in town visiting, his aunt looked at my yard and said, “Julie, you’re a gardener!” Say what?

I denied it at first. “No,” I told her. “I just like plants.”

“Yes! You’re a gardener!”

Then, I looked around and decided she might be right.

I still didn’t like my landscape creation. It still needed tweaking. Heck, it is four years later and my yard still needs major tweaking – maybe even an overhaul! (But, hey, I’ve discovered that all gardeners feel this way and that’s why we’re always puttering in the garden.)

So, I have now accepted the label. I am a gardener. I may gripe about it, I may think I’m crazy sometimes, but there is nothing like sitting amidst the beauty of nature. So, here I am, forever, an accidental gardener.