Showing posts with label Gardening. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gardening. Show all posts

Friday, May 11, 2012

FLOWER POWER ROUND TWO

It has been a feast of flowers around here for the last two months.  My sister's garden is the gift that keeps on giving.  Flowers were clipped on a daily basis filling vases or being delivered to neighbors. We are going to miss all these beauties that are the perfect accessory for every room.


                                                                         Bishop's Flower



                Mix of Sweet Peas, Sweet Sultan, Cornflower Dwarf, Larkspur Giant Imperial



                                                               Godetia Tall Double



                                                               Bishop's Flower



                                                                   Godetia Tall Double



                                              Mix of China Aster, Sweet Sultan, Cosmos,
                                                 Larkspur Giant Imperial, and Godetia Tall Double

Sunday, May 6, 2012

ROSES GALORE


It's a leap of faith to severely prune all signs of life from 12 gorgeous Iceberg rose bushes.  But, wow, the payoff is spectacular.

January 28, 2012















                                                                          May is bliss!

Sunday, April 8, 2012

FLOWER POWER



Flowers can change our mood, scent our rooms, punch up our landscape, the list goes on and on. Here are a few that we've scattered around the house from the last few weeks--all freshly clipped from our gardens.
















                                                                    HAPPY EASTER!

Sunday, March 25, 2012

SPRING HAS SPRUNG


This little Mourning Dove perched atop her nest in our Jacaranda tree was saved in the nick of time.  I was out fertilizing flowers yesterday morning and our tree trimmers had just arrived to give this tree a good clipping when just as they were approaching the tree I happened to look up and notice a bird tail sticking out between the branches.  Oops!  Sorry, guys--there will be no tree trimming today.  My sister took this picture when the mama turned around to keep an eye on all of us.  Don't know how many babies she has ready to burst out of their eggshells but I'll keep you posted.









Just came back from a working week in DC and everything was in bloom.  It was the prettiest Spring week I can remember there and tragically I did not have my camera (pics above taken with iPhone).  But, I came home Friday and on the way home stopped by my favorite plant nursery, Baker, and picked up an "Improved Meyer Lemon Dwarf" tree and yesterday morning went back for a "Mexican Lime Thornless" which is now planted in our backyard.


I remember reading once that shrubs aren't meant to last forever.  To update a landscape, every ten years or so pull out some of those woody, spent plantings and pick something new to brighten things up. So, we removed a few plants (two that were more thorny than I wanted) and moved in the new citrus trees.  See that pick ax above?  Yes, that is required when digging holes in Arizona.  Not kidding.


Last month I fertilized with this organic mixture and now the blooms are just popping up everywhere.  Love this stuff. I put it on all the Iceberg roses, peach tree, apple trees, and flower beds.

We planted these flowers last October and they just keep on blooming.  Typically, the stocks would have died off during the winter but I'm telling you that fertilizer is a miracle drug.

                             Heaps of Geraniums mixed in with Asparagus Fern and English Thyme.



                                      Iceberg roses planted in last month are already blooming.



My sister's cutting garden has been keeping the house filled with Sweet Peas, Irises, Daffodils, Tulips, and Freesias.


These orange blossoms are helping to fill the entire Valley of the Sun with the loveliest of fragrances.

This peach tree bloomed last month and this month a gazillion little peaches are loading up the tree.

                                        Can you see all those teeny, tiny, green peaches? Squint.


And, we've had a ton of spinach.  Loved every bite and will be sorry to see it go when the weather turns wicked.


                         Our Ana Apple trees are lush and ready to produce some yummy apples.

I love spring except for one thing--it means summer is just around the corner.....


Friday, June 24, 2011

MID-PRIDE PEACHES


Mid-Pride peach tree planted February 6, 2010.  Produced a lot of sweet peaches, even in hot, dry Arizona.


A few of our Anna apples mixed in with the peaches.  So happy to have fruit trees bearing sweet little jewels.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

APPLE TREE TRELLISES

April 2011

Two years ago we planted two Anna apple trees espalier-style.  This year the branches became heavy enough with apples to require a sturdy trellis.



Jill, from Sweet Life Garden (and a best friend since 7th grade) designed the trellises and her brother, Kirk, from Custom Garden Works, built these beauties.



Jill, her husband Hal, and Kirk installed the trellises and then Jill thinned out the fruit and tied the branches to the the posts.

February 2010
This is how the trees looked a year ago February resting on spindly little tomato cages.  Click here for previous post.

April 2011
Look how the branches have thickened in just a year.


April 2011

Apples should be ready to eat in June.  Yea!


A big THANK YOU to Jill, Hal, and Kirk!



Wednesday, April 14, 2010

APRIL GARDENING

I wish you could smell these Freesias. The strong fragrance of these little darlings is found in a lot of perfumes and lotions. They make great cut flowers for your home as they last a good week.
The flowers are blooming, the bees are buzzing, and the humming birds are stopping by for a little sip of nectar. April in Arizona is the best.

As you can see in the pic above, Tammy's Sweet Peas are climbing and blooming.

And the 100 bulbs Tammy, Ellie, and the twins planted are breaking free.


This striped tulip was a surprise. Isn't it odd that tulips don't have any scent?




Ranunculus' intertwined with the Sweet Peas.


As my niece, Ellie, says, "Kipling is always very involved". No kidding.



Heaps of homemade compost filled-up the garden boxes. Don't know what I'm planting, yet.


The Mid-Pride Peach tree we planted last year didn't make it. So we bought another one and we're keeping our fingers crossed that peaches will appear in a few years. At least it is leafing out nicely.


And our little Anna apple trees have leafed-out. We held our breath since we had pulled off all of its leaves in February. Of course, Jill was right.

What are you planting this Summer?