How Does Your Garden Grow?

I can't wait. I am getting itchy with excitement.

I was at Home Depot the other day and they had all their seeds out, calling my name... so I got veggies in every color of the rainbow. Aren't they gorgeous?

Now I am just trying to figure out where to put them all. Because we are renting this house my garden space is limited to two small beds, one 5 x 8 and one 4 x 11. I wish I could use more of the wide expanse of back yard, but it's basically grass fence-to-fence. I suppose I shouldn't complain, since that was one of the major selling points for us, but we were coming from Vegas! Need I say more?

I must get this point out in the open... this my first time planting my very own garden! It is going to be an adventure and a learning process, I am sure. Though I did study horticulture my focus was more on the ornamental side of things, and not so much the agricultural. Obviously a plant is a plant... needs soil, water, light... seeds, roots, flowers... it can't be that much different can it?

All I am saying is we're in this together and hopefully we can learn from each other. My parents have always grown a nice garden, so I'm sure I will be calling my mom often. I would love to hear what any of you are planning! My Relief Society (church group) is having a gardening class next week, so I'll let you know if I learn something new!

A rose by any other name...

Rosa 'Brilliant Pink Iceberg' floribunda

I don't know about you all, but where I live the weather has been teasing us! The last week has had highs in the upper 40's, and when the sun is out it almost feels like spring. To a gardener at heart, it also means pruning time! As soon as we had our first thaw in the gardens I was always itching to be outside, checking for bud swells and other signs of life!

Late February and early March is the best time to prune roses in my hardiness zone (go here to identify your own... in milder climates, roses may be pruned earlier).

Roses should be pruned for many reasons:

- Encourage new and stronger growth
- Control height and shape of the plant
- Remove dead or diseased material
- Eliminate crossing branches and weak areas that are more susceptible to disease and pests
- Open the plant for better light and air circulation

Rosa 'Pink Carpet'

These are the same roses as above, pruned and cleaned out. Generally you want to choose the strongest canes and cut out all the spindly, weak canes. The goal is to open up the middle of the plant and direct all growth outward.

I wish I had my own pruning examples to show, but alas, no roses at this house. This picture is all over the internet--works for me. It clearly illustrates the best way to cut. The goal is a 45 degree angle about 1/4" above the bud. Again, try to choose buds that point to the outside of the plant.

With these guidelines in mind, there are really only a few basic steps:
1. Use clean, sharp tools (pruners and long-handled loppers for bigger canes).
2. Cut out dead, broken, or diseased wood first (black or discolored, withered, etc.).
3. Remove weak or twiggy branches thinner than a pencil.
4. Remove suckers growing beneath the graft (the big knot at the base of the plant... they could be a different variety and take over!).
5. Trim canes down to desired height, but don't remove more than 1/3 of the overall plant.
6. Clean out dead leaves in and under the plant, as they could harbor disease and pests.

I welcome anyone else's suggestions, comments, and questions about roses! It's not really hard, it just takes practice! And really, any pruning is better than no pruning.

"Green" Valentines

How about some Valentine projects that incorporate horticulture in some fashion? It's the biggest flower day of the year, so I wanted to do something fun with flowers first.

We started with three white carnations from the local florist. They aren't my favorite flower but I have to say they smell delicious and I love them in white... sort of frilly and sweet.

Add some food coloring to the water. The idea is that during transpiration (like that big word? :)) the flower will drink in the water and move it up through the leaves and petals, coloring them along the way.

It was also a fun color mixing lesson... red and blue make purple! Maddie has been telling me since that colors have mommies and daddies. Too funny!

I love this of Ella's pudgy hand mixing the color.

Our colors turned out pretty, although muted. After about 24 hours, the results are final... I think we could have used more food coloring. Maybe you could also let them sit out of the water for awhile before you put them in the color so they are nice and thirsty. Regardless, it's fun to have fresh flowers in the house.

My friend Molly gave us this idea for Valentine blossoms from Family Fun. They are so easy and cute! Just cut out three hearts, a flower center, and a leaf. Punch holes, tape them together on the bottom, and stick a sucker in the middle.

Lastly we made potato stamps. Maddie has a blast with anything involving paint.


So there ya go! Hope this gives you a few sugarless ideas to make the holiday fun!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I love Coleus!

This post was inspired by my sweet neighbor, Doris, and 80 year old widow and avid gardener! She is the epitome of "green thumb." She works outside every nice day of the year, and knows her horticulture from the best teacher--experience.

