Spring-2016 Gardening anyone? What do you plant? or not?

[foxxycat]

yes you can use potatoes from the store-I have-I buried a few of them last summer and didn't water it-just wanted to see what would happen-in the sandy soil got several good sized ones but in the hard dirt area=none. but the greenery is very beautiful

 

[DreamerRose]

A member of my garden club built a box using chicken wire that was about 3 feet high. He planted about 1 lb of potatoes in it, then as the green vines grew, he filled it up with dirt. He continued filling until the end of the season. He then released the wire, and 27 lbs of potatoes fell out. I haven't tried this, but it's something to think about. Potatoes require a lot of water, so be sure to water them often.

 

[Draco]

that's a lot of potatos!! I don't eat them or I'd try to grow them for the fun of it

 

[Norachan]

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• Draco
• May 13, 2016

Oh, good find Draco!

I love getting stuff for free. Most of the cat's outdoor climbing trees are made from stuff I've salvaged. Maybe you could grow some flowering vines over the lattice?

 

[rubysmama]

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• Draco
• May 13, 2016

That looks great!  And free too.  

 

[foxxycat]

morning glories up the fencing or clementis (sp?) they have some really nice purple or pink combo flowers-they come back every year but the roots have to be shaded-and plant in sunshine-so plant it behind the fence-and the vine go up the front of the face.
 

others have used rocks or bricks in front of the plant to keep the ground shaded from the sun-its a bizarre plant-very easy to grow.

Tonight after work I got a coupon for some sales at a local flower place-they sell my tidal wave petunias-and they are $10 for a six pack but the coupon is $10 off of $30 of anuals so it will only be $20 for 3 six packs. Then they have strawberry plants six packs on sale for $5 and need some more of these as my strawberries are over 7 years old=surprised that they still grow-with the snow gone early this year my strawberries are blooming already. So tomorrow after work I will be digging in the yard to plant some strawberries and buy dirt to put the petunias in the ground-

I cheat-I use potting mix and dig a 4-6 inch hole and dump out the dirt from the hole and put in potting mix then the plant-water well and voila-this will be year #5 I have done this so almost done getting the bad dirt out of my gardens-the old dirt I dump along the roadside garden that is only 6 inches deep-there are boulders underneath so I don't plant deep root plants there-just bee balm and vinca type stuff and petunias..

Last night we FINALLY got rain and things are blooming-the leaves on the trees are budding finally=so this week everything will "pop" and I will work on getting those gardens back in order with weeding and adding good soil..takes me all year to do it then winter comes.

will post pictures later.

 

[Draco]

I was thinking morning glories. I'll see if the local nursery has some already grown from seeds. I found the danged squirrel likes to dig up seeds, lol

I can't wait to se eyour garden, foxxy!

 

[foxxycat]

It still weeds n messes but I will post what I have cleared away for now-cant wait until my butterfly bush and bee balm has grown 4 to 5 feet tall! The cats like to hide under these and watch the bees and butterflies-I have a swarm of bumble bees that buzz all day long around the super tall bee balm-they don't sting-just sounds like a buzzing factory! That is around August/Sept when these get big enough but this year its an earlier year so maybe by July those flowers will open-

Getting excited to get my yard in better shape-still have to buy bags of soil and compost-that's what I keep putting off-I should do it asap now before things grow-so this week that's the plan-wish I took this weekend off-but I plan on next two weekends OFF. They have been making people do mandatory overtime on the weekends so I have to work so many in a row to get my percentage up so they cant tag me. Lets hope I can get the next two weekends off and stop sitting around the house reading and get out there and clear/clean up the mess from last year

 

[Norachan]

Yes! I think clementis would be a great idea. I have one near my fence that has survived two winters and it gets lovely purple flowers on it.

 

[foxxycat]

ok I got some photos done-Still need to do more weeding

 

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• foxxycat
• May 15, 2016

This is under the Japanese maple tree-there is creeping phlox that if it rained more it would open up better. this is one out of I think 12 gardens I have-rather than one big garden-I made small little pockets of flowers/greenery-the house had seven of them established when I moved in-I just added on.

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• foxxycat
• May 15, 2016

this is on the other side of the house-another patch of creeping phlox-this garden is about 8 x 8 and I put it in-originally it was 2 feet along the house and porch but I extended it out so its a square shape-this is where the 4-5 foot bee balm grows and creates shade for the cats in the summer..this is their favorite place to be.

