Closed for Winter

We closed the gardens this weekend, ending a weird 2020 growing season.

Plants were given away to gardener friends,

"You're more than welcome--Enjoy!"

and others were simply mowed down.

"There. We don't have to worry about those anymore."

Supermarket lavender endured freakish, late-spring freezes to return 

as small bushes, while old standby garden 

staples like peonies and hydrangeas barely ducked in to say hello. 

The deer used our side garden bed as their favorite midnight

buffet, preventing a single Fried Bananas hosta bloom, 

but the hummingbirds and zinnias were constant summertime companions.

And now ... tulips.

Little bundles of hope, drop-shaped packages of potential,

half-priced harbingers of better days on the way.

The garden beds may look bare and unpopulated, but 

three varieties of hopeful tulips have only just begun their work. 

By Easter 2021, there will be some beautiful surprises!

Purple and white ornamental kale paired with sap-sticky pinecones 

will see my container gardens through the winter. 

And my four hooligans perched on the picnic table will witness 

fall's decline as winter creeps in.

These couldn't be cuter--I wonder why the deer 

didn't gobble these tasty appetizers.

 

January Faith

Paperwhites bulbs are so plain in their little nylon sack, 

quietly brown in the fluorescent lights of any big-box store. 

It takes a January kind of faith to plant 

and water something that looks so dead.

But when life begins to stir ...

... the reward is very, very great.

In view of the astonishing results, the preparation efforts seem small.

The paperwhite lesson is one to carry through 2018 and on.

What promises from the scriptures are you tending with hope, 

although they look dead and lifeless right now?

I'm tending these.

Would you share yours?

Closing Gardens and Verse Two

Have you already blazed past me in memorizing Psalm 100 for Thanksgiving?

I get it. 

But if not, here's verse two.

We closed the gardens this weekend. 

Meaning: my husband used the weedeater on everything that grew this spring and summer

 while I stood by cheering. Now the flower beds and container gardens are 

peacefully blank, resting until spring flings open the door to a new growing season.

One of the winter arrangements I made from the leftovers to keep things looking cheerful -

Some of the hydrangeas heads still had a little bit of color—so pretty!

Leaving the stems in wet dirt for the winter months sometimes results in 

a nicely rooted new hydrangea in the spring.

(fingers crossed)

Summertime Illumination

Summer Study happens in my backyard on Wednesday mornings ... early. 

Just in time to light these petunias with the first golden rays of the day.

As if Night Sky Petunias aren't lovely enough! 

I plan to grow them from seed next spring. 

You might want to as well—so here's where to buy the supplies.

Colossians 3 has been meaty enough to last us all summer long, especially 

with the massive commentary we're using. Do you use a commentary? 

This one illuminates the scriptures just like the sun enhances these petunias. 

Every sincere seeker is awed. 

Lying Petunias

Why are petunias so deceptive?

Every spring, I scour the garden stores, reading petunia tags filled with promises. 

Just the names are suspiciously pompous:

"Supertunia"

"Proven Winner"

"Cascadia"

And the pie-in-the-sky descriptions!

"self cleaning"

"drought tolerant"

"5 foot spread"

Mmmmm-hm.

Perhaps I have so much petunia disappointment because I can't bring myself to follow this advice:

"...newer varieties that say they don’t require deadheading 

will benefit from a pinching or shearing mid-season."*

While I am an avid pruner, it is beyond me to get out the clippers 

and shear a star-player in my summer containers. 

Although by ignoring this pointer, I know I will soon be yanking bloomless

petunia plants and pitching them into the side yard to be mown over.

This year I made a petunia splurge buy** at a schmancy garden store, and friends, I paid premium price 

for that single yellow and white striped beauty. Even though I planted it in optimal conditions and 

made sure it was properly watered - it's long gone leaving nothing but hateful, brown stems.

 Among the petunias I bought this spring THIS is the only one that 

remains healthy, compact and blooming well. 

It came from the lowly Walmart garden section, thrown into the cart to keep company with a pack of chicken breasts, an unfortunate mascara choice, and a box of dog bones.

You just never can tell, can you!?

* more useful info on petunias here

** $3.84 for one annual bedding plant is way inside my splurge category.

Side Note:

You never can tell who the Lord will call to serve in His kingdom - those from the lowliest beginnings often seem to end up as one of His favorite instruments of grace! 

"... God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise..."  I Corinthians 1:26-29

You never can tell what the Lord will use in the lives of His children to create beauty. Sometimes the most harsh and cutting circumstances lead to rejuvenation and then, rejoicing!  

