Rockin' Robin

Just a picture update of our garden' progress. No blooms on the sunflowers yet... The birds wanted to show their love, and waiting patiently for the seeds, so inside of beautiful blooms, I have birds! There were a couple families out there today loving each other. It was really kind of adorable, just sitting with the kitchen door open and listening to them. Such beautiful little songs they have for us. The doves were there yesterday, four couples of them, nestled in the bark. Mik and I were listening to them as well. So sweet when my honey asked if he had heard an owl. They get often mistaken for each other. He didn't seem all that surprised though. I love doves.

 We're patiently waiting for the garden lately. I want so badly for those things to bloom, but I just can't wait. Its seeing all my favorite flowers growing, and easily these sunflowers are growing on the north side of seven feet tall! Still nothing. I will await them longer still, but I can't give up hope. I just want them to get there with their tiny little buds. They'll get there. Our birdies and I will continue to encourage them!

Meanwhile, the caterpillar eggs from our friendly little butterfly has hatched. This one will make you all smile. These are our stages of caterpillar! 1-3. The next stage is a cocoon! Lets go Pillars! And in addition, some of our porch garden pictures.

Stage 1: There are several of these guys on the plant varying in size. These are the most tiny. Starting from that size, to about a quarter of the tip of my finger. Forefinger, not thumb. Sadly, Simon was eaten by a bird, so this leaves only the new babies at this size, since Alvin has moved on too.....

Stage 2: ALVIN! His first day of Stage two, and his little puttum feets! Munch away little guy! You have to catch up to Theodore, who has moved on to....

Stage 3: The Big Daddy

Bigger everyday! We're rooting for you pillar!

And for a finisher! Our garden as of late.

 Grow, grow little garden

A Late Blooming Garden!

I have been remiss! I just refound all this, but cutting through all that I would like to instead break through, right into the business. Upon seeing the date on last years amazing sunflowers! I realized that this year is a very late summer. We haven't had a single blood or head grow on our sunflower heads. Not yet this year. They are tall, and thirteen of last years sunflowers dropped enough seeds to regrow their beautiful progeny. Very exciting. We weren't as business like about out garden yet this year, but that isn't to say there aren't beautiful flowers growing happily. Just not as many to report on this year. I have however planned on bringing my camera tomorrow and I'll get some good pictures of the growing garden to update it. The speedwell by the way is grand. I'll update everything much better tomorrow, but for today I'll show you what I do have!



Apparently! Parsley (Which I have been inclined to grow this year, on our porch side garden), has produced another of nature's miracles. Mom saw it early this afternoon, going to take out her laundry. She discovered a  large butterfly, zigging and zagging around my plants! As though it had decided, that the huge purple whatever it was, we found to plant this year from Walmart, was a delicious snack. Taking its picture, this is what I discovered!  This lovely butterfly, is a female Black Swallowtail. She is also known as the villainous! Parsley worm. With every intention of making tea from my parsley this year. In hopes of trying out a new herb for cultivation, I have been thwarted. I couldn't very well be cutting fronds of parsley for brewing, when its covered in these!

He is adorable! And apparently the first stage of three that this kind of butterfly go . They go through 1 to 4 stages, and as they pass through them, he starts looking more and more like a monarch caterpillar. I'm planning on documenting him, and his two brothers. They are to be named.... Alvin, Simon, and Theodore. There are however, eggs, so if new arrivals from our lady's egg laying hatch, I will be documenting them as well. These are his expecting brothers! Lets wait and see!!!!

Picture-Palooza

So many things I would have to say, so instead I shall simply SHOW you the greatness.  We went, flower shoppping!

The garden:

The Dill. Sadly is getting quite sad but it still managed to show me its little yellow flowers before it took a turn for the worst!  I'm not sure why, but the whole bottom of it is yellowish and then the upper leaves are now turning to a sad sort of brown.  It began so bushy and stayed that way until I tookthe vacation, but the dill never really liked mom I guess.  Maybe we'll revive it yet!

This is a new addition since the last blog but still got planted recently where as the flowers we aquired last night are still in the ground.  Its very cute and is drought resistant.  I believe!!! this is my aunty's favorite kind of plant.  Only stands a mere 2 inches tall right now!

