The Grand Finale

This is the last official post for my blog during my Online Publications class. Thank You to my instructor, Grill Girl: http://www.blogger.com/profile/02902450883159711629 blogging has been a great experience and has been fun.

 
This is the view from my deck. When the fire-pit isn't used regularly, we keep boards across it and I put plants on it. These plants are my Roma Tomatoes. The side tables are also some of my handiwork using the left over wood from the deck. They are great when we have fire-pit nights as I place Smores ingredients and hot dog fixins.

Last night for instance, we played Corn-Holes. We made ours and I painted the designs. One is of the Davie County High School (Go War Eagles!) where my husband an I graduated together in 1981, both of our kids, Jordan (2009) and Collin (2011), as well as both of my parents (1961). The other is obviously Catawba College (Go CATU !!!)

And finally, I wanted to include my very favorite plant....the majestic Magnolia.

I have artwork in my house that is magnolias. My fine china has magnolias in the design. My little white long-hair Chihuahua's name is Magnolia Grace (we call her Maggie). This picture is not from my yard, regretably. I would love to have one, but my husband refuses to put one in the yard. His grandmother has two flanking both sides of her house and it was his job when he was younger to keep the fallen leaves raked from underneath. So, there was nowhere else I could get a beautiful picture of such a fine specimen except for Catawba College!

Christmas In July

As the end of our Online Publications class nears, I wanted to let you guys see my house as it was Christmas and the Holidays.....

This was taken couple years ago when we got that big snow between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I love my little house, even though there still is alot of work to be done to call it our. We moved in it November 1st, 2003. It was a spec-house where this was the first house a builder completed as a new contractor. There are alot of upgrades like hardwood floors, chair railings, wainscot moldings, and crown moldings. However, there are some very generic features in the house such as taupe walls and off-white carpeting in the bedrooms.

This is what if looks like normally. There are alot of things I would like to do with the landscaping such as create an area where a small wrought iron bench would sit on a stone patio, venear the walkway with stone, stack stone edging, and add path lights or a welcome post light.

This house has a lot of memories for us. Our kids were only 10 and 12 when we moved. They would ride their bikes down the streets of the subdivision. This house was also the first house we bought after we rented for a year. My husband lost his job with the airlines after Sept. 11, 2001. We came within two week of forclosing on our other house before it sold. Our credit went to crap. That year of renting was good for us though. There were lots of lessons learned in how and how not to do financially in the future. This house was a sign that, Yes....we will get through...God is in control....he knows what is best for us! 

Since we've been in this house, both kids have went through high school, got their own cars, got their own jobs, going to college, and my husband got his job back and never lost seniority status. GOD IS IN CONTROL....He looks at the big picture... while we focus on the pixels!

My Back Side

Since the Online Publications class is almost over, I wanted to at least bring things full circle between now and the last day of class. I was trying to figure out how I would do this, but since my last post, it has kind of segwayed for me.

Here is the back of my house as it is seen from the fire-pit.

 

My house is nothing special as you can see. I do have future plans for my backyard. I would like to expand the deck as far to the left, right under the small window you barely can see hidden by the tree hiding our air conditioner unit. That corner of the house is our Master Bedroom. My hope is to take that window out and put a walk-out door so that we can access the deck. The little skinny appendage is the gas fire place for the living room. That area will be covered in stone tile with an electric outdoor fireplace mounted. The existing deck is rather small. The gazebo is 10 x 12 but our deck is 12 x 12. Just to the right of the fireplace appendage is the door to the living room and to the right of it is the dining area picture window. When we rebuild the deck, it plan on taking the door out and replacing it with a window so that there will be window flanking the fireplace in the living room. In order to access the deck, then the picture window will be replaced by frech doors. The deck will at least be covered, and later on, we will probably make it into a 4-seasons room.

I word of advise if you are purchasing outdoor furniture/decor. The gazebo was bought through Sears. It is a metal structure with a cloth cover that you can shift from side to side to shade. It was regularly priced at $599 but right before Memorial Day, it was on sale for $399. online, $425 in the store. If you don't know, Sears own K-mart, so I decided to price shop. K-mart had the same item for $350, same brand, same everything. However, K-mart didn't have any in stock...Sears did. So, I went to Winston-Salem to see if they would price honor. They said they would...and they did. Long story short...always, ALWAYS price shop before you make big ticket purchases. It'll always be to your advantage.

