There was an explosion in my garden!

An explosion of color!

I really like these red tulips. Their petals are pointed instead of round like the rest of my tulips.

Purple lilac bushes by the back door perfume the air.

These minnow daffodils flower in bundles and are minuscule compared to the others.

More tulips, orange and pink, in the back.

As I was potting up some hanging baskets this weekend, someone yelled, "Your flowers look great!" as they drove by my house. It absolutely made my day.

Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - April 2009

Happy Tax Day Everyone!

Although it's been quite rainy and dreary here lately, many spring blooms are here!

I believe this is a crab apple of some sort. I can't wait to see it bloom as this is the first year I've been at this house; I moved in too late last year to see the blooms.

Hyacinths and daffodils are still blooming everywhere. A few tulips have even shown some color.

This is the first time I've seen these pretties blooming as well.

A view of the front walk. This reminds me of a colored Easter egg.

My bulb booty bounty

Many reasons for the name of my post...
1. I love alliteration. It is one of my favorite things to use in fun writing opportunities (I serve as the VP of Funness, aka Social Chair, at work and have to get co-workers excited in e-mails. Alliteration is way to do that...)
2. the word "booty" is used in the post to pay homage to Talk like a Pirate Day, which just took place on September 19th. According to this website which schools you in how to talk like a pirate says that, for pirates, booty is treasure...which is exactly what this was! BURIED TREASURE!
3. And lastly, it is certainly a bounty! Check out these pictures...


This is an entire work bench in my garage. On it there are all of the bulbs that I dug up from my old place. There are alliums, tulips, daffodils, crocuses, a few minor bulbs, and a couple of surprise lilies.
That postal box on the left is full of seeds from Tod's mom--we went through her garden and gathered tons of seeds! (Those are California Poppies peeping out.)



This is a picture from the side that was cut out of the above pictures. Those are the surprise lilies and muscari.

This picture is of the top of a bankers' box. It is full to the brim with tulips and a few crocuses.
All together digging all of this up took four trips to my old place (and Tod helped on two of those trips). All of these beauties are going to go in my new yard soon and there will be tons of beautiful color next spring!

What bulbs to order? Minor bulbs, spring bulbs, summer bulbs...

It's dreary outside and fall has certainly started showing it's face around here--falling temperatures, leaves turning.

I'm debating about what, if any, bulbs to order. I dug up a huge bounty from the old place and need to get those in the ground. But it just feels right to order some more!

Minor bulbs do a good job for some low lying, early spring color. Color is something I definitely need in the front yard. It's just too plain up there for me!

But I remember before I bought the house, there were hyacinths blooming in the front and so were a couple of sparse tulips. I love hyacinths...perhaps I'll buy some of those. Tulips I have a ton of...but they are one of my favorites. You can never have too many.

I think I might check out Habig's selection. they had some lovely dwarf irises a few years ago that I really liked.

Moving...meh...

Official Moving Day is May 31. Everyday I am overwhelmed by how much I have to do before then. I'm off to a good start, though. My Virtual Garage Sale is happening on craigslist.com. I've put some things on FreeCycle and hauled about 2 loads to the Goodwill. But I still have a lot to do.

The inside is daunting--but deciding what to take from the garden is even more so. Here's a list of what I hope to dig up and re-plant at my new place:

Tulip (3/4 are coming with)--these are quite possibly my favorite thing in the spring. I would have liked to somehow tag them to know when ones are which color, but that's for another year...

Iris (1/2)--these are budding, not yet blooming. But they smell so wonderful. Some are from Edna's, my late neighbor, garden. When I think about my love for a beautiful outdoor space, I can definitely mark her as an influencer. So I have to take some of these, but several were here when I moved in--I won't take them all.

Crocus (1/2)--I just planted a good 100 of these last fall. I'm definitely taking some with me.

Allium (3/4)--I just planted all of these last year as well. The 'purple sensation' are blooming right now and they are just beautiful.

Daffodils (all)--these are too beautiful to leave and they were the first bulbs I planted.

Minor bulbs (a few)--I really like the dwarf irises, the Grecian windflowers are good ones, too.

Muscari (lots!)--there are a tons of these and they are just beautiful when they bloom. A big sackful is coming with me (even though they were already here).

