mY gLORIFIED pOTTING sHED - pART 2

terri, we are a little slow here in the states but now alot of the cities are doing "allotments" they don't have cute little storage sheds on them but people who live in the city get to garden. It is a great way to turn an empty lot into something beautiful and productive. What happened to your daffs? Mine have made it inspite of freezing rain, snow and 70 degrees (celicus would be....LOL don't know off top of my head).

Blossom, It was 65 degrees here yesterday and now it is snowing! Suppose to get really cold here tonight. Trying to figure out if I would really be able to use one even in the spring. Down to 26 tonight and it is April. Can't afford to heat a garden room and a greenhouse (especially not a greenhouse). Went outside before the rain and now snow started and trimed up pine trees so I can put a pottng bench under it. Only problem is the sap but shade will be very nice this summer, have to take the good with the bad.....

Not happy not happy at all! 2 inches of rain, all flooded because that is on an additional 2.5 inches of rain earlyer this week.. now snow.. half inch.... no April fooling either.. Dangggggg!

This message was edited Apr 6, 2009 5:08 AM

Well, it was almost 2 inches of snow when I got up this morning.. patchy melted. Melting where there was standing water.

Nope, not happy. Hey California, send us some nice weather already!!

Standing water is not a good thing.....you sound like you grow alot of bulbs, hope they are high and dry for you!

I keep hearing average last frost date is April 15, think this needs to be changed to the end of April. A lot of years now I have tried to get plants ready for our Master Gardener plant sale the first weekend in May and each year the plants are smaller and smaller because of the late cold snaps. I went out in our first warm snaps and took starts and they have been in the garden room protected and growing, thank goodness.

Garden room has ran out of propane so I didn't want to buy more propane this late in the game so I put an electric heater out there. Checked this morning and it was 61 so it is doing the trick, temps were down to 28 this am.

My dafs love the standing water.. the tulips dont. Its a garden of survival of the extremes. I win some, lose some.. the daylilies, they do ok..

As far as the weather today.. not saying a word....

NOT A MUMBLING WORD!!

I live on a hilltop so standing water is not something I experience at all, but winds that rock roses all winter long is another problem.

Sometimes Mother Nature is not kind, or she is weeding out the weak to make room for the strong.

Thank you for that word. Nature wants what it wants no matter how hard we try to seek otherwise. You really have to learn how to adapt. If you cannot stand the water, get out.. or the heat or whatever... thats just natures way. Ya either take it for what it is or die. That seems to be the way with the plants around here. It is truly survival of the fittest to that environment. Gets frustrating sometimes. Just when you think you got the garden spiffy, nature pulls your posies out from under ya and you got to re-do.

Some people just do not get it and they keep trying and fail to realize that the environment is only made for certain things.. On an off year you might be able to grow it, but it will die, so prepare ye to replant. And some people will re-plant and replant willingly knowing they may lose the bloomers and others replant in a squander mode.. they fail to realize the garden will die and then they say how they wasted a lot of money... Owell, thats people and gardening.

Well, meant to post this Sunday.. it was the scene from the greenhouse door that day!

It shows my woodchip pile where two domestic nuisance stray ducks have decided to use as an island. Not a happy camper with those pests at all and not happy with their owners who do not do enough to keep them at home.

Will be gardening as conditions allow here. Right now its too cold to "wade in the water" there is a skiff of ice on it.

So to my fine folks on my to-do list, your patience is appreciated as I try to catch up.

Well, I am off to work in the mail room. Begaaaack!

Well, its raining and in the upper 30's.. almost feels like it could snow again... ugh. Got about an inch again.

Cleaned some stuff out in the hoophouse, brought some pots to the GPS and put some plants outside..Moved some of the orientals and Plantgeeks Stars of Bethlehem came and so those got potted up and out to the pot patio too.

Need to box up some empty pots for storage. Will do that tomorrow. Its off to the Hen house.

This message was edited Apr 13, 2009 1:06 PM

I moved potted lilies and daylilies outside Saturday not thinking it would get cold enough to frost again....well guess what....it's gonna.

I put mattress pad covers over them, surrounded them with mulch bags and then bent a huge piece of cardboard in the middle and tented them.......I am hoping everything will be ok.....I know if I would of bought a greenhouse this wouldn't be an issue!

