tschnath's Blog at GardenStew.com

Out behind the fence...

tschnath — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 22:09:56 -0500

Author: tschnath
Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 3:09 am (GMT 0)

OK, these pics were taken the end of Sep and early Oct. Some other stuff I found out behind the fence. Hopefully in the spring I'll have more, you all built up my hopes that some of the wild flowers need some time...but in the mean time I guess I ended up doing ok considering I just litterly threw the seeds out and paid absolutely NO attention to them.

Enjoy!

A little fall color...better late then never...right?

tschnath — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 11:14:00 -0500

Author: tschnath
Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 4:14 pm (GMT 0)

Some trees around my yard and neighborhood.

Some flowers that got missed while I was off line...

tschnath — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 11:12:19 -0500

Author: tschnath
Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 4:12 pm (GMT 0)

Here is some of the stuff that bloomed while I was so busy in Aug/Sep. I did manage to get a few shots and now I want to share them.

My morning glories did finally bloomed, these were taken in Sep.

My coreopsis did well. This was taken in Oct.

These sun flowers were a surprize. They grew up under my bird feeders. I've always had grass there but this year I took the grass out as this is where the new garden space is going to be. I guess they liked the dirt! These were taken in Oct.

Hey y'all, I've missed you! An update on the new garden.

tschnath — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 21:30:32 -0400

Author: tschnath
Posted: Sat Oct 18, 2008 1:30 am (GMT 0)

What a busy summer and fall. Man, I thought when I'd gotten a chance to get back on in Aug. I'd be here right on through but alas life keeps happening.

My DD#1 (who's 22) got engaged in Aug. and we've been pretty busy making plans and shopping for wedding gowns as well as flower girl gowns for DD#2 (who's 5).

DD#1 is making most of the plans but she's had me right along side of her to make sure she's making good decisions and offering my 2 cents where I can.

DD#2 will be the flower girl. She has her own oppinion of what her dress will be. Good thing for her, DD#1 knows her sister well and has no problem letting a 5 year old call her own shots.

We had DD#2's birthday party the beginning of Oct. 15 5 years old kids running around my back yard. We got tables and chairs, no room in my house, thank goodness it was a lovely day. A little chilly, it is fall in Maine, but it was really nice.

We also got a big bouncing castle for them to get all their energy and cake out of their systems. All in all, they had a blast and it was a fun day for the kids.

I spent most of the day battling a migraine and was pretty much dibilitaded by the time everyone left, but was able to get to bed early and sleep it off most of the next day.

I'm sorry to say the new garden area is not making much progress. We've pretty much set it aside for now, making Spring the focus of trying to start working on it again. This is where we are at, more than the last pics posted but we've got a long way to go.

Well, it's going to take me forever to get caught up on all I've missed. I needed to jump in a say hi and that I'm still around. I'm hoping to find some time here and there to get back into the swing of stewing.

I hope you all have been well.

The new garden space...started

tschnath — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 11:37:21 -0400

Author: tschnath
Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 3:37 pm (GMT 0)

Well I'm so happy because I figured we wouldn't start this until next spring and now I should be able to do some planting next spring and maybe this fall...

Here's some of the new garden space. It's very slow going as my DH works all week and then his second job on weekends. We get a half day here and a full day there but not really enough time to make a huge difference. It's coming along and I'm hopefull we'll be able to move my hydrangea this fall. That is the goal anyway...

This is the yard before, don't look to hard at the grass. It never really came back from all the work we did last year putting in the jungle gym/swing set for DD#2.

We have removed the grass for the area that will be garden and started the wall around the tree. The whole garden will be walled off so you will have to step up to get into it.

This is the block we are using.

The delivery of the rest of the block.

We went on a whale watch on July 19th

tschnath — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:13:09 -0400

Author: tschnath
Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 7:13 pm (GMT 0)

My DD#1 (she's 22) works for a company who planned a whale watch for their employees and families. So DD#2 (she is 4) and I went with her and her BF (DH get's motion sickness so decided to stay home) and we had a blast. It was kind of cool being way out on the ocean and seeing these massive creatures. The pics really don't do them justice but I picked a few of my favorite to share with you. Enjoy!

Remember behind the fence?

tschnath — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:06:57 -0400

Author: tschnath
Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 7:06 pm (GMT 0)

My original blog post of "May 16th notes" showed you behind the fence in our back yard. It looked something like this...

We'll I didn't get the results I wanted from all those wild flower seeds, there were millions and this is all I've got, so far anyway...

Can't see much from afar but these are the flowers that actually came up. You can't really tell they are there from the above pic...

My garden (from a distance view)

tschnath — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 23:06:17 -0400

Author: tschnath
Posted: Thu Jun 05, 2008 3:06 am (GMT 0)

I thought I'd post pics of my garden looking at it from the yard. You always get to see the close ups of just the plants/flowers, but I've never posted from a 'view' perspective before. So here they are:

The West side of my house, which is the front.

from another angle.

The South side, which is the side.

The East side, which is the back.

from another angle.

The North side is just drive way and garage so I didn't bother posting that. No plants there yet, sometimes I put a planter next to the garage, but if I'm lazy I may not bother this year.

I'll try to remember to post more shots once the flowers start blooming.

Progress on my seedlings

tschnath — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 21:44:38 -0400

Author: tschnath
Posted: Tue Jun 03, 2008 1:44 am (GMT 0)

I wanted to post these the other day, but things have been so busy...it's crazy. Anyway, now I've caught my breath once again and would like to share.

These are the trays when I first filled them. There's Portaluca (which didn't make it), Impatiens, mixed Petunias along with some pink, lilac and silver ones, Coreopsis and Marigolds. All started on April 24th.