Hosta (a few)--some of the smaller ones are coming with me; the big boys can stay

Perennials I planted that come with me (at least most of them): delphinium, coreopsis, columbine, creeping phlox, day lilies, other lilies, lily of the valley, Beard tongue, asters, and sage.

A few things that existed in the yard prior to my arrival that I think I should get to take some of: lilies, clematis, lilac bush starts, maybe a rose bush, and these little blooming bulbs that I don't know what they are.

What I'll leave behind: Rose of Sharon, the lilac bushes, most of the roses, a lot of minor bulbs, the peonies, many irises, the wisteria that refuses to bloom, one of the clematis vines, the mums, periwinkle, weeds, weeds, and more weeds.

I'm taking a lot--but part of the reason why is that I know these won't be taken care of once I leave. It's a rental property and few renters care about keeping a garden, especially one that is larger than the amount of grass. I'm being selfish, but only because I care. I feel like an adopt-a-plant caretaker--I have to keep these precious creatures in my possession to ensure their survival.

Tulip Thief!

So at some point today between when I came home around 3:30 pm and when I left again around 7:30 pm, someone or something decided it would be a good idea to pluck the heads off of 10 or so of my tulips! Why would someone do this!?!

I don't know who or what would do this. But if I found out, I can promise that I'll track them down and break their grubby fingers/paws/mitts.

Do you think it would be a squirrel? Like this guy in the picture? You'd think they wouldn't just pull off the flower and only strategically get some of the flowers around the edge of my yard.

In the words of Stephanie Tanner from Full House: HOW RUDE!!!

The Bloom Day I missed and Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day! I am posting a few days late to Carol's Bloom Day--partially because I've been busy, but mostly because these pretties didn't appear until just after the 15th. I couldn't not post all of these pictures. So it works out perfectly that today is Earth Day.

This is why I love bulbs: your hard work and effort from fall comes full circle in spring when your flowers are in full bloom, filling your yard with their sweet scent and vibrant color.

Daffodils are planted around the the huge tree in my front yard. These were some of the first bulbs I purchased and I've not touched them at all since. They just keep multiplying with no fuss.

Some yellow tulips along the sidewalk.

Creeping phlox along the side yard. These look a bit more white in the picture than they really are. They are actually a light purple. I love this ground cover because in the spring it's almost all flower, but then it looks like a bed of pine needles for the rest of the summer and fall.

More ground cover: this time creeping myrtle or vinca vine or periwinkle (Vinca Minor). Mark the neighbor has an entire corner of his lot covered in this.

New this year--more tulips. These are even more beautiful in person than the picture can capture.

And the last of the tulips. At least those that are blooming now. I forget the name of these, but they are just the right pop of color right in front of the house by the steps.

Finally, these are called Grecian Windflower (Anemone blanda). I planted these in the fall of 2006 and was pretty unimpressed last spring--this year, however, is a different story. They have definitely quadrupled their number of blooms. This tuber is good to put under taller spring bloomers since it stays closer to the ground.

What have I done!?!

First, the good news: tulips have appeared! Pictures will be posted soon.

Bad news: So I took the domes off of the plants earlier this week and they seemed to be doing fine. Last night I came home to check in on them--the pots were dry, half of the seedlings were wilty, some were brown. I think I just killed a large number of my seedlings--I just didn't pay enough attention.

Instantly, I went into panic mode. I grabbed water, grow lamps, and the plastic domes. I've recreated the sanctuary that my little guys were so used to in hopes of keeping some of them alive.

I've been so preoccupied this week with the stress and anxiety of buying my first home that I let these guys suffer.

Speaking of adding stress to life---here are a couple of things I have to consider regarding "the move" which is supposed to happen late May:

• Which plants to take from the rental...I've spent tons of my own money on my flowers (mostly bulbs) in my yard. Mom thinks I should leave everything there; everyone else says I should take them. But what to take and what to leave is a difficult choice. Ensuring that they won't die in the move is important, too.
• What about my seedlings? It will be after the frost date, but do I put them in bigger pots, harden off, put in the ground--all before leaving and then take them with me?

Aside from moving all of my stuff, I have to consider moving all of my plants as well. Oh..there is so much to do in 6 weeks!