 This picture was just a quick shot toshow off our nicely growing dahlias which aren't saggy yet, and some brand new pots mom got over vacation of begonias! Not my favorite flower, but I like these because their leaves are as red as they are!

The above speak for themselves! BEAUTIFUL!!!!

 

The shopping spree!!!!

No idea what they are called but I like these they are very purple and very nice.  We have been searching for something purple with some height that wasn't too derpy looking for some time.  Hopefully this is the match we've been looking for!!!

Mom's echinacea

below: MORE echinacea w/ a spiky celosia, a plant called sparklers, and a HUGE pot of petunias!

 Yes so many plants so little time. Not even pictured here is a new oregano, jade (nifty cactus thing), a second enormous petunia pot of purples, and red puffy plants like the yellow ones above. I just couldn't help myself and neither could mom. We love out plants! There's also five coleus not shown yet.  Can't wait to give more sneak peeks!!! Keep your eyes peeled.

Reporting In

So here I am in FL, and pleased to report, that the garden has a tender!  Mom is doing a wonderful job keeping the babies well tended and growing happy as clams.  The transplanted sunflowers have even made it passed a week of life now and I'm so happy!  There were three babies, but only two made it, but that's better than nothing!  She's even sent pictures to show us all how wonderful they were doing!  That picture is the weekend that I left, and the one on the right is as of last night! You can see the two tiny baby sunflowers in the bottom left corner!  The bud below is from the sunflower that towers over the shoulder of my momma now, and she reports it as a 2 inch in diameter, golfball shaped bud.  Hopefully it doesn't bloom until I get home on Sunday!

The elephant ear has grow exponentially! From the tiny bud in the last post, to a two pronged leaf baring beauty! Soon it might get taller and I simply can't wait. There are so many growing things that she has had to send over 9 pictures last night to cover all the bases!  And apparently last night she potted the picasso petunias, the tequila sunrise petunias, and weeded! The picasso's you can't really tell, but they have purply pink flowers, with lime green tips! They are beautiful! You never know what you might find! She added some other plants but I can't quite make out what they are but there's also some spikeys!

Its the neatest thing ever.  The dill, and the lavender are yet to be close uped, but I saw some yellowing on the dill's lower branches but mom said that was from a few days in between where she couldn't make it.  It will recover and hopefully get nice and strong and big! I love the dill, its so fluffy! And for those of you that keep up on the garden progress and knew the marigolds were just starting to recover right before I left... I have a picture for you!!!!!

WHOOT! WHOOT!  More to come!!!!

From your loving gardener in the forever spring!

-Tine!

P.S.

Guess who's growing! (Mom found him while culling at home!

Recovering

Alright! So today was not my best day, but that doesn't mean I can't think of something to make the day better and guess what... I have just the thing to do it. This morning was not one of my better moments and I think I have dishonored myself in the face of my employers for it, but hopefully, because they are such great people, they won't hold it against me. Either way, in an effort to drag myself from this ridiculous rut I decided that it was time I went to Nicky's and did some gardening. Her garden is less mine and more of just a relaxing place to sit while I planted sunflowers into the seed plugs she gave be for my birthday. 2 rows of Sunspots, 2 rows Dwarf Incredible, 2 rows Teddy Bears, AND 2 rows of Mammoth Russians. That's a lot more sunflowers than I should be allowed to even touch in one day, but I have already plugged them and as of tomorrow we will be on the look out for the babies so they can be put in the garden and Chris and Kelly's. I do love sunflowers. I wish I was one. I also trimmed the chives, which will soon go in the book! Found the lavender from last year has sprouted and begun making flowers, and transplanted basil and the mystery plant that I had in one of the seed plugs. Butterflies were making their appearance today as well. I think in an effort to feel better, tomorrow i will document all the photos down and make a photo entry to show how bright the world is. I have to say, he made everything beautiful. I just have to look out my window.

Sunny with a Chance of Meatballs

Ah a good morning to my plants!

I've had a rather busy last few days believe me you! It was frigid the other night and I simply couldn't in my right mind leave those poor babies on the front porch. It was just far more cold than I would have expected, exactly 47, and I draw the line at 50 for the little plants to be outside, SO! I cleaned up the closet and hung the plant lamp present from my friend and brought them into the house. They spent the night in my well lit warm closet and stretched out.

The Lavender is making new growth as well even though I keep telling momma that it will get woody and will be unable to prune it once we wait too long. But that happens. It does smell great!

