Too soon to talk about gardening?

MoochNNoodles

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As long as the pot can fit over the one with the plant in it, you're good to go.

Don't worry about the sunlight in the garage.  Plants can deal with less than ideal light conditions for a few days.  After all, every day isn't a sunny day.    The shed probably is good also.  As long as they are out of direct cold and wind, they should be fine.  Maybe throw a light blanket or something over the whole bunch of them!
Thank you!!  
 

Norachan

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We've got blossom!

There are five small cherry trees out in the back yard. These are Yamazakura, Mountain Cherry. They don't  get a huge amount of flowers, just a few pale blossoms.


About 200 meters further down they get these gorgeous pink blossoms.




Too bad they don't grow at this altitude. Hiro would love them, I'm sure.

 

Columbine

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Oh wow Norachan. Just beautiful. I love cherry blossom. We're waiting for the wildflowers to come out after winter (we're involved in a project to restore ancient flower meadows - I'll post some pics when they're in bloom).
 

mani

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We're in Autumn here, but that's a lovely time to garden as Summer is so hot and humid.

My mowing man knew I liked staghorns and managed to rescue one from one of his other clients.. they wanted him to take it to the tip!!

I managed to get it up the olive tree, using brute strength and a sling made out of pantyhose (which is still there holding it up..)
 

Draco

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I got inspired by the purple pots posted above. I didn't want to shell out extra cash- so I spray painted the standard plastic black pots- they're the ones plants usually come in when you buy them. My maint guy gave them to me for my tomatos. I also did small window boxes that I picked up for a dollar each at the dollar store. Spray paint was $5. at AC Moores.

I have butterfly stencils that in debating on adding or not- in yellow.



You can see the window box under the planters. So for 4 pieces , it cost me a total of $6 (more with taxes). I can't wait till it dries fully so I can plant stuff in them!
 
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sivyaleah

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The northeast continues to receive unseasonably cold temperatures overnight.  3 nights in a row we've had to move in the potted plants to protect them from freezing.  Yesterday morning, my BF realized he'd left out 3 smaller ones (English Daisies).  They looked awful, but not frozen, brought them in for a while and gave them water. By this morning they looked a lot better.

I managed to get those and some "Dinnerplate" dahlias in the ground this morning.  Also, fertilized all the roses.  I'm beat. I really don't have the physical stamina for gardening any longer.  I think this may be the last year I try and do any of this by myself.  My BF always helps but this year, he's in the middle of writing a thesis; the semester ends in 2 weeks and he really is overwhelmed with all of that.  Let alone, he's been having a shoulder problem so both of us are useless between that and my knees.  We still need to plant the climbing rose and peony.  

I ordered two 1/4 pound mixed wildflower seed packets to broadcast in all the empty areas.  Broadcasting, for those who aren't familiar with the term, is basically just throwing the seeds wherever.  As long as they are the right mix for your zone, and the right light requirements you should see a good show of perennials and annuals come up.  I'm taking a chance on this since digging is so difficult and there are areas which really need some color still.  

Took 2 Advil and half a vicodin left over from my recent dental surgery.  Seems to be taking the edge off the pain I'm now in 
  I think I'm going to write the guy who does our lawn and general landscaping when required, to see what he'll charge me to get those last 2 things into the ground.  Whatever it is, right now might be worth the money just to have it done and not worry about them.
 

maureen brad

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I love all the pictures. Keep them coming. I have landscaping to plan for both my front and back yards. Due to our horrible drought I will be sheet mulching the lawn in the front yard. I am trying to decide whether to do the same on the entire back lawn or just a portion of it.

 I work at home and sitting on the back patio during the day seeing the green feels peaceful.

I am trying to come up with landscape plans that do not require I loose most of what took me 3 years to complete. I am constantly pinning pictures on Pinterest and still have not decided.

People keep suggesting succulents but my house is Cape Cod Style and cactus just does not complement it.A few succulents are fine but that cannot be the theme.

Today I am doing a lot of trimming in the backyard because we are putting up cat fencing!!!!! Very excited about that.
 

mani

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Yay!!  It's so rewarding, isn't it...

and I just noticed your little Mexican guitarist gnome...
 
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MoochNNoodles

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You can see the window box under the planters. So for 4 pieces , it cost me a total of $6 (more with taxes). I can't wait till it dries fully so I can plant stuff in them!
They look great!!  I have black plastic pots for my tomatoes too.  Now you've got me thinking! 
  Last year I bought blue tomato cages and they were nicer to see on my patio; but this year they only have them in red, black and green and I've added a 4th pot for tomatoes so I need another.  

I hope you are feeling better tomorrow Sivyaleah!  
 
I love all the pictures. Keep them coming. I have landscaping to plan for both my front and back yards. Due to our horrible drought I will be sheet mulching the lawn in the front yard. I am trying to decide whether to do the same on the entire back lawn or just a portion of it.

 I work at home and sitting on the back patio during the day seeing the green feels peaceful.

I am trying to come up with landscape plans that do not require I loose most of what took me 3 years to complete. I am constantly pinning pictures on Pinterest and still have not decided.

