I Have My Own Greenhouse

Wintery weather in November 2011

2011-11-24T19:37:00.002-05:00

Yesterday we had our first snow....freezing rain started falling the evening before, turning to rain after the first hour or two, and then snow....it was pretty but in the morning the sun came out for a short visit and a lot of the snow melted....I was happy to see the green grass again....today, I rode my bike once more....every day that I can ride my bike is bonus for me.....winter hibernation is a long time and if there is ice on the roads from freezing rain or frozen slush, I am NOT about to go for a walk....I will have to do my Leslie Samson walking DVD, I guess...not the same as the great outdoors.
Still have plant to rearrange in the greenhouse....hopefully soon....time goes by weekly....and now Christmas is looming, but luckily it is not a big deal for our house any more....we are even going to eat out this year...at a restaurant!!
Here are some recent pics....first snow and greenhouse blooms....

Pots are inside for winter

2011-10-16T21:30:00.002-04:00

Today, we emptied patio pots...I brought in a lot of plants to repot into smaller containers...windy, cool and sunny weather....hubby cut down rest of tomato plants....I had picked a lot of little green tomatoes a couple of days ago and today I made green tomato mincemeat....my house smelled like Christmas...so fragrant and nice. All that is left in the garden is: carrots, green onions, celery and dahliahs and lavetera....I have to pick the seed pods off the lavetera for next year's garden and dig up the dahliah tubers....another day.
After supper, I hurriedly potted all the geraniums, begonias, ivy, and other plants into pots...it gets dark so early now...yuk....
Busy day....but productive.
We had shepherd's pie for supper....it was yummy!

August Gardening

2011-08-15T19:56:00.002-04:00

Long time, no blog....too hot this summer.....garden growing like mad......lots of rain....lots of weeds...lots of beans, swiss chard, cucumbers....lots of pickles being made.....weather is cooling a bit so hope to clean up garden a little so it will continue to produce till late autumn....August is half over now....unbelievable.....

Flattened garden June 23 2011

2011-06-24T06:31:00.002-04:00

Last night, we had a terrific and I mean scary crashing thunderstorm and heavy rain which totally muddied and flattened my garden. The garden is just starting to grown so I am hoping there is no permanent damage. The only seeds not growing are parsnips. If we get warm sunny weather, all the baby plants should stand up and really thrive. More rain in forecast this PM and more thunder this evening again.....not complaining too much....we are so much luckier than folks in the west.

Pots today

2011-06-12T21:13:00.002-04:00

I own 3 huge clay pots and today I started to plant them with geraniums from the greenhouse....I was able to stuff 3 salmon coloured geraniums that I have kept alive for nearly 10 years in one of these pots....a bright pink geranium and a variegated ivy plant went in the second one....two pale pink - really tall geraniums - were transplanted into the third. Lots of potting soil for this job....I saved the soil from the church poinsettias so it was mixed with fresh Loblaws Super Soil....the best potting soil ever.....the greenhouse is emptying out quickly. I planted more beans, onions, China White radises and carrots into the vegetable garden after supper tonight.....can't wait to munch all the goodies in that garden....lettuce it coming up now, tomatoes have blossoms.....one of these days a picture will appear on this blog.....if I ever get the dirt off my hands so I can handle the camera for you.....

Planting the vegetable garden

2011-06-10T20:06:00.003-04:00

For the past week, I have been trying to plant my veggie garden and I am almost there....still have not been able to buy seed potatoes and have decided to plant more beans and carrots, etc. I sectioned my garden into four spaces and will have a photo soon.....hope to finish up this weekend if the rain holds off. Then I will plant my large clay pots for the patio...with geraniums and other annuals....bought more super soil at Loblaws today so I am ready for potting.
Went to Burt's Greenhouse yesterday and bought red and white plants - did two pots for church this weekend for Pentecost Sunday....hope they don't wilt inside the church after being outdoors in the greenhouses.

Planting time

2011-06-03T21:19:00.003-04:00

So far, the garden has been planted with Loves Lies Bleeding, Cosmos, Snapdragons, Agapanthus, lots of Lettuce, 4 celery plants, 4 sweet red pepper plants, 2 hills of cucumbers...spent this evening on patio washing a large amount of pots.....tidied the greenhouse....came inside to tidy house a little and catch up on some laundry as well. Tomorrow, we have company coming.....yeaaaa
PS Disappointed that pkt of Chinese cabbage had six seeds inside....will try to return empty pkt to Canadian Tire for replacement....booooo

No potatoes!

2011-06-01T19:49:00.005-04:00

After going to four garden centres, I discovered that there are no seed potatoes for sale, so guess I will put my old potatoes in the greenhouse and hope they sprout.
I did get onion bulbs though and dutch sets for my neighbour....we have had difficulty find them as well....it is just the beginning of garden season and the centres are running out of essentials already.
I also bought seeds....green beans, parsnip, bok choi, turnip tops and beets.....also, drew my garden plant tonight, so tomorrow, I shall plant......
ps...weather was wonderful and warm again...our second day of warmth....but terrifically windy!!

Dahliahs

2011-05-31T18:55:00.002-04:00

Last summer, my dahliah bulbs didn't grow very well, so I started them in pots in the greenhouse in March or April and they grew and grew....so....today, I planted them in the tilled soil and have four plants growing....one problem....I broke part of the top of one plant when putting it in the earth....boo hoo.....
I also planted 3 Easter lilies that I saved from my church's lilies......
It was lovely and hot today, so not much gardening....getting used to the heat.....

Rototilled and ready- yeah!

2011-05-30T15:48:00.002-04:00

Hubby rototilled the garden today...it was hot and sunny this PM and the garden had dried out enough for this job....will be posting garden plans and planting news soon.....I can't believe it will finally happen....love those delish veggies that are organically and home grown....hurray!!

Garden cleanup

2011-04-11T22:30:00.002-04:00

Wow....can't believe that I have been cleaning up my flowerbeds....the weather has been great the past couple of days...in between rain and wind....it is so nice to dig in the dirt....
In the greeenhouse, I transplanted my large aloe plant and it is growing some kind of spiky flower that hasn't bloomed yet....we'll see....
The dahliahs had sprouts growing, so they are potted up...happy, happy...

Happy April Now

2011-04-09T07:56:00.003-04:00

So far, April has had a bit of everything, rain, snow, dampness, cold but in the past couple of days, the weather has been a bit warmer....I cleaned a little of my front flower bed...used the hoe and pulled out weeds and dead flowers.... I want to buy some pansies (appearing in the weekly flyers) to put out front...they are always so cheery. A small part of the front lawn has been raked, pinecones picked up and now I am trying to tidy my greenhouse....ongoing job, it seems.
On Thursday, hubby and I took the large Jade plant outdoors to wash it off as there is rotten mealybug on some of it....working at cleaning it off the plant with soapy water.
The Ajuga/Bugleweed plant that I used for a trailer in one of my last year planters is growing like mad so I separated it into 3 plants.....Doug Green says to beware of any plant or flower that has the word "weed" in its name....whoooooaaa

Sunny Saturday

2011-03-26T16:34:00.002-04:00

Not much going on in the greenhouse today other than sunny plants....have been repotting some overgrown plants, washing pots from Christmas Church Poinsettias...have a chair to sit in out there now...bought 2 70L bags of potting soil this week....I am sewing a new spring jacket -reversible- instead of working in my g/h...have a good weekend

Happy 1st day of spring in Canada

2011-03-20T03:11:00.002-04:00

Hooray...it is here...snow is gone....pretty soon we will be diggin' in...our gardens need it but a little too soon....a couple of days ago, hubby put the shade on the greenhouse...no seeds started....might take time off this spring and have fun buying tomatoes, etc. at horti club sales and garden centres...start saving loonies.....have a wonderful spring, blogger friends....
PS This clover appeared in a spider plant...in time for Mar. 17th..

In Like a Lamb

2011-03-01T06:29:00.001-05:00

It is March 1st 2011 and not snowy or rainy so I guess the month is in like a lamb....trying to get the greenhouse tidied up so I can start seedlings this month....cause...before we know it, Spring will be here.....good for everyone in Canada.....
Last Friday, I brought to the greenhouse, two poinsettia trees, and hope they will revive themselves....I will plant them outdoors when weather is better....they were in my Church at Christmas and I think they are true survivors as they have lasted this long.....

Snowy greenhouse

2011-02-07T01:34:00.002-05:00

We now have tons of snow....but...in my greenhouse, there are tulips blooming and lots of plants surviving the winter.....