Since we've had the gazebo for a year now, the cloth, which they said had a 5-year warranty, did not hold up especially with all day sun, and our violent storms. When it would rain, the cloth would sag with the weight of the rain and eventually drip through like a sive. Replacements are around $99. On day, my husband, being the jerry-rigger he is famous for, came home with an idea. He went a bought the fiberglass panels (smoke color) and mounted them to the struts on top of the gazebo, which channeled the rain and protected the cloth covering. You would never know it was there. Everything under stays nice and dry and we don't have to replace the cloth every year now. For once, He was right !....You will never hear me say that again.

BTW....here is a close up of my eclectice flower pot that was in the previous posting.

It's my Thriller, Spiller, and Filler.......mostly Filler. But, I will know what to do for next summer for sure!

 

Pleasant Surprises

Today, as I was walking the doggies, I discovered something.

 

These little clusters are from the Muscadine vine that I planted from seed a few years ago. It has not produced any fruit to date and I was going to pull the vine up in a few weeks as it has overtaken my grape vine fence. However, now that these little beauties have shown up, I will not be yanking this thing out of the ground.

Since the vine had not been fruitful, I was thinking that the seed/plant needed to be fertilized or pollenated by another. This appears to not be the case, it just needed a few years to mature.....As we all do !!!

 

Here is the view of my grape vine fence and a few other assorted items in our backyard. This area is about 3/4 to the back of our lot centered to the house. It is a kind of back-drop for our fire-pit that sits between it and the house. As you can see, we have some firewood in close proximity to the fire-pit. The grape vines are full of lush green leaves and promising fruit.

The trees you see are native persimmon trees. Every fall, my husband picks up persimmons enough to fill up a gallon container every day for at least a month. Birds, deer, squirrels, chipmunks, and bees love to feast on the sweet fruit. It can be a little dangerous if there are alot of bees and wasps which is why my husband waits until the late evening to pick-up the fruit. You don't pick the fruit off the tree, the fruit will be really bitter and tart. Always wait until it drops to the ground before you can eat them. This is a sign that the fruit is ripe and ready to eat. My husband uses his great-grandmother's recipe for "Persimmon Pudding". Those of you that are from around this area are sure to know what that delicacy is.

In the middle, you will see the table I made from scrap lumber left over from our deck. On top is a "Fox Tail Fern". It is a rather unique plant. It has these long shoots with soft, fern foilage. I defintely looks like a fox tail, hence the appropriateness of the name.

To the right you will see my eclectic flower pot. Through the years I have accumulated single pots that do not have a mate for one reason or another. I got the idea from Pintrest. You just take several pots of different sizes and stack them using a wooden dowel through the drain holes. Fill with potting soil and plant with three types of plant...Thrillers, Spillers, a Fillers. Mine is in the not so thrilling stage as my "Fillers" have choked out the "Spillers" and the "Thrillers". I think I may have planted too many "Fillers".....Note to self for next year!!!!

Garden Updates

I thought it would be nice to update you on a few of my garden vegetables and fruits.

Here are my grapes. Compare them to just a few weeks ago when I posted the little bud-clusters on my blog. It's amazing to see the growth in such little time.

Note for next year.....When I prune the leggy growth vines that did not produce fruit, don't put the good vine branches too close together. As you can see, there are a couple of clusters that are too close together an are being choked by the surrounding vines.

Also, another note to self.....stay on top of the leggy growth during the growing season as I now have vines growing in my persimmon tree.

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/hil/hil-8202.html

 

The reason you want to keep the leggy growth pruned is that the energy/effort it takes to produce the useless vine sections is taking away from the productive vine sections.

