Buying Bedding Plants

While we were in Idaho visiting my parents we visited their favorite nursery. It happens to be run by a group of Mennonites who really know their stuff. Their plant material is healthy, huge, and beautiful, and even better, at steal-of-a-deal prices!

Now is the time (in my gardening zone) to buy bedding plants! The general guideline is to plant after Mother's Day or after the risk of freezing is over, but sometimes you still have to be careful! Here in Utah we have had an extremely cool spring, and just Monday we had a huge hailstorm which stripped and damaged many plants! The forecast is looking better now and hopefully some of those April showers will turn into May flowers.

After visiting numerous nurseries and greenhouses in the last month, it occurred to me that many people probably don't know how to buy bedding plants. For example, Home Depot's nursery department was full of beautiful blooms, but they weren't labeled very well and it would have been easy to buy what was prettiest, only to be disappointed upon returning home and finding it was only in bloom for a few weeks when you wanted something colorful all summer. In fact I saw an older couple buying huge pots of flashy foxglove, and I could only hope they knew it was a spring bloomer. The key to this predicament is knowing the difference between annuals and perennials.

Annuals are plants or flowers that will only live for one season. They don't have the resources to over-winter, so you will have to replace them annually. (That's how I keep them straight.) Common examples of summer annuals are petunias, snapdragons, geraniums, stock, and marigolds.

Stock... oh, it smells so good! It doesn't like heat so is in it's prime right now.

Look at this hanging basket of petunias I got as my Mother's Day gift!
It's so heavy we don't know how to hang it without making a hole in the stucco!

Perennials, on the other hand, come back every year. They typically have one bloom period, but this can differ per species as well. Spring blooming perennials such as peonies, iris, and aurinia, only bloom for about a month in the spring.

My aurinia, or Basket of Gold, is still small and almost done blooming.

Others such as lavender, sea thrift, and scabiosa, bloom all summer as long as they are deadheaded properly.

Sea thrift is so compact and cute.

Scabiosa, or pincushion flower, is one of my favorite.

Another key to success is making sure you buy healthy plant material! This seems like a no-brainer, but don't underestimate it's importance! Ideally plants should be just beginning to flower and have lots of buds and lush green leaves. If a plant is already overgrown and full of blooms, it won't have much splendor left for you. If it's too small, however, it may have a weak root system and never reach it's full potential.

The little ones had a great time at the nursery too. There was certainly a lot to discover!

I also bought more of my veggie garden starts on this trip. Now I have basil, peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, and a tomato plant in the ground! I need to plant my beans and a few more tomatoes and I will be set! I can't wait for summer.

GrowCookEat

This week I thought I would share with you a new source of inspiration. In light of my own desire to cook in season, allow me to introduce:

Katie Goodman from goodLife {eats} has a new thread called GrowCookEat wherein she shares her experiences in her own garden, and also recipes that take the produce from "garden to table". Every Friday she focuses on gardening and shares pictures, a recipe, or tips from a specialist. You can also find links to other gardeners and share ideas! It should be a great resource for this growing season.

If you like to cook, also be sure to browse her recipe index and try something new. I have really enjoyed some of her recipes!

Life and Death

My seeds are sprouting. I am so happy!!!

Carrots

Beets

Peas

My dandelions are dying! I'm excited about this too, especially because I just used vinegar. Yep, I spent an afternoon painting my weeds with a paintbrush dipped in vinegar. As you can see, it seems to be working... a successful alternative to chemicals.

Green Your Gardening

Happy Earth Day!

I couldn't let this day go by without thinking about something I can to personally to make a difference. Here are some ideas:

-Reduce (or remove) chemicals in the landscape. I have to admit that with my gardening background in a large show garden, we relied heavily on herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers to keep everything super green and lush. I have a lot to learn about organic gardening! In fact, right now we have a dandelion problem developing in our back yard, and my first instinct is to run out and buy some broadleaf killer and zap them! Instead I have been trying to pull them myself and may try dousing them with vinegar. Any other ideas???

