My Bit of Earth

Port's Personalized Hoodie

This is a semi-homemade doggie dud.  I bought this hoodie for Porter at the pet store and used iron on letters to make it hers.  Later when she tore a little hole in the hood a little bit of blue fleece made a nice patch.

Lilac Lady Lap Quilt

This was a Christmas gift for Sweet Little Sister.  The squares are 6 inches each, and it's hand tied at the corners.  I folded the back over onto the front to make the border.

Poor Sick Baby Ficus

I pulled the shriveled part of the baby Ficus's trunk off today. It was really brittle and came right out of the pot. The plant looks much better without it, but it's still looking a bit under the weather. I took some pictures of it so I can compare in a few weeks to see if it's getting better. I think we've got the mealybugs under control, but it could still just not be liking the winter lack of sunshine--I guess we all get bummed when it's cold and dark.

Christmas Paperwhites

These have been planted for about 2 weeks and they're just ready to bloom perfectly in time for Christmas. They came from Sunrise Nursery here in Lawrence.

Ideas and things I want to plant this spring

Flowers --Camelia --Ranunculus --Dahlias --Moonflowers (already have seeds) --naomi campbell calla lillies Eatables (info on planting vegetables in pots) --strawberries --grape tomatoes (need staking, even in pot) --peppers Herbs (plant in old coffee cans) --mint chandilier (ask Carolyn if I can steal s'more spearmint for this) --basil, basil, and more basil --vanilla --garlic greens Other --small potted tree (Juniper or Japanese maple maybe?) --water garden --potting shed to keep stuff in --willow branch edging --make a small table --mossy pots

And now for an interlude with the houseplants ....

The houseplants are holding together--they liked summer and fall better than they like winter. We're suffering from a small mealybug infestation, that occured when I brought some ivy inside for the winter. The nice guy at the greenhouse suggested an organic spray that seems to have gotten them mostly under control, but the baby ficus has been sick sick sick. ...Ficus lyrata (Zeus)--looking wonderful, loving it's nice new bigger pot, missed out on the mealybugs because he's on the other side of the room. ...Boston Fern--still looking a little ragged from a bad haircut this fall, but other wise doing well, also missed out on the mealybugs. ...African Violet--last bloomed in September, but leaves are looking good ...Roesmary--needs more light I think, as it's looking a little scraggly. I'm going to move it up to the table and see if it does better than on the floor. If it does better there we'll have to see about a more permanent sunnier spot. ...Other herbs rescued from outside--seem to be doing better since repotting, they were very rootbound so I pruned the roots back a bit and I think it's helping them ...Succulent pot--the little cacti are doing fine, but the bigger succulent is still loosing leaves. I've tried less water and more water both. I think maybe it's getting cold. I'll try moving it somewhere a little warmer. ...Ivy--growing like a weed as usual, despite the mealybugs. Thinking of training it around a topiary form to get it off the floor and all in one pot. ...Fittonia--a few brown spots on the leaves (possibly from the mealybug spray), but otherwise good ...Gardenia bush--a new addition (for my happy birthday) all budded up and looks ready to bloom, but not quite there yet. I think we'll have flowers in January. Got some of the mealybugs, but still looks healthy. ...Ficus benjamina (baby ficus)--lost one braid of the trunk due to the mealybugs, loosing some leaves and otherwise just not looking up to par. I need to call the greenhouse and see whether or not I need to cut out the one shriveled trunk (Poor baby ficus)

Ordered Roses for Spring

I ordered two bareroot rose bushes for spring. They should be arriving in early April from the Regan Nursery in Fremont, California--that's near San Francisco. I got a Black Baccara bush and a Leonida bush, because those are the types of roses we had at our wedding. The Leonidas are supposed to be a bit tricky, but I really wanted those kinds so I thought I'd give it a shot anyway.

Spring Bulbs Planted

I planted bulbs for Spring in mid-October. If I plant more bulbs next year I need to do it later I think. It was really warm at the end of October this year and the crocuses decided it was time to come up early! Fortunately they didn't actually bloom, so I'm told (by my Mom, who generally knows about these things) that they might still flower in the spring. Their leaves are filling up the bed nicely right now, so it's all good either way. Because of the vegetable garden and very limited space, I planted the bulbs in between the vegetable rows--not sure how that will work exactly, but we'll see this spring!

I planted ...
...50 crocus bulbs (large flowered mix/Parks),
...50 Grape Hycinth (Parks),
...10 Black "Queen of the Night" Tulips (Earl May)
...25 red "triumph" tulips (Earl May).

I also planted three Irises that came as freebies with the other Parks bulbs.
"Stellar Lights"--light lavendar
"Earl of Essex"--white and lavendar
"Harvest of Memories"--yellow

Fall 2004 Vegetable Garden

For my first attempt at vegetable gardening, I planted a small fall garden from seed that came from Parks Seeds. I got started a little bit late--it was mid-September before I planted.

I grew...
...green onions ("Onion Parade")
...broccoli ("Lucky Hybrid")
...leaf lettuce ("Summer Glory Blend").

The lettuce came up wonderfully in big beautiful bunches, but I think the broccoli and the onions suffered from the late start. We were able to use a few of the bigger onions, but most of them weren't really big enough by the time the first really cold freeze came along and killed them. Something ate a lot of the leaves on the broccoli, but it had started to recover and looked like it might be thinking about sprouting. Then the aforementioned really cold freeze hit and that was that.

The plants did really well through the first minor frosts, but next year I need to plant earlier to maybe get some veggies before it gets too cold.

My Manifesto

I'm starting this blog because I've started gardening this year, and I need an easy way to keep track of what I've planted, as well as a place to record and keep pictures of the good, the bad, and the ugly (hopefully more good, than bad and ugly). It's also going to be here to give me something to do while it's too cold to play in the dirt. So, here goes ....