Happy New Year 2011!!

2011-01-04T14:32:00.004-05:00

Here we are in January - 2011 - another new year to garden and work in my greenhouse...since before Christmas, my greenhouse has been sadly neglected and I have started to throw out dead and dying and buggy plants, e.g., a basil from my summer garden that has attracted aphids....a spider plant that turned yellow....geraniums that desperately need removal of crunchy leaves....sad...
Hopefully, I will get things remedied in the next few days and perhaps move a lawn chair into the greenhouse for sitting in on a sunny day and soaking in some Vitamin D...here are a few photos to look at....

Windy!

2010-09-05T16:34:00.002-04:00

Today is very windy and so much cooler.....a wonderful day, in my books.....I think I have did more catchup jobs in the past 2 days than in the past 2 weeks....I just don't function well in the heat....and I'm retired.....
The wind is playing break the cosmos in my garden so I had to chop a few of them down...I have such a small amount of flowers left now, due to wind, heat, etc.
The beans are all gone now.....the crop was so delicious and we are actually having some of the last of them for supper tonight.
All the bedroom windows got cleaned today....yeaaaa

Beans!

2010-09-04T12:40:00.002-04:00

We are now entering September.....the garden has been most productive this summer....just the right amount of rain and sunshine.....but....today....I picked my last basket of beans....they are still blooming a little but the beans are small and getting spongy so it must be time to pull the plants.
Last Monday, we took a load of garden waste to Lappan's Lane....and I was hoping with a little rain, the vegetables would continue to grow but it is that time of year to pull stuff out and bring flowers into the greenhouse for winter.
Still have lots of Swiss Chard, some carrots and beans and herbs to dry for winter seasonings.
Last night, we had lovely rain....today is cooler and Hurricane Earl is the news topic of the weekend, as he zooms down the Eastern coast to wreak havoc.....

Garden Pics

2010-08-03T21:06:00.002-04:00

Here are some garden produce pics....

Hot August Summer!

2010-08-03T20:56:00.004-04:00

Today was 32 degrees celcius and steaming hot....we had a little rain last night which helped the garden survive today.
This summer, my garden has been exceptional in producing but it is winding down and looking like autumn is coming as flowers are drying up....veggies are not producing as much.....I have a giant sunflower blooming in my garden now and want to show you a couple of photos of my 10 year old great nephew standing under it and the bloom itself...beans, potatoes, lettuce, onions, beets, cucumbers are delicious this year...we are soooo lucky....

Clean Greenhouse June 2010

2010-06-12T14:03:00.003-04:00

Since the greenhouse was half empty (due to some repair construction going on this spring), and it was our water day ( we are water restriction since May 1st-we water on even days of the calendar), I decided to empty the greenhouse...plants, tables, and junk....windexed all the windows...hubby did outside glass with the hose and concentrated window cleaner.....scrubbed (well, mopped) the floor with heavy duty soap and bleach.....tried to brush the mildew off the concrete blocks....impossible....then put everything back in place....whewwww...it took me seven hours....but I did stop for coffee breaks and lunch in that period.....I wore my pedometer and logged 3.3 miles of walking while doing this once a year job.
It looks great now....spiders are gone....most of them, I think...at least their webs are wiped away....see for yourself in this pic....have a good weekend...it is rainy here in not so sunny Amherstview near beautiful Lake Ontario

Planted garden

2010-05-23T20:21:00.002-04:00

The garden is almost planted.....all vegetables are in the ground except the tomatoes...still have some flower planting to do as well.....weather is lovely and warm this long holiday weekend and we had a few rain showers so hope the seeds will pop up soon....can't wait...

End of April 2010

2010-04-28T20:48:00.002-04:00

It has been a fabulous April, 2010, except for the snow we had yesterday, April 27th...why???
In my greenhouse,the tomatoes are growing well but very few flower seeds made an appearance....after I planted the flower seeds, the weather outside turned cold...we had little sun and I guess they rotted in the little pots.
This evening, I dug up some cosmos plants that have sprouted in my vegetable garden and potted them in the greenhouse....I also dug up some lettuce plants....yummy!!

Seeds, etc.

2010-03-27T10:00:00.004-04:00

Last evening, I managed an hour after supper to plant some flower seeds....asters and sunflowers and of course, marigolds...the sunflower seeds are old...some are 12 years old, so this is an experiment.....usually, when I plant sunflower seeds into my garden, they pop through the ground and are eaten by passing critters...bunnies, squirrels, chippies,birds...who knows...don't have time to be a garden security guard.
So far, none of my seeds-tomatoes, strawflowers, statice... have popped but the weather has been gray and gloomy, cold, windy and not too much sun this week, so I will just keep checking....

Thinking of seeds

2010-03-16T19:05:00.003-04:00

Finally, got to do some repotting of plants and spritz the plants that aphids have attacked.....it was a gorgeous day today and I actually had the greenhouse door open a little as it was very warm inside. I went through my seeds and bought aster and Manitoba Tomato and beet seeds today. I am going to start planting this week. If this weather keeps up, we might be able to plant early....I hope....we have no snow now so will likely rake the front lawn on Friday this week. Lots of flowers are blooming in the greenhouse now...my orchid has 3 blossoms....the orchid cactus has some small buds forming....geraniums are getting little sets of leaves on the stems....just glorious.....

Last Week of January 2010-hurray

2010-01-27T20:02:00.002-05:00

I am trying to tidy my greenhouse....spring is coming and I need space to start plants...looks like some bugs have been looking for warm plants to cosy up to so I have to be more diligent in misting and spraying .....my orchid has buds now....coffee plants have the red berries that add so much colour...I have one poinsettia (salvaged from my church's Christmas decor)...some geraniums are blooming....and impatiens that my cousin gave me are blooming with pretty pink flowers.
Yesterday, it poured rain and the snow is nearly gone, but today we had a light skiff...guess our January thaw is over. The winter weather has been great this year. I walk almost every day and the sidewalks and road are clear for that.
Will try to do progress reports on the greenhouse growth more often....

Happy New Year!

2010-01-08T07:30:00.002-05:00

Happy New Year!
Hope to get back in my greenhouse and make better plant progress in 2010!!! Today, it is snowing, falling softly, beautiful and scenic and.....COLD......but it is January and we are living in Canada....so suck it up, everyone...and enjoy!!!

November weather

2009-11-24T18:07:00.002-05:00

This month has been fantastic-weather-wise-still no snow....can you believe that I was weeding some yarrow from my perennial garden two days ago??? The yarrow was spreading into my row of iris and I didn't want it there so I yanked it all out....I am pretty sure that next summer it will show it's pretty pink face again. I need to dig out a lot of primrose also....if we get another sunny day, I will likely do that....it was a glorious feeling to weed and work in my flower bed at the end of November. Thank you, God!!

Clean, Scrub, Repot, Throw Out

2009-07-08T21:15:00.002-04:00

The greenhouse had it's annual cleaning, scrubbing with bleach, plants are in the process of being repotted and a whole bunch of plants were composted. Since I am not growing plants for my Church Bazaar this year, I have a lot of room for plants that I want to keep growing just for me and me alone....I am so happy to have this big job done....will post some photos soon.
The garden is growing like crazy as we have had lots of rain...only problem is....it is extremely muddy to walk in....even weeding is a muddy venture....

Spring and Planting

2009-05-19T18:41:00.002-04:00

No garden is planted yet...our rototiller is in the hospital, being operated on...should be back in 10 days or so....I like to plant my garden in June anyhow...presently, I am digging up plants for my Horti Club Plant sale, May 23,2009.I have lots of houseplants to go and quite a few perennials plus some Tiny Tim small cherry tomato plants. Spring has been cold, windy and rainy so we are ready for warmer weather. Tulips were beautiful this spring and just starting to die now...lilacs are starting to bloom. What a wonderful time of the year. Good luck to everyone and happy gardening days ahead....

March is here!

2009-03-15T20:03:00.001-04:00

Snow is almost gone....I am making room in the greenhouse to start trays of seedlings...the shade is on the greenhouse now and plants are growing like mad...oh yes, the orchid is starting to bloom.
I have been able to attend my Horti meetings for the past two months and it is nice to hear about gardening and see slides of beautiful flowers and plants in this cold weather.

