Pam – Page 60 – Hydrangeas Blue

My Greenhouse is Full

mini greenhouse — This years greenhouse plants

With a small yard and a tiny deck, I never dreamed I would have a greenhouse. It’s not exactly what comes to mind when you say “greenhouse” but my mini-greenhouse does the job. It fits nicely in the corner of my deck, up against the house (so it won’t blow over in a strong wind), and it holds plenty of seedlings.

This year it is nearly full, with tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, zucchini (courgettes), parsley (already planted in my raised bed), and flowers. I didn’t start anything from seeds this year, but I’ve purchased a grow light so I can start seeds indoors next April. Then I’ll move them out to the greenhouse in May. That’s my plan anyway.

A few weeks ago I went to House by the Side of the Road in Milford, NH and bought my tomatoes and a few pepper plants. The other veggies and some flowers I bought at Tenney Farms in Antrim.

I don’t ever have luck growing peppers, even though I’ve read all kinds of helpful tips. I have fewer tomato plants this year too. The “Celebrity” type seems to give me a nice crop, so I am sticking with that kind. And of course the small, grape tomatoes too. I’m the only one in the household who will eat them, and last year I had too many!

green and red tomatoes — Last year’s tomato crop, end of season.

May Brings Out the Dusty Street Sweeper

It has to be dry to sweep the streets, and the day the sweeper came by he sure kicked up a ton of dust. May is when our town sweeps up winter’s leftover sand from all the roads. They put a tentative (because of weather) schedule out, but I am never really sure when they will appear in my neighborhood.

Having the street swept is a new thing for me. The first spring in my new home, I noticed that people were making rows of sand at the edge of their yards. They were brushing (?) the sand off their grass somehow, and I wondered why. The sand comes from the sand trucks that frequently sand and salt the roads all during winter. I found out a while later when the noisy street sweeper came through the neighborhood and sucked it up!

I don’t bother to sweep sand off my “grass” mainly because I don’t have any grass. I’m working on it, but that is far down my list of yard work that needs to be done. I did get this photo of the sweeper as he went by a couple of times, kicking up clouds of dust. It’s a normal part of Spring clean up in this part of New Hampshire.

The Endless Summer in Spring

hydrangea leaves in spring — Spring Growth on my Endless Summer Hydrangea

It’s May and while the black flies swarm and temperatures are on a roller coaster the hydrangeas in my yard are growing new leaves. My Endless Summer plant has lots of new growth. I’ve left the bare stems just in case something pops out along them. In general, I don’t prune this plant. It’s relatively small anyway so there is no need. I am not adding any new perennials to my yard this year, other than the ones I will propagate, but this is a good time to buy and plant hydrangeas in the landscape.

I added some bonemeal around the base and will eventually add new dirt too. Right now I am busy readying my vegetable gardens for planting – hopefully this weekend. Once the fabric pot raised beds have all the dirt they need, I will add what’s left to the flowers. My Pinky Winky and Limelight hydrangeas all look fine too. In a couple months I’ll see some flowers. Can’t wait!

Mother’s Day Blues

Or should I say, blue for Mother’s Day. It’s sunny and bright and beautiful for Mother’s Day here in New Hampshire, and I don’t have the blues, just pictures of blue flowers. There are no hydrangea flowers in the yard yet, so I’ve gone into my massive archive (haha) and pulled out a favorite photo to share.

I will be heading outdoors soon and hopefully the black flies will leave me alone. I have a mound of dirt to move around in my trusty wheelbarrow. There are seeds to plant and grow in my little greenhouse and plenty of other things awaiting my attention.
But first I have to pick up my son. Then the day will be mine.

I don’t have a Mother to celebrate so I get to celebrate my own motherhood. I’ve been a mom for nearly 37 years and I like to think that I have done a good job.
I hope that my children have learned some good things from me. Like perseverance, independence, thankfulness, and the importance of having a good work ethic. I think all my children have turned out well, and of course they are still evolving, but in general they have good hearts and are very decent people.

So Happy Mother’s day to all the moms who may come across this post today. The blue flower is for you as my wish that you will stay strong in this journey of motherhood that is really never-ending. And for the mom’s who do it all alone, you are not alone in your journey. There are many of us out there who also have to make our best attempt to “do it all”. It’s impossible, so pass on the things that can wait and take care of the things that won’t. Children grow up very fast and our job is to see that they grow up well. There are great rewards for that.

My Hydrangeas in May 2014

bare branches hydrangea — The Pinky Winky in May

It’s May and I have been getting outdoors to check on my hydrangeas and do some yard clean up. This photo of my Pinky Winky hydrangea plant was taken about a week ago, but it still looks about the same. Some leaf buds are forming along the stems, but that’s about it. The Limelight plants look about the same.

I decided to prune them in late Fall last year instead of waiting until Spring. The reason was mainly that when I left the dried flowers on the long stems of the limelight variety, the snow would weigh them down. So I pruned them for the winter and hopefully they will still bloom nicely.

My endless summer plants have larger leaves protruding up from the base of the plant and the Blushing Bride has little baby plants that are rooted. I plant to dig them up and transplant them once I have a spot for them and the weather has warmed.

All but the Pee Gee are still growing and looking good. I can’t say as much for some of my other perennials. The rhododendrons that I was hoping would get big and beautify the yard are practically dead. Apparently deer consider them a delicious meal and they chew off every leaf during winter. Even with netting over them, they have been devoured. If the plants survive the summer I will try covering them with burlap next winter. Don’t want to think about winter yet though!

Gardening in Small Spaces

Each year I face the challenge of gardening in small spaces. Nearly three years ago I moved into my long-awaited home. It has the smallest usable yard space of any house I have ever lived in. The lot size is just about an acre, but much of that is down a hill and in the woodsy wetlands area. My front yard is large enough for me, but I wish I had more to work with in the back. Each Spring I must find the best ways to rotate and plant vegetables which will get enough sun to grow well.

I have a family of three, but my kids are not as excited about eating fresh garden vegetables as I am. I don’t have to grow much of a crop of anything – just enough for me. And that is a good thing, since I don’t have the space for it.

Last year I tried fabric pot gardening and it worked out well. You can see in my picture above that I had one large round raised garden. I used the smaller garden bags to grow potatoes, beans and carrots. The nice thing was that I just set the pots in the sunniest areas along the deck, and had instant gardens!

The rest of my planting is done along the strip of ground at the edge of a drop off which is loaded with blackberry briars. With all the trees growing nearby, the lower part of the yard is too shady to plant anything. It doesn’t leave much room to do everything I’d like, but I do get some nice veggies by mid to end of summer. And I put up a cement block raised bed out front which helps expand the crops too.

Thank you for sharing!

Thank you for sharing!

Thank you for sharing!

Thank you for sharing!

Thank you for sharing!

Thank you for sharing!