Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Trash to Treasured Patio Light

The trash to treasure trellis was recycled into accent lighting for my patio and considering the total cost for this light was $0.00 I feel good about recycling the trellis that I found buried under a heap of leaves and dirt in the woods.
They always say that one mans trash is another mans treasure and while I’ve never been able to say that I recycled a great find until now. I found while clearing the land next to my yard a metal trellis that had been buried under a layer of dirt. The trellis appeared to be decades old, it was rusted and bent but had pretty scroll work and I pulled it out, wiped It off and thought I can recycle this.
When I got back to the house I gave the trellis a good cleaning with a wire brush to remove the dirt and the rust. Then I washed it off with hot water and dawn dish soap before letting it dry in the sun. Once dry I spray painted with black rustoleum, both sides. When paint was dried I checked to see if additional paint was needed and to be on the safe side I gave the trellis two coats.
The trellis dried quickly, then it was time to decorated it with a strand of led white Christmas lights. I secured the strand of lights onto the trellis with plastic zip ties. When attaching lights to the trellis was completed I propped it up in the corner of my patio, ran an outdoor extension cord to the outlet and set it on a timer.





Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Stocked up on End of Season Spring Bulbs at Lowe's

The other day I was quite pleased with my spring bulb purchase that I had gotten at Lowe's nursery center. I thought the 40 medium-sized Dutch master daffodils were a great buy considering I paid under $10. for them. Then this morning I went to Lowe's to shop for some pet-safe ice melt and a new snow shovel and saw while I was there that the spring bulbs were all on sale for 25 % off.

Needless to say, I felt like I was in a chocolate candy store and did not waste any time in selecting bags of spring bulbs; daffodils, crocus, paperwhites, tulips, and hyacinths to name a few.

While some people may think it is too late to plant since much of the US is presently bitter cold with snow in the forecast.  This weather will prevent many gardens from planting bulbs in the ground.  

I will store these spring bulbs in a wood box in my root cellar that is covered with dry peat moss until early spring and then plant them in container gardens for clients or my personal garden.



Today was a great day for shopping at Lowe's home improvement store and I am so glad that I checked out the spring bulb section in the garden center.





Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Plants That add Interest to Winter Gardens

Normally after a hard frost I will go out and cut back my plants in my garden however some plants I leave because they will provide interest through out the winter months.
Fountain grass in winter

The dried ornamental grass plumes as they add not only interest but also movement in the garden. I also find that the seed heads from the autumn joy sedum. Black-eyed Susan’s and the dried hydrangea flowers look eye appealing during the winter season.
Dried Hydrangea Flowers in in late fall

What I usually do is leave these garden plants alone throughout the winter months and then cut them back in early spring.

After a hard frost after I clean up the garden (cut back all other plants)  I will apply a layer of cypress mulch around the stems of the plants that I am leaving for winter interest.  This year I am using  Scotts nature scapes mulch in the color of red for winter because it is a nice contrast.

Here is a YouTube video that will show you how beautiful grasses look in winter.


Saturday, November 8, 2014

Admiring my November Garden

Looking out my picture window I can see hardy copper, red and purple coleus, white inpatients, and purple wandering jew plants that are full, healthy, and covered with new leaves and blooms. These annual flowers when grown with perennial ornamental grasses and other plants really make my November garden look nice and all of my neighbors when they walk past my house compliment me on my late-in-season flower gardens.
red coleus garden: http://pixabay.com/en/red-coleus-flowers-garden-plants-60836/

Know that my plants usually are not this healthy, in fact, if the summer heat did not kill them then the first cold night in fall would. I am really thankful that I took a chance with Spray n grow because this product feeds my garden plants and flowers with micronutrients which are vitamins for your plants.

Here is a photograph postcard that I created from one of my fall garden photographs.  I think you will agree that the November garden plants look amazing.  I know it is not due to my green thumb.  I am certain it is due to the spray-n-grow garden product that I used to feed my plants.


Getting Ready to Plant Daffodils

Today while shopping at Loews garden center I picked up 40 daffodils Dutch master bulbs for $9.99 and I intend on planting them in my garden this afternoon.  

My husband was surprised that I bought the bulbs because I usually only buy from the nursery where I can pick the bulbs up, feel them for soft spots, inspect for mold, or shop online at respectable landscape nurseries.  But today I took a chance at buying prepackaged daffodils.



Granted it took some time for me to find a package of bulbs that I liked.But after I checked several packages I did find a package of 40 daffodils bulbs.  

So after this post I will be heading outdoors to plant daffodils today in the back garden the is located next to the garden path.  This garden is viewed from my picture window; a perfect location for the mid spring blooms. 

I will also be adding a few mid spring blooming daffodils bulbs to my kitchen window-box.  The flowers will look so pretty when they bloom and I can gaze out at them while doing the dishes.