It's That Time of Year ~ A Garden Review

It's been a few years since I've had a full-blown garden.  I gave that up when my knees would no longer let me do all the kneeling, pulling and digging that were once a part of my everyday life.

Having said that, I could not give up gardening completely, so I needed to find another way to make my hands happy.  Dirt under my fingernails makes my "happy" endorphins go crazy (in a good way)!

So the balcony is where all this happiness happens. 

I have large Rubbermaid containers that I use for my tomato plant.  Yes I have only one.  We have been buying a cheery tomato plant every year since going to the balcony garden. Hubby and I have enjoyed breakfast on the balcony for at least 8 years now.  Once my plant starts producing those lovely little cherry tomatoes, we can count on at least a dozen for each of us, every morning.  There is nothing sweeter than a cherry tomato or two or a dozen for breakfast.  So sweet and cool, even when the weather is downright blistering hot.

But, it's now October and our tomato season is officially over.  I have cut the plants all back, picked off the last of the tomatoes even though they were green.  In a sunny window, they will still ripen and the frost won't turn them into puckered up little balls.

So to ensure that I have some of these delightful tomatoes for next year, I am busy drying out just a few of the small tomatoes for seeds for next year. Would you believe I just harvested the last of these gems tonight? I did.

The other plant that I love on my balcony is an annual called Love Lies Bleeding.  It grows about 6 feet tall and has these funky tassels that hang down.  They are burgundy red in color and I love them because they are easy to grow.  Even if I don't manage to save seeds (that would never happen), they do manage to survive our winter months.  A small seed (and I do mean small) will easily become a mammoth plant in one season and when fall arrives, it is the one thing that will continue to bloom right until the first snow starts to fly.

If you like saving seeds, these ones are easy, easy, easy to save.  Just cut off one of the "tassels" and put it into a paper envelope.  In a few days, there will be thousands and thousands of seeds and some pretty red bits of flower as well.  The seeds are shiny black and the chaff won't hurt the seeds.  They dry out quickly and don't turn moldy.

                                      Love Lies Bleeding Seeds, see how tiny they are?

Now you have some ideas for your own balcony living space or even for your great outdoors.  Both of these plants will do great in a garden as well.

Let me know if you have tried any of these or if I have tickled your planter's fancy to give it a go next year.

Happy Autumn and I'm already looking forward to next Spring.

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In Two Short Weeks Gardening Will Become Everyone's Favorite Pastime!

For many Gardeners, waiting till the 21st of May is a ritual!

Garden centers all across the United States and Canada will be open for longer periods of time during that First Long Weekend and business will be brisk I'm sure!  Everyone knows that the chances of frost after this date is rare, so the plants you buy now will prosper without worry about weather conditions.

Everyone and their friends will be lined up to buy their bedding plants and vegetables that they plan on planting in whatever space they are gardening in.  

Did you know though, that you could be planning many ways in which to help your seedlings and bedding plants get off to a great start, right now?

How? 

Well let me take this opportunity to help you all become better gardeners and also become more ecofriendly too!

I'm sure that in your household there are many times through the week that you will be preparing eggs, either for breakfast or lunch or maybe in some wonderful baking.  Well, what do you do with the egg shells that are left behind from all this acitivty?

Don't throw them away!  

Egg shells are great in the garden!  

If you throw them away, you have lost a great opportunity to feed your plants naturally with what you have at hand.  I keep a metal bowl in my kitchen to catch all those egg shells.  It doesn't matter if I have shells from hard boiled eggs or from fresh eggs that I use in baking or frying.  They all go into the same bowl.  

You can keep some of the egg shells as they are and use them for potting up seeds, The shells will hold soil and you can water them easily, When you plant them in your garden the whole little shell pot goes into the soil.   I personally don't do this but you can without any problems!

When the bowl is full or I'm ready to deal with them, I take the shells and bake them for 30 minutes in an oven set to 350 degrees.  I do this to kill any bacteria (salmonella) that could be present, especially in the raw egg shells.  Once they have been baked, the shells become much easier to pulverize or to break into smaller bits.

