Gardening

I know this isn't tremendously exciting, lots of people garden, but for me this is still new and I finally have the time to really work on getting a garden together this year!

We bought our house in July 2013, and it had some plants that came with it. In the front yard, some gorgeous bleeding hearts and some ivy plants. A Crab apple tree and a few bushes that I haven't figured out what they are yet but I appreciate them just the same!

Here are a few things I was lucky enough to start out with:

Might be a crocus. Bloomed early, gone already!

Not sure what this one is! A spring bloomer of some kind (They are blooming now and it's April!)

Bleeding hearts by the front door

Daffodils

Not sure what these are yet! They are spring bloomers however!

These all bloomed in summer. The orange ones were there most of the summer, and the purple bloomed in late summer.

A summer blooming plant that the butterflies love. I am working toward a butterfly garden, so this was great to start off with!

I love these little plants. Also in the back yard, they have small purple flowers, and are some kind of succulent, meaning they store their own water, like an aloe plant.

In the back yard. These flowers look dead by winter, but always revive in time for Spring!

This ivy likes to creep toward the door. 

My first Spring I learned a lot about weeding. I learned how thistle, while pretty, was determined to grow no matter how often I weeded it, and was likely a non native species. 

I also learned about bindweed, which looks like a harmless morning glory, but really it's a weed that will happily take over your yard!

The thistle in question. I met a lady this summer who let them grow, then she removed the heads and burnt the rest of it. I guess that's one way to kill the thistle. This is either Canada or Bull thistle (I think)

Bindweed. Pretty flower, but will grow EVERYWHERE.

Anyways, I got to start off with a lot of great plants! But now it's time to add some of my own!

I started a lot of seeding inside, and I started with seeds from my groceries. Such as scraping out the seeds from a bell pepper and planting those. I have been warned, that due to plant breeding and genetics, the fruit I may eventually get from these seeds may not be the same color, size, or shape as the original bell pepper. But I don't mind, I just want it to taste good!

Sugar Snap peas. I planted a few straight into the ground last year and got an okay size yield. I plan on planting many more this year!

Rhubarb! I found the root in walmart (i have heard it's better to plant the root rather than the seed) and once it's established, I will have to wait one year before I can harvest it. Rhubarb is one of my favorite plants, so I am excited!

I wasn't sure the bell peppers were going to grow. They  finally started sprouting, and I will save many more seeds so I can plant a bunch! It seems that less than half of the seeds I planted sprouted (there are two seeds in each pocket here, and only two have come up)

I purchased the seeds for this. I have a catnip plant still going, but it's starting to die and I wanted a backup in case I can't revive it! That, and I'm hoping to plant some of these outside!

From another seed packet. These seem to be finicky. At this time, only the one on the left is still alive, the one on the right didn't get enough water and shriveled up = ( 

Celery! If you keep the bottom of the celery and place it in water until the green shoots come out, you can then plant it in soil and watch it grow! 

Pineapples took me a while to figure out. You need to remove the leaves and the bottom of the top part until you see some roots. Then you plant it in water to let the roots grow out a bit. The you can plant it in soil. 

Roots are coming out

Another view of the roots

I bought an aloe plant last spring in a tiny little container. It is now 5 times the size! 

Lastly, I have cat grass for the cats. They love to graze, and having some inside means they don't overeat the grass when I let them outside. 

I just for a lilac root, and am VERY excited to plant this! Perfect for butterflies, bees and birds! I have been told they grow like weeds, and I am ok with that.

Lastly, I have started to put aside my used coffee grinds for the plants, to get them that hit of nitrogen (for those plants that need it).

I still have a lot of work to do, and I really want to focus on native plants, and plants that are good for butterflies, bees, birds, and even bats!