For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. Isaiah 55:8

Overwintering Geraniums - A Casual Tutorial

As promised in my post at A Bird and A Bean, I want to show you how to keep the same geranium plants year after year instead of buying new ones every time the garden stores open for business in the spring.

There are probably some containers outside on your patio or porch which have geraniums

waving pathetic and mostly dead stems around in the cold November air. Maybe you even have some geraniums

out in your flower beds that were lovely this summer and fall, but which you now consider a loss -

along with once vibrant impatiens, petunias, periwinkle and lobelia.

You might think it's too late to save them now, but geraniums are a pretty hardy lot, and what do you have to lose? It only takes a few minutes to prepare them for overwintering, and if it works, you'll have geraniums for free next spring. And free is the very best price for any plant purchase!

So here is a very casual tutorial - a scheme to get a few free plants.

******************

Here's a container with one geranium plant mixed in with other annuals and perennials.

Can you see it pointing up at us? 

Use a hand spade or the blunt part of your trimmers to pop the entire plant out of the pot, roots and all.
Does this photo make my wrist look fat???

Shake off most of the dirt, especially if the soil was very wet.

Trim the stems to about this height.

It's not rocket science, so don't obsess about exactly how much to leave. 

The new growth will erupt right out of the stems that are left.

Pack the  geraniums in a box where they'll have plenty of room for a sleepy winter. Remember - Nobody likes a crowded bed!  The box should close loosely so that a little air can circulate around and keep rot from forming. A friend of mine has great success wintering her geraniums in paper bags. Whatever you have handy is fine.
Go for broke and try both methods! Carpe Diem!

Make sure to label the box and store it in a cool, dry, dark spot like a garage or a basement shelf.  I'll be storing mine in the Maid of Honor dry sink in my greenhouse - someplace I'm sure to look when winter begins to finally fade away. As you can see, it's one of my favorite stashing spots. I meant to use those paper lanterns all summer but never did. I must do that in the spring!

Sometime around the end of February and certainly by the beginning of March, you'll want to get out there and check on them. You might open the box to find new growth already on the stems, but don't think your experiment failed if they look like they're goners.

Go ahead and trim off any dead bits and place them directly in a basin or bucket of water for a few hours to moisten up the roots and jump start their new lives. Then place them directly in some slightly moist potting soil. Leave them in a warm spot, with plenty of direct sunshine. New leaf growth should begin to sprout in about three weeks!

Now you can spend money on a new pair of spring flip-flops instead of buying geraniums! Yippee!

Quitter

Some people do not know when to quit.

Just like this snapdragon that continues to bloom, even in these subfreezing temperatures.

I can peek around the corner from my bedroom window and watch its blossoms wave 

in the frigid breeze.

When is enough finally too much?

How much does a person have to endure before throwing up hands and walking away, and who gets to make the call? I'm not sure where the lines lay, but I see that Peter wondered the same thing.

I took some begonias into the greenhouse when we started to have frosts.

They should've been fine in there, even though it's not a completely enclosed shelter.

A week or so later, sadly, I found them completely grayed out - touched by the frosty air and dead.

In contrast to these spunky snapdragons which were left out in the open to deal with the 

full force of wintery weather, those fragile begonias gave up the ghost at the first signs of chill.

I want to endure in relationships like a snapdragon and NOT behave like a begonia.

The View from My Chair

On our Great Anniversary Get-Away a couple years ago, we loved using these chairs out on the beach. You just lean back a little bit and boom - you're in full basking position. 

I miss the beach!

After we returned, we both  helpfully guided  our boys to choose one of these chairs as Mother's Day / Father's Day gifts. It is a happy day when we get to spend some time reclined in a "beach" chair. 

Here's the view from my chair last week. Husband, of course, in his chair nearby. 

That improves the view a hundred and sixteen percent. 

A tub full of perennials helps too - salvia, stellas, hosta, and a few lily of the valley. There is no room for any annuals in there this year. This is a good thing! I might tuck something else in there when the perennials stop blooming, though.

And who knew these snapdragons would return so big - another advantage of the mild winter, though, I think. Also in there are some dianthus, purple hearts, and a bit of some light green viney stuff taken from a hanging basket several years ago.

I don't think I'm putting anything extra in there either!

Yippee

I did score some great deals on the clearance rack at Lowes this weekend. Eyes popping out, I gathered big pots of healthy zinnia, pink and yellow, for just ... ONE DOLLAR! May Night salvia in perfectly good condition, and even some pretty poor looking  hydrangeas for a dollar. I put the hydrangeas in containers, too, and am hoping that they'll return next year and fill those containers --- for FREE.