First Monday in February 2009

2009-02-02T14:09:00.002-05:00

Still haven't changed all my calendars....I have calendars in nearly every room in my house....crazy, eh?
Yesterday, the weather was warmer and very sunny...snow fell through the night but not as much as predicted by the "trusty" weather man. I waterd most of the plants in the greenhouse and repotted the two umbrella trees that really needed new dirt and tlc. They are supposed to be miniature plants but they are really tall but doing quite well. Leaves were one sided so the pots are on the top shelf of my plant stand facing backwards...hope the sun will convince them to be more even.
I have some aphids appearing on coleus, so one plant got a haircut and I threw cuttings from it in the composter...have some cuttings in my kitchen, rooting, and they have some mealybug, soooo, don't know how much longer I will keep these plants...annoying bugs.
It was nice to spend time in the greenhouse....I feel like I am in a tropic place when the sun shines and I am enjoying my plants.

Well, Happy New Year 2009!

2009-02-01T06:30:00.003-05:00

Where have I been?? Not blogging, for sure....just not taking the time lately....my greenhouse is thriving in this cold and snowy winter....presently, I am potting some overgrown cuttings. Also, having a little battle with aphids on some of my plants...which is usual in January and February....
Last week, between shovelling and trying to catch up on housework - I potted some Plectranthus Silver Shield, and Plectranthus vine....hopefully, they will grow well and I can donate some plants to my Horti Club plant sale in May.
Seeds are in Canadian Tire now....I'm not going to buy any seeds till I check my stock....
One plant that is surviving is my Creeping Rosemary....I was battling Mealybug on it...in 3 or 4 months, I can move it outdoors again....
Geraniums are blooming....must count them soon.....
Take care, gardening bloggers....the days are getting longer and the sun on the snow is wonderful.

The Bazaar is over-fini-ended!

2008-11-03T19:47:00.003-05:00

My church bazaar is over for another year and even though I love plants and potting and watering, etc., etc., this year was just too busy for me....I had so many plants in the greenhouse for the plant table that we couldn't walk thru the room without sidestepping pots and hitting our head on hanging foliage...we took 4 carloads to the church hall on Friday and brought one and a half carloads home...I threw out 50 plants on Sunday as I didn't need or want them....we emptied the pots, shook off the soil and the plants will be going to Lappans Lane for composting this week....I felt bad but some of the donated plants were not in great shape...why do people pot house plants in garden soil?? YUK!!!
Now my greenhouse looks neater....the plants have space to spread out and we can walk through....being in the greenhouse now is quite pleasant.
I think this year will be the last year I will offer to do the plant table....too much work for me now.....grumble, grumble, grumbly me....

Tomatoes

2008-09-20T20:52:00.002-04:00

I picked the rest of the green tomatoes today....not a lot....for the number of plants....very poor summer for my tomatoes...my garden in partially shaded in the AM and sunny in PM and evening....I guess there was not enough sun to ripen and produce more....
This AM I picked dahliahs and baby roses for my elderly friends, Millie and Doris...they loved the fresh garden flowers....
Just did some watering in the greenhouse and potted one fern...it had started growing baby ferns through the holes in the bottom of the pot so I had to cut the pot off the plant....I put the mother fern in a larger pot and potted all the babies into one pot....hope they grow well....

Continuing 2008 Cleanup

2008-09-19T03:08:00.004-04:00

The garden cleanup has started....cosmos that blew over in last week's wind have been chopped down....Mona Lavender Plectranthus (2 plants) were dug up and are now in pots in the greenhouse along with Silver Knight Plectranthus (huge plant)...also dug up small parsley plants and sad looking basil...they are in vases of water. waiting to be potted.
I picked large amount of marigolds, a few helianthus-they are now sparse, and some gaillardia and put them in brass pots to decorate my church this weekend.
I potted a Brouwallia plant but don't know if I can winter it in the greenhouse but I love the blue flowers....Tons of weeds were yanked out also and the rest of the bean plants. Swiss chard had a blight so it is gone now. I pulled out some celery-it wasn't great but I kept the leaves to dry for my soups...the celery leaves have exceptional flavour...I had to quit after a couple of hours as my back was starting to tell me to stop.
I also picked 4 citrons and will make preserves this weekend.

Left in the garden: carrots, celery,tomatoes, and flowers.

Crowding the greenhouse

2008-09-15T20:18:00.002-04:00

Today, I wonder - where will I put all the plants that I want to bring in from outdoors - my greenhouse seems so crowded at present - so - without thinking about it, I dug up 2 begonias, 3 coleus and 2 geraniums from the front flower bed...they are all potted now and looking fine. I moved the pots of geraniums to the back patio and dug up some ornamental cabbage to put out front in plastic pots for autumn decorating. The marigolds and sedum are really colourful now so the cabbage will add some pizzazz.
My cosmos in the back garden blew over last night in Hurricane Ike's wind, so I chopped a couple of them down. Then I filled up four pots with compost and dug up a phlox and some shasta daisies for my friend, Joe, and also, some hydrangea and helianthus for my Peggy's garden. The ground was very moist from the rain last night so it was perfect digging. I also dug up my Creeping Rosemary plant and cleaned it up and put it in a big pot in the greenhouse for wintering.
I am happy that I was able to get so much work done today...it was lovely and cool....yesterday was very hot and sticky so today was a perfect day for me to be outdoors.
I picked a handful of little yellow tomatoes also.
Yesterday, I picked some carrots....very small and spindly this year....the beets were small also and the beefsteak tomatoes are taking forever to ripen. Yesterday I gave Mark some green tomatoes to fry and I might have to fry the rest for myself...I am getting tired of waiting for them to ripen.
I feel a little sad that my garden is getting empty, but we have enjoyed it a lot.

Garden Cleanup has started

2008-09-04T20:59:00.002-04:00

I have started to clear out some of the jungle of garden that grew this summer....yesterday, we took 11 small bags which equalled a car trunkload to Lappan's Lane.....we are still eating beans, celery, onions, tomatoes and herbs...potatoes have been harvested, beets were disappointing....they were very small but they were tasty. For the past few days, we are having a mini heatwave and the flowers are drying up quickly, which makes me sad....hubby has been watering daily which helps....autumn is approaching fast.....one wonderful thing I discovered yesterday.....I have 3 citron melons growing and not just 1....my first year for this fruit....

End of Summer August 25 2008

2008-08-25T08:38:00.003-04:00

The greenhouse is thriving and now I am starting to pot some cuttings of plants that have been growing roots in water most of the summer.....a lot of these plants will go to my church bazaar in November....the garden is beautiful this summer and we have been eating: beans, lettuce, beets, potatoes, swiss chard, herbs, rhubarb and enjoying the flowers along the edge of the garden....we are so lucky.....

Canada Day Weekend

2008-06-30T03:24:00.002-04:00

Happy Canada Day Weekend all you Canadian gardeners....it has been a wet weekend....Friday night, we had a terrific thunderstorm which I slept through...on Saturday AM, my garden was wonderfully wet - and a little muddy - so I left it until yesterday and did some weeding till my back gave out and sweat was pouring off my body. I picked radishes - also very muddy.
Late in the afternoon, the sky got very dark and we could hear thunder rolling - then when hubby was bbqing, the storm broke - a large crash of thunder shook the house - the rain - torrential like - came down and my garden was totally under water
- I have a little trench dug in my garden in case of heavy rain - but it didn't help at all. After supper, I didn't bother going outdoors - too wet, hot and muggy.
On Monday, I will be anxious to see if some newly planted Flowering Kale and Celery plants washed away and the lettuce will be muddy and sandy as well.
But - the rain will help things grow when the sun comes out.
Not really a greenhouse update but connected.

Greenhouse is clean for 2008

2008-06-26T21:32:00.002-04:00

That time of year again....cleaning the greenhouse.....it took 3+days this year....our Lord and Burnham greenhouse has roof windows that open automatically when the set temperature is reached. I have never been able to clean the windows and they were looking pretty dirty...so...my hubby took all 6 screens out...we cleaned the screens and the aluminum piece that holds them in place. Then I cleaned the windows-it took me over 2 hours to scrub the dirt and mildew off them....then my hubby rinsed them with the spray hose....they just sparkled...what a difference. After the screens were reassembled and put back, I cleaned all the other windows, the shelves, the cement floor and walls....bugs and cobwebs disappeared in a hurry.
During this cleaning time, the plants were in the garage. Tables were scrubbed and put back in the greenhouse, then I started bringing back plants...first, the hanging plants....some repotting was done. I threw some plants in the composter and took some apart and repotted a lot of them. I still have some repotting and cuttings to do but the greenhouse, though crowded, looks wonderful. We also cleaned the outside greenhouse windows with the spray hose and my faithful heavy duty cleaner from Home Depot. Whew....I'm pooped now....

