Thursday, April 30, 2015

Last Day of April


 It is the last day of April, and we have finished the garden prep. Hurray!
All the troughs are painted and we have our lounge chairs in place in our tiny wooded corner where we can take in the garden and RELAX. The weather is cool, but the sun is warm and it is heavenly to just sit and watch the birds and listen to their songs.

 We have roses in bloom, and the daffodils that I planted late continue to open. Our peppers and tomatoes are coming along nicely and yet the green beans are looking sad. It is still too cool at night to keep them happy. I will replant, me thinks.
I have calibrachoa and bacopa to put in the daffodil pot when they have ceased.
 The Proving Ground bed is starting to sprout little seedlings, thrilling me daily. This is my first time to grow zinnias, from plants and seeds and I am so happy to see their enthusiasm. I have Green Envy seeds planted, along with fuchsia and purple zinnias, which will be alongside.   Green envy zinnia.........easy to grow...ive grown these and they bloomed till frost. Look amazing in arrangements. Zinnia, Purple Prince      Very disease and mildew resistant.  lifecycle: Annual    Full Sun   Height: 36  inches  Spread: 12-14  inches  Sowing Method: Direct Sow/Indoor Sow   Bloom Duration: 10  weeks  Purple ZinniaDazzling!

 I decided we needed a fire pit and came up with this cheap and easy solution. The tub is from Home Depot, $20 and the grate is from Lowes, $17. We used Duraflame logs and cut them into smaller pieces, just to try out the idea. It worked just fine. But we can't stay awake very long (OK we're exhausted) and so a twenty minute fire is enough.
In the front garden, I ripped out two perfectly healthy yet ugly shrubs and replaced them with a hydrangea, Endless Summer, which I had before in my country garden. Very dependable and this one has tons of buds already. Some added begonias will keep it company until it grows bigger.
 We put the coral bark maple in the empty spot vacated by the ugly shrub. Perfecto, in my humble opinion. I have never done a nicer front garden, and my arm is getting tired from the constant patting myself on the back.
Since we have so much lysimachia, I cut sprigs and stuck them into lots of bare spots, hoping by next year to have a carpet of lime green between the hostas and azaleas.
Speaking of hostas I found a lone white leafed variety at Lowe's, all battered and sad looking and convinced them to sell it to me for $1. Ha!
I've had one before but the voles ate it. Let's hope we have better luck here.

10 comments:

  1. Melody, your gardens are beautiful!!! You and Dave have such wonderful eyes for design, color etc. Thought the troughs looked good last year-this year, painted, they are soooo much better. Hope you enjoy every minute of your time out there all summer. Look forward to seeing more pix of the growing plants.

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  2. The garden is fantastic! I grew some green envy zinnias last year. The only issue I had was Japanese Beetle munching on the leaves. I would go out every day with a bucket of soapy water and knock them off into the water. After about 2 1/2 weeks their life cycle was over and there were no more on my plants.

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  3. Give your arm a rest, I'll give you a pat on the back, good and beautiful job.

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  4. Loved seeing your garden taking shape this year. The orange for the tubs is a great choice!

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  5. Looking good - no wonder you're patting yourself on the back! Love those three zinnias together.

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  6. Oh your garden is looking great... love your eye for color... and can't wait to see everything in full bloom...it is going to be gorgeous!

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  7. You have so much talent! I'm enjoying all of it.

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  8. Your garden is beautiful! The front is especially eye catching.

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  9. Your garden is lovely. You should pat yourself on your back! That has been a lot of hard work.

    Donna

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