It is that time of year again! Time to talk about your gardens and flower beds. This is your place to share and give ideas to others or ask for help. Snickers sent in a few pictures of her flower bed and garden and we are posting them here to get the conversation started.
Gardening is a matter of your enthusiasm holding up until your back gets used to it ~Author Unknown
Man – despite his artistic pretensions, his sophistication, and his many accomplishments – owes his existance to a six inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains. ~ Author Unknown
Share your passion for gardening here!
Lily@IW says
June 16, 2013 at 4:36 amEverything looks like it’s growing great, so neat and pretty too. 🙂
Ugh, we got our garden and then a groundhog showed up and went to town munching on the tomato and pepper plants. Replaced the plants, but he is still around so there’s no telling what kind of garden we are going to end up with. Usually, the only problem we have with pests are the squirrels that keep taste testing the green tomatoes to see if they like them yet. Lol, they pull one off, scurry off someplace in the yard and drop it after taking one bite. There was always plenty though, so they were just more aggravating than anything.
snickers says
June 16, 2013 at 8:46 amThanks Lilly! We have had rain, and more rain for several weeks. The cool temps have replenished the moisture we so badly needed from last years drought. I have to fence my garden as the little rabbits would have it mowed down. 🙂 Had the first picking of garden lettuce and green onions yesterday. Yum!
JennieIW says
June 16, 2013 at 10:07 amI too admire the neatness and lushness of snickers’ garden. My own is much less organized and more “hit or miss.”
This the third year I’ve grown cucumbers – the first year they were great – bountiful and grew easily. I think last year was somewhat less successful, and this year has been a dud so far. The first cucumber plants I put in just died, and the ones I replaced them with *look* fairly healthy, but don’t so far seem inclined to actually produce any cucumbers. Same with my zucchini plants, though I hold out more hope there, because I think ANYONE can grow zucchini.
My tomatoes are weird; the plants aren’t growing that much and they look scraggly, but they are producing some fruit. I’m still hoping they take off at some point; last year I remember one or two plants that I’d almost given up on suddenly started to do really well in August and September.
Ann@IW says
June 16, 2013 at 12:07 pmI got started VERY late, our spring was so cold. I bet I am 4 weeks behind last year. I am disorganized.
I have the vermiculite, peat moss, and compost ready for my garden expansion, but it hasn’t happened yet. It seems like we always have something going on. Father’s Day today! No garden today!
I have peas and some tomatoes, and lots and lots of lettuce and greens. I forgot to plant a zucchini! Luckily, something zucchini-like sprouted on the compost. It could be pumpkin, melon, or zukes. They all look alike to me. I hope it’s zucchini. Like Jennie said, I have a better shot at success with that!
snickers says
June 16, 2013 at 1:49 pmJennie,
I never plant plants for cukes or zucchini. I also put a tall round wire around them for the plants to grow on, that way they never lay on the ground. Will take a picture when they start to vine up. I buy the seed, mound my dirt, put in 3-4 seeds and just keep the mound moist until seeds pop through. My tomatoes are just setting blooms now, so I will have a long wait, but will have them until late fall. I use cattle panels and tomatoes cages to keep them from getting to heavy to stand on their own. I see my potatoes are just about to bloom also. We are having warm and humid temps now, skeeters too, so the garden will really grow now. Enjoy your fresh pickings!
Ann
Hope you get to expand your garden this year. Plenty of time yet to get things in!
Lynn says
June 16, 2013 at 10:16 pmSnickers
What do you have planted in the front?
Jen says
June 17, 2013 at 6:49 amSnickers, you inspire me! I’m not a “yard work” type of girl but we took on the backyard and now we have a good start to growing a nice lawn! Now I want to add some flowers!
Maria Iemma says
June 19, 2013 at 7:28 amI wish I had a big garden – I live in an apartment complex and my planting consists of pots on my balcony! This garden looks beautiful!
Lily@IW says
June 20, 2013 at 11:53 amOur little garden is making a comeback after the attack of the groundhog. However, a neighbor told us she saw it and it was a mother w/some babies. We are doing the best to keep her out of the yard and she has chewed through the fence.
One thing for sure, I will have plenty of lavender this year. Oh, it smells so good. The garden use to go beyond where it is and that’s where all the herbs were planted. I was kind of surprised my mother let it continue to grow out there by itself, but she loves it too.
http://i1329.photobucket.com/albums/w547/merryway/lavender_zpsb68b6c5c.jpg
laurie damrose says
June 20, 2013 at 1:43 pmI have 2 gardens,one is in our front yard.The other is a veggie garden in the backyard.
krystel says
June 21, 2013 at 7:49 pmyour garden is so beautiful and very healthy
Deborah says
June 22, 2013 at 8:54 amIts beautiful as always Snickers.
I long to have a garden again.
Such a healthy way to live.
snickers says
June 22, 2013 at 8:38 pmLynn,
Catching up here. I always plant Zinnias across the front of my garden inside the fence so that I have color in my veg garden also. I plant a State Fair Blend as they get tall and the blooms last forever through the fall. You can get a California Giant that grows up to 4 ft tall. The row covers the ugly when things start dying down at the end of the season. I replant these every year as they are a annual.
Thanks gals for your nice comments!