People keep suggesting succulents but my house is Cape Cod Style and cactus just does not complement it.A few succulents are fine but that cannot be the theme.

Today I am doing a lot of trimming in the backyard because we are putting up cat fencing!!!!! Very excited about that.
I wonder how beach grasses would do?  

DH and I did more yard work and put together the trellis' for the year.  The pea ones are in place. I'm trying a garden netting for them this year.  I think it'll be easier to store come fall.  

This weekend was a bit emotional for me.  My mother has been out of state; at her parent's house to help clear things out so the house can be sold. 
  My Grandmother passed this winter and my Grandfather (who is 93) is having some health challenges and ready to move into an assisted living facility.  That house holds so many memories; they bought it before my Aunt and Mom were born.  i spent a lot of time there over the years.  My Grandparents are the reason I'm interested in gardening.  Mom text me several pictures to see what things I want from the house and THAT made everything feel "real".  I've been avoiding thinking about it to be honest. 

Mom is also bringing back rhubarb from their backyard for me to plant.  My Aunt (she interited Grandpa's green thumb!) dug it out yesterday.  I'm reading online about growing it.  I need to find a good spot in my yard where it can just "do it's thing."   My Grandpa had it along the tall hedge line; but I don't know that it'll get as much sun there in my yard.  I was hoping they hadn't pulled the lilac bush out yet; but it's gone.  It had to come out so some they could access the backyard for some work to be done last year.  Lilacs were both Gram's and my favorite.  I already have 2 small bushes growing in the front yard; but I would have liked a cutting from Gram's.  I do plan to go up that way this summer and it's unlikely the house will be sold just yet because my Uncle needs to do some repairs first.  By then I might be able to find some other plants to take home.  I don't have any flower beds; so I'm not sure what I will take.  It's a different growing zone too.  My Grandpa and I love to chat about gardening; he'll be happy to know I have a piece of his with me here.  
 
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Winchester

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Draco, your planters look wonderful! I should try that. I have a huge ceramic planter that belonged to my grandmother. I painted it a pretty sage green color because I wanted the planter to complement the flowers planted in it, but now I'm not so sure I did the right thing. I can see it painted purple with yellow petunias cascading out of it. 

Betsy, I love your gnome! 


Mani, I would dearly love a staghorn in the house. I think they're neat plants. That picture is lovely. You do such neat things.

Maureen Bradley, have you tried things that don't need a lot of water? We have a lot of gaillardia in our flower beds, largely because they don't need to be watered all the time. We also have joe-pye weed and we planted penstemon a few years back. The first year, we really watered it until they got established, but they grow well in all but the worst drought situations. The penstemon is really pretty when it's blooming (ours is red penstemon), but then after it's done blooming, we get these really neat purplish leaves. They're nice plants. And some pampas grasses, too. I think they're fairly tolerant of drought situations.

Aw, Mooch, I'm sorry. It's difficult to have to deal with stuff like this. I hope your rhubarb grows well and when you harvest it, you'll think of your grandparents. I took a lot of poppies from my parents' back yard before they sold the house. Poppies are really hard to transplant, but we did manage to get some to grow OK and whenever they bloom, I think of Dad. As I mentioned in another thread, I also took a bunch of peonies from their house, too. They always make me think of Mom. I know those peonies that I took are decades old, not years, but decades. In fact, a couple of them might have originally come from Grandma's yard. Seriously.

We may try to till our garden on Saturday. It may still be too cold here in central PA, but with Rick going away mid-May, it's either do it now or do it over Memorial Day weekend. I just texted Rick to see if he does want me to call to reserve a tiller for Saturday morning. Once it's tilled, then I can get out there while he's gone and plant a few things. I think our last frost would probably be about mid-May, but who knows with the way things are going around here. We've already seen on the news that this summer is to be considerably cooler than normal. 
 
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MoochNNoodles

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We may try to till our garden on Saturday. It may still be too cold here in central PA, but with Rick going away mid-May, it's either do it now or do it over Memorial Day weekend. I just texted Rick to see if he does want me to call to reserve a tiller for Saturday morning. Once it's tilled, then I can get out there while he's gone and plant a few things. I think our last frost would probably be about mid-May, but who knows with the way things are going around here. We've already seen on the news that this summer is to be considerably cooler than normal. 
I heard that too; and my mariachi peppers arrived yesterday.  I'm hesitant to put them out in the garden.  They are next to my kitchen sink right now so they can get some light.  The instructions that came with them suggest planting within 10 days.  I'm also watching the wind.  I think if I do plant them; I might be covering them with pots like sivyaleah said to for my flowers.  We are looking at lows in the 40s; but my yard can get cooler because I'm surrounded by farms.

