GreenWise Gardening 2016
"I love being asked to identify plants, and I don't know which gives me more pleasure: to know what they are or not to know what they are."
– Elizabeth Lawrence
3/1/16:
So, being cheap, I do often shop at the local Grocery Outlet, and occasionally at Dollar Stores. Last week I was happy to see displays of gardening supplies and ornaments at the nearby locations. I bought some plastic pots, a metal s-hook plant hanger with a hummingbird decoration, gladiolus bulbs, and a product called "Flower Rocket".
Clicking on the small images below will bring up a full-size version.
Dollar store gardening gear.
Bought for $1-$2 each!
Cute little crocus.
The number of plants around the yard that are starting to bloom seems to increase every day. I'd never planted crocuses before last fall, and am surprised to see how tiny they are! White and yellow daisies, and camellias in several shades of pink or red have responded well to the bloom-boosting fertilizer. The sweet pea bush is adding a bit of bright purple to the hedge in front of my window, and a plum(?) tree outside our fence has grown branches reaching into the backyard that have diaphanous white flowers.
Closeup of the sweet pea bush.
Tree blossoms.
Slow-growing kale and lettuces.
I'm continuing to weed my rectangular planter boxes and sow them with seeds for the first stage of spring planting. I wish I'd started the kale and lettuces earlier than January; there are tiny seedlings, but they took awhile to appear and are growing slowly. Maybe next year I'll manage to have decorative displays of ornamental kale during winter.
At least it's warm enough now that I'm hopeful about seeing the dill and basil start to sprout. I've applied copper tape to repel snails around these herb planters, so we'll see if the seedlings will grow into nice leafy plants that don't get eaten up!
Regarding my indoor gardening projects: I've been collecting various supplies to build a terrarium. I think I can put something really fun together with mostly free or repurposed materials: sand, seashells, river rocks, bark, small plants dug up from around the yard, and some of the little animal figurines I've had around for years. I only need to find the perfect container (clear glass, wide base, not too narrow an opening) to begin, but no luck yet at any thrift stores or garage sales.