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• foxxycat
• May 15, 2016

this is a bigger picture of that area-I need to clean up lots of weeds-one is a blue flower that is in the top right corner of photo-forget me nots I think they are called-I didn't want to rip any out so I am waiting for things to grow 4" tall so I can tell what it is before I yank it. I already pulled up bee balm by mistake as its a mess of dead roots and stems before it grows-it looks like dead plants-but its just dormant. So now is when I try to pull up weeds..

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• foxxycat
• May 15, 2016

more of the same area-trying to show those blue flowers. but they look light purple.

I will post more photos in a minute

 

[foxxycat]

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• foxxycat
• May 15, 2016

In that same 8X8? or so size this is a bush/vine type orange flower-some say its honeysuckle but it doesn't have any smell to it. This is Honeybee's favorite spot to hide. Her and Pumpkin face hide in this bush to watch the world.

I have to upload more photos for this area..be right back.

 

[foxxycat]

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• foxxycat
• May 15, 2016

Here is that small garden from afar-Honeybee is looking at me-there are mole/vole holes in that area of the yard and she catches them daily. They have ripped up the lawn. You can see that orange flower thing better-I had it looking much neater but last summer too hot to attend to. And the lawn-that hawk week you see-its slowly killing the grass. Jon says who cares. I care. Its hard to kill and it creeps into the lawn and grows tumblers and roots-you have to keep it from flowering and not form fingers to extend-I use an iron rake to pull it up during the drought times-I rather have grass than that ugly stuff but my flowers come first.

 

[foxxycat]

ok I got the rest uploaded-the light is still off but they came out ok.

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• foxxycat
• May 15, 2016

another of that side garden-I have a phlox plant in a container that I cant move-and its next to this azalea plant.

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• foxxycat
• May 15, 2016

and Honeybee wants to be in the photo=there is a small patch of catnip here-but they nibble it down to its nubs so I can never find it.

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• foxxycat
• May 15, 2016

more cat-against the porch is some creeping flower that is yellow-it blooms in June. There are Iris next to the steps in the top left photo-then the clemantis is not in this photo-its to the right of that creeping yellow flower-the leaves are a deep shiny green and the flowers are small yellow ones that are short. I just stuck it here because its always damp from the hose-I put a bucket under the spicket to stop the floads-I use the water in my watering can-there are more Iris in the top right as well but the photo doesn't show them.

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• foxxycat
• May 15, 2016

tried to get a better photo of those blue flowers and Honeybee looking at me. This is where she hangs out most of the day. She is on alert waiting for a vole/mole to make the mistake of coming out of their hole-she sticks her nose right in and tries to grab it. And she does...and helps make the garden look pretty.

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• foxxycat
• May 15, 2016

sorry this one is blurry-this is on the other side of the porch. the red flowers are red geraniums in a hanging pot-my dad brought it over on Tuesday. The white flowers are daffodils but they smell weird. These were planted when I moved in 11 years ago-I haven't done anything to them. This garden was already established but only the hosta and these daffodil/purple small flowers and blazing glory-or something-these are purple type shooter flowers-they bloom in august-they look like grass growing but they are a bulb. They self seed-start from seeds then grow a bulb and the bulbs multiply/self seed-these will grow anywhere. I have a line of them growing in straight sand against the road=they have come up=I don't fertilze the ones by the road-and they get big and pretty...

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• foxxycat
• May 15, 2016

more of that area-the yellow flowers are not flowers=they are green foliage that turns yellow-I cant remember what they are called-the stuff inbetween those two yellow plants are bee balm starting to grow.

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• foxxycat
• May 15, 2016

more of that area-those hostas coming up-over 20 years old-I have only divided one-I should divide them more but no place to put them without needing a tractor to turn the dirt into garden. yellow daffodils in the back left corner.

 

[foxxycat]

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• foxxycat
• May 15, 2016

took this one this morning=this is that front garden-maybe you can see more here.on the other side of that pink container of six pack plant-is a good sized plant of cat nip-the girls love fighting over who gets to roll on it. I have more cat mint-but its not as compact and once it gets tall they don't like it-when it was first popping out of the ground in April Floey and Pumpy were rolling around on it-there are two clumps-so they each got their own to flatten.

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• foxxycat
• May 15, 2016

Just a better one of this corner-there is a clematis planted in the corner against the railing/porch. this works because that part is in shade until 5 pm when the sun comes around to the front of the house-but the livingroom gets super hot this time of day. There is a boulder there-I haven't tried to move it. the hosta is another of those almost 20 yr old plants that were established before I bought the house in 2005. the house was placed here in 1997-so I am guessing soon those hostas will be 20 yrs old.

