I Couldn't Wait

to try out my new deck quilts.

I went to a little garden place near my home and they had the most wonderful hanging baskets in the perfect colors

All the plants are Proven Winners: Calibrachoa 'Superbells Blue', Verbena 'Temari Patio Red', Bacopa "Snowstorm Giant Snowflake' and Osteospermum 'Orange Symphony'.
I thought they would be just PERFECT with my quilts so I bought six of them.

Before I bought them, I ask her if there was any discount if I bought six. Hey, it's worth a try...................and she gave me $5 off each. I was thrilled to find the perfect hanging baskets and at a good price.

I just LOVE how everything works together





Here is the opposite side.
I will be staining that table in the background white as soon as I get some solid stain.



This little tree frog has been sitting on this chair for the past 5 hours! I am afraid I will plop down and squish him to death.



And here is the bigger side of the deck, still waiting to get decorated


I must say, I was totally exhausted about two o'clock this afternoon. This gardening stuff is hard, hard work.

I've been working continuously for three days and it seems I have barely begun. Everyplace I look, I see more work waiting for me. I never finished edging the main beds out by the roadside so that is my goal for tomorrow.

I ran out of plants for the deck, so I have to go shopping for more so I can finish the containers.

Most of my containers have tubers, bulbs or seeds in them, so they look bare. It will be weeks before they throw up enough foliage to be useful in deck-orating. That is why I now buy my hanging baskets pre made. The baskets give me some structure and color while I wait for everything else to fill in.

Cherry Trees in Bloom

Last year I planted these two cherry trees in the rockwall garden and they both survived and are blooming now.

I have been outside at 6:30 a.m. every morning this week planting, digging and just enjoying all the garden work.

Alice asked me what I decided to plant around my crabapple tree (where I removed all that sedum a couple of weeks ago).

Well today I decided to dig up some creeping phlox and use that. I have tons of creeping phlox, so I can get all I need and it's free. At the nursery they charge $6.99 for a quarter flat of creeping phlox...that's about one small shovel full...I probably used about $100 worth already this morning. I will post a pic as soon as the crab is in full bloom.

Back outside ... can't waste my days off sitting in the house!

Can you stand to see another tulip picture?

I know everyplace you go, you see tulips,but I must show you may favorite orange ones,too. Then I will be done with tulips for this year.




I have really grown to LOVE orange the past few years!
Isn't it strange how our taste changes with plants?

The Cushion Spurge is Gone

Even though I liked the yellow color,
I decided to remove it before it got too out of control. It was already getting into the grass, especially further down the border near the deck.

I am sure it will continue to come up in places for quite some time because it is impossible to get every little piece out. I will just dig it out as it comes back.

I still have it in a good-sized area in the main arbor garden. I may remove that later today. I was getting eaten alive by bugs, so came in for a coffee break.

I also started removing a bunch of obedient plant (see this post from last fall). It's another of those "almost impossible" to dig out plants, so I put the shovel away and hit it with Round Up in hopes of killing all the roots.

I was not enjoying it and I am sure I can put that space to better use.

Spilanthes "Peek-A-Boo"

I found a new plant yesterday and two of them jumped into my cart.

I did a little net research and found this info:

In addition to the unique flowers, ‘Peek-A-Boo’ has attractive bronzy, dark green foliage which is edible. This annual is used in salads because of it’s pepper like flavor, and is also chewed for toothache because of it’s anesthetic properties, this is how it gets it’s other common name of Toothache Plant.

One person had this to say,"Of many hundreds of different kinds of plants that I eat in salads, only this species causes my tongue and lips to go numb. It is a fascinating plant in several respects, but its numbing or local anesthetic effect is unique, recalling Novocain® used by dentists.
If you chew any part of the herb, especially an entire flowerhead, at first your mouth experiences a warm sensation akin to that lent by French Tarragon. Next you sense some shocking acridity, then start salivating as if on command, and finally your mouth loses sensation for a few minutes. The tingling feeling that Toothache Plant causes has been traced to a constituent named spilanthol."

I doubt that I will be eating any of this plant, but it was interesting blog fodder.

There is a good plant profile here.

The Creeping Phlox is Blooming

on the sunny side of the rockwall garden.


The center section is not yet ready as it gets less sun.



Sometimes I think dandies get a bad rap.
Look at how lovely this large dandelion looks next to my big mossy rock.

Yesterday afternoon we removed all of the containers from the crawl space.
These are callas, cannas, and dahlias that I over winter in their pots and soil

I am sure this is NOT the expert's way of saving these bulbs/tubers, but I know of no easier method.

