Garden Pictures

I thought I'd share some pictures of our 'garden'........especially if you're still living with snow on the ground & freezing weather!

By the way, our current temperature on March 11, 2018 is 77° ~ Sunny, clear skies and just a hint of a breeze.

My little Meyer Lemon / Lime "Cocktail" Tree


A couple tiny kumquat limes ready to harvest.


Trumpet Plant returning to life after three hard freeze nights.


Ornamental Flowering Japanese Maple Tree


Shrimp Plant


Pansey & Viola Hanging Basket


Petuna Hanging Baskets


Azalea Hedge


Stone Plant (starting to bloom w/pink flowers at the bottom)


Dracaena & Neighbor's Bottlebrush Tree behind the gate


Radish Crop (most have been harvested but a few more are still growing)


Red Beets (so sad.....)


Snow Peas ~ after one small harvest.....lots still to come!


Tomato Plant (4 have been harvested ~ a dozen or more still there)


Basil Plant


Rosemary Plant


Tarragon Plant


Thyme Plant


Curley Parsley Plant


Grandma's Chives with horrible overgrowth of grass

Nice, Beth.... We went away for 4 weeks, we had a friend came over to take care of our plants, she came once or twice a week, beside watering the plants, she fed the birds and fishes. Most of the plants are growing well, some of them ( esp the ones outside of the green house ) dried out because of the cold, we still get some chili peppers, some calamandin citrus and lemons, chives survive too though some part of them are dried out

Thai chili


Basil


Chives


Mammillaria Cactus

How wonderful you were able to get away and have a friend take care of 'the home place' in your stead.

My chives had died down completely, like they do every 'winter', but they're coming back now. At least with the grass dead I can actually see the chives ~ so much better to garnish with chives than crab grass! LOL

I forgot how to post pictures. I have an apple notebook and its usually so simple to post

jetfan27 wrote:I forgot how to post pictures. I have an apple notebook and its usually so simple to post

It's pretty easy now that Norm showed us all how!!  When you reply, use the first icon in the same block as the YOU TUBE (red and white) logo. It says "Host an image." Then you can just drag a file over to it or type in an URL and then hit send and you're good to go. Sometimes I have to mess with it a bit but I'm no computer expert. I just check it out in preview to make sure it's there and to make sure it's there only once, Jetfan. It sizes it perfectly for the forum itself, too.

Hope this helps. Norm, if you or anyone else can be more specific than me, feel free to chime in here!

Beth, I'd missed these pictures of yours. They're wonderful. My French tarragon froze but it sure wasn't as big as yours. Does yours get only morning sun or does it get afternoon sun, too? Just curious. I never see it sold locally (only the Mexican tarragon which I don't care for) so I usually have to order a small plant online.

We had paneed chicken with tarragon cream sauce last night (leftovers tonight!) and though it's delicious with the dried tarragon, it's so nice when I can add the fresh at the end. Brian LOVES tarragon cream sauce -- his favorite!

Imelda, that Mammillaria Cactus is FANTASTIC -- so pretty and unusual, too!

Crybaby wrote:Beth, I'd missed these pictures of yours. They're wonderful. My French tarragon froze but it sure wasn't as big as yours. Does yours get only morning sun or does it get afternoon sun, too?  Just curious. I never see it sold locally (only the Mexican tarragon which I don't care for) so I usually have to order a small plant online.

We had paneed chicken with tarragon cream sauce last night (leftovers tonight!) and though it's delicious with the dried tarragon, it's so nice when I can add the fresh at the end. Brian LOVES tarragon cream sauce -- his favorite!

My herbs got carried into the garage when the two bouts of heavy freeze came. That's why I ended up with TWO palmeto bugs in my house, I'm sure. YUCK!

I usually buy a new tarragon plant every other year. It gets really scraggly if it gets old. It's on the east side, along the house, so it gets sun until about 2 in the afternoon. Dane has all my herbs set up with the tube watering and it waters for 4 minutes every morning. When it gets really hot in the summer he sometimes has it water for another 4 minutes in the late afternoon/evening.

It's so nice to know we can go away for a couple weeks and no one has to come over every day to water our stuff.

[quote="bethk"]

Crybaby wrote:Beth, I'd missed these pictures of yours. They're wonderful. My French tarragon froze but it sure wasn't as big as yours. Does yours get only morning sun or does it get afternoon sun, too?  Just curious. I never see it sold locally (only the Mexican tarragon which I don't care for) so I usually have to order a small plant online.

We had paneed chicken with tarragon cream sauce last night (leftovers tonight!) and though it's delicious with the dried tarragon, it's so nice when I can add the fresh at the end. Brian LOVES tarragon cream sauce -- his favorite!

bethk wrote:My herbs got carried into the garage when the two bouts of heavy freeze came.  That's why I ended up with TWO palmeto bugs in my house, I'm sure.  YUCK!