Cleaning Greenhouse Time

2008-06-22T22:21:00.002-04:00

Once a year, every summer, I clean my greenhouse....it is totally emptied, scrubbed with disinfectant, windows cleaned and when everything is shipshape, the tables and plants go back inside....it is a huge job and I don't enjoy it much, but when all is done, I am happy and pleased. Tomorrow is the day, it will be tackled.....I already have quite a few plants and the tiered shelving unit in the garage, so tomorrow should be relatively smooth going. Wish me luck.

Happy Father's Day 2008

2008-06-15T21:06:00.003-04:00

Happy Father's Day to all the dads in their gardens, greenhouses and elsewhere.
I took time to hoe the weeds in my garden today...again, I am growing lots of grass and purslane in between rows. I also hilled my potatoes....and planted parsley, mint and oregano. There is supposed to be a thunderstorm and rain tonight...I don't mind the rain, but thunder is not so great. Pretty soon I will eat lettuce and radishes from my garden...yeaaa

The growing garden-2008

2008-06-15T08:28:00.002-04:00

I am so happy that my garden is growing....all the vegetables are up.....even the citron seeds have sprouted....I wasn't sure if they would grow as I saved them myself...now I must pull some sprouts out as I only want a couple of vines to grow...apparently they grow 8-12feet long but you can trim the end of the vine when the fruit is set....the weather has been great during the past week....a little rain but we have watered....now I must hoe the weeds....June is the month for weeks and they are growing like crazy and annoying me to death. I still have tomatoes growing in the greenhouse....and some flowers.....gardening is slow for me this Spring, it seems. I still have flower seeds to plant as well.
Today is Father's Day...so Happy Father's Day to all the wonderful Dads in the world.

After the rain

2008-06-01T20:12:00.002-04:00

On Friday night, we had a terrific thunderstorm and rain through the night and my garden was a mudslide. The statue of Mary slid off her round stone and was buried in the mud....what a mess. Hubby had to tie a rope around the statue and carefully lift it out of the garden. She landed on my Rose of Sharon shrub, which was damaged by snow load this winter and now has another broken branch....it is a quarter of the original size. Needless to say, I stayed out of the garden (quagmire) today.
I planted my tiny marigolds in the front flowerbed today...you can barely see them but they will grow bigger in time.
The greenhouse is getting emptier...which is good....

The garden is planted-2008

2008-05-30T20:09:00.003-04:00

Rain is forecast for tonight and the weekend so I planted most of my garden today. Last evening, I got it all ready to plant...all my rows marked with sticks and string...I have my garden plan all ready to go....I still have planting to do but most of the veggies and flowers are in the ground.....please, please, dear Lord, let there be rain on my seeds and transplants tonight.
I also filled some pots with flowers and they are outside also.
Tomatoes are still waiting to be planted.....it is still a little cool for them to leave the greenhouse.
Also, another row of lettuce-mesclun mix-one of my faves-will be planted tomorrow, hopefully.

It's too cold to plant my veggies!!

2008-05-28T20:48:00.003-04:00

We have had chilly weather for the end of May.....I am waiting to plant my vegetable garden till June....which just happens to be starting on Sunday.
Tomatoes are still growing.....marigolds are getting bigger....I lost some of my basil seedlings to aphids, so I have transplanted some of them and misted them with warm water and I must be vigilant in doing this a few times a day. I promised Mark lots of basil for his garden this summer and hopefully it will grow better now.
I have bought few plants at the Foodland Store garden centre and today I bought some seeds at the $ store.
Last night, there was a frost forecast so I lugged a lot of my pots into the greenhouse and some into the garage....I know the heat is coming soon and will likely knock us over when it gets here as our blood must still be winter thick.

Here is a photo of my friend, Roger's, pond in progress....

Rotilled!!

2008-05-20T19:31:00.003-04:00

This AM I finished transplanting my tomato seedlings and this PM, my hubby rotilled my gardens....now I will have fun transplanting things into the soft earth....yeaaaa
Weather was cool and windy today but perfect for grass cutting and rototilling.

Tomatoes

2008-05-19T22:26:00.003-04:00

It was rainy and chilly today so I baked buns, bread and cleaned out my kitchen pantry. This PM, my sister and her husband came to visit and stayed for supper and I gave her a tray of perennial plants for her church plant sale...some herbs and shastas that I dug up and potted recently.
After supper, I started transplanting tomatoes.....LIDI, yellow mini...my seedlings .... yellow pear-shaped tomatoes...my neighbour's seedlings.... which I am growing for her. Tomorrow, I hope to complete transplanting the rest of the tomatoes...bush beefsteak and red tiny tim's.

Ready to rototill....

2008-05-18T21:24:00.002-04:00

After digging tons of plants from my garden, it is ready to rototill.....I dug out all the plants in front of the greenhouse and my hubby will rototill the garden and in the greenhouse area as well....it was full of mostly herbs....I want more flowers there....with lots of colour.... it will be fun to draw a plan and replant things.
Yesterday, I gave some plants to a friend who has a small yard and is really getting into flower gardening....he is making a pond feature also....can't wait to see the end results......I will try to take photos to post as he progresses.
It rained this afternoon and is actually quite chilly for May long weekend.

Gardening, gardening

2008-05-15T21:07:00.002-04:00

I haven't been blogging as I have been gardening......my husband and I moved my arbor from the edge of the garden to another area in our yard...it was difficult to rototill the garden with the arbor where it was located. Hubby had to make new posts to hold the arbor in place as the originals were rotten, rotten wood. To prepare for the move, I dug and dug loads of perennials, and potted them. I took three flats of perennials to a church plant sale and I am still digging plants and will take them to another plant sale and give some away to friends. I have been using my wonderful compost for these plants and some old potting soil that I dumped in the garden last fall....a great mix for these transplanted flowers.
Everything survived the winter and is growing like a speed demon....I can't believe how big the rhubarb has grown...we had a rhubarb upside down cake last week....and the chives are 12" tall.
Tonight, I planted 5 large pots with geraniums from the greenhouse and used a 70litre bag of potting soil...hope they will do well....it is early to place them outdoors but I desparately need room in the greenhouse...I have at least 6 plants to bring home from my church....they need some tlc and lots of sunshine.
This week I bought a pilea plant in a tiny pot for $1.79 at Home Depot....tonight I took it apart and discovered that I now own 8 pilea plants.....hope they grow well.
I also bought a prayer plant for $1.79 and it had 2 babies in it.....don't you love it when you get these bargain plants....
Time to sign off......

Busy Busy Time

2008-04-03T20:16:00.002-04:00

Can't believe I haven't written anything since end of January-it has been a long, snowy and cold winter- lots of shovelling and trying to keep warm. Easter came early this year and we were busy with getting ready to decorate our church for the special celebrations that Easter weekend brings.
My greenhouse is surviving well-except for silly bugs that seem to appear when the days get sunnier-I have been battling aphids and some mealybugs on certain plants...aphids constantly attack my coleus and mealybugs like my jade plant and Mona Lavender Plectranthus. I didn't get to take geranium cuttings in February like I usually do but have a lot of plants from last summer so I will be okay again this year.
I haven't started seedlings to date....but very soon.....just have to do some potting of cuttings and make some room and I will be okay to plant and plant and plant.
My orchid - given to me last summer by a friend - is blooming so beautifully now. I have never had an orchid before.
Here are a few photos. I will try to talk more now that Easter is behind us.

Crazy Canadian Weather

2008-01-30T18:37:00.000-05:00

This morning at 3:30AM, the wind woke me.....howling......I got up for awhile....had a cup of tea and read some of today's Whig....then it started sleeting and freezing rain and the wind never let up a bit.....the weather changed to heavy rain by 8AM-then rain turned to white-out snow storm and it never let up until late in the PM....then, the sun came out and it was beautiful.....getting colder tonight -10 C. already. I couldn't see out my greenhouse windows most of today and my sewing room window screen sucked all the snow onto it so it was a dark day in the house until sunshine appeared and snow stopped. We had all aspects of winter today.......

More future compost!

