Alyssum - My new favorite ground cover plant!!

 I can say that this year I tested out growing from seed Alyssum. I am just in love with it!! I will definitely be using it in other areas of my yard. I am trying to get a great ground cover without having to resort to pebbles or mulch. For one, pebbles are expensive and a pain to weed. Mulch just flies away once we have our windy seasons in Spring and Fall. Then it becomes so ugly after the snow has been on it for 3 to 4 months. 

I am really hoping that the alyssum will be the ground coverage for my flower beds that do not have any pebbles or mulch in them. Which is really my corner garden and a front flowerbed that I have to tackle soon. The front flower bed has a lot of pretty daffodils that sprout and bloom in the Spring, but once they die down the weeds take it over. I plan on cleaning it up these next couple of weekends. I have some tulips and daffodil bulbs coming in September and October. I plan to put them in this flower bed and transplant some of my peonies. I have one peony that has to be thinned out so badly. It is taking up most of my flower bed next to the garage. My plan is to thin it out and place some of it in the front flower bed next to the road along with the tulip and daffodil bulbs in October.

But back to my alyssum trial. The seeds germinated and really took over the small flower bed next to the shed and back patio. I had also planted some shasta daisy seeds, but they did not germinate for me. The alyssum looks so awesome mixed in with the different stone textures. The thing about alyssum is that it also comes in pretty shades of pink and purple. I will add those colors next season into my plantings!!

I did seed some next to the greenhouse too. I had an unexpected surprise sprout up with the alyssum, some cute self-seeded pansies!!

I am still loving all my flowers and still experimenting with different areas of the flower beds. I am so looking forward to next season when I will finally have all the flower beds exactly the way I want them!!

I love how it is over-spilling onto the patio!!

Sweet little pop of color from the pansies.
I cannot wait until the wildflowers finally bloom!!

Succulents

 I had ordered some succulents off of Amazon a few weeks back. I thought I would give it a try and one seller was great when they came in. They arrived on time and were packaged well. The other seller took forever to come in and they were just cuttings. I am not sure about the cuttings just yet. I still have a few more to plant. But I do love the variety that came in.

I decided to take the hanging white baskets that had my pansies and sweet potato vines in and make the arch only succulents. I am loving the summer vibe these little containers are giving.

I had some random containers that needed cleaning up and these small succulents were just right for them. I am loving how they are doing. I will add some moss to a few of the containers to fill up the space while they are growing.

Jessica received a cactus for her birthday a year and a half ago. It was just a little knob. It has grown and so I added some of the new succulents around it and some of my miniature fairy and frog garden items to make a cute little arrangement.

I love how they turned out. They are thriving so far. I am not the best when it comes to keeping succulents alive. I think my plans over the winter will be to set up my curio cabinet with some grow lights and place a few of them inside it. We shall see.

Flower Container Update

I can say the flowers are really starting to grow. I have to spray almost all the plants with some aphid defense spray. Those little boogers are eating away my leaves and blooms on nearly all plants. That is a chore for this weekend for sure!!

The pansies I transplanted from the white hanging containers are just loving their new home.

The difference in one week is just tremendous.
So many new blooms and many new buds as well.
It has even gotten a little fuller.

This was one of the healthier ones I 
transplanted. It is really thriving just
one week later!!

My next update is on my whiskey barrel plantings in the new side gate corner flowerbeds. In just two weeks they have almost doubled in size. The petunias are becoming large and I think by end of July will finally spill over the edges.

I know the picture from July 1st which is the one on the left, is from a different
angle, but it can show how small the plants were.
The petunias are beginning to spill over. And the plants
are beginning to bounce back from the frostbite.

My rose whiskey barrel is the one that is really shining. The rose had just gone through a fresh blooming and I just deadheaded it. So you won't see any blooms on it in the updated picture, but the petunias have almost doubled in size. I do have some aphids munching pretty heavy on these, so they will get a good treatment this weekend.