I was over visiting her the other day and noticed a huge coleus growing in her kitchen! I have never seen coleus grown indoors, so I was very impressed. Later I learned that it can be overwintered indoors and used for cuttings in the spring. In fact, one of the canes on Doris' plant had fallen over and she cut if off and put it in water. She offered me her cutting and I was honored to accept. I am excited to plant it in my yard when warmer weather arrives!

Coleus are one of the easiest plants to propagate. Roots form on the stem if you just keep it in water.
Once the roots are a couple of inches long, it can be transplanted into soil. Normally cuttings would be shorter than this, and you should only keep 2 to 3 leaves on top, but I didn't have the heart to strip Doris' pretty plant. It already had lots of roots developing, so I think it should re-locate easily!


When I worked at the Noni gardens we used tons of coleus in the summer display. In fact, in my 2005 Annual Culture Guide I detailed 14 different varieties that we tried. I love how they are all so rich and colorful, and so different! Coleus is really one of my favorite annual plants because it is so versatile.

Scientific name: Solestemon scutellarioides
A few varieties as follows...

'Dappled Apple'

'Rustic Orange'

'Dipt in Wine'

'Velvet Lime'

'Religious Radish'

'Juliet Quartermain'

'Amora'

'Splash'

'Gay's Delight'

'Wizzard'

'Old Lace'

I hope I have succeeded in displaying the charms of coleus!

Pencil Bouquet

This project was quick and easy, and a fun way to spruce up the kitchen table!

I just picked up a super cheap bouquet at the craft store, along with a super cheap clay pot. Grab some floral tape too. I thought colored pencils were perfect for Maddie, since I don't want her drawing on things with pens, and markers have caps.

Cut the flowers off the bunch, leaving a bit of stem to be wrapped in for stability. We didn't wrap all the way down so we could still tell what color the pencil was, but only green stem shows in the pot.

Time to try them out! Maddie is newly interested in drawing (although she is not left-handed, interesting...), and she has also tried her hand at flower arranging! That's my girl. :)

Think Green!

When you open your blinds to a winter wasteland and start feeling a little blue...

It's time for some green therapy!

Our latest project has been growing wheatgrass and it was so much fun! Anyone can do it! Some people do this to celebrate the advent of spring (equinox March 20th), but I think it's a great winter activity too. It has been ideal for Maddie because the whole growth cycle happens in 7-10 days and every day there is visible change. She loved checking on the grass!

1. Gather your materials. FIRST: Go to your food storage (or grocery store grain bins) and scoop about a cup of wheat. Place in a tupperware or other waterproof container and cover with water. Soak for 8-10 hours, changing water about halfway through. NEXT: Choose containers. We used mason jars because we wanted to be able to see the whole process, from sprout to root to shoot (note, use wide mouth jars if you have them). Really any container will work... bowl, vase, pot, mug, anything! We put a little bit of sand in the bottom for drainage, but it's not that important. You just want to make sure there is never standing water.

2. Add your soil. We used a bagged potting mix. Fill container within about an inch of the rim. You can see we didn't use enough--next time we will know better!

3. Add your soaked wheat berries. We used about 1-2 tablespoons per mason jar. Spread them out in a thin layer on the surface of the soil. Spray them down with a squirt bottle until all are moist. Cover the jar with saran wrap and place in a dim place (just a dim corner of my kitchen was fine).

4. Water (mist with spray bottle) night and morning to keep everything moist. Think greenhouse effect.

Day 3: Sprouts!

5. Day 5: Shoots and roots! Once the shoots are coming up, remove the saran wrap and place in a sunny area--the grass needs to photosynthesize! Change your watering technique: fill container with fresh water and then dump it all out. This flushes and wets the soil while preventing mold from growing. (Note: this container is a big shallow square vase, which used about a cup of wheat in itself. I soaked a double batch.)

Day 7: GRASS!

Ah, it's like a breath of fresh air. So cheerful all lined up together!

Use your grass to decorate! This would be such a fun centerpiece for parties or even weddings. Add anything you want to make it interesting!

We had fun thinking of different things to use.

Citrus (plastic--ha!)

Various flowers

Perfect for Easter, yes?

Our favorite: butterflies.

Day 10: Haircut! The grass was getting pretty tall and the wheat berries a little mushy, so I called it quits and let Maddie mow it down! She loved it. I guess if you wanted to eat the wheat grass you could juice it or put it in a smoothie. (Yuck :)

Did I mention this was so much fun? Who's going to try it???