2008-01-21T19:07:00.000-05:00

For the past few days, I have been able to get out to the greenhouse and I have thrown out quite a few large plants - I am still able to get to the compost - but some of the root-filled pots are outside between the garden shed and our neighbour's fence-till spring comes. Then, I will break them up and put them in the garden soil.
From sheer neglect because I have been busy of late...Christmas, Church, etc., some plants got buggy, some overgrew and some have root rot.....into the bin they went flying....I hope to make some room for cuttings that I must pot soon.
The geraniums seem to be growing the best right now....they must like the cooler temps. It was Minus 20 degrees Celcius this morning but warmed up to Minus eight this PM and the sun shone most of the day, so the greenhouse was a perfect place to be this afternoon.

Clean Up Time

2008-01-17T19:40:00.000-05:00

Today was tackle the dead plants in my greenhouse....I am ashamed to say, I threw out some sick looking or dead plants today....sick looking ones, some that I am sick of looking at, dead ones, some cuttings that aren't rooting....all gone.....luckily, we don't have enough snow to hinder my way to the composter....... I am hoping to create some space as Spring approaches. Most geraniums are doing very well....they seem to liven up in Jan., Feb., and March....The orchid looks as if it is growing tiny flower buds....I hope.....they could be little leaves also. Some cuttings that I parted with were from my Pineapple Sage plant that I had for over two years....they were infested with aphids....also, the marjoram plant.....one coleus plant.....these bugs are relentless.
I took lots of crunchy leaves off various plants.....I still have a lot of work to do.....my greenhouse is neglected.
Wish me luck!!!!!!

Happy New Year 2008!

2008-01-01T07:57:00.000-05:00

Snowing, blowing today....a good day to work in the greenhouse....especially since I haven't been able to do much potting since before Christmas.

Happy New Year in 2008.....happy planting and keeping the environment green......let's try harder this year....

Brr!!! Winter!!!

2007-11-24T08:06:00.000-05:00

At 7:00AM today, my thermometer reads -15 degrees Celcius, the coldest day since winter started-the sun is up so I think it will be a nice day for folks to Christmas shop.
Yesterday, we went to a beautiful greenhouse, Neil's Flowers, http://www.neilsflowers.com/, and ordered poinsettias for our Church for Christmas.....what a beautiful sight....all those poinsettias, different sizes and colours, spread out on tables and the prices are exceptional as well.
My greenhouse is thriving - I have been potting cuttings like crazy - on Thursday, we had freezing rain and snow on top of the ice so my windows were pretty frosty - and still are.....it is like a wonderland when you are in the greenhouse looking at the plants and flowers and ice and snow are on the outside....I love it.

Waste Pickup Day

2007-11-12T07:53:00.000-05:00

Today is Waste Pickup Day - garden waste, leaves - all packaged in large clear plastic bags or huge brown paper bags - from Home Depot - our township will pick them up today and take them to Lappan's Lane for compost.
I packaged 5 bags of waste - mostly from the garden - one bag from the greenhouse - a lot of my plants were old and not doing well - a few had some bugs - so they are gone, gone, gone. I downsized some plants as well and hope the cuttings I took will root. I have a lot of geraniums, as always - just can't seen to part with these plants.
I still have lots of work to do in the greenhouse, but it looks cleaner and will be more manageable for me.
Thank you - Loyalist Township - for your help in keeping our yards and community looking great.

Time

2007-11-08T21:53:00.000-05:00

I am finally getting some time to catch up on "everything".....I have been busy getting plants ready for my church bazaar which finally happened last Sat., Nov. 3rd.....we took 3 carloads of plants to the church basement and I sold $227.00 worth-exceptionally good for me....and a lot of work considering most were priced really cheap $1-$6 price range.....I did sell two $25. items as well....a large basket of plants and an Oleander Tree....both donations from parishioners. Now I have to work in my greenhouse, but it will be a pleasure and not a chore now....I have room to put a chair to sit on in the greenhouse...an impossible deed before the bazaar.
The garden has been rototilled for winter....garden waste pickup in our area is Monday....the shade if off the greenhouse for the winter and we actually had a bit of snow today along with cold weather.

Killer Greenhouse

2007-10-17T19:42:00.000-04:00

My greenhouse is killing me---it is on large overload of plants at present---I am trying to pot and price plants for my church bazaar---I have absolutely no space---I spend most of my time trying to create little spaces for the flats of plants I am preparing. So far, I have been lucky in not seeing any bugs on my plants....other than the odd spider who is hanging around.....I will be sooooo happy when Nov. 2nd arrives and I can take the plants to the parish hall....my labels are made from old vinyl blinds that I cut in 6" or 7" pieces and write on them with black marker.....kind of plant.....how much light....and the price......I begged lots of pots from friends this summer so pray I don't run out of potting soil....I can't believe what a job this is. Do I sound like I am complaining?????? Of course, I am.....but I really do love my greenhouse and I love selling my plants to help raise funds for my church......it is just all the WORK that I am not happy about......grumble grumble grumble.......

Winter is in the air!!

2007-10-11T20:31:00.000-04:00

After a very warm summer and autumn, temperatures are dropping and we will likely get frost on the garden tonight....today, I was rushing in the garden, digging up geraniums, cutting leaves from herbs , taking cuttings of various plants....I even picked dill and will freeze it as I didn't make any dill pickles this summer, so will try it later in season with store cukes. My greenhouse is a big mess as I threw all the plants inside and have to get busy and separate them. The church bazaar is in 3 weeks and as I look after the plant table and supply all the plants, I really have to buckle down and repot and price all the plants I am taking there. When my greenhouse is messy, I don't want to go in there ....but....procrastination will provide bugs and lost greenery and no plants for the sale.
Summer is over....winter is approaching......Thanksgiving came and went....bazaar time..... settle down.....

I'm Back!!

2007-07-05T21:52:00.000-04:00

Wow! I haven't been able to blog in awhile-didn't take time to do the Google account stuff that was requested. So, I missed writing about Spring in my greenhouse and now it is summer in my garden and everything is doing so well out there - and the greenhouse plants are thriving as well. I didn't dig up a lot of my perennials in the gardens this year so the beds are full to overflow with flowers at present. I am very happy about all of this growth. I will include some recent photos soon. Will get back into my blog stuff again.

It's been a while!

2007-03-26T19:20:00.000-04:00

I have been tidying my greenhouse-trying to get rid of "bugs"-mealybugs, aphids - why to they always appear in Spring. We have the shade on the window now and it helps the plants from scorching. My parsley seems to be doing well....has a second set of leaves....statice sprouts are popping through the earth. Geraniums are blooming like crazy....cuttings seem to be a little slow in growing....next thing to do....I have some daffodil bulbs in my fridge to pot up and hope to have some early blooms and fragrance from them. See the photo of my "striped inch plant" and magenta coloured geranium. The "inch plant" is flowering like crazy and the photo is it's first bloom. It is beautiful.

Pineapple sage

2007-02-04T21:26:00.000-05:00

Since last fall, I have had Pineapple Sage cuttings growing in a vase of water - so - today - I transplanted them all - the leaves are very faded and pale from lack of nutrient so hopefully the rich moisture soil will help them grown and flower. I have at least 6 pots of this wonderfully fragrant herb.

Neglect in the greenhouse!

2007-02-01T15:55:00.000-05:00

I am sad to say I have been neglecting my plants of late - life has been too busy - the plants are surviving - but - I have overgrown, pot bound plants and noticed some whitefly - so I have to concentrate on TLC for them.
I misted a flowering kalanchoe as it had whitefly - it was falling out of the pot - some of the branches broke off - they appear to have roots on the stems - so I will pot them and see what happens.
I cut out some dead parts of one church fern and hope it will revive with a little new earth and a good drink.
Hopefully - on the weekend, I will get to play in the dirt.

New Week!

2007-01-08T10:04:00.000-05:00

To date, the weather is very mild but snow is in the forecast - we will wait and see.
The greenhouse is thriving on neglect - sad to say - a large chunk of yesterday was spent undecorating our church - putting away all the lovely Christmas things - and rearranging the poinsettias. The leaves on most of the plants are falling but when grouped together, they look beautiful. The poinsettia trees were a much commented on feature. They are lovely and lasting quite well. So, we still show a little of what I call "Christmas Leftovers" in our church and they usually last till Ash Wednesday. Hope to have greenhouse news this week.

Jan.2, 2007

2007-01-02T20:22:00.000-05:00

A crisp, cool and sunny day today - my greenhouse loved it - even though I only spent a few minutes in the greenhouse - took some cuttings from Mona Lavender and potted a baby Jade plantlet. Days are getting longer - dark at 5:10PM today - Yeaaa!
Spring is in the air.

Happy New Year 2007!!

