Interesting Bug

This little guy has been living on my lily. Not sure what it is, but it sure is pretty!

Notes for the Future

Each planter up front takes 6 plugs of snapdragons or 12 plugs of pansies. Need new planters....

Seedlings

Out of 4 seeds planted of Acorn Squash, one sprouted. Today it was big enough that I repotted it into the big pot! I should've put the zucchini in that pot and the acorn squash in the zucchini pot! Oh well... I also planted my basil seedlings with my other basil. My cilantro I don't think is going to make it. I think one of my parsley is going to. The marigolds have sprouted easily. I can't wait to see these as they are the giant kind! I have 6! The miniature globe basil has sprouted too! Where am I going to plant all this??? I have no idea! I also planted some old nasturtium seeds up front. Don't know if they'll sprout. We'll see I guess!

FREE Heirloom Tomato Seeds!!!

http://wintersown.org/wseo1/YourChoiceTomatoSASE.html

http://www.helpgrowyoursoup.com/

What's in Bloom...

Paph. bellatulum ('Yellow Bird' x 'Yellow Sunset') from Marlow Orchids.

Paph. delenatii ('Amy's challenge' AM/AOS X 'Hsin-Ming' SM/TPS). Forget who I got this one from.

Pleurothalis mathildae. I sold my Motes Ascocenda today since it was so big and got this itty bitty beauty instead!

Another view of Pleurothalis mathildae.

Another view of Pleurothalis mathildae.

OT: Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)

Everyone needs to know the truth!

http://www.consumerfreedom.com/news_detail.cfm/headline/3899

Paph. bellatulum in Bloom

Better Late Than Never

This year has been late for a lot of things, one of which is summer, but I am not going to complain about the lack of heat and humidity! I am quite happy where it is at...SPRING! The first sign of things taking longer than usual was my orchids. They did not bloom in time for the show this past March. A few did, but my trust little mini Phal. did not. They are both currently in bloom right now and have been for a few weeks. My Paph. bellatulum just opened up and is looking gorgeous! My other Paph. delenatii is about to open! It sure has taken its sweet time to mature! I just saw that my Paph. moquettium is starting to spike! YIPEE!!! I haven't seen that in bloom since I bought it in bloom and oh my is it one gorgeous purple! It's also one gorgeous flower!

Here is something I want to show you...it's called a Mari Mari Marimo. What it is supposed to be is a ball of algae. They are most famous in Japan because of how sphereical they get in this lake where they occur. They occur elsewhere too, but just not as round. I've had this one for a few years. It was a bit smaller when I first got it. The jar is only about 2" tall. Upon further research, it did not seem that my "Marimo Ball" looked anything like the others. I think I have a fake! It looks more like a ball of algae fibers someone rolled together, but it is still neat nonetheless. I think some businessman in Hong Kong decided to take the public or something b/c if you look up the company the website ends in ".hk". They do sell ones like this in Japan in little jars, but I'm not sure if they look like mine or not. I did, however, buy a Marimo ball. I had one several years ago, but my fish decided to eat it! Once it was destroyed it went downhill from there, eventually becoming aquarium sludge. They sure have gone up in price since then though! I paid almost double of what it cost me my first one!

Things That Are Bad for You...and Good Too!

Just ran across this article on my way to post and thought everyone should read about this! Click here.

Anyhow...about plants! Last fall I had planted these bulbs called Moutain Bells for an "early" spring blooming while nothing else has bloomed yet and they never bloomed. What are they doing now? They are blooming! Or getting ready to at the very least. Guess they did not get the memo!

My Alliums are starting to bloom. They are surprisingly easy to grow, even in a part shade area. I am expecting Gladiator and Persian Blue to bloom as well as my no name Allium I got at May Market the one year.

The rain has finally let up and I was able to weed some of that clover out of my lawn! Temperatures are fairly low also so that gives my sweet peas some time to grow and hopefully bloom!

Yesterday at May Market I couldn't resist and got a black cherry tomato plant, a mystery plant (could be cana or banana), and two seedling plumerias! I also got a ton of lily, daffodil and grape hyacinth bulbs for my neighbor. It was great fun and we sold a lot dispite what was weighing on my mind since the morning vet visit with my dog. Can't wait for next year's May Market! Hopefully I will be able to put in more hours next year b/c it really is enjoyable.

So this past winter killed my hardy banana, two ferns, and Betilla striata.

Here are the pictures I promised:

May Market

May Market is today and tomorrow. This year it was moved to Phipps Conservatory instead of Phipps Garden Center, which was a bit of a bummer, but more parking. The amount of vendors was also quite a bit disappointing. It also did not have that cozy Sunday stroll type of air about it.

I still picked up some goodies though. Got a dwarf iris, variegated basil, variegated mint, 2 ostrich ferns, a type of herb with a pretty bouquet of purple flowers I don't remember the name of, another pot of Hakone grass, a miniature conifer that will max out at 2x3 feet, 2 Black Krim tomatoes, Bay tree, and maybe a few other things I can't remember the moment. I was also given a freebie standard purple, no name, bearded iris, which I gave to my neighbor since I really did not have the place for such a plant and I can just enjoy it in her garden instead. I'm sure she'd gladly share with me if I ever wanted a piece back!

Need to get pictures of all the goodies :D

Nematodes!

My flea nematodes arrived today. When I get a free moment and the rain lets up some I will water them into the ground and over spray into my neighbor's yard too :)

OT: Rescue Needs Help!