Lynn says
June 23, 2013 at 7:24 pmSnickers,
My husband and I were making bets on what it was. I guess we both lost. I couldn’t figure it out for the life of me. Everything in your garden looks great. My garden is a tad stunted but seems to be taking off now. I was way late like some other people here. I will get a few pictures once it is not so smokey.
sor says
June 24, 2013 at 3:07 pmBeautiful garden Snickers.
snickers says
June 24, 2013 at 4:03 pmLynn,
We have had so much rain, we need sun! Can’t wait to see pictures, you have such a neat garden! 🙂
Thanks Sor!
Lynn says
June 24, 2013 at 9:23 pmI wish and pray everyday for rain. All we get is wind and lightning. That stuff needs to stop. Knock on wood at least we haven’t got hailed on yet. I need to get out there and weed before I post pics. It is almost embarrassing how bad it looks out there. Maybe I can get out there tomorrow without my eyes burning.
snickers says
June 24, 2013 at 10:26 pmSending good vibes for the fires to finally be over Lynn. The weeds are growing here too, never ending job. 🙂 We are water logged and more forecasted, wish I could send you some, and we had some soft hail today.
Mer says
June 25, 2013 at 12:10 pmNice pictures! My tomatoes are coming along nicely (looking forward a little nervously to canning the extra this year!).
snickers says
June 25, 2013 at 1:07 pmMer, thank you. Hope you enjoy your bounty. 🙂 Mine are in full bloom, so it will be awhile before I see any.
Lynn says
June 25, 2013 at 8:22 pmOk a spider falling on my head, getting stung by a bee and bit by a red ant is just too much for me.
Lynn says
June 27, 2013 at 8:43 pmA few pictures of the sky and garden. It was 106 today so I had to wait until almost dark. I am sorry if they are a bit blurry. It was getting dark. I got some good sunset pics though. If you see a weed in there blame my husband LOL.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/77634162@N03/
natalie parvis says
July 7, 2013 at 11:18 amWow. You have some great gardens! I can’t wait to have my own yard.
snickers says
July 7, 2013 at 7:10 pmLynn,
Your garden looks wonderful, you have a great space for things. Hot temps here also, picked 4 gallons of green beans today, cabbage and cauliflower were ready too. Busy days ahead. Thanks for posting and keep us updated.
Lynn says
July 12, 2013 at 9:48 pm4 gallons in a day. I am jealous! I haven’t even got 4 cups. The wind keeps blowing mine over. I will tell you if I don’t see another pea in my life I will be happy.
snickers says
July 13, 2013 at 12:52 amLynn,
Over flowing with green beans, but now we need rain. I will have a added post up soon. I don’t plant peas, so send me some. 🙂
Pam@IW says
July 15, 2013 at 12:22 pmHave you all heard of CowPots before? I like this idea. Great way to transplant flowers or other plants. I wish the local nursery would use this. You just plant them and they dissolve. Maybe snickers can do a review on them for us next year. 😉
Pam@IW says
July 15, 2013 at 12:23 pmOopps. Here is the link – http://www.cowpots.com/index.html
snickers says
July 15, 2013 at 7:06 pmPam,
They do sell these in my area, it’s always the black plastic containers here. I will research them and see next spring if I could order some and see what they do. Thanks for the link.
Pam@IW says
July 17, 2013 at 4:59 pmI would love to see that snickers. I wish our gardening centers would use them.
Lynn says
July 19, 2013 at 7:47 pmI have never heard of cow pots before. I start my plants in newspaper pots that I make. When they get bigger I put the newspaper pot and all in peat pots. I think they are basically the same. Peat pots are biodegradeable as well. When they are ready to transplant I just break up the bottom and put the pot and all in the ground. I love them.
snickers says
July 20, 2013 at 9:25 amLynn,
They don’t sell peat pots here with plants in them. I have seen the peat pots for starting seeds in Walmart, but I don’t start my veg plants. Garden centers should switch to these, it would be so nice just to have a protected layer around new plants.
JennieIW says
July 20, 2013 at 9:45 amI’ve seen and used some variant of bio-degradable pots – not sure what they are made of. I do like them a lot.
Pam@IW says
July 20, 2013 at 9:58 amJennie, the ones I linked to are made out of cow manure.
snickers says
July 20, 2013 at 11:17 amJennie,
I wish our garden centers would use these, it would be so better. I don’t like all those black plastic pots, but I do wash them and recycle.
JennieIW says
July 21, 2013 at 9:04 pmThe ones I’ve used seem like they are either heavy paper/light cardboard, or there are these ones that seem kind of like plastic, but more brittle. I’m curious what the cow manure ones look (and smell!) like.
snickers, there’s a nursery around here that has a recycle bin for plastic plant containers. I collect mine assiduously – and constantly forget to bring them in. 🙂
Sandra Beeman says
January 10, 2014 at 2:32 pmI’m yielding flowers that used to be strong and now are flimsy. I’m thinking I wore out the soil where I plant.
snickers says
January 10, 2014 at 3:19 pmSandra,
You can buy some black soil and some fertilizer, (it comes in bags) in a plant center and work it back into your ground. Make sure you have some good drainage, and your soil will come back to life. Hope this helps! Spring is around the corner. 🙂
SOR says
January 10, 2014 at 3:23 pmCan you move by me so can have a garden that looks like yours