Here is the status of my lettuce garden. I have had a few salads out of my garden, but now the plants are growing tall rather than fuller. This is called "bolting". I really don't know why they do this. I will be doing some research to find out for next year. I guess we will have salads every night for the next week to get rid of them before they go bitter. My head lettuce is so scrawny that the Romaine is hiding it. Head lettuce doesn't like the heat at all !!!

http://gardening.about.com/od/vegetablepatch/qt/SummerLettuce.htm

 

http://www.vegetablegardener.com/item/5044/why-lettuce-bolts-and-what-you-can-do-about-it

Trailing Pansies

These are my Trailing Pansies. They are a new variety that came out this year. Ordinarily, pansies are cool weather plant that most people plant in the late fall and survive over the winter. These are a hybrid kind that supposed to last the summer. I wanted to at least give them a try anyway. I got this planter as a Mother's Day present because I needed something on the section of siding that looked empty flanking both sides of my garage door. It was perfect...Don't ya think????

Pansies are pretty resilient. All you have to do is pinch off the "spent" blooms. This makes it produce more blooms. Pansies don't like to be dry, they like moist soil and even spritz the foliage and blooms to keep them clean. The blooms are very fragile and crepe-ish, yet vibrant.

If you buy the regular Pansies that are used during the cold weather season, they want to be where there is the most sunshine for the shortened winter days. My Trailing Pansies are on the side of the house that gets hardly any sun during the warm months and they are loving the shade for sure.  

On a scale from 1 to 10 (10 being the most maintenance) I would give Pansies a 3-4. You need to go and pinch the spent leaves about every other day or at the minimal twice a week. And, if you have a dry weather season, you have to water about as frequently.

I think I have found my new replacement for Wave Petunias  I can only imagine what my hanging basket would look like if I had used Miracle-Gro soil and fertilizer.

 

www.wave-rave.com

 

www.scotts.com/smg

My Dream Space

While I was getting a pedicure the other day, I was flipping through an Architectural Digest Magazine. As I was held hostage for the next 45-minutes, I came across my dream outdoor living space. It has everything I want. It has a covered roof so that you don't have to worry about rain or the hot sun, it has open walls to let the breeze blow and is not obscured by screening or railings. It is ground level with no steps. It has what looks like ivy growing around the arches.

Here is my dream space....

http://www.architecturaldigest.com

You realize this is only a dream for me...right?!?!? I just think this is so peaceful and inviting. I could sit out at the table in the mornings and drink my coffee or snuggle up by the fire on a cool fall evening reading a book. I have the vision....I just ain't got the money.

Ivy is another maintenance free plant, if you keep it in a container garden. If you plant it in the ground, it can absolutely take over your yard, and the you neighbors yards, etc. There are two types of Ivy. One is an indoor Ivy for potted house plants. It is not aggressive but it tends to get mites. If not treated, the plant will die.

Ivy used in your landscaping is usually the "Hearty Ivy". As I said previously, this will overtake your yard if not kept trimmed and manicured. On a scale from 1 to 10 (with 10 being the most maintenance), Ivy would be a 5. Once it's planted, it's like "Semore" in the "The Little Shop Of Horrors"....."Feed Me...FEED Me....FEED ME !!!!"

Little-Bit

One of the wonderful things about being out in nature is that you never know what you will find.

Friday, after the afternoon storm, I was outside letting my dogs do their business. Maggie-Grace, my white long-hair Chihuahua, spotted something hopping in the yard. Luckily, her lead would only go so far. It was a baby bird that couldn't fly yet. Its little wings had not filled out yet nor was it's tail feathers. Mama bird was watching from the Crepe Myrtle tree at one corner of the house and daddy bird was in the birch tree at the other corner of the house. I couldn't bare to see him out in the middle of the yard and can't get to the shelter of a tree. So, my husband and I "shooed" it to the bush right beside the crepe myrtle that mommy was in. There was another storm brewing, so I was worried about "Little Bit".

On Saturday morning, as I was letting my dogs out, I walked around to the bush to see if Littel-Bit was still there. He WAS there,... safe, and alive. So, I called my daughter to come outside with me to get him to our big oak tree in the front yard where the mama and daddy always fly to. She takes her shirt and covers over Little-Bit. She carries the baby bird and I carry a ladder to the oak tree. She carefully climbs the ladder to place Little-Bit on one of the biggest branches which also has shelter from the canopy of the tree leaves. Little-Bit hops out of the shirt and settles-in on the branch. My worry s that mama and daddy won't take care of it now.