This planter just makes me happy every time I see it.
Those fuzzy little plants planted around it are finally starting to grow as well.
Many didn't make it, but I am surprised by the ones that did.
The best thing too about this planter is that
the petunias and rose were both clearance purchases!!

The next collage is of the color of other transplanted flowers. It is these unexpected bright colors that make me so happy. The geranium is a transplant from a different planter. It was getting covered up by the dahlia and other geraniums in another planter. I needed this guy to shine because of its variegated leaves and salmon blooms. The little blue flowers are transplants as well. They were in the planter with my pretty pink petunias and marigolds. They were not thriving because all the other plants were taken over. The petunia is planted in one of my window planters on the fence. It is just such a pretty color to see every day when I am outside enjoying my morning cup of coffee.

Speaking of petunias in my window planter, these are on the left side of the fence next to my greenhouse. Keith wanted these because of their colorway. I wasn't too sure about them, but he was so right. They are just such show stoppers!!

The stardust look of the magenta ones is so unexpected.
And then the different white and purple variegation in the petunias
on the right is just show-stopping.
It is amazing how one week there will be more purple
 and the next more white.
I just love the continual supply of color these petunias provide.

I have a few projects on my agenda this weekend. One has to do with succulents!! I am excited about how this project will turn out. Fingers crossed it will be a show-stopper as well!!! I am also going to work on cleaning up some more stumps in the corner garden. One of my wisterias was delivered yesterday. I cannot wait to get the arch and plants in the ground!!

Enjoying the Flowers

 As I have stated in previous posts, we had a bad cold snap on June 20th. I salvaged the flowers I had purchased that day from Lowe's and Home Depot. Some have thrived with some patience and love while others are still struggling. 

I planted these beauties in my white planters hanging on my archway. They were pretty frostbitten and had no blooms, but a few buds. They are so vibrant and healthy now!! I am really thinking about buying some more in summer colors. They come in yellow, coral, and orange also, so I might grab a few and put them in the place of the pansies and purple sweet potato vines I transplanted out of the white hanging baskets.

This is the Moss Rose plant. It really looks like a tiny rose.
I love how many colors this plant comes in and it is actually pretty
hardy. I have had these nearly every year and it never
 fails a frost comes in and hurts them, but with love and patience
they always come back even more vibrant!!

Speaking of the pansies, I feel these guys were just struggling in the white planters. I moved them to the small planting areas along the new patio fence. I hope they do better here. I also transplanted the purple sweet potato vines along the fence. My hope for them is that they begin to grow up the fence. It probably won't happen, but we can only hope!!

I really love how these pansies look tucked into the rock garden.
I made spaces for them amongst the rock border of the patio flowerbed.
I sure hope they grow large and spread out onto the rocks.

Another great surprise was that a few stray pansies from last year have popped up in my front flowerbed. They are very small and unless you know the flowerbed well, you would never see them. The white one is behind my grass and peonies in the main flowerbed. It is doing its own little thing behind all the tall plants. The little burgundy one popped up under the clay flower pot next to the drive. I love when unexpected little treasures pop up in my flower beds.

Another treasure that is making me so happy is that my alyssum is now sprouting up and starting to bloom. I planted these seeds along with some Shasta daisies along the backside of the patio that butts up to the shed. The daisies do not look like they geminated or sprouted, but at least the alyssum did. If these do well this season, I will be adding more to different areas of the flowerbeds to create some nice ground coverage. I am trying to think of ways to add to the beds that will keep me from having to add mulch or any more pebbles to keep the plants thriving.

Last but definitely not least, I planted some extra marigolds and petunias in a container that had some pitiful carnations in it. The whole container is thriving. The sub-zero carnations have yet to show any signs of blooming, but they are at least green now. But I just love the rich color of the marigolds with the luscious bright pink color of the petunia. This one has become a great eye-catching container. It is placed on some old bricks from the front bed borders outside my greenhouse. I have yet to put the cover back on the greenhouse. I probably will in September when the temps become cooler.

