Today I took a day off to spend in the garden. I have to admit that I have been neglecting the garden since the end August. The weeds and crabgrass took hold and I was too tired to fight anymore. I kept saying I was going to sow spinach, beets and carrots again for a fall crop but I didn't. The high hopes of the spring garden did not hold true for the fall garden. I bought mums but never planted them. They looked OK sitting in the beds still in pots! The impatiens have wilted in the pots and hanging baskets and the vegetable plants have turned black. The leaves are now falling and can be put into the compost...I just have to do it.
OK, so now that I have complied my short comings, there is something I did get done. I planted bulbs and started my Memory Garden. One thing that I have wanted to do for a long time was plant a garden in all pink to give me place to remember my Mom. I lost her to breast cancer 7 years ago and whenever I am in the garden, I think of her. She loved to garden and I wanted to do something special to bring her love of gardening together with mine. I decided to do a pink garden, preferably planted with plants which send proceeds to breast cancer research. I missed out on the spring plants but I found bulbs from Eurobulb, LLC which donate 30 cents per package to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
The bulbs I found were tulips in 3 varieties. "Angelique" are late spring bloomers, which grow to 16-20 inches and are fragrant light pink double flowers resembling peonies. "Beauty in Pink" are mid-spring bloomers 16-20 inches high that are a pink and violet assortment of tulip hybrids. "Hope Blooms" are mid-spring bloomers which grow 12-16 inches high and are a white and pink with pink mottling tulip. I planted 72 bulbs and added bulb food to the hole before filling it in. I planted them by digging a trench and intermixing the bulbs together for a full dense appearance.
I also planted 2 hydrangeas that are a lace cap variety I found at Lowe's on a clearance rack for $2 each. I placed them in the area I had designated for the Memory Garden 2 months ago and let them sit there alone. I also planted 2 pink Echinecea plants to fill in the area. I would like to find other breast cancer awareness plants and garden decorations to fill it in. I have been eyeing a pink ribbon garden flag that says "Faith", which was my mom's name. I just need to place the order for it on Amazon. There is also a garden gnome and birdhouse I have been looking at which also send proceeds to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. For now, I am happy with the start and will use the winter to acquire the other items and to look for more plants to fill in the garden.
I also planted some Allium varieties in another area of the garden. I planted some "Globemaster" Alliums a few years ago and I realized that they add such great height and interest that I needed to get some more. I found a pack of 20 bulbs of mixed varieties. I planted 3 "Gladiator", 3 "Mont Blanc" a white variety, 4 "Purple Sensation" and 10 "Schubertii" a short spiked purple variety. I planted these by digging a hole and then planting multiple bulbs in each and sprinkling bulb food over the top. A grouping of plants always looks better than single plants, and Alliums look especially good when planted together. I got a great deal at Costco on all the bulbs for $20. Fall is the time for planting spring bulbs and it is getting late in the season. As long as the soil is not frozen, you can still plant them. Get out there and plant yours.
The last thing I did today was put compost in the garden. I have an Enviro-Cycler and my first batch of compost was done. I dumped it into the vegetable bed and now I have another batch of compost going in the bin. The compost looked good. I also tilled the vegetable garden. Since I have squash vine borer worms in my soil, I read that tilling in the fall will bring them to the surface and, hopefully, kill them. Since I do not want to use chemicals to kill them, this is an organic method to get rid of them. I guess I will not know next season if this method works. This is my last resort. I am out of options for getting rid of them.
I also did my last harvest of the year. I pulled all the rutabagas, carrots and leeks. The leeks were small but I was proud of them. I started them from seed in February and now I have about 6 leeks! I have about 2 lbs of carrots, 6 rutabaga and 2 pumpkins of a green varierty. It was bittersweet to harvest everything for the last time.
The final chore (which I WILL do) is to clean out all the pots and hanging baskets and put them in the garage. I am going to leave one pot out that has an evergreen in it and decorate it with silver glittered branches and red balls for some Christmas cheer. What are you doing to make your garden have interest into the Winter?
OK, so now that I have complied my short comings, there is something I did get done. I planted bulbs and started my Memory Garden. One thing that I have wanted to do for a long time was plant a garden in all pink to give me place to remember my Mom. I lost her to breast cancer 7 years ago and whenever I am in the garden, I think of her. She loved to garden and I wanted to do something special to bring her love of gardening together with mine. I decided to do a pink garden, preferably planted with plants which send proceeds to breast cancer research. I missed out on the spring plants but I found bulbs from Eurobulb, LLC which donate 30 cents per package to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
The bulbs I found were tulips in 3 varieties. "Angelique" are late spring bloomers, which grow to 16-20 inches and are fragrant light pink double flowers resembling peonies. "Beauty in Pink" are mid-spring bloomers 16-20 inches high that are a pink and violet assortment of tulip hybrids. "Hope Blooms" are mid-spring bloomers which grow 12-16 inches high and are a white and pink with pink mottling tulip. I planted 72 bulbs and added bulb food to the hole before filling it in. I planted them by digging a trench and intermixing the bulbs together for a full dense appearance.
I also planted 2 hydrangeas that are a lace cap variety I found at Lowe's on a clearance rack for $2 each. I placed them in the area I had designated for the Memory Garden 2 months ago and let them sit there alone. I also planted 2 pink Echinecea plants to fill in the area. I would like to find other breast cancer awareness plants and garden decorations to fill it in. I have been eyeing a pink ribbon garden flag that says "Faith", which was my mom's name. I just need to place the order for it on Amazon. There is also a garden gnome and birdhouse I have been looking at which also send proceeds to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. For now, I am happy with the start and will use the winter to acquire the other items and to look for more plants to fill in the garden.
I also planted some Allium varieties in another area of the garden. I planted some "Globemaster" Alliums a few years ago and I realized that they add such great height and interest that I needed to get some more. I found a pack of 20 bulbs of mixed varieties. I planted 3 "Gladiator", 3 "Mont Blanc" a white variety, 4 "Purple Sensation" and 10 "Schubertii" a short spiked purple variety. I planted these by digging a hole and then planting multiple bulbs in each and sprinkling bulb food over the top. A grouping of plants always looks better than single plants, and Alliums look especially good when planted together. I got a great deal at Costco on all the bulbs for $20. Fall is the time for planting spring bulbs and it is getting late in the season. As long as the soil is not frozen, you can still plant them. Get out there and plant yours.
The last thing I did today was put compost in the garden. I have an Enviro-Cycler and my first batch of compost was done. I dumped it into the vegetable bed and now I have another batch of compost going in the bin. The compost looked good. I also tilled the vegetable garden. Since I have squash vine borer worms in my soil, I read that tilling in the fall will bring them to the surface and, hopefully, kill them. Since I do not want to use chemicals to kill them, this is an organic method to get rid of them. I guess I will not know next season if this method works. This is my last resort. I am out of options for getting rid of them.
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| Last harvest of 2011 |
The final chore (which I WILL do) is to clean out all the pots and hanging baskets and put them in the garage. I am going to leave one pot out that has an evergreen in it and decorate it with silver glittered branches and red balls for some Christmas cheer. What are you doing to make your garden have interest into the Winter?
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