2007-01-01T16:10:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone is enjoying the New Year so far - we had heavy rain through the night - which eliminated the little snow that fell yesterday. It was mild and balmy today and the sun shone as well - we have taken down our outdoor Christmas lights and I spent most of today taking down indoor decorations!! Not my favourite thing to do but it is nice to have a clean house as I dusted and vacuumed!! ho hum!! Boring!!
Yesterday, I tidied the greenhouse - first chance I have had since we took the poinsettias to Church on Christmas Eve! I had lots of crunchies to clean up! Lots of sweeping as well. All the plants received a drink - some were hidden by others and not doing so well.
Yesterday, we went to Home Depot and I bought some annual seeds - if I don't buy the everlasting seeds when I see them, I don't get them.
Happiness is buying seeds for your garden on New Year's Eve! And if this wonderful weather continues, we might be digging in the garden early this year!! Hope!
Did everyone enjoy Christmas? We were pretty crazy running back and forth to Church to decorate and deliver flowers there and then I had my turkey dinner to prepare in between trips but it all came together nicely - our daughter and her partner and our son were with us for the 25th - we had a nice time and hope they enjoyed themselves also.
Happy New Year to one and all!!

Two more sleeps till Christmas

2006-12-23T21:38:00.000-05:00

Christmas is almost here-tomorrow all the poinsettias in my greenhouse will be taken to my church and put on display for Christmas. It will be nice to have some space returned to the other crowded plants.
Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year at this time.
December has been extremely mild with just a little snowfall once this month. Plants and flowers in the greenhouse and outdoors are thriving.

Red in Greenhouse!

2006-12-03T08:57:00.000-05:00

This time of the year, red is my favourite colour and as you will see by the photos, the church poinsettias have once again arrived in the greenhouse. I am now the caretaker of 32 poinsettias - we bought 24 plants at Rona yesterday and transported them home. The cost was $3.88 per plant - very reasonable for such lovely flowers.
The greenhouse is really crowded and I will be glad when Christmas arrives and they are in the church. When the plants get overstacked, the bugs invade and I am already battling mealybug on my rosemary plants.

Christmas is coming!

2006-11-29T19:38:00.000-05:00

Now I know Christmas is coming as we are starting to bring home poinsettias from Home Depot. They will be in the greenhouse till Christmas and then we will bring them to our church. Yesterday, we bought 2 beautiful Poinsettia Trees and we also have 6 poinsettias on the shelves - from a church wedding on Saturday. Also, my Christmas cactus is starting to bloom - I have my angel tree decorated in my living room - baby Jesus is in his Nativity scene - some wreaths are hung - lights are up outdoors and I have started to sew some gifts and do some baking.....exhausting time of year but so nice.
PS My Jade Plant is in bloom - this is the third year that it has flowered - see photo.

plants and pots

2006-11-16T06:32:00.000-05:00

I am still recuperating from our church bazaar on Nov. 4th - sold a lot of plants and brought quite a few back to the greenhouse. I have been doing lots of potting and tidying. I have the opportunity this weekend to donate some of the left over plants to a nursing home bazaar being held in my neighbourhood, so if they all sell, I will have more free space.
We have had a lot of rain lately - again today - yesterday was nice so I actually got to walk outdoors and when I came home I washed out some of my plantpots. Can't do much gardening outside. A few things are still trying to stay alive, like the gaillardia and the herbs and one little rose keeps blooming.
Oh Yes, the bazaar was successful again this year.
The geraniums in the greenhouse are finally starting to grow new leaves and bloom a little. They took a while to recuperate from the shock of being tranferred inside for the winter.

It's November 1st!

2006-11-01T18:33:00.000-05:00

Now it is November-it was beautiful here today - cool but sunny - we raked leaves and bagged up some yard waste for our roadside pickup on Nov. 13th. Didn't really do much in the greenhouse today - Friday is the day all bazaar plants get transported to the church parish hall - then I will price them and set them up so they look good. Actually picked some sage today - it is still growing so thought I would dry some more. Still have a few flowers in bloom - marigolds and geraniums are gone now. I managed to take some greenhouse photos today-red geranium-spiderwort pink flower-pink geranium-red flower on pineapple sage plant.

New photos

2006-10-27T08:30:00.000-04:00

Here are a couple of collage photos-one of Dried Statice from my garden this past summer and one of geraniums using different light exposures. I always find that light coloured flowers don't show detail so I am experimenting with my camera.

No rain for 3 days!!! yeah!!!

2006-10-26T19:35:00.000-04:00

We have not had rain for 3 days - but - it will return tomorrow - so the weather channel predicts. In the past 3 days, my husband cut the grass and today he rototilled the garden and I raked it smooth - a real 20 minute workout for me.
Yesterday, I emptied out the flower pots - I keep the earth in bags in the garden shed over winter and amend it in the spring-and use it again in my flower pots. We were able to wash out the pots and bring them inside. If you leave clay pots outdoors during winter, they will most likely crack and break. They soak up the water and moisture, freeze, then on a nice warm day, they will thaw and become pieces of clay.
I have been potting plants like I am out of my mind and I think I have all the Silver Shield Plectranthus cuttings planted in pots - there must be at least 15.
I hope everyone will buy them at the plant sale. They are a really pretty foliage plant.(see photo-silvery green leaves with little spike)
My friend, Bill, gave me a tray of spider plants and he was kind enough to pot them for me - also - some beautiful ivies, which I transplanted into hanging pots.
I am thankful for the sunny days we have enjoyed - still waiting for Indian Summer.

Another rainy one!

2006-10-17T19:30:00.000-04:00

It has rained, poured,and was windy all day and it is still happening. Here are a few photos of flowers in my greenhouse, which always brighten me when I look at them.

No action!

2006-10-16T06:23:00.000-04:00

There has been absolutely no action in my garden in the past week, except for me walking by it to my compost bin. It rained practically every day since Tuesday - the weather has been cold and windy as well. In fact, Niagara area was dumped with a big snowstorm - I really am not complaining about the rain.
Yesterday was cloudy and sunny periods -so - my husband and I took the greenhouse shade down and stored it in the garage for winter. It is a big job but it saves the shade from wearing out. Now the greenhouse will have more light and sun - usually it takes the plants some adjusting to the changes - hopefully they will grow bigger as our church bazaar is in 3 weeks and I would like big plants for my table.
I have been researching poisonous plants as I was given a croton and dumb cane plant-both are extremely poisonous to pets and children-can cause burning of the mouth and throat if ingested. Scary! Do I sell them at the bazaar or get rid of them. I don't have pets or little children but I am still worried about them. Spider plants, poinsettias and peace lilies are also poisonous - but not as bad as the croton and dumb cane.
We are hoping the rain will stop, the garden will dry up a little and we can roto till the earth for winter.

Adding to the compost heap in Kingston!

2006-10-06T21:54:00.000-04:00

This afternoon, we took a trip to Lappan's Lane in Kingston, to dump a trunkload of garden waste on the huge compost heap. Surprise - the grounds there were quite dry - I assumed that after the rains we had recently that the ground would be a muddy sinkhole. There were only 3 other vehicles there unloading their yard waste. When we came home, I picked the rest of my zinnias and put them in a vase on the kitchen table. The garden is looking sadder everyday so it is time to put it to bed. I picked more tomatoes, dug up a celery root and pulled out some green onions. I was looking for recipes for swiss chard but think I will try to freeze some of it and give the rest to neighbours. Right now, I want to get my house in order - we had painting done this week - finish with the garden so I can work in my greenhouse and do some sewing. It is amazing how the rain has made things grown- especially the flowers and herbs. We sat on our patio this PM for a while - what a gorgeous day.

Bags and bags

2006-10-02T14:57:00.000-04:00

No rain today - beautiful sunshine - lovely temperature - no wind - so this PM, I went to my muddy garden and filled bags and bags with garden waste. It is a sad feeling to put your garden to bed....I pulled out cosmos, asters, sunflowers, weeds,
but still have lots of flowers and colour. I like to have some colour in the garden till after Thanksgiving. The beans are still producing and swiss chard, tomatoes and onions are thriving also...amazing. Rain is forecast again for tomorrow!! Boo!Hoo!
While in the garden, a huge and beautiful monarch butterfly landed for a few seconds on a gaillardia bloom. It took my breath away for a minute. Where was my camera??

Unrainy day!

