LITTLE GLASS GARDENS

As spring closes in, but the weather is still unpredictable, us hard core gardeners do find a way to do something related to the great outdoors.  In the off season (and every other day of the year for that matter) we make little glass gardens and share them with other people who enjoy wearing a little of natures beauty on there wrist.

This is one of our monarch butterfly beads that we do.  Its amber colored background and the green vines swirled around the garden makes a beautiful setting for the pale amber flowers.  The side view of the bead shows all the intricate details that go into these special little gardens.  My wonderful artistic husband is the maker of these special garden beads since he knows my hobby means alot to me.  He makes them with bugs, butterflies, birds and all different colors of flowers. 



Artistry at its best

Lovely Mr bumblebee

Blue swallowtail

Little bluebird

Majestic Cardinal

If you would like to see our complete collection feel free to visit our EBay site where we sell these beautiful works of art!

UPDATE-LETTUCE IN THE GARDEN WINDOW

A week or so ago I wrote about doing a tray of leaf lettuce in my garden window.  It has done amazingly well and is worth showing an update of.

The seed package said it would take 10 to 14 days to germinate and we are at 11 days as of Feb 18th



BEAUTIFUL VALENTINES BOUQUET

Ill admit, I was pretty lucky for valentines day this year.  My husband, who is not a romantic, really went all out this year.  He set up reservations at our favorite restaurant and actually has a bouquet of the most beautiful flowers delivered there and sitting on the table when we arrived. 

I cant wait until my garden starts producing these luscious looking flowers again.  The perfume of the white lilies permeate the air in the house and remind me of all the fragrances of the flowers in my summer garden.  So as the sun shines brightly today and melts away the little snow accumulation we received this week, I will be having dreams of flowers, blooming in my garden as lovely as these!

GROWING LEAF LETTUCE IN THE WINTER

Still longing for spring,and with the few inches of snow and freezing temperatures arriving on Friday, it dampened my spirits just a little.  Gardening is just in my blood and I do find a way to do some all winter long.  My new adventure is leaf lettuce in my garden window.

Lettuce is a cool weather crop and I figured there would be perfect conditions in my garden window...Plenty of light, plenty of sun but also cool enough to get some good germination on the seeds.   I put some jiffy seed starter in a domed planter flat, sprayed with a nice drink of water, spread with a thin layer of seed, sprinkled on a bit more dirt, sprayed again and put the dome on.  Then into the window it went

 So after 5 days, here is what the lettuce looks like and it is actually sprouting, so actually another winter gardening experiment has been successful!

Here the lettuce seeds after 7 days

COLEUS EXPERIMENT

I had heard that coleus were great for cuttings, but was one plant I hadn't tried yet.  I had 6 different varieties this last season and I wished, like I do every year, that I could save some.  I really didn't realize how easy it was or would be to grow cuttings of a coleus.

I am lucky enough to have a garden window in my kitchen, kinda like a mini greenhouse, to be able to keep plants happy and thriving in the winter.  These cuttings were only about 3 inch tall when put in the pots and are now  1 to 2 feet tall.

All these cuttings have been in my garden window since September 28th, 2011

A 2 foot tall coleus cutting.

GERANIUMS

Geraniums are a pretty easy plant to save from year to year and all the methods I have tried all worked.  The method I like the best is the paper bag one, which consists of cutting back each plant, dig out, put the plant in a paper bag and roll the bag down.  As easy as can be, and all you need to do is soak the roots in water once a month and re bag it.

There are little flowers on the stems

I also experimented with leaving two pots of geraniums intact, the only thing I did was cut them short and these I water once a month too and keep a paper bag covering them in a dark corner of the basement.



The plants do have growth on them, in the pots and in the bags.  There are actual  flowers on the stems each month when I take them out to soak, not sure if that's good or not. but this is an experiment after all so I'm sure Ill find out.



REX BEGONIA

Rex begonias are plants I never knew existed until the day I came across one at the local greenhouse.  It looked beautiful with its burgundy and green leaves swirled in a pattern that was unlike any other plant Id seen.  I grabbed one, not knowing anything about it but willing to see if I could get it to grow for the summer season.  To make a long story short, and with much trial and error, it did thrive!  So what about for winter? Should I throw it in the composter...or I thought maybe try a leaf cutting.

I cut two leaves with about a 3 inch stem, wet them, dipped them in rooting hormone and made a hole to stick it in.  One didn't make it and withered, the other one didn't grow, but didn't die either.  It took about 2 months for it to feel solid in the pot which meant it had finally gotten some roots.  I water it once a week,and keep it out of direct sun.  It has now grown another shoot next to its main leaf and my hopes are high that I will end up with another great Rex begonia for the next growing season.  I sure love planting experiments!

Rex begonia leaf

New sprout