ALOT HAPPENING IN THE GARDEN

It has been cold in Wisconsin again, but things are still growing...outside and in the house.

I took my tuberous begonia out of the basement a week ago and it is budding nicely

My clematis is doing great

daffodils

Miniature rose bush

Some of my sugar snap pea plants.  We have had frost at night so I keep them covered with milk jugs to protect them and keep them warm

A planter full of radishes in the green house

Cattails starting to come up in the back of the pond

I have a garden window full of vegetable plants that grew faster then anticipated but it is not nearly warm enough to plant anything except the cool weather plants outside at this time...I'm keeping my fingers cross that it warms up soon!  Happy Gardening!





UPDATE ON THE SODA BOTTLE SPROUTS

I want to thank everyone who enjoyed my soda bottle terrariums and for all the great comments.  I want to update everyone on how the little seedlings are doing after 2 weeks.

These are the tomato sprouts, I replanted them after 2 weeks of being in the bottle

Dill sprouts.  I already have more seeds in the bottles since these came up so good

lastly, cilantro

Also, the geraniums I overwintered in the paper bags are growing great, this is how big they are after two weeks!

The weather has turned cold here, I'm thinking winter and spring had there seasons mixed up, but I guess we wait patiently and keep gardening in the House!  Happy Gardening everyone!





A FEW NEW THINGS IN THE GARDEN

The weather hasn't been as nice here, in April, as it had been in March, but my growing season still goes on.  I discovered a good way to germinate seeds again this year, and had to ask myself, "why didn't I think of that sooner"!

Soda bottles work great on a window sill for germinating seeds

Tomato seedling growing in there homemade terrarium

I also has geranium roots overwintered in paper bags in the basement, soaked them and planted them up last week and they have sprung to life quickly!

This one has a little flower blossom on it.

My vegetable sprouts are growing right along in the garden window and my hope is the weather will continue to improve daily so planting can take place by the end of may, I'm crossing my fingers!  Happy gardening everyone!







AND WE GOT SPROUTS!

After spring had officially sprung, I started filling up the garden window with pans of peat pellets filled with seeds.  The weather isn't as warm as it was before spring started, but at least the sun was warm and my seeds did massively sprout.

I did 4 broccoli seeds on march 13th and 3 did come up.

sugar snap pea sprouts

Onions

Yellow squash, cucumbers, zucchini and herbs

Here are some of my coleus cuttings that managed to get out into the green house to bask in the sun during the warm weather.  They ended up back in the house during the cold snap we had this week.  We are expecting a beautiful 70 degree weekend, cant wait to get back out there and work up a few more gardens!

Happy gardening everyone!



COMPOSTING

The end of winter flowed graciously into spring here where I live.  We have had record breaking temps and the compost left in the box over the winter is all thawed and workable.  I have been turning the compost daily for a week now and have noticed a huge breakdown in the debris already.  We added pond sludge in the box also for the spring pond clean up...this should be a great box of dirt when its done.

I also started another area to keep my brown material in for the season, which I add as I go along.  My husband is in the process of building me another box so it will have a real place to be placed soon.

I made this new raised garden at the end of last year to use up all the rich dirt I made last year and cant wait to plant it.

I also used some to make a new rhubarb patch.



SIGNS OF SPRING

It has been a beautiful end to winter here.  Spring has not even officially begun yet and we have had 60 and 70 degree temps by the shores of Lake Michigan.  Here are a few pictures of spring in my garden.

All the ice is gone from the pond

Fish!

More fish

My new pot man, waiting in the greenhouse for some "hair"

Basil sprouts

Hope everyone is enjoying the new season and are enjoying there gardens as much as I am enjoying mine!



GERMINATING EXPERIMENT

As any gardener knows, a winter can be long or seem longer than it is.  Our green thumbs start twitching and we look for something to do that pertains to gardening.  My new project a few weeks ago was to see if seeds that are older then a few years old would germinate.  I got the idea from all the older seed packs I have and figured Id give it a try...one seed pack was from 2006.

On February 23 I planted:

Marigold seeds-3 years old

Sweet Williams-3 years old

Bunny tails-6 years old

Cardinal Climber Vine-3 years old

Hyacinth Bean Vine-3 years old

Red Salvia-3 years old

Nicotinia-3 years old

Cherry delphiniums-3 years old

The success was amazing and it makes me wonder why people have always told me not to use seeds from the last year...always buy new.    I have used veggie seeds from the year before for years with good results.  I will continue this practice!

Sweet Williams

Bunny Tails

Cherry Delphiniums and Red Salvia

Hyacinth bean and Cardinal climber

Marigold-didn't get many