We call them roaches, Beth, and I agree -- am scared to death of them, like some women are of spiders (I like spiders 'cause they eat roaches). The big black ones that are kind of "tall" fly, too. Whenever I see one, Brian says I scream like Charles Manson has me by the ankle!

bethk wrote:I usually buy a new tarragon plant every other year.  It gets really scraggly if it gets old.  It's on the east side, along the house, so it gets sun until about 2 in the afternoon.  Dane has all my herbs set up with the tube watering and it waters for 4 minutes every morning.  When it gets really hot in the summer he sometimes has it water for another 4 minutes in the late afternoon/evening.  

It's so nice to know we can go away for a couple weeks and no one has to come over every day to water our stuff.  

Yes, mine (when I have one) gets early to mid-morning sun as well as it doesn't handle our full-blazing afternoon sun. I was just telling Brian during dinner how Dane rigged up an automatic watering system for you; we both just looked at one another and laughed as that's wayyyy beyond our pay grade though it would be heaven to enjoy.

We thought about moving plants during the couple of hard freezes we had this year but alas, we have no garage or outdoor storage so anything moved has to come inside. We only moved the desert rose plant in -- everything else had to fend for itself. Didn't lose too many important plants as they were on the back deck and kind of protected by being close to the house.

I've got some potting to do with some herbs I bought at the big box store a couple of weeks ago when Al went with me to buy paint for the living room and the balcony balusters. Since I had him along, I took full advantage and got him to schlep a couple of big bags of potting soil, too. He loaded everything in his truck while I went to the grocery from there (I bought him a large cherry tomato plant for his trouble) and when I got home, everything was unloaded and nicely placed on my back deck. I water them every morning when I go downstairs to get us coffee but have to get them repotted so they can get big!

I got some mint but it wasn't the type of mint I prefer which will take a trip to my favorite little owner-owned plant store. This was the first time in I don't know how many years that we had to purchase mint for mint juleps. I know lots of people don't like them but I make ones everyone likes -- the trick is lots of mint, both muddled with sugar and "slapped" whole leaves, lots of simple syrup and add a bit of water to dilute the bourbon a bit. I've never made one for anyone who didn't like it. I don't have any silver julep cups but I put some ceramic glasses I have in the freezer and they frost up just like a julep cup -- plus they're bigger!!!

Crybaby wrote:

Yes, mine (when I have one) gets early to mid-morning sun as well as it doesn't handle our full-blazing afternoon sun. I was just telling Brian during dinner how Dane rigged up an automatic watering system for you; we both just looked at one another and laughed as that's wayyyy beyond our pay grade though it would be heaven to enjoy.

Michelle, do you have irrigation in your back yard? Dane simply 'Googled' and 'Youtubed' tube irrigation and found how easy it was to switch from spray irrigation to tube irrigation since 99% of our courtyard planting is in pots.

He simply un-screwed the spray heads and replaced with regulators that slow down the rush of water and have 8 possible runs available. Then he bought $10,000 worth of crap to attach and rigged up the spray ends. We have decorative stone in all the flower beds (better to hide the snakes and other creepy-crawlers) so he just tucks the 1/4" tubing under the stones so it doesn't look like we have a bunch of black spaghetti all over the place.

Here's a pic of the regulator on the irrigation pipe:



He can configure different shapes and length of runs depending upon what he wants to water. Here's tubing that waters two hanging baskets:



And here's a down-spray for my dill plant:



Once he learned a bit about the irrigation system it was easy for him. Me, not so much, but I'm really not all that interested because it's 'his' thing. In Ohio our irrigation system was RAIN. LOL

Here's a video I made about a week ago -  just a little walk around my tiny succulent garden in the front yard. (just a small triangle of dirt approx. 5 x 5 x 2)

Yes, it's kind of messy, as I have a bird bath and several bird feeders right in the middle, and the birds get sunflower seed hulls on everything.  But, I don't care, I like it, it makes me happy.  There are 4 different varieties of iris planted in there, too.

This is in the front yard, our veggie garden is in the back, but there's nothing to show there right now.  Our "spring" has been so cold this year, and we've been working so much, we got seeds in the ground late this year.  We have some little carrot and pea sprouts right now, that's about it.  And mint, that I planted once in 1482, and it keeps coming up!

I decided to augment it with a few still shots, since many more iris have opened since I did the video ...

Your succulents are super, MG!  I loved seeing your garden, as I love succulents. Lost a good deal of mine during our two hard freezes this year but I still have a few, and hope to pick up a few more. Loved your little geegaws snuggled in some of your pots, too.

Irises have always been one of my favorites. I often pick up a bunch of dark purple ones with yellow centers from the grocery for vases in my home. Very pretty bearded ones!

Thanks for sharing with us!

Crybaby wrote:

Thanks for sharing with us!

thanks for liking it!

WOW! Your garden is coming back beautifully. In central Florida we cannot grow bulb plants and I do miss them, but not as much as I miss my lilac bushes in the spring.....

You have such a wide variety of succulents. We have a few, as well as numerous jade plants, all of which came from two shoots we brought from my aunt's home in San Mateo, CA in about 1979. Live plants ~ the gift that keep on giving!

bethk wrote:WOW!  Your garden is coming back beautifully.  In central Florida we cannot grow bulb plants and I do miss them, but not as much as I miss my lilac bushes in the spring.....