You can use either white eggs or brown it makes no difference in the garden, just remember to bake them before adding them to your plants.

Now, here's the part that I really like.  Egg shells broken up in small bits like the ones in the picture above can be used around the base of your plants to keep slugs and snails at bay.  They really don't like the sharp edges of the shells on their tender foot!  

Eggs are a great source of calcium and your plants will thrive with that added natural fertilizer and it doesn't cost you anything more than the time to save, break, and bake them.  (Who knows, you might even use breaking up the shells as a therapy for anxiety during these times!)  

But that's not the only use that egg shells have.  If you love birds and have bird feeders in your backyards, add some broken shells into the feeders.  The birds will enjoy an extra treat and again you don't have to spend any money to give them this added bonus.  The calcium in the eggs is great for all outdoor birds.  

Is your soil a little too compacted?  Adding egg shells will act as a natural way to add some aeration to your soil mix too!  If you are like me and add worms to your garden beds, egg shells will feed your worms and the worms will feed your plants.  It's a win-win situation!  

Egg shells are totally organic and there is no need to waste them by throwing them out with the trash.  Do yourself a favor and start using them for the birds and the flowers and veggies that your are growing this year.

Add a worm farm to your garden this year if you really want to up the WOW in natural fertilizing!  I was amazed last year when I added worms to my balcony containers.  My tomatoes and cucumbers just went wild for the added benefits that the addition of the worms made.  

There are many different styles of worm farms available, or you can make your own by following the instructions on YouTube.

If you are looking for a finished worm farm set up, you can get one on Amazon right here!

This one is inexpensive and will do the trick quite nicely!

 4-Tray Worm Compost Bin, Worm Composter for Outdoor & Indoor, ecocultivatify Wormie's Home, Worm Bin Set for Recycling Household Waste (Dark Green)Check Price

 If you need worms (the red wiggler ones), let me know I have thousands of them!

We need to become aware of ways in which to garden efficiently and with an eye to being as eco-friendly as possible.   Mother Nature is counting on us to do our part.

If you want to read more about worms and my garden efforts you can do that right here! Then you will understand why you need the red wigglers too!
 

Happy Spring to everyone and Happy Gardening too!
 

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Spring Into the Garden, Give Nature a Helping Hand! A Garden Review

Spring has sprung!  Gardeners and Conservationists are all jumping for joy! 

But wait a minute, before you get all excited about getting your hands dirty and your gardens in shape, let's take a few minutes to think and see what Mother Nature would have us do instead!

Many gardeners are just itching to get their gardens cleaned up and looking tidy and I can't say that I blame them.  After a long cold winter, making things (garden beds) look nice is a job that many gardeners love to do.  Why wait?  Well, would it help for you to know that many bees are still hibernating within the leaves and debris that is in your garden?  We have a serious problem with declining bee populations, so anything you can do to help them would be a welcome thing to do.

I'm not advocating that you leave your gardens in a messy state, but rather wait just a few weeks before getting to the "mess".  That will be time enough for the bees to wake up from their winter slumbers and start looking for those first dandelions for food.

That brings up to the second thing that gardeners should really stop doing in the springtime.  Did you know that dandelions are one of the first spring flowers to come up in your gardens?  Well they are and they are full of good nutrition for the bees who wake up hungry.  Leave those flowers alone, let them bloom and welcome the sight of those bees that are doing the hard work!  If you don't want a proliferation of dandelions in your lawn, just watch the flowers and when they have all been pollinated, and start to produce their seeds heads, go out then and cut them off and dispose of them so no seeds are flying around the garden!  The parent plant will produce another flower for the bees and then you can do the same thing again.  Pluck the spent flower head before it sends it's seeds everywhere.  This way you will be providing food for the bees without dandelions taking over your gardens.  Easy peasy!

Spring comes on quickly, so you need to be ready for all kinds of wonderful things that will happen during this time.  Number three on my list of things to do (or not do) is check for migrating birds in your area.  Hummingbirds are the Number One bird everyone is looking forward to seeing.  They too will come to your gardens hungry from their travels north!  You can check out this Hummingbird Migration Map to see when they will arrive in your area!  

