This is fun

My neighbors are renters and the owner had their house painted. That's great we love that people want to keep up their property. But if they could keep their paint on their house I would appreciate it. Eggshell is not the color I picked for my house or my landscape. Ugh-

Now what?

Do we grow passion fruit vine? Cup and saucer? California grapes? WHAT?

Its Time To Count The Bee's

I was hoping I was going to count the bees this weekend. I got all swept up in the Garden and didn't have the 15 minutes to sit still. I PROMISE to count them this week. There are tons of bees at the house but have not seen that many near the sunflowers. At lease I grew some this year. Last year's batch didn't do anything exciting at all.

Notice the gigantic amaranths, huge!

Amaranthus

The other day I posted it takes 1 million days to grow a flower garden by seed. Today my spirits have been lifted just a little.

Last year we grew a few very beautiful amaranthus. After they were finished with their cycle I sprinkled the dried out flower all over the garden. Lots of the seeds took and have sprouted up all over the place. I am putting a little more effort into things by trimming off the bottom leaves. Hopefully this will help the plant to grow upright and have long and beautiful flowers.

This is truly one of my garden favorites. Take's full sun, once sprouted grows very quickly. Put this one of the list for next year!

Breaking News

I have come to the conclusion that growing a flower garden from seed takes a long ass time.

Thank you-

This Is Where I Keep My Bees

I like to keep my bees in the cosmos planted at the side door. They seems to be happy there and its fine by me.

Fox Glove

Beautiful flower for a beautiful Easter Sunday.

Slowest Growing Flower EVER!

Good thing I have not been sick all this time waiting for this echinacea to grow. I might have died.


It took me 2 years to grow this flower. It was worth it.

Sweet Peas

The Husband snapped this shot last weekend. I'm happy my sweet peas are growing so nicely. Now if they would only flower I would be loving their sweet smell.

Pretty Buds

We like it when our efforts pay off. Remember when we planted the Oklahoma Redbud? Well it dropped all its leaves and now is starting to bud. Its beautiful, I can't wait to see what it does here in the yard.

Someday when it makes a nice canopy of shade we will be able to plant our little Japanese maple by our window. I love the thought of that.

Parking Strip ✓

I was so busy being in neighborhood uproar I didn't get to show you all the pretty things we planted. Saturday was spent finishing off the parking strip. It looks fantastic. And as an added bonus my gardner has reduced my monthly bill. Less to mow means less work for him.

We all win.

When It Seeds It Pours

All my little babies came in the mail. I planted TONS of flower seeds, some eggplant and a few other things. I'm not buying anymore seeds this year. I will now be looking for starter plants. I'm all seeded out.

I stopped by Target and OSH but neither place had a mini greenhouse. Might have to order one.

It was a beautiful weekend at our house. Hope it was just as nice at yours.

Time To Rotate The Crops

I met a new friend while I was out in the garden this weekend. He was cold chillin' on my artichoke plants that I need to rip out of the garden. I'll wait until they flower but after that its Off With Their Heads. They are way too big for that little garden. I love having them around, I have plenty of room in the front for those guys. Maybe even in the parking strip?

Made a HUGE seed order today. I bought everything from Johnny's Seeds. I had been reading all the catalogs and saw some tools and other things I needed so there it was, all in one order.

My beds are ready to go. Maybe next weekend I'll make some soil blocks and get started on some Okra. I'm determined to do better with that this year.

Tearing It Up

On Sunday I talked to my landscaper helper guy (its California, everyone has helpers), I asked him if he could please dig up the parking strip. He said he would get to it Monday. I forgot all about it until I got home last night. Its all dug up all right. No more grass, just a bunch of mud.

This weekend Adriana and I are going to go to Tree Of Life and get some plants for my new patch of heaven. I'm so excited to have this dug up. I wish I could have done it myself but honestly by the time we would be able to get to it and then have the hassle of removing the sod and dirt its just easier to pay someone to do it. I never would have thought I would pay someone to dig in my yard but hey, what can ya do?

Hopefully once we plant this next area it will make me a little happier. I hate sitting on my front stoop and seeing busted up minivans parked in front of my house. Pretty soon we will have views of pretty California natives and hummingbirds.

I'm sorry for the lack of pictures but I leave the house and its dark and by the time I get home its once again dark. Maybe I can sweet talk The Husband into taking some picts for me.

Pretty Pretty Bulbs

Its has been raining on and off since Friday. Its great for us. Poor California gets the bum end of the deal when it comes to rain. Hopefully this little spout will continue on for the next few months. That would make me and my natives very happy.

On Sunday we had to go to the dreaded HD and get some toilet parts. Something about finding the right part for a 2 part toilet is a little difficult. I mean its only 80 years old, what's the big deal? They made plastic then. Right?

Anyway, while The Husband was asking some random old dude about what to apoxy to what I was sneaking orange azaleas into the cart. I planted 3. I have been craving azaleas, now I have some. I also stuck in some bulbs.

Hopefully in the spring we will have Astilbe













Freesia














Rinocolus






Yay for flowers.

Black And White Flowers

Its winter in Long Beach but its kinda hard to tell. The highs have been in the 80's. I wonder what this is going to do for our growing season. Its a trick I know but I would love to get some plants in the ground. I'm pretty sure our next planting venture is going to be the parking strip. Can't wait to see some California natives instead of a jalopy.

I saw the forecast for this week predicts rain in a few days. That would be great since I turned off my sprinklers about a month ago.

This is a picture I took with my new Holga. A few weeks ago we walked on the path up by Del Amo. It was pretty awesome.

The Big Harvest

We are getting really excited to have Thanksgiving at our house. I'm not making a turkey but you can be sure that we will be eating well. We are going to harvest our beets, carrots, and fennel. We will have lettuce for salad and I have even been picking tomatoes. So exciting.

Fall gardening is so much easier than summer. I think its just too hot for me to get it right. Maybe a few more years living in California and ill be able to grow something.

Sweet Peas

We have been taking it easy these last few weeks. Pretty wiped out after the mother-in-law marathon. I did manage to get some sweet peas in the ground.

The weather has cooled off a little. Maybe this weekend we will go get a load of mulch. Plus I need to dig out the sewing machine to hem the curtains in the guest room.

Whatʻs That Bug?

Does anyone know what this is? Maybe you could look at Whats That Bug.com and let me know.

Get Up Stand Up

Sunday I started to clean the side yard. I think I am going to plant some California Natives and maybe some cordyline. Its a nice section that gets a full helping of sun. Now is the time to plant the natives.

The Husband made me some custom sticks that I used to perk up the pretty plumerias. Maybe they will flower this year. These are older cuttings I have been nurturing for about 6 years. They have been in pots this whole time. If I can remember correctly the flowers should be in the orange and red family.

I dug up 3 huge buckets of yellow iris. I left a few big clumps in the ground so hopefully thinning them out will make it much nicer. I like them but who knows how many years they have been over in that corner producing little iris babies.