Jut remove the foliage and stick the whole container in a cold, but not freezing place and leave it until spring.

I put these in hibernation last October...they have been 7 months in the dark without one drop of water.

See how dry the soil is?
Yet they are already coming up.

I will start watering and fertilizing them and I expect all to make a healthy return.


Confucis say, "Much work ahead to make this big empty deck look inviting. Only crazy lady attempt such task"

Destined for Round Up?

There are thousands of species of Euphorbias in the world (poinsettia is one).

The Euphorbias are named after a Greek surgeon of a North African kingdom called Euphorbus. He is supposed to have used their milky latex as an ingredient for his potions.



Euphorbia cyparissias (often referred to as spurge) can be an invasive perennial reproducing by seed and lateral root buds. I daresay there are those who would vehemently refer to it as a weed. Cypress spurge emits a poisonous milky sap when broken, as most euphorbias do. If you have sensitive skin you must wear gloves.

On the plus side, it is low-maintenance growing in partial to full sun and it will even grow in rocky compacted soil. Its foliage looks like evergreen trees, but it is very soft to the touch. I love to run my hand over it as I walk past. In the spring it has these lovely yellow-green bracts and in the fall its narrow green leaves turn shades of red/orange/yellow.

I have it as an underplanting to a yew hedge where I want it to spread and fill the entire area. I planted it two seasons ago and it is already spreading like crazy.


It may end up being too much trouble to keep contained. I have been trying to make sure I cut off the flowers before they seed, but that is not so easy to do when you have a ton of it (Of course, I have it in other areas besides this one).

I will be keeping a close watch on this plant. As much as I do like it, I fear I may have to destroy it due its aggressive nature.

Note to Self

Run around yard with litttle spade and dig up oodles of grape hyacinths to fill in bare areas around these tulips.

I like the color combo.

Since this area is near the garage, I will see & appreciate the little hyacinths more than I do now where I can only see them if I take a stroll around the "Ponderosa" (as hubby refers to my massive garden plantings).

Bergenia in Bloom

I must admit that I am not in love with this plant. Many people rave about it, but as yet I have not been overcome with the same emotion.
The leaves do stay green, but really they are not that beautiful. A hosta leaf (in my humble opinion) is much more lovely.
I guess I should have picked off the brown-edged leaves. In fact, I did pick off some a few weeks ago, but I see I missed a few.
Maybe they just need to get bigger to look better?

I Really Like Primroses

I think they are beautiful and easy to care for, yet I don't see them being planted as often as I would expect.




I wonder why?

My flowering crabapple tree (on the left) only blooms once every two years.

It's a long wait between blooms. When it does bloom, it only lasts a few days.

This is the year it will bloom.

It is loaded with buds.

In a couple more days it will be completely covered in pink flowers.
I am anxiously awaiting.................

Strobilanthes Dyerianus

Now that's a mouthful, isn't it? LOL.
I just call it Persian Shield.
Other than my 4 hibiscus trees, it is the only plant I tried to overwinter in the basement.


It looks a little sick, but it did survive with almost no sun and just a small drink of water once a week.

I should look like this

I am feeling pretty confident that it will after a few weeks of warm sunshine and a few treatments of miracle grow.

Had to perform a little surgery this morning before work

I left this Osteospermum outside in the rain storms yesterday and the poor thing was jostled so hard it's roots were sitting on top of the soil.

I don't want to lose this one because it has those spooned petals that are so difficult to find in my area.



Aren't they the coolest? They are not all the way opened in this pic, but trust me, they are very cool.

I brought him to the kitchen sink and tried to recover the roots. It was kinda of tough to dig around that little container as it's pretty full of the root ball. I must get this guy planted soon...this is why one should not buy plants too early ...but I do it every year.

1st Trip to the Garden Center

After work yesterday, I stopped by the local garden center to see what was available.

I did not find too many new exciting offerings.

I did buy these trailing plants because I always need trailers for the front of my containers.

The white flowers on the bacopa seem to be unusually large. There was no marker in the plant so I don't know its name.

Last year I could not find any trailing coleus, so when my friend at work told me they had some of the duck's foot type, I made a special trip there to get some.


I also bought some Parrot's Beak (Lotus berthelotii).


This is a new one for me. I like the soft silvery-green, pinelike, tailing foliage and thought it would be a unique addition to some container.

It blooms with these interesting orange beak-like flowers.