Pei People Shar Pei rescue recently took in a few shar peis due to a breeder's foreclosure. Please help them by fostering, donating directly at www.peipeople.com, or by purchasing one of my items, click here. All monies will benefit the rescue 100%. Shipping is separate. Will charge actual at cost shipping.

Weeds

It's been raining non-stop for days now! There doesn't seem to be an end in sight either. :( The one thing nice is that it has made the clay soil really soft so weeding has been fairly easy. I just need to take enough out each time that I am weeding faster than they are growing! I think the corn gluten has worn off. Again, I believe I maybe put the stuff on too late? Although it hasn't even been a year yet since I started this whole sustainable gardening thing and it supposedly takes about two years for the corn gluten to work wonderfully. We'll see!

With all this rain the grass was like 10" tall! Cutting it was a challenge and we weren't able to cut it any sooner since it was....you guessed it! RAINING! Ugh...I keep trying to tell myself "It's better than snow!", but seriously, when is enough, enough?! We're on flood watch here near the water. Did mother nature miss the memo of "April showers bring May flowers"? Hello?! It's MAY! Yeah, I'm a bit irritated by all the wet stuff!

Am I in Seattle or Pittsburgh?

I woke up to rain! Yep, that wet stuff that falls from the sky that even my dog says "I don't think so!" to! Seems like just yesterday that we mowed our grass (it was probably a week ago) and it is probably about 8" tall again! I did fertilize and lime the lawn yesterday so I guess I can't complain too much. I didn't have to water it! All the small broadleaf weeds are starting to pop up. With all this rain I guess I'll be weeding also while on the short break I have! If the weather is good I guess...I keep chugging along.

More Stuff

Yesterday I bought 4 black sweet potato vines and 2 chartreuse ones in case the "potatoes" that I replanted from last year don't show up. I think my front yard is going to look extremely nice this year with all the vines growing! The best part is that I don't have to worry about whether or not they will take over since they won't survive here in zone 6a! I had a surprise plant come up that I had forgotten about. I think it's a Trillium. Good thing I didn't try to dig and plant something there!

I also picked up a pack of four habaneros that I am going to try to grow in the pot on the side of the driveway that I have in my neighbor's yard since that is the only "full sun" I get. Luckily it's a rental property and it also belongs to the man who sold us our house so he doesn't seem to mind much! I gave it some 3-3-3 fertilizer so hopefully these tiny seedlings will grow up fast and start producing some peppers!

The hyacinths are almost done. They sure didn't last long :( I cut most of the stalks and gave them all some bone meal. I hope they are happy campers till next spring!

I also threw my Meyer's lemon tree outside since it is starting to leaf out and bud up too so I hope to have some lemons again! Going to fertilize it well this time around so that I get some BIG lemons! Have to find it a new pot though. It is still in the same pot it came in! Hard to find good looking cheap pots though. I also gave some 3-3-3 to this. It needs it.

My Sugar Ann sugar snap peas are coming up! YIPEE!!! I have yet to figure out a staking solution! Maybe just lots of sticks? Need them at least 2' tall though....I think I will just have to buy some as I don't have enough or any that are that tall.

Some of the herb seeds I planted from last year are sprouting! Some sprouted in record time! Hopefully they will do well and I can put them outside soon.

Now if the weather could just stay cool for a long while...those sweet peas are only about 2" tall!

Chilly Weather

Looks like spring is back...it's been really rainy and not so warm, but I guess it's a sign of spring! I think I planted my sweet peas too late. I never know when to plant these things here in zone 6a! Need to add lime and compost to lawn....clover is back! Think I'll add some fertilizer too. I think I'll be pretty busy the week and a half I have off in between classes! This house desperately needs some help.

Summer!

So much for spring! This weekend we had weather up into the 80s/90s! It's just way too hot...I'd like it to be a little cooler! I hope this doesn't mean this summer is going to be sweltering already...

I have had no luck selling my worm tea concentrate so I decided to use it instead. Hopefully, my plants like me for it! I moved all my hanging plants outside today and I even put my Butterworts out in hopes that they grow even better! Put a pitcher plant that I haven't had time to repot outside too as well as my Ascocenda orchid. Put my hangers in the ground ready for plants as soon as they get acclimated to the new bright light! The new begonias I bought are looking absolutely gorgeous! I need to get them in a bigger pot and hang them! Not sure where I am going to hang such a thing, but I'll find a place!

I am a bit late, but I just found my herb seeds from last year and decided to plant a few. Spring in the NE is so unpredictable that it is so hard to start things from seed. I wish I had a greenhouse!

Temps Rising

The forecast for this weekend is a high of into the 80s! I think I started my sweet peas a bit too late. It is tricky growing in a zone 6a when you are so used to zone 8! I am just not good at this timing thing. I wonder if it would be too much for the seeds to plant them in the fall? That way they have plenty of chill time and whenever they are ready they can grow! Only thing is that they are planted only 1" below soil surface and if they pop up early a frost could kill them....

"Sugar Ann" Snap Peas

YAY! The peas have arrived! I got an email from them earlier today saying that it would be shipped today or tomorrow. To my surprise, after coming home from a day of volunteering for Master Gardener hours at Phipps, my seeds were already in my maibox! Ok, so I don't have a mailbox....they were on the floor near my mail slot, but still! They're here! And all the way from Vermont! Can't wait to plant some this weekend in a windowbox! I hope the robins have picked through the vermicompost I put into it so that I have worm free compost for the peas! YUM! I bet these shorty peas would work well in a hanging basket too.