So what can you do to help those Hungry Hummers?

Have your hummingbird feeders out a week or so before they are due in your area.  Keep them clean and available with fresh nectar that is changed weekly!  Why do you need to change the nectar?  Well as with anything left out to the elements, nectars can go "bad".  That means they will get moldy and rancid.  The idea is to feed those hungry hummers, not to harm them!  So clean fresh nectar is a MUST!  (p.s. nectar is simply four parts water to one part sugar, NO DYES)  In the early days of their migration you can make up nectar and keep it in the fridge.  Just put a small amount in the feeders until you know they have found you!  Once you know they are around, then you can fill up those feeders to a cup of nectar and again keep the nectar fresh!

 

                                                                                  Ruby Throated Hummingbird

           

Migrating Birds, what you need to know!

 

Along with the bees, migrating birds are also having "human" problems!  What are those, you might ask?  Well in large urban areas where skyscrapers and really large windows are the norm, many migrating birds fly into those windows and drop like stones onto the pavement below! They suffer broken necks, wings and sometimes are just so stunned that they don't recover.  This is truly a sad situation for birds that fly so far to get to their northern nesting areas.  Large windows are almost invisible to the birds, so their tracking is off!  How can we help them?  It's easy, first is awareness and then there is something as easy as placing "cling decals" on the windows so that they will see them and avoid crashing into them.  You can easily purchase these decals in many styles, some are transparent to the human eyes or others are decorative and produce an ambience in your homes as you look out those windows.  It's a small price to pay for the benefit of the birds and possibly for you to enjoy them as they make their homes in your yards. 

Did you know that there are several species of migratory birds in North American?  Quote taken from All About Birds.org:

• "Long-distance migrants typically move from breeding ranges in the United States and Canada to wintering grounds in Central and South America. Despite the arduous journeys involved, long-distance migration is a feature of some 350 species of North American birds."

 

Learn More About Bird Migration

 

If you want to know more about Bird Migration, there is a wonderful website by Cornell University that follows and updates information on all kinds of migratory birds!  You can find it RIGHT HERE!  This is excellent reading material for any bird enthusiast!  Don't stop with dedicated Birders, get your young ones involved in becoming Bird Ambassadors, they will learn and do so many things in a fun and really rewarding way.  

 

There are great books available for children and adults too!  Easy to read and understand, they will teach you everything you need to know and look for when searching the skies and yards for those feathered friends.

 

Yellow Rumped Warbler

This Easter, instead of just filling our children with chocolate and candy, let's feed their minds with some easy and interesting ways to keep their future in balance. Add some of those window decals or a bird feeder to their Easter basket for an Eco-Friendly alternative to chocolate or candy! 

First Nature 993091-546 16 oz. Hummingbird Flower Feeder , RedCheck PriceNational Geographic Field Guide to Birds: MichiganCheck PriceAnti-Collision Window Bird Stickers Decals Glass Door Protect and Save Bird Strikes (Clear)Check Price

 

Happy Easter to Everyone!

 

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Hope for a New Year, Sunflowers Plant of the Year for 2021 A Garden Review

Everyone I know has had enough of 2020, so even though Christmas is still a day or two away, it's time to look forward! 

There seems to be many authorities on Plant of the Year for 2021 and I know we all need something to look forward to, so I'm going with the authorities at the Winnipeg Free Press!  They (and I agree with them) have dubbed 2021 the Year of the Sunflower!

There is so much about sunflowers that I just love and I'm going to fill you in on just a few of them.

1. They are easy to grow from seeds.
2. They will grow without any help from you.  No fertilizers, no need to baby them!
3. By summertime, you will have a beautiful stalk of bright yellow flowers (or some other cultivar).
4. They are beautiful cut flowers that last a long time.
5. The bees will love you!  as well as butterflies, ladybugs, dragonflies, and other insects that all feed on the nectars they produce.
6. The flowers are interesting not only for their colors (and there are many) but also for the seeds they are producing.
7. If you are into "mathematics", they love working the Fibonacci Sequencing with the seed heads as they are revealed in growth patterns in nature.
8. The seed heads are food for birds, squirrels, chipmunks, field mice and more.
9. You can bake the seeds for human consumption too!  But you can also eat them raw.
10. You can have a variety of sunflowers growing together.  They will delight you in so many ways.

