Hello! How has your January been? I have to say that January is not my favorite month. I’m thankful that we have a tiny bit more daylight every day, and that we’ve had some beautiful sunrises on days that we’ve even had quite a bit of sunshine (today’s feature image with a pink sky is during one of those lovely sunrises). But we’ve also had stormy weather, and very cold weather. So I am taking heed, and having a tiny break from gardening. I did buy a bunch of seeds, though, which makes me very happy! It was one stop shopping this year, as Irish Plants Direct had everything I was looking for. No new surprises here, as I’ll be planting: Coleus, Baby Bear pumpkin seeds, Sunflower seeds (various varieties), Sweet Pea, and Marigold.
I’ve had fun photographing my very dead sunflowers in the garden. The freezing weather gives them a certain charm, or intrigue. There certainly are a lot that are still standing. My garden is playing it coy, with only tiny bits of color here and there. I’m hoping that will change in the next couple of weeks.
In the meantime, I am trying to keep a positive attitude! I hope you are, too. 🙂
In Peace, Dana
Top row from left: Sunflower, Primrose, Rudbeckia – only half frozen as the morning sunlight has melted the fronts. Second row from left: Ornamental grass, Helleborus Aspen High, Corylus avellana ‘Twister’ – also known as corkscrew hazel (mine grows out, instead of up!). Third row from left: Pittosporum (Tom Thumb), Sunflowers, Corylus avellana ‘Twister’.
Hi there! Welcome to my blog. I last spoke about how times are feeling tough, so now I want to share what I’ve been doing to lift my spirits. SEED SHOPPING! Yes, that’s right, I’ve been seed shopping. It has been wonderful to plan what will go in the garden when the weather warms up again. The weather has been horrible (read: very, very wet) which has directly influenced the huge quantity of seed packets I have ordered!
I have decided to switch things up a bit this year. I am a geranium girl. I think I have always had geraniums in planters on the back deck. I almost always have pink geraniums, with the odd year where I might go red. But this year I’m not going to have geraniums and I’m going to try lots of different flowers in lots of different colors. Well, at least the plan is to grow them from seed and if that works then I’ll have flowers. We’ll see!
The first batch of seeds have arrived already. They came from Irish Plants Direct. I confess that I am most excited for the Coleus Rainbow Mix. Our next door neighbors back in Manlius, New York, were very special to us and Betty always had Coleus in her summer planters. I think of Betty whenever I see them (as I’d never really noticed Coleus before seeing her planters.). Sadly, Betty passed away in 2019 and I still miss her dearly. So I’ll be planting them in her honor.
As for the rest of the planters, I have some cockscomb, zinnia, and Helichrysum strawflower Tom Thumb to try out. They all should provide lots of color!
I have grown sunflowers the past number of years because I think they are just fabulous. Although I still have some seeds from last year, I decided to add a few different varieties to the mix. There will be some shorter ones (Waooh) and some darker (a wine-red color) ones (Claret) as well as the standard version.
Sweet peas are another staple in my garden, mainly for their scent! I’ll try a different organic mix this year, called old spice.
I’ll also grow nasturtium and Bells of Ireland. The last item, Gourd seeds, was a ‘Ah sure, let’s give it a try’ kinda purchase. I’m hoping they will be fun to grow and harvest!
The real influence to go all out with seeds this year was the government recommending that we plan for ‘staycations’ again this year. If we’re going to be home all year, I want to have as many flowers as possible!
Those are a good start to my garden planning!
What have you been doing to stay mindfully busy during these times? I hope you are staying mentally well and healthy. 🙂
In Peace, Dana
Although we have seen quite a lot of rain, there were a few times when the sun came out (ever so briefly). These snowdrops are covered in raindrops but are looking lovely!
My Frilly Isabelle hellebore is much slower to bloom this year, although it is starting to slowly look itself again.
A lovely closeup of the flowers, which usually hang down. Here you can see their frilliness!
Quite a different looking hellebore is this Winter Sunshine one. I’ve cut the leaves completely back as they were covered in black spot (typical for this plant at this time of year). Last year, after cutting the leaves at the start of the season, they remained healthy throughout the entire year, which was a real treat!
