Tag Archives: shrubs

Flowers, Flowers, Everywhere!!!

  By Rachel | May 13, 2012 - 8:21 pm | Plants
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We had a sale going on at our church on Friday.  Several ladies who are in the local gardening club and go to our church had plants from their gardens.  Here’s what I have so far.

Lady Crinium Lily- this is a bulb, gets up to four feet tall, blooms spring through fall depending on variety.  Won’t tolerate standing water, so needs well-drained soil- flowers best after being in the same location for at least 3 years. Plant in full sun.
white crinium

Penny Mac Hydrangea-make sure to prepare the hole well for this shrub- make sure the hole is much wider than deep.  Only light soakings and occasional fertilization needed later- this shrub seems to do best with morning sun only- esp. in the deeper parts of the south where the sun’s heat is more intense.  Be careful about pruning hydrangeas- they all have unique pruning instructions.

Hydrangea macrophylla (Thunb.) Ser.

Obedient Plant-not obedient at all.  Can be invasive- hummingbirds and butterflies love it- plant in full sun to partial shade- can grow 3 feet tall and will spread and spread, and spread some more. Likes well drained soil, needs very little care after planted.  Good plant for an area where you can let it fill in a large space, easy to divide any time of year.

Obedient Plant

Tartarian Aster- (big green leaves) These Asters bloom in the fall and have football-sized clusters of purple flowers.  Very tough, can plant in clay soil and walk away, requires very little care.  Full sun- even 10 hours of sun and these plants will thrive and spread.

 Aster tataricus

Fall Aster or Aromatic Aster – (not as big more upright habit) Very hardy like the Aster above, a fall bloomer, again, full sun, very little amending of soil necessary- some water and once established will flourish with little or no care.

fall asters

Becky Daisy- (toothed leaves) Spring bloomer with white flowers growing up to 3 feet tall – attract butterflies and are great cut flowers.  Like well-drained soil, a little fertilizing will help their flowering- too much fertilizer can damage plants. Divide plants any time.

Comin' up Daisies

Jasmine- (little leaves- looks more like a shrub- smells good, likes moisture and part. sun) I know very little about Jasmine.  I bought it on the recommendation of one of the ladies from the church who loves gardening.  I will have to post again once I have had this plant for about a year and get a sense of how it does through the seasons.  I don’t know what color the blooms will be.

**Note: The info in parenthesis was helpful for telling the plants apart and some basic info on where to plant them.

Winter jasmine, II

Excited to see how everything does throughout this growing season, will post more pics as my own plants mature.  Happy Gardening!

Planning a Bed for your Garden

  By Rachel | April 4, 2012 - 7:15 pm | Plants
3 Comments

105/365 - Flower Bed Beauties (at Brighthouse Networks)
Are you intimidated by gardening?  Feel like you don’t have the time to be out in your yard all the time taking care of plants but want to enjoy some beautiful low-maintenance flowers?

Here are some easy steps to get started on that new gardening bed this spring.

First step- do some reconnaissance in your yard- how much sun does the area where you want the bed get- five hours, ten hours, two hours??  This is the single most important piece of information that you need to find out.

Second step-What kind of soil do you have?  Clay?  Sand?  A mix?

Third Step-how large do you want the bed to be?  A single line of shrubs or perennials, any trees?  How tall and wide do you want it to be?

Fourth Step- Find plants that fit your needs/desires.  This requires research- or perhaps asking a friend who knows a little bit about plants (hint, hint- I would LOVE to help you plan!!)

If you take the time to do a little bit of planning- you will end up much happier with the result in the end- do not do the “impulse buy thing” with plants- that will almost certainly spell disaster for the amateur gardener and may discourage you from trying to grow anything again (that would be very sad…)

Next, you need help planting the flowers.  You MUST take time to dig holes that are big- esp. for shrubs and trees- they need to be deep and wide- much wider and deeper than the root ball.  Taking the time to dig the right sized hole and amend the soil will make all the difference in the long run- save you lots of time and headaches- and also could help the plant to really thrive.

Ask lots of questions, seek help, and check out a book or two. 

Just my opinion- but a lot of the landscaping people out there don’t really love flowers- they are in it for the money and are looking to get you to buy what they have in stock or what’s easy for them to plant- not what you are really looking for.

Talk to a Master Gardener or someone who is always talking about flowers and planting- most likely they are the people who you want to be asking for advice.

Flower Bed

Spring Has Sprung!

  By Rachel | February 22, 2012 - 9:37 pm | Plants
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Here are some pics of some of my flowers and some of the green leaves that are peeking through.  I love spring, I am excited to see all the new growth on flowers I planted last year, and to add new shrubs around the outside of the house.  Here are the late February highlights.

Camellia Japonica ‘Elizabeth Ann’

Autumn Joy Sedum

Camellia Japonica ‘Elizabeth Ann’

Butterfly Whorl (perennial)

 

And finally, a Mum planted out front of the house in the fall, showing some new growth this spring- love their rounded growth habit and beautiful fall color.

Beginning at the Beginning

  By Rachel | February 15, 2012 - 4:15 pm | Random
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Gymnaster savatieri (Scientific name), Place:O...

Image via Wikipedia

Sometimes it is hard to be new to something.  It can feel overwhelming- all the things I don’t know, all the things I need to learn.  All the mistakes that I make.

But this time around, in all the newness- I am trying to enjoy the process.  Learn from my mistakes and enjoy the journey- not anxiously pressing forward toward mastery- but seeing the beauty in the process.

I have made so many mistakes as a gardening novice.  Planting things in full sun that should be in partial shade.  Planting things out in the yard that really should be planted next to the house to protect it from the weather.

So many mistakes, little and big- and there are many more to come.  I have planted bulbs the wrong way- have watered things too much and killed them.  And some things have died and it remains a mystery- those are the most challenging- because sometimes I feel like I haven’t learned anything because I don’t know why the plant died.

Nothing can make me stop gardening though- and I think that’s when you know you really love something- and are committed to it.  You work through the ups and downs and still find joy in the most mundane tasks- pulling weeds, watching the little sprouts appear, mulching, fertilizing, planning where to plant new things, doing research on what plants fit best in what locations.

It all brings joy.  I know there are many mistakes to be made in the years ahead- but I also believe that the joy of all the plants inside and outside my house will far outweigh the trials that I may face.

There is something to be said for hard work- it reaps rewards.  Sometimes we forget that.

Here’s to beginnings- and sticking it out to reap the benefits of faithful work.

 

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