Later in the evening on Saturday, I watched mama and daddy flying back and forth to the tree. When they left the tree, I could hear a little chirp-chirp. When they flew back in the tree, the chirp was stop....so, I knew they were feeding it for sure.

This morning, I walked out to check on Little-Bit. It had moved to a smaller branch a little closer to the nest.....see picture. My heart felt warm to see him!!!!

Promises

Today was a good day for ducks! All the rivers are out of their banks, the creeks are overflowing, and the low spots in my yard are miniature lakes. Driving home from work today, Interstate 85 was gridlock with accidents caused by hydroplaining cars and semi-trucks.

As I drove through the country down Hwy 601 then to 801, there are occasional spots that were dry as bones. Then I would hit a spot where you needed your wipers on turbo speed to just see the hood of your car. All I could think was, "Lord, just get me home!".

I carefully approached the secondary road that's in front of our house. As I turned in our driveway, the sky spoke to me....

 

Joshua 23:14 NIV

 

"You know with all your heart and soul

 that not one of all the good promises

 the LORD your God gave you has failed.

Every promise has been fulfilled;

not one has failed.

 

New International Version

Hi, I'm not Tammy. Guest Post by Amber

Hi, T. Taylor is taking the evening off so I'm here to tell you a story.  Once upon a time...  no, just kidding. 

Let me start by saying, I did not make this mess…  I just happen to be the lucky person to move into this house and had to fix it. 

My name is Amber and I live in Oak Ridge with my family.  We are on a well and septic tank.  Yes, I understand no one wants to talk about ugly, smelly septic tanks but they are a fact of life.  We have one and we needed some work done on it.  We called them out, ‘they’ started to look and finally found the lid under my 16 foot tall crape myrtle plant that offers the only shade to my under insulated sunroom that gets very hot.  They followed the lines to find 2 other plants (that I love) right near them and 3 more trees nearby that they just said, “we are unsure of what we will find till we get into it”. 

The big day came, the big truck came, you know the one you hope the neighbors don't see, you hope they went to work early and come home late because you just cannot admit to yourself that the “shitter was full” (have to love Christmas Vacation, if you have not seen it, please take time from your busy schedule this winter when it is not dirt digging season to enjoy one of the best X-mas movies ever).  After they unload a tractor and made quick work of my beloved myrtle and drag it back out of the way they start to work.   I’ll skip the (ugly, smelly) details, once the tank was empty the work on the lines started.  Only to find that tree roots had gotten into the lines and that it had caused the blockage.  The roots turned out to be from a tree that we had to remove about 5 years ago due to placement of it and the drive in/out of the back yard at the fence gate.  My husband was not happy over any of this but I was really glad because this meant that I my flowering magnolia, very near this spot, was safe (for now).  After a few more hours of work and a few more issues they load up the tractor and tools. 

I felt like I got lucky, only lost the one myrtle and when they started I was looking at them taking up as much as 5 tree/plants in the backyard.  BUT before the man got away he made sure to tell my husband that the magnolia was near the line, some other random plant is in a bad location, and my-my dream tree- that he would never let me plant (I got lucky, it was already here!) has to go – that would be my weeping willow.  Yes, I have a weeping willow and yes I know they are a mess and I know they are hell on a septic tank BUT I don’t care (remember I did not plant it!), I just love it, it is such a fun tree.  They made sure to tell my husband how aggressive the roots of that willow is and that it is way to near the lines, within a very short time they will be back out if we do not have the tree removed.   OK so hubby hates the tree anyway, what is it with men and weeping willows, and I already knew that the roots are bad for septic tank lines so I could only look sad when this big news was delivered to him.  

So the plan for the backyard at this point, for the summer I will enjoy my willow tree, I will enjoy watching my daughter run and play under the tree and smile every time my husband has to mow under it.  I will watch from my kitchen window and in the back of my mind I will plan on how to get another one planted at the far back of my yard, safely out of the way of the septic tank lines, this part of the plan may require my daughter and some shameless begging on her part to her dad.  Phase 2 of the summer will be to enjoy the new dirt spots in my yard and  my nice clean septic tank that we spent so much money on having repaired. 