-Plant native species. They have adapted to the local climate and soil and require less water and maintenance. Las Vegas was getting pretty good at this; in fact, new homes were only allowed to have grass in the back yards. Front yards were usually rock and native plants. Well-done native landscapes can still be very aesthetically pleasing! Here is a website with information on Utah natives.

-Make your own compost. This is something I have always wanted to be better at. My current problem is figuring out some space... I can't really rip out the landlord's lawn for a compost pile, and my garden space is precious! You can buy compost barrels that spin to mix.

-Catch rain water! We turned our sprinklers on last week to wake up our landscape, but we turned them off this morning because of all the rain in the forecast! Go a step further and set out buckets or barrels to collect rain water! Use it to water plants or even wash your car!

Before you go, you better check out this page I found by the Nature Conservancy. They have some great articles and resources on this topic. What are you going to do?

1st Garden Report

Gardening season has begun! The first item of business in my make-shift raised beds was to remove the weed barrier. (Who in their right mind builds a vegetable garden over weed barrier?!) I'll give you two guesses on this rats nest of roots... or I'll just tell you: Field bindweed (morning glory)! My Weeds of the West books states: "Field bindweed is a perennial from an extensive root system, often climbing or forming dense tangled mats. It is a difficult weed to eradicate because of a root system that can penetrate the soil to a depth of 20 feet." Well I'll say. No wonder that clump had been haunting me.

Most of the soil in these raised beds was topsoil so it's already pretty dark and loose. I turned in some composted steer manure for added fertility. And I just have to say I am the IFA's newest fan. They have everything you need at steal-of-a-deal prices! Plus my kids loved petting the baby chicks.

Maddie helped me add three new strawberry plants to the one we inherited from Mike's Grandma Johnson. We are so excited that one already has 3 or 4 baby berries on it!

Last week I planted my carrot and beet seeds, and peas are going in tomorrow. (In my zone, this is also a good time to plant onions, radishes, and lettuces.) Now it's time to turn on the irrigation and watch in great suspense for germination! I have such high hopes... please grow little plants!

I also wanted to show you this cool garden journal. My Dad's mom was an avid gardener and her daughter gave her this book one year for Christmas. When she passed away my mom selected it from her belongings and saved it. 16 years after the original gift was given, I opened it last Christmas morning from my parents. I think it is so special!


It's a really good idea to write down what you do and when you do it for reference next year!

Forsythia

A beauty at my sister-in-law Rachel's house

Teasing and changing it's mind as it may, spring is never official until you see the cheery yellow blooms of Forsythia. Most of the year they are inconspicuous leafy green shrubs, but in early April the glory is all theirs!

Forsythia was discovered in China by a famous 18th century plant hunter, Robert Fortune. It was brought to Britain and named after William Forsyth, one of the founders of the Royal Horticultural Society of Great Britain.

It is the bravest shrub of them all, flowering before any other trees and shrubs. This strength is also exhibited in its vigorous growth and ability to propagate itself by dropping branches to the ground and rooting them. Lovely and brave as it may be, gardeners need be sure it is granted plenty of space as it has a tendency to dominate! (In fact in some places it is known as an invasive species.)

For me forsythia is a sign of hope that warm weather is really on its way!

California Flora

I have neglected to post here for a few weeks... truthfully, there is not much going on in my yard right now. Good thing we recently visited a land of plenty!

The landscape around the church building we attended in Long Beach was gorgeous. It's amazing how things there seem to grow effortlessly, like it's the Garden of Eden or something!

I wish I knew the name of this beauty! It grows in an umbel (think umbrella, with the blooms clustered at the top) similar to agapanthus, but I've never seen it in this vibrant color. I'll have to do some research...

I love calla lilies! They were a staple in my wedding (ages ago).

My own little flowers rivaled the rest in their Easter dresses.

I just have to add that the grounds at Disneyland were immaculate and impressive. I'm sure they have a huge commercial crew and operation behind the scenes. The flower beds were full and vibrant and we just happened to be there when these gorgeous trees were in bloom. Any guesses? My neighbor thought maybe orchid trees. Again, I'll do more research and let you know my findings!

We are planning a work day in the yard this weekend... and I have some projects upcoming. Stay tuned!