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• foxxycat
• May 15, 2016

one more of that garden on the other side of the porch-this is the one I added on-the azalea bush and hydrangea or whatever they are called=those ones that bloom in April and very strong smelling-those were already planted as well as Iris=those will all be 20 yrs old I am guessing or close to it- I added all the mddle part-bee balm and some stuff that smells like licorice-the leaves have a purple color to them-the cats like to sniff it. in a month this area will look much better-oh and I have three roses interspaced around. but they don't always come back-I planted two new ones last year but without snow to protect it I doubt they will come back. I will dig them up if they don't come back. They came from the grocery store-around $7 and I get about 4 to 5 roses from each shrub so I cant complain. 

 

[foxxycat]

ok these pictures are a new garden I dug up six years ago-I never finished it-this year I am working some more on it-it all used to be full sun but now with the trees getting so tall-the back half is shade most of the day so I have to figure out shade plants back there but for now the wild flowers grow and look ok but I need to pull up the wild strawberries that have choked out most of the other stuff growing..bare with me-I didn't have a clue how to present this so it makes sense-this area is the same area as the photos I posted when I first made this thread-so right now it looks horrible-I need to weed and water.

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• foxxycat
• May 15, 2016

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• foxxycat
• May 15, 2016

this one is where you can see where I didn't finish-it goes all the way to the second boulder. I have several dif things growing here-butterfly bush. Iris. Hens and Chicks. Lupine. Cone Flower. Hot poker or something. Columbine. Ivy type looking vine. Some other thing that looks like hosta leaves when it comes out of the ground-it has several colors on its leaves-reds and greens-unique-will take closeups when I get home tonight.

I have some wild growing wild flowers where the greenery looks like fern/pine tree type foliage-they grow to about 2 feet tall with white cauliflower looking flowers at the end=that are flat across. and Vinca I think its called? ground cover with blue flowers. Periwinkle I think its also called.

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• foxxycat
• May 15, 2016

This rock has been engulfed with tidal wave petunias in the past-this year going to try again but they need to be babied more than the other plants. So I have to dig up the vinca and move it away-probably put it on the other end of this garden where the shade is-because I need the room for petunias to grow their roots. There is also bee balm along the road I transplanted two years ago. There are columbine in front of this rock=I didn't get a good picture of it yet.

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• foxxycat
• May 15, 2016

this is along the road=vinca bee balm and wild daisies. Once the daisy plants get taller-it will look better..in about a week they will be 6-8" tall if it stays warm.

 

[foxxycat]

ok I will post more later.

 

[jtbo]

No gardening for me today, I took this pic few hours after rain had stopped, I should remove rocks and make that area flat so that I could push lawnmower there and hopefully regain that area which that annoying bush had covered.

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• jtbo
• May 15, 2016

 

[foxxycat]

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• foxxycat
• May 15, 2016

this is the strawberry bed=this is to the left side of the house in the back=its beside t\he deck,.

and the girls love hanging around here. the original owner built this masonary bed=he did most of the brick/stone work for here and under the shed.

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• foxxycat
• May 15, 2016

Hens and chicks next to the strawberry bed

 

[MoochNNoodles]

that's a lot of potatos!! I don't eat them or I'd try to grow them for the fun of it

Last year was my first try with them. We dont eat a whole lot of potatoes but I like trying different things. They were SO good!! I did yukon gold ones and they really were tasty! I'm disappointed its been so hard to fibd seed potatoes this year. I think I will try with organic potatoes from the store. They are less likely to have been treated with chemicals to prevent budding. I do have a bag of red potatoes starting to bud in the pantry. I should just use those. :lol3:

The lattice looks great and bith morning glories or clematis would be nice! I'm partial to Morning Glorys because that was my soul-kittys name. (But she was named after the sparklers; not the flowers.) My grandpa had a gorgeous white clematis too. For me I'd be nervous because it attracted lots of bees and I'm mildly allergic.

DH helped with weeding yesterday sinceI wasn't feeling well. He uncovered the strawberry patch and we found some green berries growing. He got rid of that awful prickly weed too.

Here are my flowers. I'm really debating a yellow double calibrachoa I saw at Lowes. I need a new hanging pot. DH accidentally broke one.

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• MoochNNoodles
• May 15, 2016

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• MoochNNoodles
• May 15, 2016

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• MoochNNoodles
• May 15, 2016

 

[DreamerRose]

I love calibrochoa, and this year I got a double lavender one for a hanging pot.