So when you think of sunflowers are you just thinking of the big yellow multi petalled flower?  There are so many more varieties of sunflowers than the traditional yellow.  

Sunflower "Elf" is probably the shortest growing at stems of 16 inches or so in height.  Then there is one called Sunforest Mix which can grow up to 10 feet tall.  The seed heads can measure almost 12 inches across!  As it's name implies, if you plant a bunch of these you will have a "Sunflower Forest" growing.  What could be more beautiful?  The bees, birds and small wildlife will thank you!

Did you know that Sunflowers are also yellow with orange centers, or white?  Some varieties have just a few layers of petals around the seed head, while others are so full of petals that they look fuzzy!  

One thing that they all have in common is that they will surely bring a smile to your face!

Ripening Seed heads! Just one sunflower can produce hundreds of seeds.  That will feed a lot of birds!

            This bird can hardly wait for the seeds to ripen on this seed head and he's helping himself to a delicious snack!

Seed heads are easy to harvest.  Just grab a sharp knife (be careful) and cut the seed head off.  You don't need to remove the seeds from the rest of the flower head, unless you want to.  Turn the heads upside down and suspend them with some string and the birds will come for them.  If you have lots of seed heads, you might want to ration them out a head at a time, so that as winter sets in you still have some heads for the birds.  Sunflower seeds are a great source of food for the birds in the winter months.  They are loaded with oils that birds need for energy during the coldest months of the year.  

If you want to get an idea about how many colors and sizes of Sunflowers there are, here is a link to HGTV's 13 Crazy and Colorful Sunflowers!  

I think I would love to have a few acres that I could plant with sunflowers of all types, can you just imagine the riot of color that would be seen? 

As we lead up to Christmas, I won't fill your minds with too much more than beautiful pictures of the Sunflowers that hopefully will grace your gardens in 2021.  In the language of flowers, sunflowers mean Adoration, Loyalty, and Longevity!  We( all the writers) at Review This Reviews, adore our fans and readers.  We will loyally bring you a variety of reviews that you will enjoy and we want to be with you and have you visit us often.   A very fitting flower for us, for this time of year and the year to come.  

Decorate your life with a little sunshine that lasts and lasts.  Sunflowers are just one of the cheeriest flowers and so charming in their own way!

 HommomH Sunflower Blanket, 40Check Price Sintuff Sunflower Kitchen Wall Decor Bless The Food Before Us Sign Farmhouse Wooden Signs Rustic Dining Room Wall Art Country Vintage Hanging Decoration for Home Kitchen Room(Classic Style)Check Price

I can't think of a flower that would make me smile bigger and longer than the sight of a bright yellow or red sunflower!

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Plants That Need to Be Brought Indoors Need Special Care

Plants that need to be brought indoors need special care- A Garden Review

Summer is the time when we gardeners are itching to get our indoor plants outdoors for all the growth opportunity that summer sun and warmer temperatures brings.  But come the end of September, gardeners are counting the days until they need to bring all those tender plants back indoors!

I know I am scoping out all the window areas of my apartment for possible "growing spots", for all the plants I took out to my balcony in the spring.  

One of the most important parts of bringing our favorites back to the indoors, is making sure there are no hidden "bugs" hitchhiking their way indoors.

During the summer months outdoors your plants have been visited by many flying, crawling and maybe even jumping insects.  Believe it or not I had a grasshopper on one of my plants and we are on the 18th floor of our building.  So anything is possible.

When I am bringing my plants indoors, I like to un-pot them!  Yes you heard me right.  I take my plants out of their pots, set aside the soil they were growing in and move the plants into by bathroom.  

Then I shower them well with warm water, on both the top sides of the leaves and the bottom sides as well.  I check their roots and if there are roots that look decayed I will snip them back.  

