Just WAIT! A post on patience.

These are my beautiful hanging baskets filled to the brim with morning Glory's. (photos from last year). Although they looked really beautiful I plan on planting wave petunias this year. I have not had a lot of luck when it comes to this new variety. I had two packets and only 9 germinated. Idk??? The packets were like $3.50 each so I wasn't very happy. But considering you can't buy the plants around here (Trinity, North Carolina) or so it says on the website, I guess that the 9 will have to do *frown*.

We have a front porch that extends the length of our home so I have a lot of places to hang baskets. I mean it looks so bare with nothing hanging up there right now. I so had wanted to buy some yesterday when they were on sale at Wal-mart, but considering that I already had baskets and flowers... I figured it wouldn't be a very economical solution. Oh well.

See I have 8 places to hang baskets! Rights by the door I have the double tier and I love them.

I try to do things differently that everyone else. You see the houses in our neighborhood look pretty much the same. There is 2 designs of houses in our area. Now granted some have different shutters, colors, or garage doors. But they are a lot alike. Now this presents a problem because the last thing I want to do is blend in to every other house. So how do you do that?? I don't really know. Hopefully the small things will set it apart, but we will see.

The previous owners used this as a "starter" home so they did absolutely NOTHING to the house or the yard. Our backyard was full of trees and not bushy pretty kinds either. There were so many trees that they had no room and they just grew up. So the first 50ft was trunk... yeah they weren't pretty at all. The brush was so thick I was honestly afraid to go back there. I mean snakes love that kinda mess. I wish I would have took pictures when we first moved in, but I didn't. *frown*

Now its 2 years later and this is what it looks like:

We call it the stump graveyard. Turns out cutting down trees is not as hard as getting rid of the stumps. My husband is to thank for this clear back yard. (he only left trees around the perimeter of the yard) Last fall we seeded and that's the grass you see. Its not exactly what I am envisioning for a backyard, but its definitely a start!

"Learn the art of patience. Apply discipline to your thoughts when they become anxious over the outcome of a goal. Impatience breeds anxiety, fear, discouragement and failure. Patience creates confidence, decisiveness, and a rational outlook, which eventually leads to success.
Brian Adams "

Remind me of this...later. LOL

Plant nurse?

I bought this today Salvation army for $1.99 its called a "Plant nurse air machine". I have absolutely no idea how its works except to know that it is "supposed" to put air into the soil I guess kinda its kinda like an aerator. ??? idk. But I thought for $1.99 whats the harm in buying it? I was sure that I could google it and find out if it worked or not. Now I know that this is pretty old. Probably from the 70s at least. I looked up the name of it, the company name, even typed in air compressor for plants (yeah weird but that's what it is...) and NOTHING came up. Absolutely NADA, zilch. Now that's what is really weird because you can google ANYTHING and come up with some thing at least. idk maybe I am putting in the wrong thing.

And with it being that old you would think that it would be missing some parts, but no, its like brand new. The instruction booklet is even there. I'm going to try it and if it doesn't do anything oh well...

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http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf49967099.tip.html

This is my post at thrifty fun.com its about starting seeds cheaply. And as you can see my project takes up the entire kitchen table. (we never eat at it anyway) My husband is the best. He made these out of scrap wood and a florescent light. In the catalogs carts to start seeds with are really expensive. and plant lights, forgettabout it. use fluorescent.. its cheaper. I started everything out in the seed trays then graduated to the peat pots. they are the best! They are biodegradable, which mean they will just break down in the soil, plus the roots grow right through them. So not only are they very "green" they eliminate transplant shock because the entire thing is planted in the ground (or pot..)

I started out with one row which held three trays .. 72 cells each... I expanded to 2 trays... then 3 and wait... I have to start veggies...then 4. of course the only problem with this is you don't have room to upgrade the plants to bigger pots... (I didn't think of that *oops*). Now you see that where as the trays hold 72 the jiffy pots hold 18 for the exact same space so if you total that up it leaves 54... yeah.. where do I put those???

Now this is my first year starting seeds inside...well.. actually its pretty much my first attempt at gardening period. So I feel that its okay for me to have been a little greedy.