I don't know if you can see it, but the water sprinkler was running when I took this pic.

Corner Garden Update

 I was not able to do much work in the gardens on Saturday. I spent most of the cool part of the day getting an oil change on my Element. Even with making an appointment, almost 3 hours of my day was spent going, waiting, and heading back home. So by the time I made it back home, I had some time to do some reassigning of plants to different areas of the garden. I was able to repot my okra and find a new home for my cucumber plant. 

Sunday I really worked on thinning out my iris at the corner of my porch. This was a transplant from another spot in the yard when we first moved in. It had taken over so much of that corner area of my front flowerbed and needed to be thinned out really badly.

This is a picture from last Spring/Early Summer. We had just finished updating the border and adding some pebbles to the beds. I think it was larger than this when I started thinning it out.

I filled a 5 gallon bucket with some water and began digging up parts of the iris. I replanted them in the corner garden with the hopes they eventually make a lovely border. My dream for this corner garden is to make it into a beautiful cottage garden. I am doing a lot of research on what perennials and annuals will go in what area of the garden. I might do some containers as well by the end of the season or have the ready to be placed in next spring. I want to be able to go into this little garden and just soak in the beauty of the sweet flowers. I have to really sun map this area soon in order to have a good plan set by next spring.

I had an extra 2 irisis that I had to just tuck into the bed where I think they might thrive.

I think the one between the two trees will do great there. I also repotted my Christmas cactus. I hope it does well hanging from the plum tree this Summer. It would be extra cool if it bloomed, but I won't hold my breath.

I had moved my poor zinnias that I got on clearance at Lowe's June 20th three times now. These poor guys were struggling to begin with and then the cold snap got them. I had them planted in my new flowerbed next to the side yard gate, but I think they were too shaded and getting too much water. I then moved them into the flower bed next to the patio and again they were being over watered. Those two beds are receiving a lot of water because of the new sod. I now have them in the corner garden nuzzled up against a rock feature. I sure hope they bloom one more time so I can scavage some seeds from them. We shall see.

They are looking pitiful. If you look closer, you can see my sunflowers sprouting along the fence line.

On a brighter note, my apple tree is loaded down. I sure hope the weather doesn't go south and destroy these tiny little guys. The picture does not give it true justice. The apples are so small and green the leaves take away from their little glory.

I hung the cutest windchime from one of the Apple Tree's branches. It is a good luck horseshoe chime. I am hoping it gives my sweet apple tree lots of luck so it can have a bountiful harvest!!

I have a couple of wisteria plants coming in this week. My plan is to make an arch at the gate entry with some of the leftover cattle fence. I will plant the wisteria on either side so it will eventually engulf the arch. The colors are deep pink (almost mauve) and white. The struggle right now is removing all the small stumps that are through out the corner bed. I tackled some while replanting the iris. It was mid-day and getting really hot when I got around to it. I have one stubborn stump in the left side entrance that I had to walk away from due to the heat and being tired from all the digging I had done that day. But I will conquer this stubborn stump!!

I know that our time is limited at this old homestead, but I just cannot do what I love. Even if I won't enjoy all the hard work we have put into the landscape, I sure hope the next renters can appreciate it. Who knows the owners might just rip everything up and completely do a redo in their ecstatic. But you know what, I don't care because I love what I have done so far and will enjoy every minute of it while I can.

Vegetable Planters Update

 I can say that I am really struggling with the vegetable growing prospect of gardening. I think for next season I will need to begin germinating the seeds in October or November inside. I plan on setting up a few areas in the Gym/Craft Room with some grow lights and seed heating pads in October maybe November. We do go on vacation in late October and do not return until Mid-November, so I might have to wait until we return.

The first picture is of my pitiful tomato plant. This is a Bonnie Plant Cherry Tomato. It was blooming and doing so well until we got a slight cold snap on the 20th of June. I had checked the weather and it didn't look as if it was going to get that cold. I was wrong and so many of my vegetable plants suffered. I had also just bought a bunch of flowers to plant the coming weekend and many of those got frost bit. I was able to salvage pretty much all of the flower plants, but my tomatoes, cucumbers, and eggplants got the brunt of the cold snap.