However! You know how I said that my closet got cleaned out? Well if you recall what was in there I'd like to report! My sunflower seeds dried and were ripe for the picking. I sorted them appropriately, apparently the only edible sunflower seeds are ones where the husk has white stripes on it. So I picked out all those and put the others in a bag for aunty patty's cardinals and jays. Can't wait to drop that off, but look at my harvest! There are several more sunflowers ready for hravesting when I go back to work on Monday, but we'll see if there's room for them in the closet. WHOO!

My Garden!

Its grown so beautifully people! There is just something so great about having gone over there last night to see my people and the product of hard labor. The plants look gorgeous! I'm overwhelmed.

The whole thing turned out great! Look at how it thrived! Before and after!


Just look at the marigolds and how lush they are!


And the spikey plants!



Everything is so beautiful, and all the potted plants lived, but just look at my sunflowers!!!!! Following the sun and the kept safe from todays storm by the fence. There are so many blooms I can't wait to see them again!

Sunflower!

Guys, its happened!!!

The sunflower is blooming! So Proud of my little baby! I'm gonna have to take it outside to get it pollinated. Makes me realize how little I know about flowers. Does it need another sunflower around to get pollen-ed? Will it make seeds without more sunflowers near by? Darn you bees for not listening.

The First Melon!

For those of you who don't get that, its from Ice Age, or rather the 'last melon' is from Ice Age. Anyway! The point remains that I am in awe and have become quite jolly! I produce before you! The first planted pots of 2011!


Very exciting, VERY exciting indeed! Mom produced me with some dirt. I would have bought it myself, but as we are all well aware,... I'm cheap. Plus I forgot that I could acquire some from my friendly neighborhood garden providers. They have a mountain of dirt that currently has no home or plant to cover until I get the remaining leaves cleaned out of the area.

Speaking of them by the way, I mentioned to mom that perhaps since she's going through yard withdrawal as well, that I'm sure she'd be welcomed to join me on a weekend to bring the Emma-pie and let her play whilst she aids me in the garden. They are such wonderful people those Morton's. I honestly want to repay them by making what I think will be a grand garden for them. I think she wants to plant an actual garden with potatoes, which is something I would love to do, but in order to do that I think we'd have to find a different plot. The current plot providers aren't into growing root veggies I think.




Nice and tall those sunflowers are. I wish they'd hold off just a wee bit longer, I have to wait another two weeks before they go into the ground and all. I would prefer if they'd get more stocky rather than taller, but they are already growing a second pair of leaves! Those in the middle there are the cumin, looking very nice and healthy. They didn't make it into the pot today. Only the basil managed that feat, though I did plant, in that short snubby pot, some chives! I new attempt. Anyway, the little ones are the strawberries, finally getting on their way. They are three where they once were only two and I'm so pleased. The poor man's weather glass, they are doing alright but I still need some research done on those. Make sure they aren't climbers.

Alls looking great people! Can't wait to keep a weather eye on the horizon for those baby chives (Nicky has some accidental ones in her garden, lol), and get this garden off to a better start than spring is!

---

Garden Bunny

WHOOT!

That's right all today was the day! I finally planted my first seedlings. An entire container of sunflowers. Sunspot Sunflowers. I decided finally the flower choices for the 'plot' I was given. Its a flower bed in the back yard of my wondrous employers Chris and Kelly. Its a stretch about 8 to 12 feet by about 3. A very nice spot. And I've decided to do three kinds of flowers in a tier. Starting with the tallest, the Sunspot sunflowers, which I'd like you to know the seeds were huge! Had to plant them a whole inch into the peat pellets, I hope it works. The next tier is a lovely white flower called a bellflower. Suppose to be very nice accent flowers. Those were the other ones I planted. Those things seeds were so small I didn't know how many I actually put into the little pellets. Lots of seeds to be weeded out once they pop up. The third tier hasn't been planted yet, those will be multi colored fancy pansies. All large flowers.

Anyway, the process was fun, I missed getting dirt under my nails. Tomorrow, I am going to take Sarah and Jonathan into the backyard to work on the flower bed. Work to be done: Weeding, tilling, edging. Hopefully the first will get done. ^.^ Loving the nice weather! I'll keep you all updated on the sprouts. This year is gonna rock!