Next year I will remember this and not make this mistake again... Live and learn!

FYI.. annuals grow ALOT faster than perennials and biennials... yeah I didn't know that.

There's a second tier... and I put some in the middle. LOL

Now all I have to do is finish hardening them off and plant them babies! *yay!*

Yearning for the dirt!

Today it is raining...again. last night before falling asleep I had already planned what I was going to do today.

I was going to trench the edge of this flower bed (refer to Toostietime. blogspot.)

Plant sweet peas on this trellis (I can already smell it!)

See my roses?? yeah I cant either. That's why I was going to weed and get it ready for the lavender I plan to plant in between the roses.

Trench the far left edge of this flower bed and get it ready for FLOWERS!

And last of all.

Till this garden again and add the manure and peat moss.

And of course another million things to do.... but that will have to wait til another day.

*whew* is it just me or did it wear you out getting the garden ready?

Oh ..phewwy its not done!

Bloom where you are planted

Rain rain go away...oh wait...we really need the rain...ugh.

I am always tired and cranky when it rains and its always been that way.

But this year its a little better because in my minds eye I picture my shrubs and trees, and bulbs growing because of this dreaded rain and then I don't feel as bad *smile*

For the last 2 or 3 years we have had a drought EVERY Summer and well its depressing. My hydrangeas droop with the heat, they all but stop growing and they definitely won't put forth the energy to bloom. The grass turns brown and brittle so much that it feels like we live in a desert. Astro-turf anyone?

On such a days as this I turn to my trusty garden plan and

visualize my hydrangeas when they are in there full grown glory,

my clematis when they have overgrown there trellis's,
(and the tree is gone from the back yard *honey!*)

my tulips so multiplied that I can divide them and have a whole yard full of tulips. *sigh*

So the point of all of this is probably just to whine but as Joyce Meyer says "Bloom where you are planted" even if its a Rainy day.

Which reminds me... have you ever noticed that the biggest blooms come from the crappiest places? (manure) *Laugh*

A Gardening Journal. Well worth the time.

Since I was around 10 years old I have wanted a garden. I absorbed everything in my mothers Better Homes and Gardens magazines and dreamed of what flowers I would grow. I had visions of hollyhocks and dahlias, petunias and beautiful mop head hydrangeas. I fantasized about white picket fences and wisteria covered arbors.

Now that I am 25 (going on 26 on April 9Th) and I have my own house I am finally able to satisfy my inner gardener. Much to my husbands consternation I have decided to do much more than most people do in one year especially since I am a beginner gardener at best. My husband has given up trying to convince me that "I have enough seeds." LOL "I will never have enough seeds" and I laugh maniacally.

But thanks to the Internet, the library, and fellow gardeners in the family I am feeling more that able to accomplish everything I have planned and I do mean PLANNED. Last year I didn't plan what I wanted to do and now this year I am moving EVERYTHING I DID! ugh..

So in pursuit of the ideal garden. I have planned everything. No more moving peonies for me. (Did I mention that they don't like to be moved?)

A little while ago I found a checklist for the year so each month I know what to do. Well for January one of the tasks was to create a garden journal. And this made perfect sense to me because well.. the notes I had were erratic at best. So I went through and alphabetized and categorized my seeds, bulbs, shrubs and roses. making an index. every bit of info I found on each plant that was in my possession goes into that journal. Now all I have to do is open that book and I know everything about it. Height, width, shade or sun?, how much water? fertilizer?

Needless to say this endeavor took three days. and every time I add a plant, a bulb, or a seed it has to go in there. But let me tell you! It is SO WORTH IT! convenience! ya! And an added bonus is that with these last weeks before we (zone 7) can move plants outside, I have a little burst of Spring right on my coffee table. Every couple of days.. when I am yearning for Spring so much that I can feel it, I pick up my little homemade gardening journal and look at every picture and envision it in my garden.

Cover of my beautiful Journal!

Roses!!

Shrubs!

Gotta love delphiniums!

Bulbs!

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Proverbs 31

30Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain,

But a woman who fears the LORD, she

shall be praised.