Free advice time: If you own a house and you have a septic tank then DO NOT put a crape myrtle on top of the lid (how crazy is that).  More advice, don’t plant anything in the path of the lines.  But if you do… start saving because it will require work and a few extra dollars down the road.  The last piece of advice, if you sale this house that you planted stuff with your heart and not with your head, please tell the new owners what you did so they can save for the future repair bill.

There's Something About Rosemary

ROSEMARY

Rosemary is the greatest plant, herb, shrub, EVER !!!!

This is the first year that I am growing it in a container. I have always had a plant in my landscaping around my deck. It not kept trimmed, it will grow rather large and leggy. One word of advice...if you have it planted in your landscaping, you cannot aggressively trim it back...it will die. 

Rosemary is the "Iron Man" of plants. The following are examples of how I use this versatile plant:

• cut a branch and use it as a skewer for grilled shrimp
• cut a branch and infuse a container of olive oil to enhance cooking flavors
• take the needles and chop them up finely and sprinkle over a baked potato, tomato salad, over your Thanksgiving turkey, or an additive in ranch dressing.
• cut a branch to place over meat while it is being grilled.
• It is perfect as a filler for floral arrangements
• You can use it as a base for holiday decorations
• You can trim the plant to look like a Christmas tree and use as a topiary at the front door, just add lights.

On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the most maintenance)...I would give Rosemary a 1.

My Container Gardens

Cilantro & Basil

Cilantro is great for making fresh salsa and any other mexican dishes.

Basil, of course, if great for Italian recipes.

Grapefruit Mint & Oregano

Grapefruit Mint is great in some fresh green tea or even a Mojito.

Oregano is wonderful in Italian food also.

Onion Chive & Sage

Onion Chive works on almost anything.

You can top your baked potatoes, grilled seafood, or even on a salad.

Sage, there is nothing like fresh sage added to fresh ground pork sausage.

 

Container gardens are wonderful if you love fresh herbs or have limited space.

These containers are on metal baskets mounted on the outside of my deck railings. 

 The only draw-back to having a container garden is

that they do require watering & fertilizer more frequently.

However, the ability to go out an cut fresh herbs for your recipes is priceless.

 

Fresh Marinade for Any White Meat 

Equal Parts of Finely Chopped Onion Chive, Basil, Oregano, Rosemary, and Cilantro

1 shot glass of Lemon Juice

1 shot glass of Lime Juice

1 shot glass of Worchestershire Sauce

1/4 Cup of Olive Oil

 

Marinade Overnight

 

Throw it on a charcoal Grill

 

Mmm-Mmm Good !!!!!

 

 

 

Rhododendron & Azalea

Rhododendron is a good plant to fill in a large space. It is very hearty and beautiful. The dark green sturdy leaves are a sharp contrast to the paper-like blooms. As it is budding, one would think it was a Magnolia bud, but once it starts errupting with its vibrant color, you soon realize its majesty. There is not much fragrance to the blossom, but the show it gives is worth the loss. The shrub we have blooms twice a year, early spring and early fall. If it is planted in an ideal spot, it could bloom periodically during the entire season.

Azalea is what I call a smaller version of the Rhododendron. It is more compact for landscaping to use as an accent below windows. One draw-back to an Azalea is that here in North Carolina, they bud and bloom out usually the same time of the last frost or freeze. This will make the blooms turn brown and shrivel up before it is able to show its true potential.

Both shrubs are resilient to pruning but are absolutely majestic if left alone and natural. One of my best friends have a Southern Living style house where she has both azalea and rhododendron under the front windows. They are the icing on the cake of a true southern estate.