2006-09-29T21:46:00.000-04:00

No rain today-cool-sunny with clouds-but over all-nice! I walked today outdoors-yesterday, I exercised to my Walking DVD indoors -much nicer to be out breathing all that fresh air.
The only gardening done today was digging up dahliahs this PM - they were muddy and there were lots of huge earthworms that I disentangled from the tubers and threw back in Mother Earth.
My hubby washed all the dahliahs with the hose and they are drying out in the garage.
I have lots of tubers-didn't have a lot of flowers this year but lots of greenery.
No work in the greenhouse - I had to make a huge German Potato Salad for Octoberfest party at my church tonight - then we did some cleaning - moving furniture - but we did take a break -got a coffee at Tim Horton's and drove out Taylor Kidd Blvd. to Millhaven to see the fall colours - they were beautiful today.

Pots and pots

2006-09-28T19:29:00.000-04:00

Today, we had more rain - all day - so this PM I attempted to pot some cuttings and repot some other plants in the greenhouse...I have used up most of my small pots and will have to scrounge some from some friends and neighbours as I do not want to spend dollars and cents on pots. If I get totally desparate for pots, I will punch holes in my coffee cans, margarine containers or whatever else is in my house that can be recycled.
Here is a list of newly potted plant babies - 3 plectranthus, 1 hoya, 2 spider plants, 2 jade plants, 5 citronella plants, 2 coleus, 2 Silver Shield plectranthus, 1 wandering jew, 3 aloe vera plants. I also cleaned up crunchies from the geraniums and a pineapple sage. I elevated a begonia (from my mum's plants)-placed it on top of a clay pot so it can cascade so now I won't be stepping on it.
I don't have any more hanging space in the greenhouse - it is packed. I will take photos soon so you can see what I mean.
My garden is a mud bed right now and there is more rain forecast for the next few days.

Fall is here

2006-09-27T20:25:00.000-04:00

Summer is over and my garden is looking as if.....in the past 2 weeks, we have had a ton of rain and wind and I had to cut down the dahliahs (tubers will be dug up if the ground dries a little)-chopped down the morning glories-dug up all the carrots-pulled out the green peppers and have started a fall cleanup. I feel sad as some things are doing so well. We have been eating the beans that I planted end of July-the daikon radishes are small so far - we ate one - swiss chard and celery and tomatoes are thriving. I have been picking a lot of herbs to dry. My greenhouse is a jungle at present. I have brought in from outdoors lots of geraniums and plants to winter. I also have lots of cuttings in vases of water-coleus-pineapple sage-some ivies-and I bought 6 bags of potting soil on sale at IGA -they were having a clearance. I will need it to pot up the cuttings and geraniums.
Today was such a beautiful day that I actually cleaned my living room window-some spiders are now looking for new winter homes.
Now you know why blogging has been neglected.

Sunny days-sunny, sunny days---

2006-09-12T21:36:00.000-04:00

In the PM - I worked in my garden - it was such a beautiful and sunny day. When I was eating my lunch, my neighbour phoned me and said they were taking a load of yard waste to Lappan's Lane - our compost/recycle place - so I gave them about 5 small bags of garden stuff - then I hauled out the broken "Love Lies Bleeding" plants - plus some overgrown rhubarb and threw them in the truck....went back in the house to finish my slice of banana bread and coffee...energy food! I hit the ground running and spent a lot of time in the garden...dug up carrots, cleaned out all the bug eaten swiss chard leaves, picked a bouquet of asters for my kitchen table, picked some ripening tomatoes (they are staying green longer now), picked some celery leaves to dry (for soups and salads), checked my beans-they are starting to grow, cut down some poppies and saved the pods-they are in a vase. I did not weed. I just enjoyed being outdoors. This evening, a friend from church, gave me a box of plants for our church bazaar plant table. She always grows very different things and some are very interesting looking, especially a cactus that doesn't really look like a cactus to me. Tomorrow, rain is forecast. No gardening allowed!

Sunday in the greenhouse

2006-09-11T21:16:00.000-04:00

Now that we have cooler weather-- 9degrees Celcius for the past two nights-- the greenhouse is quite cool and I feel like working there-- also, my hand is able to work again-- hooray! Sunday, I did quite a few repots-- Aloe became at least 6 new plants -some geraniums went to the compost and others received new earth. I can't believe how the plants there have thrived on neglect.
The rash on my hands is worse, so today, I visited my doctor-- she prescribed a stronger cream. Did you know that spruce and pine needles can give poison ivy type of rash? I learned that info the hard way.
Hopefully, this week, I will make some space as I want to start bringing in some geraniums. A large piece of my coleus broke off today, so it will become my newest plant.
For supper, we had our garden carrots-- they are so good. My garden is doing so well. Love lies bleeding flowers went to adorn the church on the weekend, along with a bouquet of asters in front of Blessed Mary's statue.

Cloudy day gardening

2006-09-05T20:40:00.000-04:00

Saturday was a cloudy day so I decided to pick up all the cones that had fallen off our Colorado Blue Spruce and weed the perimeter of the tree. It looks so much neater now.
I also did a lot of gardening - picked tomatoes - gave two large bags of swiss chard to my neighbours - cut down my Summer Savory and wrapped it in newspaper to hang in the garage and dry - cleaned out some dead flower stalks and generally made my garden look so much neater.
But...
After all my hard work, I noticed a rash on my wrists and left hand and my neck...from the spruce needles, I assume...so I have been using some medicated ointment and it is clearing a little. Be very careful when working around prickly trees and shrubs. I had a glove on my right hand and my wrist splint on my left hand - it would have been worse without them.
We had rain Sunday and yesterday was cloudy and cool and I caught up on some stuff inside. Today, my sister came for a little visit and she went home with Swiss chard
- onions - tomatoes - a bouquet of flowers - oh yes - and pickles and jams. It is great to share your produce.

More Pickles

2006-09-01T21:06:00.000-04:00

Today was a non-greenhouse day as I decided to use some of my tomatoes and make a few jars of Fruit Chili Sauce. This is a big favourite of mine - the recipe calls for tomatoes, onions, green pepper, pears, peaches, apples and raisins.
The greenhouse looks so much better after my work effort of yesterday.
My friend and I walked around our neighbourhood today and we admired a lot of pretty gardens and flowerbeds. The recent rain has made a lot of plants decide to perk up.

Enjoyment: The smell of Chili Sauce in my kitchen!!

The Sad Greenhouse

2006-08-31T20:23:00.000-04:00

Here is a collage of my sunflowers and morning glories. They don't look too bad but
the greenhouse has been looking sad lately as I have been so unable to repot plants or pay much attention to them...so today, I tackled the job of tearing apart a philodendrum plant that was largely overgrown with tons of yellow crunchy leaves all over it. I salvaged some pieces to root, but it had Mealybug infestation, which I hate, so most of it went to the composter and accompanying it was a Wandering Jew plant with the same disease.
I repotted a couple of ferns- two begonias and have started to tear apart a Plectranthus plant which is leggy and ugly.
I had to stop after sweeping up the debris due as my wrist was starting to feel a little sore.
Now that I can see the plants, I realize, I must get busy and work out there...the weather is cooler now so the greenhouse doesn't retain the heat like before.
At the IGA today, they were selling - ornamental cabbage and kale, mums, ornamental pepper plants, heather, icicle pansies and some other colourful pots - I resisted -
I told myself that I need to clear out the garden -not plant more stuff - but it was hard to walk away from such great plants at bargain prices.

Jamming

2006-08-26T15:42:00.000-04:00

Not musical jamming! That's my son's department. I have made yummy jams this week-plum conserve & peach/apple conserves....these are recipes from my 47 year old Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. There is something wonderful about creating these delicious jars of fruit with your own hands.
The garden is doing so well - sunflowers are finally blooming - beans have blooms on them - the rain last weekend and cooler weather has brought a lot of tomatoes to ripen. I am so pleased with my garden. Today, I picked swiss chard and celery. The chard is for supper and I will dry the celery leaves for next winter's soups and salads. I also picked more summer savory and wrapped it to dry - for Thanksgiving and Christmas dressing.

August in my garden

2006-08-18T21:28:00.000-04:00

Things are drying up in my garden-but not the weeds-I actually got rid of some of them yesterday -trimmed buggy stuff off the celery and swiss chard -I also picked a lot of my herbs - they are all cleaned, bagged and hanging to dry in the garage.
I even made rhubarb jam - I am really feeling like Mother Earth!! Why is September racing towards me - I haven't did any pickling yet and I know the tomatoes are ripening fast - chili sauce time is approaching.As you see, my fleurs are gorgeous at present, thanks to my hubby and his watering wand.