I also check their stems to see if there are any scale insects that may have made their home on my plants.  One of my Ivies is infested with scale, so I will take cuttings from it and treat the cuttings with Safer's Soap spray.  Then I will root these cuttings and start with fresh soil in a few weeks.  They will be potted up only when I am sure they are free of the scale insects and have set new roots.

I do get the pots and clean them out with a good hot soapy water solution, and then let them air dry.  I will use fresh soil in these pots to give the plants and cuttings a good start in their indoor home.

With my plants, especially the orchids, I let them stay outdoors until the temperatures drop to about 10 degrees Celsiusor 50 degrees Farenheit.  Most orchids like a real drop in temperature for a few nights as it signals the plant to set flower bearing stems.  Do NOT let these delicate plants freeze!  If there is a chance of the temperatures going down close to freezing, bring them indoors for the night.  

By January you should be seeing lots of stems on your orchids that will surely lead to some gorgeous flowers.  One of my orchids starts blooming in January and doesn't stop till June or July.  They are truly one of my many joys.

Having said that, orchids do need special care.  Their leaves are tightly figured and can harbor scale or other bugs.  I make sure they are drenched with Safer's Soap Spray before they come in for the winter!  You can spray them once a week on both sides of their leaves.  Better to be safe than sorry.  If one plant comes in with a scale infestation, it can ruin all your plants in very short order.

Bringing our plants indoors is a time consuming endeavor if you are a crazy gardener like me.  If you only have a few plants(3 or 4) outdoors, you should be able to do this in a weekend.  If you are more like me, and have 8-10 plants to bring indoors, you might need a couple of weekends to finish the task.  

You don't need to be in a hurry yet, but don't leave this task till late October or November.  Then you will be scrambling to get it done.  Bringing in the plants without checking them well for pests, could be your downfall.  Take the time while the weather is still relatively nice and do it now.  Check them all closely and if you don't want to start with fresh pots and soil, you can also drench the plants and soil with the Safer's Soap.  It is better to do that then to just bring them indoors without any preventative measures at all.

 

 Safer 5118-6 Insect Killing Soap Concentrate - Insecticidal Soap for Plants - Kills Aphids, Whiteflies, Thrips, Spider Mites, and More - OMRI Listed for Organic UseCheck Price

This is the product I use on all my plants and I have never been disappointed in the results. It takes care of all the insect/bug problems you could have with moving your plants indoors.  I use this product on my plants all through the winter months(if I see a problem) and will be using it again in spring and summer of 2021.  Pests are always just waiting to get a hold of something they like and your houseplants could be on their menu.  Don't be disappointed, be prepared and have a great time in the winter enjoying your healthy happy houseplants while the snow flies outdoors.

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A Time to Grow, Now is the Time! A Garden Review!

If there ever was a time to look forward, it is now.  

Don't be stuck with the majority looking for doom and gloom, there is life out there and we gardeners mean to have it to the full extent we can.  

To that end, I am offering you some "jobs" that need to be done before the growing part can start!

My Spring To Do List!

1. Clean out the pots! Seedlings  for this year are coming up.
2. Trim Bushes
3. Check Foundation Beds
4. Select the flowers and vegetables that I want to grow this year.
5. Make sure I have all the necessities (to avoid frustration)
6. Plant, Mark and Place in the Sun
7. Watch patiently as Mother Nature does her magic!

 

This is Just the Beginning, Now Let's Get Started!

 

1.  Cleaning out last years pots is necessary.  You don't want to carry over any diseases or bugs from last year into this year.  So empty the pots of their ground, but don't throw it away!  Place it into your compost bins!  The heat generated in the composting will kill off any bugs or disease so don't worry. 