My other tomato plant has some other plants that sprouted up these past couple of weeks. I have no idea what they are, but I will transplant them into a different container this weekend.

I had 4 cucumber plants that were really thriving in the greenhouse. Once I planted them in this 6 compartment plastic grow container, they went to crap except for one. I plan on transplanting it out of this container and into a felt grow bag instead. I think the plastic grow boxes are just too hot.

My sunflowers are thriving. Keith had built me a raised bed and I filled it with an assortment of sunflower seeds. I do have a small bean sprout in the front of the bed, but I don't think it will make it either. I had planted all my radishes that were pot bound in the front part of the bed too, but they did not survive. I am looking forward to all the sunflowers. There should be 15 different varieties, but we shall see what survives.

One thing I have to do better next year is spacing my seeds at an appropriate distance from one another. I can say that some of the plantings happened right as or right after I caught Covid. I was very low on energy and high on pain during this planting season for sure. I kinda threw all my carrot seeds into one grow bag. I have no idea how they will turn out if they will turn out at all. Lessons Learned!!

This next container is my throw it all into one container and sees if it grows. I know I have some marigolds, painted daisies, and some lettuce in it, but I have no idea what some of these items are that are growing. I won't know until they bloom. 

The next container is full of red peppers and jalapeno peppers. I am surprised anything sprouted in this container. We were moving it out from inside the house to the greenhouse and I had to step over a short dog fence. My leg got caught and I dropped my side of the container. We just scooped up what we could by hand and prayed. Peppers sprouted, but I have no idea which are which until they actually begin to produce.

My okra was transplanted into another one of those 6 compartment plastic growing containers. I think they are doing better than my cucumbers only because they are a little more shaded throughout the day. I plan on transplanting them into new containers this weekend as well. At least all of the plants have survived. Barely surviving though.

The next picture is of a bean sprout I tugged into the corner of the planter that my eggplants are in. I just plopped the seed in and did not even think it would sprout. Hopefully, it grows and can cover the fence behind the planter. We shall see.

Now my poor eggplants....They got so frost bit. One of the plants has a couple of healthy plants growing under it. I will move those into a different container and see how they do on their own.

Of all the plants I thought my eggplants and okra would be the stars. I sure hope I can revive them and they will produce something come harvest time.

I have learned some valuable lessons this season. I have never had a green thumb when it comes to vegetable gardening. I will do more seed starting this fall and hopefully, have some very healthy seedlings come planting season next year.

Pops of Color and Flowerbed Maintenance

 We had such a wet Spring that the weeds really thrived. The before picture of my corner flowerbed is not accurate. It is prior to me being sick and the rain coming in for 2 weeks straight. The flowerbed was 10 times worse by the time I could tackle it. It took 5 days to complete in total, but the end result is awesome. I still have a few spots I could weed, but I will use the weedeater and put down some roundup instead. My back cannot take much more hard-core gardening right now.

I had to replant my wildflower seeds under the trees. Pepper got into the beds and dug everything up this past fall. I now have a tall fence up that she cannot get through. This is what it looked like last year. Pepper was able to squeeze through the decorative fence and ended up digging up all the gorgeous wildflowers. They should bloom by next month so I am not too upset. 

It took a lot of back-breaking work to get the bed cleared of all weeds and especially dandelions!! My hands are still cramping from pulling weeds for so many days straight. This was not the only bed that had to be cleaned up. All my front beds required it as well as around my greenhouse and back patio.

I added a little fairy circle flowerbed towards the front and then planted along the back fence some sunflower seeds. I cannot wait until everything is up and blooming!!

Speaking of blooming and pops of color, I am loving all the different varieties of petunias and dianthus I have planted in planters around the house. The top picture of the collage below is a wild rose bush that sprouted up along the back fence. It finally bloomed this year. It is in a precarious spot though. It is right behind the grill and smoker patio blocks. But so far it is still thriving.