One Armed Gardening

2006-08-16T21:53:00.000-04:00

My garden is not up to par due to having my left hand in a splint for the past 3 weeks - injury to tendons - it is getting better and now I can do some repotting of my greenhouse plants. You never realize how much you use your left hand until something happens. Twice a week therapy and the splint have made my life much more bearable. I can't wait to do actual digging and pulling of weeds and plants.
Enough complaint - overall, the garden is doing well. The beans and radishes are growing - tomatoes are delish - I eat them for breakfast with my toast. YUM! Flowers are amazing. I have been cleaning out dead fleurs and yesterday I picked rhubarb - I chopped 10 cups - see - the hand is better - and today I made a rhubarb orange coffee cake with cinnamon topping. Tomorrow, I will make rhubarb jam with rhubarb, crushed pineapple and strawberry jello. Today, I also rode my bike a distance. Our weather is wonderful but forecast shows heat wave with high humidity coming soon. Better enjoy my energy level now - it will be gone when the heat arrives and I will sit on the patio, read my book and drink cool drinks.
Enjoyment: Chopping chives to dry!

Mary!

2006-08-12T15:44:00.000-04:00

Here is a photo of Blessed Mary - a new statue in my garden - given to me by my brother and his wife when they were visiting from Alberta. My sister in law had been looking for a "Mary" for her garden and after lots of searching, she found one, purchased it, put it in our garage while we were on vacation together....unfortunately, "Mary" was too heavy for the plane trip home - so my sister in law got a smaller "Mary" and transported her to Alberta. I received this Mary as a gift from them and I am thrilled. You must agree she is suitable to my garden - so the garden will be a more spiritual place now.
More garden info to come....

Caterpillar and My First Tomato of 2006

2006-07-28T21:31:00.000-04:00

Happiness is picking your first beefsteak tomato from your garden. Tomorrow, I will enjoy a toasted tomato sandwich for my breakfast.
We had a beautiful rain this AM and the garden is thriving. I noticed that my yellow beans and daikon radish seeds are pushing through the ground - the beauty of nature is all around-even in the caterpillar who is devouring my dill plant.

Too Hot!!!

2006-07-27T21:47:00.000-04:00

This week has been too hot to garden much-we had to water the garden last night as it was getting pretty dry. My gardening is mainly dead heading plants. My old fashioned flocks (phlox?) are finished but will flower again when it cools down. The blue bells are trying to produce blooms but are going to seed quickly. Lawns are starting to dry out a little. We had some rain through the night for which we are grateful. The greenhouse plants are trying not to wilt . I haven't did any potting there as my injured wrist is preventing that, so I just water everything and talk to the plants...I now wear a splint...it is really helping me feel better. My neighbour shared a cucumber and his yellow beans with me....yummy!

Planting beans

2006-07-24T22:15:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, I planted some yellow bush beans and hope to have produce by mid Sept...if dates on the seed envelope are correct...also planted a small row of Daikon radishes. It looks like rain tonight...that would help the germination.The garden looks good....I cut off the flowering broccoli...into the composter it went...sad to say. I hope to get new broccoli heads growing on the stems...I will watch the growth carefully. I have been eating my green onions...they are delicious.

Poppies!

2006-07-22T08:59:00.000-04:00

I love poppies-they grow profusely in my garden and the red frilly flowers usually last one day, then blow away in the wind, leaving a poppy seed head on the stem. I usually leave the the seeds to dry a little, shake some seeds back into the garden, clean the leaves off the stems and hang them to dry in a bundle, enclosed in a paper bag (to catch the seeds). This year - I have collected at least 5 bundles - they are drying in the garage.
I will use them for floral arrangements and give some to my sister in law, who wants to use them in a wreath that she is putting together.
It is cloudy here today-I will be in the garden- pulling out lettuce which has bolted and doing a little weeding.

Where did June go?

2006-07-21T09:14:00.000-04:00

I have not "blogged" since May-mainly because my hubby & I went on a road trip to Alberta which ate up the month of June for us...we had a wonderful time....spent time with my brother and his wife in Calgary...helped a little with their garden. Their garden is growing fabulously...they had nice weather early in Spring and planted their seeds...I was amazed at the beets, carrots, lettuce and all in general. My brother grows some veggies in raised beds to keep the heat in and maybe beat the early frosts they get in the west.
We drove to Edmonton with my brother and his wife, stayed at the Fantasyland Hotel and the West Edmonton Mall-but, on the way there, we went to St. Albert and visited Lois Hole's greenhouse. I have never seen such a beautiful maintained greenhouse-I enjoyed seeing the Alpine plants-we just don't have the variety in Ontario-could it be that we are missing mountains here? Speaking of mountains, we had a day trip through the Rockies which - literally - take your breath away.
Since we arrived home, I have been spending all my spare time weeding the garden....we had a lot of rain and heat and the weed growth is tremendous....the garden looks very good now. The Shasta daisies were gorgeous this spring. I have some surprises-"love lies bleeding" reseed itself and is growing everywhere...also...purple mallow....and morning glories....I didn't plant as much as other years so it is nice to see the blooms.
I must get serious about drying herbs now.

Empty Day!

2006-05-19T21:01:00.000-04:00

This evening, we took a large carload of houseplants and herbs to my Horti Club plant sale-which is actually tomorrow-I was so happy to see them leave the greenhouse and garden. Our members who were busy lugging in their plants were able to buy 3 plants this evening and quite a few of my plants are now gone to good homes. I was very good-I did not buy any plants!!!
Our club received a number of plants from Canadian Tire garden centre-last fall. A member actually planted them in her vegetable garden - for the winter - then dug them up - washed off the pots and lugged them all to the plant sale....is she a dedicated helpful gardener or what. There were honeysuckles, silver lace vines, hydrangeas and numerous types of trees and shrubs.
I am off to work at the sale in the morning from 8AM to 12PM-should be fun chatting with all the garden people and learning more about plants.
I also have two more trays of plants to take in the morning.
It is soooo nice to have empty trays in the greenhouse!!!

Geraniums

2006-05-15T21:08:00.000-04:00

Today started off very cool -then sunny-then cloudy-this PM was gorgeous, sunny and warm-this evening, cloudy again, cool again and then buckets of rain.....BUT.....we poured 5 bags of sand around our Colorado Blue Spruce and raked it and it looks great again and will make lawn cutting around the tree so easy.
I planted five (5) red geraniums in my front flower bed and moved my rocks around so it looks really pretty now. A couple of days ago, we dug up a pink spirea shrub and transplanted it in my next door neighbour's front flower bed, so I had some extra space to fill with the geraniums.
I have two HUGE clay pots that I fill with geraniums and vines, etc., for our back patio and I potted them before the rain came down. Then I caught rain water from the downspout to water them with.
I have some room in the greenhouse now for flats of plants that I have ready for the plant sale on Saturday.
While enjoying a Tim Horton's coffee on the patio this PM, I marked all the plant sale perennials with cut up vinyl blind slats....they make great plant markers for your garden as well....just be sure to use a waterproof marker when writing on the slats.
My mother's day lily is blooming like crazy and is so beautiful!!!
We also went to Loblaws today and bought 3 - large bags of Super Soil-the best potting soil, ever.
It was a great gardening day even though the weather was really crazy!!

Getting ready for the plant sale

2006-05-14T19:00:00.000-04:00

My horti club moved their spring plant sale date up one week - halleujah!! I can get all those baby houseplants out of the greenhouse and clean it up a little bit.
I have also dug up some herbs and a few perennials from the garden - potted them and they will also be for sale.
I have been filling flat strawberry and fruit boxes from No Frills with lots of houseplants and geraniums. We will need to borrow a truck to transport it to the sale. Luckily, they are having a drop off on Friday evening before the sale.
I received a beautiful lily plant for Mother's Day - it is a deep deep red colour - I don't have any lilies so this will be a challenge to keep it alive- I hope it doesn't spread - I have downsized my garden BIG TIME - so I had to dig up quite a few plants to make room for it. Luckily, I can give them to the plant sale as I hate throwing them in the composter.
What did I do on Mother's Day? This morning I transplanted some tomato plants - went to church for the Crowning of Mary - did some sewing - picked some rhubarb for the first time and made a dessert for supper.
My friend lent me Nanny McPhee so I might watch it tonight or tomorrow - the joys of being retired, eh?
Next week, I hope to plant my garden - if it doesn't rain.