The University of Missouri Extension department has an excellent webpage regarding these wonderful plants....http://extension.missouri.edu/p/G6825

Landscaping Duty For The Day

Here is my 2012 Scion xB - Release Series 9.0. Due to the fact that it sits out in the weather on the side of our house, it was time that it needed a bath and detail job. It was making my house and the landscaping look crappy. After this years overwhelming pollen content in the atmosphere, it was time to wash away the gunk. It should get about 10 more miles to gallon as slick as it is. We had to first cleaner wax it to get the sap deposits that had baked in the paint and then we used a polymer wax to make it shine like its wet. My arm is absolutely a noodle right now from all of the "wax on" and "wax off" (twice I should reiterate).

Cars used as landscaping can be a challenging thing. For example...the picture below...

 

You have to choose your landscaping carefully so that it will not contrast or overpower your home. Look at the lines of your home...see if it is traditional, colonial, Spanish, Mediterrainian, or even Mid-Century Modern. Your landscaping should accent your home, not take over. A little whimsy in the garden is good, but some people just take it to extremes.

 

On a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being the most maintenance) I would give having to wash, wax, and re-wax a car an 11 !!!! .......LOLOLOLOL

Creeping Phlox

Here is my Creeping Phlox. It is a perinneal that is also a ground cover, and can be used as edging. It is absolutely beautiful spilling over the edge of a retaining wall. It expands over time, and can be aggressive in its growth. It is very resilient to being repositioned. It spreads very superficially over the layer of mulch but the main bunch is still in the ground where you initially planted it. The flowers come and go all spring, summer, into late fall. What is left is Crayola Green mounds of fern-like greenery.

This plant requires full sun. You can be creative and plant bulbs within the greenery. The bulbs will rise through the Phlox and will appear to be surrounded by a carpet of dainty flowers. You can usually get 3 plants for under 10-bucks, so it's a very cheap and your return on investment will be multiplied year-after-year.

On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being the most maintenance) I give Creeping Phlox a 0.5, because, once you plant it...you're done!

Red & White Grape Vines

These are my grape vines. One is a merlot grape and the other is a chardonnay grape. The pictures show the baby clusters. Once they are established and have a good connection to a climbing trellis, all you have to do is eat the grapes when they are ripe, and in the fall, cut back everything except the mother vine structure


Information from Wikipedia
Vitis (grapevines) is a genus of about 60 species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus is made up of species predominantly from the Northern hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, both for direct consumption of the fruit and for fermentation to produce wine. The study and cultivation of grapevines is called viticulture.

Most Vitis species are found in the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere in North America and Asia with a few in the tropics. The wine grape Vitis vinifera originated in southern Europe and southwestern Asia. The species occur in widely different geographical areas and show a great diversity of form. However they are sufficiently closely related to allow easy interbreeding and the resultant interspecific hybrids are invariably fertile and vigorous. Thus the concept of a species is less well defined and more likely represents the identification of different ecotypes of Vitis that have evolved in distinct geographical and environmental circumstances. The exact number of species is not certain, with species in Asia in particular being poorly defined. Estimates range from 40 to more than 60.
As the season progresses, I will post updates on the growth process throughout the summer. Everyone should have at least one grape vine in their garden. On a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being the most maintenance, in my opinion, grape vines are a 2. The only negative comment I can make for grape vines is that when they are ripe is that they get ripe all at the same time. What you can't eat, try making a homemade wine! How bad is that !!!!

My Salad Garden

Here is my garden of lettuce. Starting from the bottom row is ButterCrunch, the second row is Red Leaf, the third row is Romain, and the top row is the Head Lettuce.

This is my first year growing lettuce. As you can tell, there are a few spots where the starters didn't survive. I decided to begin with starter pods rather than seed because we have alot of squirrels and chipmunks; they have been known to dig up the seeds.

ButterCrunch
Developed by Cornell University, this heat-tolerant, Bibb-type lettuce has quickly become a favorite since earning All America status in 1963. Its rich green leaves, sometimes tinged with red, form a beautiful rosette in the garden that holds well under stress and has good bolt resistance. A good source of vitamin A and phytonutrients. Grows best in full sun, but will tolerate partial shade and even appreciates it in spring in hot climates. For the largest-sized rosettes, space transplants 18 inches apart.