Here’s a look at the garlic. It is ever so slowly growing! I can almost see all of the rows. (We planted some of them a tiny bit too deep, so it’ll be interesting to see how they do!)
This is how things were for a very long time – rainy and foggy!
This is Kitty. She isn’t usually allowed in my ‘office’ because she’ll try to be close to me in the most awkward way possible. Here she is hanging off of the table/desk directly in front of my keyboard…
And here is the first batch of seeds to arrive! Thank you Irish Plants Direct!
The weather has been so changeable! We had blue skies for a couple of hours on this day, and then the sky turned dark again. At least we managed to see the sun for a tiny bit!
Recently, while walking in the garden, I had a thought of ‘Now this is exactly what I was working towards’. I’m going to temper that ‘perfect feeling’ with a disclaimer that my garden is very far from perfect. But, it brings me peace, and joy, and I simply love my time in the garden. I have sunflowers, sweet pea, apple trees, a pear tree, and the rose bed is filled with roses and buds about to bloom. I walk around the garden, with chickens nearby, and simply enjoy everything around me and honestly, I’m learning to ignore the weeds. 🙂
A beautiful day in September means a fun photo shoot in the garden
A very tiny sunflower in a very tiny vase
We have two apple trees: one is an eating apple tree (variety unknown), and one is a cooking apple tree (Arthur Turner). Some of the apples have grown to quite a large size this year. The first few years we had ‘baby’ apples, really. So it is nice to have these ‘full size’ ones. Both of our trees lean to one side and as they are maturing it is getting worse. We started to straighten up one of the trees this past winter, and it worked, straightening it up a bit. We’ll be doing the same again this winter for the 2nd tree, and a bit more on the first tree to get it fully upright. I’m just glad we are still able to rectify this leaning issue!
Even before sunflowers bloom they are so pretty!
It’s nice to be able to cut flowers and enjoy them in a vase, too.
The sunflowers have been so easy to grow. They haven’t needed any special attention. I have short and tall plants, and almost all of them have several flowers per stem, and best of all, the birds love them! I’ve taken a few flower heads to save the seeds to plant for next year and the birds get to eat the rest. Not a bad deal for the birds!
A sunflower head with only half of its seeds, thanks to the birds.
The bees enjoy all of the different sunflower varieties I have
Large or small, the sunflowers are bright and cheerful and always make me smile!
I am going to boast that the Tamar mix organic sweet peas are STILL going strong! I have had cut flowers in the house for the past 5 weeks. They are so sweet! Now, they really only last for about 3 (maybe 4) days inside, but their scent is amazing during that time. I’ll be looking to save those seeds, too.
The Tamar mix organic sweet pea is still going strong!
Roses. Doesn’t everyone love roses? I think I have always wanted a rose bed, and it was the first bed I created when we started this garden. I try to get roses that are fragrant as well as beautiful and hardy (tough standards here!). This year the roses are doing so well. I don’t use chemicals, which means I don’t spray them for blackspot. Some of the plants do well, some suffer a bit during the season. But they all seem to be doing well now and the bed looks and smells beautiful!
A cluster of light pink David Austin roses (Scepter’d Isle)
A light pink David Austin roses (Scepter’d Isle)
A creamy white David Austin Rose (Lichfield Angel)
A yellow David Austin rose (Teasing Georgia)
Look at all of the buds on this medium pink colored David Austin Rose (Harlow Carr)!
A deep pink David Austin Rose (Gertrude Jekyll)
I usually have a picture in my head of what I’m working towards in the garden. Sometimes it’s clear, sometimes not so much. Thankfully, one idea plays into the next and they all tend to work together. It is a process that requires a lot of patience! There is still planning going on in my head, and loads more to do in the garden, but I love this process.
The seeds from these two sunflower heads have been harvested for next year’s planting
I hope you’ve enjoyed the walk through my garden! Make sure to say ‘hello’ to the chickens on your way out! 🙂
Mom in the Garden 