When the pots have been emptied, take them into the shed, or garage or whatever work space you have and sanitize them as well.  A Bucket of warm water with bleach and a good scrub brush are all that's needed.  Mix your solution approximately 9 parts water to 1 part bleach and soak your pots for at least 10 minutes.  The warm water will soften the mineral deposits and dirt from the pots for easier scrubbing.  Use a stiff brush or a pot scrubber to remove any deposits on the pots .  If there is still some residue, you can soak your pots in dish detergent to remove any other debris.  Let your pots air dry before refilling them with new soil. If you like you can watch this video on cleaning pots it's only 3 minutes long (How to Clean Pots)

While your pots are air drying, get outside and check out how the garden fared through the winter months.  It's a good time to pull back any debris that you did not remove in the fall.(See #3)  Now BEWARE,  you should check your own climate to make sure that no further hard frosts will happen.  Be ready to cover young growth in case of really cold nights that might still happen.

2. Before the weather gets really warm, you can trim some of your flowering bushes!  Again, be knowledgeable you don't want to trim those bushes that will flower early in the spring, especially lilacs and forsythias.  If you trim these in the spring, you will likely lose all the flowers for that year.  A rule of thumb to follow for good results is this:  If it flowers in early spring (lilacs, forsythia, azaleas and such) do not prune until after they have flowered for this year.  If the bushes flower later in the year, early spring is a good time to trim and resize.  These bushes will have plenty of time to set buds for this coming 2020 season.  The Farmer's Almanac is a good guide just click on the link: When to Prune Shrubs

3.  Your pots are drying and you are doing a foundation check.  It's a great time to look at the flower beds, see what is sprouting already and gently pulling back on the ground cover (leaves) that you put there in the fall.  Look for bees that are coming out of dormancy and leave them some mulch to use as blankets at night when it's still cool.

4.  When you have done all this cleaning and spotting what's new in the garden, you just might need a little rest.  All work and no fun is not a good way to garden.  The Fun comes from checking out all the seed catalogs for new and exciting plants you want to try to grow for this year.

There are numerous garden centers that offer seeds and you should check out your local growers/suppliers for their catalog.  If you don't have any local suppliers, you can try Veseys, Dominion Seed House  and many, many more.  The Spruce offers 60 free seed catalogs where you can either get a hard copy catalog or view it online. 

5.  What are the necessities?  Well, you are going to need fresh garden or potting soil.  If you are doing seeds, then a good seeding mix would be a good idea.  You have your clean pots and hopefully you have some old saucers or containers to use for catch trays (please make sure these are clean as well)

You need the seeds, so hopefully you have had some time to check out what's new for the gardens this year.  Or maybe you have kept seeds from last years harvest.  Good for you! 

Clean tools are also needed.  You don't want to spoil all the hard work you have done, by plunging a dirty trowel into your newly cleaned pots. 

6.  Plant markers, unless you are a master gardener and can spot a bean sprout from a pepper sprout, then marking your seedlings is a must.  Maybe you are trying a new variety and want to log it's growth and more, then plant markers are a must!  Even for flowers, I find that I can't rely on my memory to tell me what I planted in which pot.  (Brain Fog comes to me naturally, so I rely on my markers)  These can be home made by cutting up white plastic and using a waterproof marker to label the pots.  If you are creative there are many other ways to make some really nice markers. I've included a video here!  Making Garden Markers 

7. Now you can sit back and relax, watch a video or two, and dream.  Hopefully there are some nice sunny days coming your way.  Find a nice little sheltered spot where the sun shines and just sit back and let your body get it's quota of Vitamin D. 

Now it's time to order whatever it is you still need to get those seedlings started.  New soil is the Number 1 item that should be on your list and if you are a Prime Member, you will get it tomorrow.....

This is my favorite potting medium and I get free shipping with my Prime Membership.  Miracle Gro has been around for years and it has a 5 star rating, do I know it's a good choice. I still don't like having to lug these bags of soil around, so shopping online is the way I get mine.  It comes to my door and that makes me very happy.  My garden this year will be off to a great start.  Join me!

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Autumn Chores: Planting Trees Now It's the Right Time! A Garden Review

Autumn chores in the garden should include planting some trees! A Garden Review for you!

Now don't get your knickers all in a knot!  Some people think that fall is the time to stop gardening, clean out the flower beds and put everything to sleep for the winter months that are fast approaching.  I'm here to tell you that you are wrong, so wrong!  Those are some of the jobs that will need doing, but right now think about trees!