My rhubarb plant is in my garage.  I don't know where to plant it yet.  I've read some conflicting advice online.  The only spots I can think to put it are next to my shed; where I was hoping I could put up a small greenhouse in the future, or along the privet hedge where there is grass.  The things I read said to keep the area weed free; well my yard is pretty weedy...  We have a LOT of crab grass.  The soil is very sandy which one source said is good for starting the plant out.  Everything else said aged manuer is necessary.  I'm wanting to run out for another raised bed so I can just put it in good soil to begin with! 
  I think one thing said they really should be in the ground...  
 

sivyaleah

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I heard that too; and my mariachi peppers arrived yesterday.  I'm hesitant to put them out in the garden.  They are next to my kitchen sink right now so they can get some light.  The instructions that came with them suggest planting within 10 days.  I'm also watching the wind.  I think if I do plant them; I might be covering them with pots like sivyaleah said to for my flowers.  We are looking at lows in the 40s; but my yard can get cooler because I'm surrounded by farms.

My rhubarb plant is in my garage.  I don't know where to plant it yet.  I've read some conflicting advice online.  The only spots I can think to put it are next to my shed; where I was hoping I could put up a small greenhouse in the future, or along the privet hedge where there is grass.  The things I read said to keep the area weed free; well my yard is pretty weedy...  We have a LOT of crab grass.  The soil is very sandy which one source said is good for starting the plant out.  Everything else said aged manuer is necessary.  I'm wanting to run out for another raised bed so I can just put it in good soil to begin with! 
  I think one thing said they really should be in the ground...  
Just remember to remove the covers during daylight hours :p

BTW, my BF had rhubarb growing in his backyard growing up - apparently more than they could eat.  He said they ignored it completely and it came back every year.  Seems pretty hardy overall so maybe you don't need to worry too much about its location.  Knowing his parents, it's doubtful they did anything special to grow it lol.

I need to take more recent pix of my yard. Everything from last year seems too old to show now since a lot of it has gotten much larger.  
 

MoochNNoodles

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Just remember to remove the covers during daylight hours :p

BTW, my BF had rhubarb growing in his backyard growing up - apparently more than they could eat.  He said they ignored it completely and it came back every year.  Seems pretty hardy overall so maybe you don't need to worry too much about its location.  Knowing his parents, it's doubtful they did anything special to grow it lol.

I need to take more recent pix of my yard. Everything from last year seems too old to show now since a lot of it has gotten much larger.  
That's good to hear!  My Grandparents had such green thumbs; it's intimidating!  And with their house being sold (not yet) I don't want to mess it up!  
   My mouth has been watering at the memory of my Gram's rhubarb pies! 
  One of my problems with rhubarb is the giant leaves.  I've worked to overcome my plant phobia; but big stuff that gets near my face is still an issue.  I make DH harvest the summer squash and zucchini whenever possible.  (I don't like the prickles on it either. 
)
 
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I may have to try to grow some rhubarb this year. Just because. 
 I really do like the stuff. We have no sandy soil at all; everything is so clay-ey it's not funny, even with the composting that we're doing. It's that red clay stuff. That's good to hear that it's hardy, Sivyaleah.

I was able to rent the rototiller for Saturday morning at 7 and we have it for 4 hours. That should give us (Rick) time to till the garden and along the pool fence for the cannas and elephant ears and along the shed, too. Rick said he'd dig up some horseradish Friday night for me. I can grate it outside, probably need a gas mask anyway!, and then bring it in the house to mix. I just want about a pint jar or so; that would see me through for quite a while. Although I'll probably have to share it with our son.

Mooch, my grandmother had green hands, not just thumbs! That woman could grow anything. And Rick's grandfather had a veritable truck patch for his garden. He could grow anything and everything. He loved being in his garden. We are novices compared to them, but we keep trying.

I need to start my 2015 gardening journal! Last year I didn't get started right away and forgot to keep an accurate record of everything. This year, by golly, I'm going to do it better. I'm excited to start gardening!
 

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Great pictures everyone!  My allums are above knee high now, & my sunflowers are 4-5 inches tall now, so I can seperate them out better. I will probably do that sometime this week. 

I'm so bummed, my computer still isn't l letting me load pictures anymore for some reason. I have a friend who is going to look at it as soon as he can. I hope he can fix it. I tried from my phone, but it didn't work. 
 

kathyfromcanada

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We didn't have much luck with beet's either Pam. We grew butternut squash last year with some success, but having to duke it out with the racoons. I have transplanted all my large white

Irises to the side of the fence just off our property. It's too shady now to grow anything that requires sun. I have to plant shade type plants now. The side garden, facing south, does really well.

Lot's of tomatoes. We need to redo the soil for the veggie garden as it didn't do so well. 

We cut down one of our small maple tree's as it was dying anyway. Since we took it out, it has already made the yard bigger. We live in a typical suburban city with fences up all around.

We have to clean out the hot tub. My neighbour had to have his hot tub put in by a crane! It was funny to see this massive crane lifting the hot tub over the entire house and into their backyard!

I'm not sure what were going to plant this year, but peppers is definitely a must! I love them too. They also did very well last year. Our apples did lousy due to the crappy, cool, raining spring, summer.

Were just starting to get some decent weather starting as of tomorrow. Finally!!!!
      
 

Norachan

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I can see we're going to have a lot of purple garden decorations this year.



I found an old garden gnome that all the paint has washed off. I'm going to try and paint him up to compete with @betsygee  guitar playing gnome.
 
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