It might look rather spiffy with this golden orange calibrachoa called 'Caribbean Sunset'.....then again, it may be too much the same color....

who knows where it will end up? I like to have a good assortment on hand when I start putting the containers together. . . makes me feel like a real garden designer....LOL

Oh, and we are finally getting the rain....LOADS of it....yup, the next seven days have rain in the forecast...I had no doubt that would happen...
I am on vacation next week.

Big Fat Tulip Leaves

Does this ever happen to your tulips?

Tulips can be very discouraging. First of all they must survive the deer, rabbits and underground critters that eat the bulbs.

If by some miracle they do survive, you still can't count on a good bloom.

Often you get a whole slew of these one-fat-leaf plants that will not produce anything but green leaves.

Why does this happen?
I've done a little research and this is what I found:

Something happened the prior year that did not give the bulb what it needed to make the flower...

Reason #1
The mother bulb may have rotted away after splitting into bulblets. These immature bulblets will take years to reach full size to produce a flower.

Reason #2
The bulbs may be planted in too much shade. The first year they will bloom wherever you plant them because the flower is already set within the bulb from the perfect conditions the grower's field provided.
But if you planted them where they lack solar energy, the next year's bloom won't be properly set. That's why, even in the sunnier locations, you must allow the foliage to brown completely before getting rid of the messy plants. I read someplace that it takes 30 days of good sun to supply the bulb with next year's food.

There are numerous other reasons. Incorrect feeding, lack of or too much fertilizer, soil too moist, soil too dry, and compacted soil may all contribute to flowerless plants.

Serious tulip gardeners just give up and plant new bulbs each year.

If you can afford to do that and have the energy to do all that digging and replanting then you will almost be guaranteed a beautiful showing the following spring.

If that is too much trouble/money/work, then you will just have to take your chances (like I do) and savor the fleeting beauty of a blooming tulip. The odds are great that you won't see the same one next year.

The Groundcovers are Filling in

And almost ready to bloom.

In a few areas the creeping phlox is just beginning to flower. You will be seeing masses of purple very soon.

I have planted a combination of ajuga, creeping phlox and snow-in-summer. Overall I am happy with this combo. It is beautiful in flower and has nice foliage when not, which is an important consideration when you plant large areas that will flower for only a few weeks.




This little area is where I thought I removed everything last fall.

But as you can see, there is a LOT of green in there. I guess I did not do a very good job digging everything out. Most of it is poppies that I had forgotten about (all of the poppy foliage was gone in the fall).


Ah, but aren't these big fat hairy buds beauties?
I may be glad I did not succeed in killing them off.



Look at these poor hibiscus stuck in the basement just waiting to come outside and play.

I will be bringing them out this week to begin hardening them off.

Now this is a suspicious-looking photo, don't you think?

My First Tulips of the Season

I succeeded in keeping the deer away from the tulips this year and have been rewarded with the first bloomers.

It looks like about half of the tulips will bloom. I have many of them with one big green leaf and no blooms.

If you have been with me since my beginning blog days, you may remember that the deer ate all of my tulips last year as soon as they emerged from the ground. I was not sure if any of them would bloom this year since there was no foliage for the sun to energize last spring.

They are certainly lacking in size and oomph this year, but I am happy to at least get a few meager blooms.

Still crossing my fingers that we get rain tonight. I did pull out the hose and water the ligularia (just in case).

In my comments someone asked me if we were having hot weather. It is still pretty early for hot weather in northern Michigan. Today it was in the mid 60's. Right now (at 7:30 p.m. it's 58).

We shouldn't plant annuals here until the end of May and even then, we may have to protect them a few times in June. Of course, I never wait that long. I am taking a week off work beginning May 15 and I will plant all of my containers then.

Then I will grumble every time I have to find sheets, etc. to cover them all.

No April Showers, but still a few May Flowers

This little spot (in the foundation planting) has some anemone (windflowers) and muscari (grape hyacinths) with forget-me-nots almost ready to open.

The anemone are very small and I really don't get the chance to enjoy them. I need to move them closer to my living room window so that when I stand inside and look out I can see them.

I must remember to do that this weekend.

Grape hyacinths are a favorite of mine. They look great with tulips.

This is a famous dense planting of these at Keukenhof Gradens in Holland. Imagine how many little bulbs must be planted to get this river illusion!



Last night I took a little walk-around and was excited to see this


It's my ligularia.

Remember I planted two of them last year?



They were a little pricey so I am glad to see they made it through the winter.

We are badly in need of rain. If we don't get it this weekend, I will have to start dragging the hose out. It's way too early to start with that chore!