You have such a wide variety of succulents.  We have a few, as well as numerous jade plants, all of which came from two shoots we brought from my aunt's home in San Mateo, CA in about 1979.  Live plants ~ the gift that keep on giving!

I like to buy little tiny succulent starts super cheap, and see which ones thrive - that's how I build a variety, but they don't always make it ... our weather patterns prohibit a lot of stuff I'd like to grow. That, and our natural pest population!
I find jade plants propagate quite easily, which is why I have a lot of them ... that and the fact deer don't seem to find them tasty.
I grew up with lilacs on the East coast, and I really really miss them, but can't seem to grow them here. It doesn't get warm enough in the summer, and the deer love them.
I have a friend, a professional gardener, who grows dozens and dozens of varieties of iris - all my bulbs are from her. Left to my own devices, I plant lilies, glads, hyacinth, freesias and daffodils, which the gophers tend to gobble up even before they can come up!! So I'm lucky neither the deer nor the gophers like the iris - they are a cheerful herald when returning home at the end of the workday!

A couple years ago we planted a Bird of Paradise plant, a first for us here. I've seen other homes with old plants that seem to bloom all year long and I really wanted to find a place to plant one here. Fortunately for me, Dane loves to garden and he does most of the care and feeding.

This year we have our first two blooms and we're both thrilled even though our little plant hardly seems large enough to create many more blooms.

But we're patient people ~ we're retired, after all, so all we have to do is wait. LOL

I'll try to remember to take a pic of the Bird of Paradise plant and the rose tree, which Dane nursed back to health when our friends tired of it and decided to have it removed from their landscaping ~ better to salvage a 'throw-away' than spend $$$ on new!

Muzicgirl, I am embarrassed to admit that I can no longer remember your real first name!       Can you share it with us?

Thanks, Michelle

Crybaby wrote:Muzicgirl, I am embarrassed to admit that I can no longer remember your real first name!       Can you share it with us?

Thanks, Michelle

Arden

muzicgirl wrote:

Crybaby wrote:Muzicgirl, I am embarrassed to admit that I can no longer remember your real first name!       Can you share it with us?

Thanks, Michelle

Arden

NOW I remember -- though I did remember it was a name I really liked! It's a pretty name that's uncommon without being strange, you know?! We're so glad you're back, Arden!  

OK, so Dane was thrilled I was taking pics of the rest of 'his' plants to post! LOL

The 'salvaged' rose tree he has spent over a year nursing back to health:




The (now) sad looking Bird of Paradise ~ it really looked much better when both blooms were open a week and a half ago:




And I forgot all about our ONE bulb plant ~ the Easter Lily our old neighbors gifted to us because Sally's cat insisted on eating it when she had it in the house. LOL It's planted in an 8" pot and just sits in the corner of the courtyard until it comes back to life every year. I don't think anyone told the silly plant that Easter was 'EARLY' this year. It just started blooming a week or so ago ~ had 11 buds on each plant!

Crybaby wrote:

NOW I remember -- though I did remember it was a name I really liked! It's a pretty name that's uncommon without being strange, you know?! We're so glad you're back, Arden!  

Michelle, you are so very sweet, thank you

Beth, your lily is really pretty.

Laughed about your Bird of Paradise. When Brian's parents were living in Florida, they first retired to a condo they'd bought several years ago. They didn't like the close quarters so they built a house in a subdivision -- a really nice house with an in=ground pool that opened up into the outside with a covered area. Just a lovely house, with two distinct "wings" to it where you could have guests on one side with a bit of privacy. We just loved it when we first saw it.

Brian's dad was a big gardener -- and one one side the house, he had the prettiest bird of paradise plants, all bloomng, which I'd commented on a couple of times, as did his neighbors who would often walk by that side of the house. Behind the house was a big green space, which people accessed on that side of the house. After the third or fourth neighbor had passed by saying something like, "Just love your bifd of paradise, Bob, you're so good with them," he admitted to us they were fake!

I couldn't believe it. He had a bunch of BOP plants but they hadn't bloomed. So he went out and bought really terrfic looking fake blossoms that he just pushed right into the center of the plants. We just about died laughing, as they weren't plastic but some type of fabric and unless you stooped down to really take a close look at they, them looked so darn real. Brian never let him forget it either, as he spoke of those fake plants and all the compliments he readily accepted for them, long after they'd sold the house and moved back to Massachusetts! He seemed happy that no one ever discovered his ploy and told us, "Well, I never really told anyone they were real!"

OMG! What a hoot!

But now you've given ME a good idea......Hmmmmmmm..............LOL

Michelle, that's absolutely hilarious!

Last fall when Dane was at the local VA Clinic for his bi-annual doctor appt. there was a box of 'free' flower & vegetable seeds for anyone who wanted them. I picked out what I thought we might be able to use. Dane planted a pot of California Yellow Poppy ~ they don't look anything like the red poppies I grew in Ohio, even the foliage is really different.

But the first bloom opened and it's exactly as shown on the seed package. Such a vibrant 'school bus' yellow! Can't wait to see if more will set buds.