For the corner spot in my front flowerbed, I added some of the cattle fencing we had left over and the rest of the white hanging planters as a cute corner attraction. The ivy was left over from a planter I had on the front porch last year. My creeping myrtle has gotten so large this year that was completely ignoring it the first part of the season!!

I also used some of the leftover cattle fencings as a brace for my tall dianthus. The smaller dianthus came back this year. I had them planted in this planter as a last-minute pop of color choice last season. I cannot believe they came back in this planter and the planter next to the garage.

We did a refresh to the rocks in the front flower beds. I did not get a picture of the peonies in bloom. But the wildflowers are coming back so strong each year. I actually need to thin them out a little. My plan this October is to plant a bunch of tulips in the front flower bed with my gladiolus. I will also plant some under the large front window. There is actually a small flower bed under it that is blocked by the peonies. I figured I will at least be able to enjoy them when I am on my front porch.

I am looking forward to my gladiolus this year. I moved the decorative fence from the corner bed to in front of my gladiolus bed as a bracing instead of using white stakes with string this year.

The sideyard gate entry was destroyed by Pepper when she would run back and forth watching the cowboys rodeo across the street. We have worked so hard to fill it in and make it level again. We had some old bricks from the front flowerbeds that were busted and miss shapen. We threw them down in the huge trench she had made and began slowly filling it with topsoil, sand, and pebbles. We now have a level entry with some of the sod we found on the interstate. I also made some corner flowerbeds to add some color and attract a few more pollinators. I love how it turned out. The barrels I ordered from Home Depot.  I did not realize how large they actually were until I got them in. Luckily, we had done a nice shopping haul at Lowe's and Home Depot the week prior and I had found a bunch of clearance items to fill them up with. I also have a couple of hydrangea plants planted in the corner next to the house along with a lantana plant. I am hoping this corner flowerbed becomes full of large hydrangea blooms!!

So that is a full update on my flower beds. I will try and get some pics of my pitiful vegetable planters and get an update posted this week as well. Now that majority of the hard work is done, I now can sit back and enjoy all our hard work!!

Fence and Sod Project for Side Yard

 Covid really put me behind this Spring. I did not completely get all my weeding done until this past weekend. Yes, I spent the majority of my 4th of July vacation cleaning flowerbeds and planting up new beds.

During our Covid sickness, Keith decided to make a fence that blocks the dogs from one side of the yard. This is the side of the yard where I have my vegetable planters. We used leftover wood from the cat cage we had up in one of the rooms inside. Now that the cats are gone and with Jessica, we decided to upcycle all the wood. We also used cattle fencing instead of dog fencing. It makes the fence steadier and more eye-appealing.

We had some strips of the cattle fencing that we made into a cute archway. I then purchased some really adorable hanging planters off of Amazon and filled them with some really cute flowers. Next year we might work more towards a full vine that engulfs the arch, but this year we went more simple.

We added a couple of window box planters as well and Keith set up the sprinkling system to easily water the planters. It really cuts down on watering time with the way he has it all set up. He also installed some sun shades that go over the patio. It has made a huge difference this year so far.

We got very lucky this past week. We were heading home from Home Depot with a heavy load of pebble rocks to add as flooring to my greenhouse and freshen up the flowerbeds. We were going extra slow on the interstate due to the heavy load when we came across a lot of contractor sod on the side of the interstate. We pulled over and scavenged as much as we could. What a huge difference it makes compared to the previous pictures just having some great-looking grass down. We had that area heavily seeded and some of the grass was sprouting, but why wait when you can have it now and for free!!

I am loving my back patio this year so much. I sit out in the morning drinking a cup of coffee and enjoying the bees and butterflies. I am not sure if I will have any vegetables this season. We had a cold snap and I did not tent my planters. Hopefully, something produces. I do have some lettuce, so that is something.