I love to garden - I love flowers and vegetables. However, I don't always know what I'm doing. My neighbor can tell you the correct name of each plant that is grown in her yard. She is always pruning, fertilizing, making new starts. You name it and she does it at the exact time it needs to be done. Her knowledge is amazing and I do enjoy bouncing questions and thoughts off of her. She has yet to steer me wrong.
However. Then there's me. I like the idea of doing things properly, but I don't necessarily have the time to do them properly. I have run across many women who are completely "terrified" of putting something in the earth and watching it grow. It kind of cracks me up, because these women are mothers. They put little people on the earth and that's a WAY bigger responsibility than planting a flower or cucumber!
So, this blog is for those that are completely intimidated by the dirt in their yard. Because, if I can grow things that I don't even know what they are, then anyone can purposely grow what they want. I am referring to when we moved into our lovely bungalow four years ago. I've talked about how old it is. Well, another fun aspect of old houses is they also have old yards, meaning you just never know what's going to grow where. It's kind of like a treasure hunt. The previous owners weren't into lawn care at all, literally. Zero interest. The whole darn yard, a lot size of 75 feet by 150 feet, was crab grass and stickers. Well, once we started watering and fertilizing various plants started popping up their little heads. I found hostas, liriope grass in abundance, irises, grape hyacinths, tiger lillies and petunias. How did I not mow over this and not even notice these things popping up?
Well, I have a strange fetish of looking at the ground. It probably stems from being terrified of looking my step father in the eye, but it's there. Generally, unknown plants will start growing around trees, along boundary lines and near buildings. When I see something that I clearly recognize as not grass and possibly not a common weed I tend to let it grow for awhile. Since things bloom at different times, I patiently wait it out. However, if I don't like the way a plant is looking I will go ahead and dig it up. WHICH, leads me to a very funny story. . .
Just after moving into our home in May there was a strange plant growing on the south side of our house. The bigger it got, the more peculiar it started looking. And by peculiar, I mean it strongly resembled a marijuana plant. Honest. I asked my walking dictionary of a neighbor and she wasn't exactly sure what it was. She said it resembled an Hibiscus. I did NOT tell her my suspicions, after all she was a new neighbor. Then my mom came down a week or so later. The plant had not yet bloomed, nor did it have buds on it. It was also about 4 ft tall and very bushy with lots of leaves. I don't know anything about marijuana, but we've all seen the pictures of what the leaf looks like. I became more and more paranoid, as a police officer lives just down the block and the darn plant was getting bigger! But, I was too curious to dig it out. I was torn between possibly discovering an amazingly beautiful plant and getting arrested for nurturing a marijuana plant. Truly, I was torn. Anyway, my mom comes and for no specific reason other than she grew up in the 60's & 70's I asked her advice on the plant. She said she wasn't sure, but I should cut it down right away. Well, THAT freaked me out just a bit! That night a freak thunderstorm rolled through and it rained and the next morning, on my mystery plant were the most beautiful hibiscus blooms all over it. So, I have a strange variety of hibiscus whose leaves mimic exactly a marijuana plant, but has beautiful pink blooms every time it rains. Boy, am I glad I didn't cut it down.
Back to gardening. Here are a few basics that I've learned (now remember, there are people out there that know a whole lot more than me, I'm just giving you the meat). An annual plant is one that grows one year. They tend to bloom flowers all season right up until the frost in the fall. Annuals will also generally produce seeds for the next season unless they have been genetically altered. SO, I leave my annual flowers standing, all dead and brown through the winter. Then, early spring I clean out the stalks. I look for seeds. If there are seeds, I drop them where I want them. Weather will have naturally done this through the winter as well. Seeds are also a natural way to feed your birds through the winter - don't worry they know where to look for them. You can clear out your annual beds as early as a warm January or February day, just be sure if you want more of the same flowers in that spot that you allow the seeds to drop.
Perennial flowers are those that come back every year, but do not bloom an entire season. It's the same plant and if it hasn't been genetically altered will also make seeds. I don't know if this is correct, but in my mind I categorize hostas, irises, mums, lilies, cone flowers in this category. Each year, the plant gets bigger and may send up more blooms. There comes a point though, that the plant is too thick and literally seems to choke itself. It will no longer bloom and appears as a solid mat of foliage. When this happens, you need to dig it out, separate it and plant some elsewhere or give away what you don't want. The rule of thumb is generally to do this after they have bloomed. This way it doesn't stress the plant and you won't lose a season of beautiful blooms. I have however, moved lilies, liriope grass and mums in early spring and they still seem to bloom. Maybe it's luck, maybe it's OK, not really sure about that. The other thing is I do know that hostas are to be divided in May. Flowers like iris, hostas, liriope grass, lilies, tulips and hyacinths have a bulb inside the ground. These, every few years need to be dug up, broken into smaller bulbs and replanted for more room to grow. Carefully take the bulb and allow it to break "naturally" - once you check it out, you'll be able to use common sense of where it needs to break, so don't freak out about it. These are also flowers that are almost impossible to kill.
Vegetables are amazing. I can't imagine anyone who eats salad, salsa, or any tomato based food (spaghetti) would not have a few plants in their yard. First of all, I think they are pretty. There are tons of books on what to plant next to what and how to get the most space out of your yard. But, this can send you on information overload. Just go to your local greenhouse, discount store, hardware store or grocery store and buy at least 2 of every plant you want. Follow the instruction on the little plastic marker that is in the plant. Remember to water and watch it grow. Watch for bugs that look like they might do damage and pick your goodies. You can always expand your knowledge and figure out how to do it more efficiently but first things first - you must start by putting the little guys in the ground. If it truly was so hard to grow things, they wouldn't have survived all these thousands of years since Adam and Eve were kicked out of the garden. Feel free to email me with questions or leave the question in the comment section. Blessings.
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