Autumn is a great time to plant trees and shrubs.  There are several reasons that you should be doing some tree planting at this time.  Trees are the lungs of the earth and healthy air around your home is a must! 

In the fall the ground has been nicely warmed up.  Summer heat gets right down to the deeper parts of the ground.  The soil is warm and generally moist.  When you dig a hole for a new tree you will see for yourself that the soil is nice and warm .  When you plant a tree in that warm soil, the roots that have been bound up in a root ball, will nicely ease their way into that warmth.  You can wait till spring, but have to wait until the soil is frost free for best results.  Late April or early May are target times for spring planting.  In the fall you can plant right up till the first signs of snow.  The ground will keep it's warmth even with a snow cover.  The snow, believe it or not, is a great insulator.

In the fall, trees naturally go into a state of dormancy.  The saps run down into the roots and the leaves fall. The energy of the trees are already in the lower parts of the trees.  So placing them into warm soil will make them very happy.   Autumn rains will also help get those roots to stretch out and grab hold.  But proper planting techniques are still a good rule to follow.

Before you start to think about planting a tree, make sure you know what kind of tree you want in your space.  If you have a large area, then plant whatever you like, but, if you live in an urban area, you may have to think about this a little more.  Do you want a lot of shade in your yard?  Are you looking to mask the sounds of traffic, or are you wanting some fruit for your efforts.  All these questions should be asked and answered before you buy and plant anything.

Some trees have deep roots, some have shallow ones!  Planting a tree close to foundation walls is never a good idea.  Nor is planting a tree that gets very deep expansive roots.  Some research is necessary if you want to have a good result.
 

Trees have different shapes and natural heights that they will grow to.  Depending on what you want from the tree, you will have to make some educated choices.  I like this link from Arborday.org, for some really good information, so that once you decide to plant the trees, you will have made the right decisions.  

Trees are a wonderful addition to any landscape and will give you years of beauty.  The birds, bees, and small critters will thank you and grace you with their presence.  Mother Nature will appreciate your help in keeping the air fresh and clean as well.   

Put this book on your shelf, so that you will have easy access to some of the best information and suggestions for picking, planting and maintaining your trees as they mature.

Trees Owners' Workshop Manual: Broadleaf and Conifer Models (all variations covered) Check Price

It is wonderful to be able to reach the information you need in the garden when you are busy with the task at hand.

Happy tree planting and here's to your healthy!  I hope you enjoy your happy gardening space.

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Garden Review: Outstanding Spring Gardens are Planned Out in the Fall

Outstanding Gardens don't just happen, they are planned out by gardeners who know what to plant and how to plant it!  Now is the Time!  Spring Planting must be done in the Fall, for beauty next year when the snow has melted.

Here is the List of Bulbs that I plan on planting this fall, for a radiant, colorful garden.  I love to have flowers blooming all the time.  So I plan these bulbs accordingly.  There are many bulbs that will grow in early spring, mid-spring and late-spring almost summer. 

 

 

Grammie Olivia's List

1.  Tulips (some of these will be early, mid-spring and late)
2.  Daffodils or Narcissus
3.  Crocus
4.  Hyacinths (they smell incredible)
5.  Anemones
6.  Alliums 
7.  Muscari or Grape Hyacinths
8.  English Bluebells
9.  Galanthus or Snow Drops
10.  Iris

This is just the starters list.  From here I will go and pick out the Tulips that will grow at the different times in the spring and I will also decide on what colors I want.  I will plan to plant these in groups of 3 or 5 or 7.  Always, always plant in odd numbers!  Any master gardener that I have spoken to has reiterated that Rule!  Think about that when you are purchasing as well.  If you buy a dozen tulips, you will have 4 groups of 3 bulbs to plant.  That will also make a nice show in your garden.  Do the same thing with the Daffodils/Narcisus that you plan to purchase.  Figure out how many of each kind you will need to fill the spot in your garden and then try to make it an uneven number.   If you can't I would prefer to see 4 planted in the same spot as opposed to 3 in one spot and 1 all alone.  Even gardeners will make exceptions to the Rule!