The same trays on May 13th.

And now I've moved them to cups, on May 27th.

I've lost quite a few, but am still happy with what's here. It's looking as though I may loose some more, it's still ok, it's only my 2nd year with seeds and I'm hoping next year will be even better. It's just starting to get warm now so I'm hoping to have them off my dining room table and out on the porch in the next few weeks or so. Wish me luck!

May 21st notes

tschnath — Wed, 21 May 2008 19:04:18 -0400

Author: tschnath
Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 11:04 pm (GMT 0)

My DH and I took yesterday as a 'fun' day. We took DD#2 to preschool and took off with our cameras. We really didn't end up doing much but we stopped by the Cape Porpoise Pier (ME), and took some pics of the lobster boats.

I love the water and lobtering is a very big part of this part of ME. It didn't smell particularly good there (they were working and cleaning fish and such), but we got some pics and were on our way.

It was a 'fun' day and that's what really counts.

May 16th notes

tschnath — Fri, 16 May 2008 22:18:28 -0400

Author: tschnath
Posted: Sat May 17, 2008 2:18 am (GMT 0)

I was out in the yard a lot today. We put up a fence last year behind our DD#2's playset and it's looking pretty crappy back there. Now, keep in mind no one can see it except us and that's only if we walk out to the fence.

I took these in Apr. so the grass still looks bad. This is the fence from the back yard. As you can see, you can't see the other side.

Well, I like to walk back and look beyond the fence, as the birds love it back there. It's kind of a thicket I call it. This is what it looks like today from the back yard.

And behind the fence...

Yuck! Right? Well, today I spread a ton of wild flower seeds all behind there. It's suppose to rain this weekend so I'm hoping it'll get a good soaking.

Who knows what will actually grow, but anything I think will be better than looking at that.

I'll post another pic later in the summer so you can see if anything does grow. Wish me luck!

More blooms...finally!

tschnath — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 19:42:02 -0400

Author: tschnath
Posted: Fri Apr 25, 2008 11:42 pm (GMT 0)

It's been such a busy last couple weeks. I've hardly had time to check the stew and make a few comments. I really wanted to post some more pics, but just couldn't find the time.

Well, I'm finding it now. DD#2 is down on the couch watching TV and DH is on his way home from work, which means I finally get a few minutes to myself.

I was out and about in the garden today and took a few pics to share.

My hyacinths are in bloom along with my daffys. You can also see my magnolia (rikki) in this one and my lilys that are coming up. Please don't look at the dead stuff I haven't had time to clear yet. I'm working on it, but it's coming slower than I want.

More daffys and hyacinths. The tree looking things are my drawf lilacs. They sit right in front on my farmers porch in front of the kitchen. In May when they bloom I can smell them in the house when the windows are open. Ahhhh!

I took these hoping someone would know why my hyacinths don't produce the flowers around the whole stem. Some of them do, but some of them don't. They were like this since I've had them. I think it's weird.

These I took this past Wed. while at the beach with DD#2. The beach is my favorite place, 2nd to my garden.

Everyone have a great day. :)

And a very happy Friday it is...

tschnath — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 14:34:39 -0400

Author: tschnath
Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 6:34 pm (GMT 0)

I went out side with DD#2 and I finally found my first bloom....Daffy, behind the hydrangea bush

I also took a few other pics for you all.

My hyacynth coming along...

My lilies...

My daisies...

My iris...

The buds on my ornamental pear tree...
[IMG]

The ornamental pear tre...

There are also some nice buds on my magnolia but they've been there since Jan. so hopefully they didn't get dammaged. I guess we'll see how well it blooms in May.

Everyone have a great day.

Happy Friday

tschnath — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 11:27:58 -0400

Author: tschnath
Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 3:27 pm (GMT 0)

It's been a week (almost) since I've been on. Sooooo much catching up to do on the stew. I miss a day and it seems I miss so much. Unfortunately it's been an extremely busy week and with the weather getting warmer and the fact I am looking (harder) for a job I suspect I won't be able to be on as much as I've been. But, I will catch up as I can.

Had a meeting with DH about the new garden space. Seems my budget is not up to par (for my taste anyway) and we'll be taking it really, really slowly. I will still post it's progress, but it's not going to take much shape this year. Will have to do a few things, but the bulk of the work will be next spring (2009). Disappointing for me, but I can't argue.

On another note: I spent yesterday morning out in the existing garden. Doing my spring cleaning, which for me consists of my fall cleaning also. I wish I could do it all in the fall so there wouldn't be so much in the spring, but it just get's so cold here so quickly and once it's cold I just can't get motivated to get out there.

I figure I'll work on a little of the garden as my time permits and about the time I finish it'll be time to start back around with the weeding. Hopefully I will be able to stay on top of the weeding this year. My DD#2 is now 4 and a little more on her own so when we are out I won't need to devote my entire attention on her.

Anyway, hope you all are great. Will post more pics soon. My iris are coming up, but are still aways away from blooming.

Everyone have a great day.

it's snowing again...

tschnath — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 09:59:15 -0400

Author: tschnath
Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 1:59 pm (GMT 0)

I took these pics on Tue. (3/25) so I could share with you all that I finally have some green.

daffys coming up

tulips coming up

poppys coming up

Then I get up this morning to find this...

There's 2 plus inches out there now, but I'm hopefull it won't stick around very long.

We have had 4 days of pure sunshine. The temp was getting better (50sF last 2 days). Today it's cold (32F) but given what it's doing outside I figured it would be.

Hope you all have a great day.