Red Leaf
Good-quality red leaf lettuce will have fairly large, loose heads and thick, "crumpled" leaves. The leaves will be medium to dark-red in color at the ends. The rest of the leafs will be medium to dark-green blending to nearly white ribs or veins. Scratch the stalk and smell. A sweet or bitter smell means sweet or bitter flavor.
Romain
Romaine or cos lettuce is a variety of Greek Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L. var. longifolia) which grows in a tall head of sturdy leaves with a firm rib down the center. Unlike most lettuces, it is tolerant of heat.As with other dark leafy greens, the antioxidants contained within romaine lettuce are believed to help prevent cancer. According to the 2011 edition of the Old Farmer's Almanac, the chlorophyll pigment in dark leafy greens, such as Romaine lettuce, may reduce levels of colon and liver cancer carcinogens.

Head
This is a half-hardy vegetable that you can keep growing all season long by planting one small crop at a time. Days to maturity tend to be short. Garden lettuce is far superior, in both taste and vitamin A content, to supermarket brands.Lettuce is a cool-season crop. While you should avoid planting in the middle of summer, you can get multiple crops in spring and late summer. Take extra care if planting crisphead varieties; they will not survive a hot spell.

Helpful Hints From TLC Home
One thing I recommend to anyone who asks me about what they should grow in their first vegetable garden is that they first think about what it is that they like to eat. And people tell me, almost 100% of the time, that they really want to grow their own lettuce for fresh, healthful salads. I don't blame them. There is so much to lettuce besides iceberg and Romaine. What about sweet, tender 'Buttercrunch' or beautiful 'Lollo Rossa'? "Deer Tongue,' 'Sanguine Ameliore,' 'Mascara,' and 'Oak Leaf' -- how could you not fall in love with lettuce, when it offers so much variety and beauty, not to mention flavor? There are actually 5 main types of lettuce: crisphead, cos (Romaine), butterhead, Batavian, and looseleaf. The first four are essentially "head lettuces," forming a central rosette of leaves that grows in on itself. You harvest head lettuces by either cutting off the entire head, or by taking the outer leaves as you need them. The last type, looseleaf, also known as "cut-and-come-again" lettuce, is the one I most often recommend.

I am excited about my lettuce garden as we eat salads almost every night. I will be nice to just go outside in my backyard and cut from fresh. During the season, we will see the growth and progress of my salad garden.

(Definitions, terms, and growing information provided by Wikipedia, Burpee, and TLC Home)

Grandmother's Peonies

 

Hello, my name is Tammy.

This blog is designed to follow my day-to-day "therapy" sessions in my garden.

I will blog about my flowers, trees, vegetables during this growing season.

I hope you enjoy my pictures and my commentaries.

If you have any advise, please feel free to join in "group therapy". 

 

 

 

Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Core eudicots
Order:	Saxifragales
Family:	Paeoniaceae
Genus:	Paeonia

These are my grandmother's Peonies and I now have them in my yard. They were her favorite flowers. I love this time of year when they bud out and EXPLODE in gorgeous pink beauty and soft, sweet frangrance. There are several things to consider if you wish to have a plant in your garden:

• You can plant Peonies in all light settings. However, they perform best a spot that is slightly shaded (with some direct sun) and where the ground stays moist.
• They come up through the ground very quickly after the last frost of early spring.
• Once they break through the ground, you need to create a support system for each stem as the blooms are VERY heavy and will eventually break the stem if not supported. I use a cage structure that is a section of wire decorative edging that boxes it in.
• If you want to cut the blooms for a fresh flower arrangment, you will need to rinse them thoroughly because little insects love to live in between the petals. They would love to come  out and join you for dinner one evening.
• The blossoms only last a week or so, SO, enjoy them while they last.
• After the blooms are spent, just snip the entire stem back to the ground and enjoy the dark green foliage all summer until the first frost of the fall. The leaves can be used as filler in flower arrangements using the other flowers that bloom over the spring and summer.
• After the first freeze, the greenery will look horrible, so, just cut everything back and cover with mulch to protect the plant over the winter.

Other than these considerations, this plant is a must have in everyone's garden. On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being everyday maintenance), the Peony is an easy 2.5.