Flowers 2010

My flowers and gardening aren't going so well this year. I decided to cut back anyway due to the pregnancy, and my cutting back has resulted in pretty much just watering when necessary. The weeds are out of control along with the insects, which have managed to kill so many of my beloved plants. I seem to have got myself a spider problem this summer. How weird is that? They have wiped out many of my plants with their disgusting webs. I have never seen this happen before. Any insight from anyone on it? Something also managed to wipe out every single one of my Sweet Williams as well. It looked like bugs ate through the leaves. The same with my rose bushes. I cut everything back to the ground, and growth is starting to resume, but I'm not sure if any of my Sweet Williams will make it back this year let alone next. The roses seem to be coming back OK, but the leaves still look somewhat damaged. I don't see any bugs on the plants, so I'm baffled. Unfortunately, I just don't have the desire to deal with it this summer. It's been hotter than blazes (seriously, how many 90-degree days did we have in July, and the humidity, my gosh??), and being in my third trimester for the entire summer hasn't helped any either. I just can't get down to ground level for the necessary weeding and attending to the plants like they need. There's always next year!

And to showcase what actually survived...
New this year: Jumping Johnnies (part of the viola family). These guys should come back next spring hopefully. In the background are Impatiens and gladiolus leaves.


Begonias.

Purple Coneflower.


Black Eyed Susans.

Phlox.

Gladiolus.


Roses.


Day Lily (notice the tiny little spider crawling on it? Grr!)


Dusty Millers and Sweet Alyssum.


Sun Coleus.

New this year: Wishbone.

Flowers 2009 Continued

A shot of one of my Verbena. This guy hasn't gotten too big, but next year, when I get more, I'll take better care of them.

My Sweet Alyssum and Dusty Millers. These have filled in just beautifully. The Dustys are from last year, that grew back. I plan to leave both plants in over the winter to get them to return next year.

Flowers 2009 Snap Dragons

Flower Preview 2009

Here is a shot of my Sweet Williams, which were a transplant from my Mother-in-law. Love these guys.

These are Wee Williams. The "annual" version of Sweet Williams, which came back in full force from last year.

One of my planters. It's a Spreading Petunia, Spike and Rex Begonia.

Primrose Buttercup. I had to capture a photo now, since these guys won't bloom all summer.

Photos were taken with my iPhone, so they aren't the best quality. More to come as progress unfolds.

If At First You Don't Sucseed

Ok, so I failed miserably at some of the seeds I tried to grow last year. That doesn't mean that I am giving up. Here's my list for 2009. Wish me luck!

This is a Coleus Wizard Mix. It'll be great for the north and west side of my house which doesn't get much sun.


Columbine Origami Mix. These will look great in the area next to my Japanese maple and ornamental grasses.


Flowering Tobacco. I've read that these are on the easy side to sow from seed. I purchased a couple of plants last summer which were quite pretty, so I thought I'd give these a try.


Mystic Mix Impatiens. Impatiens were my huge success last year, so I was no doubt going to get these again.


The first summer the Husband and I were in our house, I purchased Sweet Alyssum as a border flower, and they grew very successfully. I thought I'd try my hand at growing my own. I've never seen these pastel shades in any nursery.


The Petunias I tried to sow last year never took off. Not even one seed. I have no idea what I did wrong, but I'm willing to give them a second chance. This color combo really drew my attention.


Ahhh, onto the Zinnias. So easy. These are Double Cherry Zinnia.


Apricot Zinnia...to go with...


Deep Apricot Zinnia...to go with...


Orange Zinnia. These are all dwarf zinnias.


Scarlet and Yellow Swizzle Zinnia.

The following three photos are of Asti. Look how great the colors coordinate together. I was drooling over them. They are actually the inspiration behind my petunias. At a whomping $6.95 for a packet of seeds, I don't really want to invest in this plant yet with my lack of experience, but maybe next yet.



I decided that I am going to get a couple of tools to assist with the gardening once the plants get going. I'm going to purchase some Watering Spikes for my larger planters, to get water to the bottom where the roots are.


Aqua Pads for my hanging baskets. These things will make it so that I only have to water my hanging baskets once a week. Nice!


So here's hoping that I have a successful growing season.

Sunflowers

Home Grown

Here are some photos of the flowers that I grew from seed this year. . .the ones that actually survived anyway. . .

Summer Reminder

Because I'm wearing jeans and a sweatshirt today, I needed a little reminder that it's summer. Ok, not quite. I realize that June 21 is the official day, but it's pretty darn close!



One of my Rosebushes...




The Buttercup Primrose I got from my Mother-in-law...

Portulaca blooms...

One of the garden bugs that I got from the East Lansing Art Fair this year...

My Wee Willie Sweet Williams (not as cute as Jackie's though!)

And one of the planters I put together. The purple is Hawaii Blue, the red is Flowering Tobacco, and the plant on the left is my Zinnia that I started from seed, and a Razzmatazz Sunflower that I also started.