Hap, your daylilies should be just fine. Dont know what kind of lilies you have, but if they are like asiatics or orientals, I think they will be ok, hoping they are not too big maybe? I have mine outside and I am not covering them. They are hardened and besides that they are perennials...

I sure wish it would give us a break on the rain already. Got another inch. It is getting to the point where if we do not get a dry spell, things are goig to get septic around here and Ihope the mosquitos are not awake this year yet. Sheesh.

Well, I am off to the henhouse again. Need to get some eggs.

The lilies are asiatic, I was just concerned because they are in pots and they are up about 3 inches, and new guys. I will check tonight. I may chicken out and bring them in........sounds like a lot of work. Someone said to put Christmas rope light inside the tent area I made.

Well, we got more rain today.. guess I will be playing inside. Got so much to do and cannot get anything done it seems.

Hap, your asiatics should be fine. They are a hardy lot. I have been babying an Easter lily and it has not bloomed yet.. Look at this poor guy, all spinly reaching for the sunshien we seem to never see anymore with all this rain.

Poor thing looks like its been charmed by a snake charmer! LOL!

This message was edited Apr 14, 2009 6:37 AM

It is just a tad curvey...LOL
Frosted hard last night, left for work in the dark so I don't know what they looked like. Will probably get home in the dark so I hope everything is ok. Suppose to frost again this evening. We get clouds all day and rain, then of course at night the skies open up to allow the frost to get really heavy!
I am like you I think they will be fine, but sure can't afford to lose them.
Should of bought a greenhouse! LOL

Well, you win some and you lose some no matter how you do it. Lord knows the plants I have lost just from the flooding here. Gets any more I just have to keep replacing them and put things that survive the conditions.... I dont make rocket science out of gardening. I garden by the seat of my pants! LOL! Plus a huge amount of sweat etquity.

Well, see you tomorrow. I probably will only pot up some more bulbs today and that will be it. Seen one pot with a bulb in the dirt.. seen them all! LOL!

Oh ICK ICK ICK! Another sunless day. Soooooooo depressing soooo very depressing. Days like today just really get you down. No yard work, no playing outside, no nothing.

Looked like there was 2/10ths in the rain gauge last night.... will have to go see the sorry news!

Well, today I have sunshine! Finally. Dont think I can get anything done outside though.. it is still on the soggy side, but the perverbial "tide" is draining down.

The grass is green and a silly robin built her nest under a rubber tub that was upsidedown on top of the kennel...She got her self a good roof. Hope I dont need the tub for a while and hope the wind does not take it off of her. She is not gonna get wet when it rains the next time!
It wil be fun to watch her and her babies later! Why they build in some locations is just beyond me. But she can stay for all I care.

Well, the rain guage had 2/10ths today, but that was from the night before. I was able to get out and do a little in the GPS today.

I received a delightful parcel in from tcs1366! She sent some lovely chives and some glorious spiderplants!

Check these out! She packed them wonderfully the root balls were in a damp paper towel and saran wrap around that and then newspaper packing.

I want to know her secret in starting her spiders!!

tcs1366 they are absolutely awesome! Hope you came for a visit here! Do tell your secret on starting them!

Here is the motherplant!

BB -- i stick'em in potting soil.

the "mother" i purchased at WallyWorld May of 2007, to go in a pot, the same one i took it out of ... and it sits on the hitch of our Park Model Trailer in Wisc. OH, i do water it with old coffee when i have any... but for 2 seasons, it sat outside from May til Oct... then i bring it home and keep it in doors.

never really did anything special with it. And it just got the babies this late fall ... then we got the kitty who decided it was his play thing and that is when i told you that i had the pot of babies going... i think there were 11 of'em and as you could tell... i could not get them apart.

I'm so glad i read your "Wants" for the Chives, as i got a lot of them last year, and i certainly will not use them all... so you got my smaller chunk of them.

I'm jsut glad they all went to a good home. I hate throwing anything away...

Enjoy....

Terese

Well, girl, I am so happy with them! I think I will try some manure tea on them though since I am not a coffee drinker!

Wow too on those chives.. "little" LOL! I hope I dont kill those. I have a wild chives in our woods and tried to transplant them and to no avail! Yours are so luxerious!

Ok, on the one starter you sent, I managed to make three of these!

Oops! Thats the mother plant... trying again.. three of these....