Beautiful Spring Bulbs

A Complete Spring Garden - 50 Bulbs for 50 Days of Continuous Blooms35 Deer Resistant Tulips Bulbs-wildflower Mixture25 Quality Daffodil Bulbs - Tête-à-tête (Small, Yellow) - Freshly Imported from Holland50 Purple Rain Mix Tulip Bulbs - Tulipa Triumph: Super-Sized X-tra Value Bag!

& 

Planting the bulbs is a little more tricky than just plopping them into a hole in the ground.  Although that might work with some bulbs, it is not an encouraged practice.  Once you have purchased your bulbs, make sure that you have the time and instructions for how deep these bulbs should go in the ground.  A rule of thumb is about 3 to 5 times the size of the bulb is how deep the hole should be!   Now that gives you some playing room too.  If you plant tulips 4 to 5 inches deep, then when back filling the hole, you could actually plant some smaller bulbs on top at the three inch level and then fill the hole right up.  Doing this will fill in your garden with color as these bulbs start to grow.  You can also use this trick if you are planning on using bulbs in containers.  Different sized bulbs get planted at different depths.  Just remember that 5 times(roughly) the size of the bulb, is how deep you want to plant it.

Picture courtesy of Pixabay.com

Bulbs generally are planted with the pointed side up and the more rounded side down into the ground.  This picture is just to show you that and not to be used as a guide to depth of planting.   These are grown in a greenhouse with totally different conditions than you will have. 

As you can see Tulips and Daffodils come in several different colors and combinations.  So many plants now are bred for their color and growing characteristics.   All of these are beautiful.  Planting bulbs is an activity that the children and grandchildren can easily help you with.

It's even easier if you are doing it in containers.  Here are some instructions for you to make it easier!   Make sure your planter has drainage holes, bulbs don't mind being cold over the winter months.   So plant a container full of bulbs to make your springtime even better.   Follow the depth planting chart found here so that you know your bulbs will be planted correctly.  Do plan your container in such a way that the bigger bulbs are at the bottom and the smaller ones towards the top.  Keep this container in a garden shed or garage in a cooler, or surrounded with a batt of insulation.  They don't mind getting really cold, but they don't want to be frozen and thawed and frozen and thawed again.  They need to stay dormant, until the days start warming up.  When it's the end of February or so, you can un-blanket your container give it a drink and move it into a sheltered spot in the garden.  In a few weeks time, you will be rewarded with green sprouts coming out of the planter.  

 

This chart comes from Proflowers.com

It is a comprehensive guide to all kinds of bulbs that I have mentioned here in this post as  well as others that you might consider growing.

Planting bulbs is a joy for you and for all your family and friends that will enjoy the fruits of your labor.

If you look at the chart you will see that it is full of information about the differences between bulbs, corms, rhizomes and tubers.

There is a detailed zone map for  your particular zone.  Just look on the map and co-relate the color to your Hardiness Zone.

If you are in Florida, there will be plants that won't do as well as if you are in Colorado or elsewhere.

It also reiterates what I have told you earlier in how deep to plant all your bulbs.

This chart also takes you through bulbs and corms that can be planted in summer and fall as well as spring.

The only time of year when you do not want to plant anything is in the middle of the winter.  By then the ground is frozen and you really don't want to be outside for any length of time anyways.

If you forgot to plant bulbs in the fall and you  want to plant them, try planting them in a pot as large as possible and keep them in a garage or some sheltered area.  They may just surprise you and grow, or they will die.  If they manage to grow you are a winner and if not, you really haven't lost anything more than you would have by not trying.

Please feel free to join me on Pinterest where there is a host of information for gardeners of all levels of expertise. https://www.pinterest.com/haydnsgrammie/weekend-gardener/

Note: The author may receive a commission from purchases made using links found in this article. “As an Amazon Associate, Ebay (EPN), Esty (Awin), and/or Zazzle Affiliate, I (we) earn from qualifying purchases.”

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