Flowers Again

Just another quick post full of shameless bragging about my flowers - the alyssum in this pot is really workin' it right now! I love its firecracker-like appearance.

I used the "thriller, filler, spiller" rule for this container - and it turned out pretty darn good! Twisted arrow juncus, tuberous begonias and white alyssum. 

Blooms

My zinnias and sunflowers have begun to bloom - exciting times for my flower garden!

Greenhouse Labels

What am I doing today? Not much, just sorting what seems like 100 billion plant labels.

It doesn't look too bad from this picture, but imagine that all of these are scrambled in a pile and covered in dirt...

 It will all be worth it when the greenhouse is shiny, organized and clean - I can't wait!

The End of Spring Greenhouse Season

The greenhouse is empty (with the exception of a few dried up pots I haven't cleaned out yet). It was a lot of work this spring, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little lonely without my flowers. Sure, I have a few to comfort me planted out front of my house, but it's not the same as looking into the greenhouse every morning and seeing thousands of smiling flower faces looking back at you. I took a TON of pictures while they were growing. Here are some highlights from this season:

Coleus - Kong Red

Fuchsia Dark Eyes - Seriously, the brightest flower known to man-kind

The ever popular gerber daisy in my favorite shade of orange

A pretty in pink tuberous begonia

And another tuberous begonia (because they're my favorite) this one in a sunny shade of yellow

Wave petunias in a hanging basket, basking in the sunlight

Now, I can't wait for next spring :)

Flower Garden Update

When I planted my flower garden this year (not all that long ago, by the way) I notice that an ornamental squash was growing in one of my front flower beds, most likely accidentally planted by my Halloween decorations from last year. Being the plant lover (or hoarder?) that I am, I couldn't bring myself to dig it up. Now, even though my impatiens refuse to grow, my squash is definitely doing well. However, it definitely does not belong in my flower bed. See for yourself:

Yuck, right? All you can see is the silly squash! But, I still can't pull it. I feel too invested in its growth now. Ok, now, take a few moments to get over the fact that it's obvious that I haven't pulled any weeds in a while, then check out a couple of my gardening *wins*.

For example, this lovely basket filled with impatiens that are cooporating with me:

And this small pot of gorgeous pink begonias:

 

See? I'm not a complete gardening klutz. Now, if I could only get over my weed hoarding tendencies, perhaps my large flower beds would look just as nice as my potted plants!

The Zinnias Strike Back!

Hooray! My zinnias are sprouting in spite of that nasty bird that tried to eat all my seeds before I could get them covered. In case you missed the explanation of the evil bird incident, click HERE for a recap. These little sprouts have so much potential. I can't wait until they're big, beautiful and blooming.



I had yet another close encounter with nature yesterday. I was out front turning on the garden hose, so that I could water my flowers. Our garden hose is black with a yellow stripe. When I leaned over to turn it on I became confused, because I saw three black hoses with yellow stripes. By the time I realized I wasn't seeing triple, I hardly had time to jump backwards  in terror - the extra two hoses were snakes! Of course, being the small, nonvenomous Nebraskan snakes that they were, they were much more frightened of me than I was of them. They slithered all over each other, fighting to be the first one back into their hidey-hole. To my great distress, their home seems to be behind my front steps. Hopefully we can all go about minding our own business without bumping into each other again!

Honeybees for my Garden

Last spring I planted a row of chives. I had images of sour cream and chive dip running through my head - that never happened. Instead, I spent all summer neglecting my chives and cringing every time I laid eyes on them. It was a really dry year, and even though I wasn't using my chives, I couldn't stand to see them all brown and withered, so every now and then I gave them a pity water. I figured they would die off over the winter, and I would have a clean slate to start with. But, luckily, I was wrong. They came back big, green and beautiful this spring and are currently blooming. I like the looks of their fluffy purple blooms, and I also love one other little perk that they bring to my garden - honeybees! I'm normally not a big fan of flying insects, but I make an exception for these furry little guys. It might have something to do with the fact that I feel sorry for them, because they are dying off in such alarming numbers. Whatever the reason, I'm glad to have these precious pollinators around. I guess those chives had a purpose after all!

 

Character of the day: The Strange Fish. 

Who is this strange fish? Where did he come from? Where is he going? Intriguing is possibly the only work I can think of to describe him.

Mailbox Beauty and Dale the Swordfish

One of my lovely neighbors planted some mixed dianthus in front of our mailboxes last year. Now their second year pink blooms look so gorgeous in contrast with our white mailboxes that I practically gasp every time I walk by. I finally took a picture to share with the rest of the world. Thanks mystery flower planting neighbor for this colorful display!

 

And now to share another of my quirky Aquatic Avenue characters: Dale the swordfish. Dale is a little loony. Believing he is a medieval knight, he often challenges his neighbors to a duel by shouting "En garde!" and menacingly pointing his sword-like nose at them.

Gardening with the Evil Bird

I'm back and recovered from vacation, and I finally have my garden planted. I absolutely love planting flowers and watching them grow, but my garden went in a little late this year (it has something to do with the hazards of operating a greenhouse - your plants always come last.) I decided to try something new this year and planted flower seeds along with my usual plants. Unfortunately, I had a little run in with some of the Randolph wildlife during the process. To illustrate my frustrations I've made a little comic for your viewing pleasure:

In scene one I am planting my beautiful zinnia seeds while a menacing robin spies on me from his perch in a nearby tree. If you're wondering why my head looks so funny in this comic rendition of my planting experience - I always like to wear strangely shaped hats when gardening (for good luck or something). In scene two I have carelessly left my recently planted seeds unattended and open to attacks by evil birds. In scene three I have noticed the robin heartlessly stealing my seeds, and I am crushed. In scene four the foul beast flaps away with the intent to return for more!

I can't talk to or read the minds of animals, so I may be incorrect in some of my assumptions. That being said, I'm pretty sure this particular bird takes extra joy from destroying flower gardens. 

In other news, I've begun to list some of my hand painted seashell trinket trays in my WatercolorSubmarine shop. It's a whole new way to enjoy the Aquatic Avenue Crew - take a look at my Aquatic Avenue Crew Shop Section.