(Computer magic gone awry!.. hoocuspocus!)






Tada! LOL!

And the chives.. holy cow, those are nice! Thanks ever so much and I willbe catching up with you soon!

the babies were so healthy looking... i still have a few babies left on my half of the mother plant ... i may snip them off and put them in water too.

as for the chives... last year at our RV Park, a gal gave me a HUGE chunk ... i planted half in Wisc -- not sure how well they will do, as i'm pretty shaded ... and the other half came home with me.

hope you are finally drying out in this nice weather we are finally getting.

This message was edited Apr 17, 2009 10:08 AM

Thanks tcs! I just love the plants you sent. I will not be adding any garden entry here today, but just wanted to let you know. My schedule is full and so no gardening today. Bare with me while I muddle through my mess here!

Have a lovely day, we will be here when you return.... no worries!!

Pulled all the plants out of the garden room today and hosed them off. Something about brugmansia and elephant ears are bug magnets! But they are all better now and back in the greenhouse.

All the lilies and daylilies did just fine during the cold weather. I probably didn't need to cover them up and all that, but way too much money invested to lose now.....LOL Should of bought a greenhouse!

Walked around the flower beds and there is sooo much to do already!

Tomorrow rain in the morning.......what else is new!

Rain drops keep falling on my head....



How about a round of "let a smile be your umbrella"!

I think I am sending more rain your way....so sorry!
Next week here is suppose to be warm and nice I will be sure and send it your way......
Cold and wet here....yuck

I will take your rain Missouri! Just tell COLORADO to keep their snow!

I was a bad woman today.. I bought a couple of flats of $2 bargain snapdragons in from the local store along with some $5 petunia baskets and a 9 pak of $3.29 Big Boy tomatoes. They best be not sitting in snow by morning!!! I think I will bring them in for the night.

The petunia baskets are so thick I am going to transplant them and make a couple more baskets and the snaps need manicuring then potting, but should be ok as long as I can keep that lousy snow away!

We did do a little mowing yesterday and pruned a couple trees. We are still cleaning up from the ice storm and I hope tomorrow to get out in the greenhouse and get some stuff done. I think I need potting soil though.

Here are the petunias....Tomorrow or when I get a chance and some more potting soil, I am going to divid these and make a few more baskets.

Well, gorgeous they are not... but they were $2 a flat, and worth a shot to see what I can do with them. Will have to manicure them and I think I will put them in containers. Maybe I can get these pathetic snaps to snap back.

OH, the rain was 2/10ths again today.... Ok. better days should be coming.. sigh.

Then found this lovely beauty in the garden, I have no clue what it is other than some daf of some description, seems my plant label disappeared, but then I think it might be from my friend Erin

Moved the tomatoes, the petunias and snaps to the GPS...will try to work them up today.

Todays weather - RAIN....
Humidity: 100%
Wind: NNE at 8 MPH
Barometer: 29.65 in.
Dewpoint: 48°F
Wind Chill: 45°F
Visibility: 2SM

Supposed to have more rain and be around 45... sigh! Guess I will be dodging the raindrops between the GPS and the Chicken coop.

Need to cut some flowers, and pot up some trades ASAP to get them in the mail soon. Bare with me guys, if you have stuff coming, its coming.. just have to be patient with the wet here.

yanno -- every time i look at the radar... this HUGE cloud mass is not moving... well, except in a circle. We keep saying... at least it isnt pouring. Light rain is good.... but it's been over 24hrs of rain so far, with more on the way for today... sorta put a kibosh on our week, as we were supposed to go go Wisc this morning.... oh well, there's always next week.

LOL! Well, thats what I like about the GPS.. If its raining I can go to plan B in the gardening. So today I got my maters bumped up to gallon pots, Ran them over to my chicken coop to sit on the shelf there.. I am not ready to set them out or plant them in the garden. I stand corrected, they are not Big Boys, they are BETTER BOYS...

Ok, got the petunias divided and potted to other containers. Made 2 new hanging pots, which I need to install hangers on, put a pair of salmon petunias back to its original hanger, a pair of pinks to its original hanger put the remainders in smaller containers and left one fat hanging basket just to enjoy!

Pardon the dirt on the containers, I was hoping the rain would rince that!! (Ooops then the sun came out!!) LOL!