Indoor sowing update

Cosmo 'Psyche White'

As you can see in the photo above the Cosmos bipinnatus seedlings are doing well.  They now have their first true leaves.   On the other hand the seedlings from the Angelonia are just emerging and are so teeny-tiny that trying to photograph them was impossible.  While I was distracted with family stuff they did suffer a minor dry spell when I forgot fill the reservoir tank so that the wicking mat could keep them moist.  Hopefully they will recover from this slight neglect soon. 

Yellow Bell Pepper

I planted 4 types of peppers from the seed Darla at Family and Flowers sent me this past December during our seed swap.  Strangely though the only emerging seedlings so far are from the Yellow Bell Peppers.  I’m going to wait a bit longer and if the others don’t emerge I’ll just plant more seed.  So far it has been fairly painless but I still prefer direct sowing.

I’m back!

Daffodils, Grape Hyacinths, Creeping Phlox & Crocus

I appreciate all the kind comments, thoughts & prayers while I was away.  My grandfather is home now setting in nicely.  He is getting some homecare in regards to physical & occupational therapy until he regains some strength.   The Dr explained to him that he will no longer be able to drive (thank goodness!) so I will be picking up the slack in transporting them where they need to go.   The garden has gone on sending out new blooms regardless of my absence.  Here are some current blooms today.  Happy little flowers to brighten the day!

Crocus, Pansies & Dwarf Narcissus

The weather today is very pleasant and the garden is rewarding me with some early spring bloomers.  Of course the pansies have been blooming on & off since last fall.  Last week I gave them some fertilizer and nature provided a long drink of water.  The mild days have made them perk up quite a bit. 

New growth & buds

I’ve even seen new signs of life in the garden this week.  That would include the buds on the Candytuff and Forsythia as well as new foliage emerging on the Sedums and Garden Phlox.  With February coming to a close the garden will be slowly but surely coming alive in the weeks to come.  Who knows what tomorrow will bring, but it will be interesting and exciting to watch.

Taking a break

I will be taking a brief break from blogging.  My grandfather was admitted to the hospital yesterday after suffering a mild stroke.  Right now I will need to focus my energy and time towards helping my grandparents.  Both of them are in their eighties and live with us.  Thank you for your understanding.

An interesting edging

photo scanned from New Edge Curb flyer

Here’s an edging I’m really considering for my front foundation beds.  My hubby’s co-worker had this done and really loves it.   He was telling hubby about it and gave us a flyer from the company which included many photos.  I’ve used several types of edging over the years and found them to be less than effective.  This product however has many wonderful features and benefits that I found interesting including:

• saves time you would spend on edging, trimming & weeding
• can be stamped to look like stone or brick and colored
• gives a finished clean edge to the beds
•  durable and permanent edging
• fast and efficient installation by professional
• flexible design which allows for curves

We might just be getting an estimate for this product in the near future.  Has anyone else had any experience with this type of edging?

Growing onions

Vegetable gardening is something I’m still a beginner at in my opinion.  In the past I have done mostly containers with some success.  When I was at Walmart the other day I found these packs of Onion bulbs for $1.50 for 80 bulbs.  For that price I figured they were worth giving a try.  They had yellow and red too, but we prefer white onions for cooking.  In addition if anyone is interested they had sets for Asparagus, Strawberries,  and Potatoes.  I’ve never grown onions before but we use them on a daily basis for cooking.  There is a variety of sized bulbs in this bag and after doing some research online it recommends saving the tiny ones for growing the larger storing onions while the bigger bulbs should be used for green onions.  My husband is going to be building  some raised beds for my vegetables soon.  But I also have three large plastic tubs in the shed that I’m considering using for the onions.   Has anyone else ever tried growing onions in containers before?  I know the green onions should be fine since you only have to plant them about 1/2″ apart, but I was wondering about the storage type onions.   Here’s some information I found at  the Virginia Cooperative Extension website:

• Need a sunny area  (green onions tolerate partial shade)
• Well drained soil
• Plant in cool soil (45 to 60°F)
• Moist, but not waterlogged soil
• Plant seeds, sets or transplants in spring
• Seeds can be started indoors 8 weeks before setting out
• Bulbs onions are  hardy biennials
• Use 10-10-10 fertilizer before planting, again at 4-6 week intervals as needed