Tulips in Spring Snow

tulips in snow
Spring Snow

April has been a pretty cold month for us in the northeast. It seems like it’s unseasonably cold, with just a few really nice days so far. Plants are pushing up through the ground even though we had a few inches of snow about a week ago.
I got this photo of my tulips that were growing nicely when they suddenly had to endure a coating of the white stuff. The heavy snow in this late snowfall clung to the trees and made for some opportunities for good pictures. I went outside early that morning to get some local photos before the wind and warm sun removed the snow from the tree branches. I really didn’t need to hurry as the day never warmed up all that much and there were snow patches left the next day as well.
The lenton roses are blooming as they do in the early Spring, but so far not much else is providing color other than green.
It’s a good time of year to clean up the beds, before the black flies show up. So I cleared the back garden of stray blackberry briers that constantly try to invade my tiny garden space. And I removed the leaves that have been covering the dirt.
Next I will order some garden loam to fill my fabric beds and get them ready for planting in about a month. I just hope the weather will eventually get nice and warm, and I suppose it will.

Raised Garden Bed – Getting Ready to Plant

raised garden bed
Simple Raised Bed of Cinder-Blocks

At last our snow is gone. It could snow again, but it won’t last if it does. We can seriously begin thinking about our gardens now in New Hampshire.

Last year I dragged these cement blocks up from the side of the house and created a raised bed. I ordered dirt from Agway and wheel-barrowed it over to fill the area. I had tomatoes and a zucchini plant in it and they did great.

I will have to begin thinking about what I want to grow and where I’ll plant it. Except for cold weather crops, like lettuce, parsley and peas, I won’t be able to plant until the end of May.

I added Bone Meal to the dirt in this raised bed, but I still need to order a new batch of good dirt too. Finances are a bit tight, and I won’t be buying hanging planters and such to beautify my yard, but certain things I must have to grow some (hopefully) good crops. I garden to eat healthy and save money. And I also enjoy it.

I got outside the other day, when the weather was nice, and took some photos of what is coming up in the yard. I’ll share once I get them off the camera and into an organized group for my blogs.

I’m Learning How to Grow Lilacs

white lilac flowers

I look forward to seeing my hydrangeas grow and bloom this year, but first I will see the lilacs bloom. I don’t have very impressive lilac bushes, I will admit. The yard is very shady and I am not used to dealing with this type of plant. Lilacs don’t grow in Florida, where I lived for a long time. They thrive in US hardiness zones 3-7 and central Florida is in zone 9.

So I have been trying to help my Lilacs do better in the once-neglected yard of my newer house. The tall, gangly tree / bush at the corner of my house was tucked under a pine tree and hidden behind a piece of fence. Now the fence is gone, and so is the little pine. I’m hoping that now the lilac will get more sun and branch out and get bushy.

I know that it’s a good idea to trim off the flowers as they die and then leave the tree alone. Trimming too late will remove the blooms that set for the following year. Also do any pruning then too.

I recently learned something about pruning the suckers, or shoots that grow from the base of the shrub. I always thought I needed to remove them all so the main trunk would do better, but that is not so. I’ve read that only 2/3 of the suckers should be cut so the others can grow and fill in the shrub. I am going to try it.

My lilac flowers are dark purple. I don’t know if they are double blooms or not, but double bloom varieties are more fragrant. I counted a few big flowers at the top of my lilac tree last Spring. And although it didn’t have many, I could smell the fragrant flowers in that area of the yard. I don’t know if I should just buy a new bush and give up on the old one, or try to work with what I have.

Lavender, white, pink, purple and blue are the colors to be found among lilac varieties. President Lincoln is one of the popular blue flowering plants.

Where to Find Beautiful and FREE Nature Pictures

colored Easter eggs
Find this free image at Pixabay
Anyone needing to use some beautiful pictures of nature that are free, pay attention. There are many stock photo sites out there where you will find some awesome pictures that are supposedly “free”, but not all of them really are. In fact “royalty free images” will cost you something and you have to buy points in order to download them from the sites. It can be confusing.
I have nothing against purchasing someones photos or designs. The stock places carry a wide array of very usable items. Those people are trying to make a living selling their images, and who could blame them. I get very irritated when I find that someone has helped themself to one of my blog images. Some people are clueless when it comes to that sort of thing.

But there is a place where you can download beautiful images and it really will cost you nothing. That place is called Pixabay. The Pixabay people are quite picky when it comes to what photos they will approve. I’ve had many declined. I’m not surprised, as I am not a fabulous photographer. And after browsing the Pixabay site, I have seen that there are others who definitely are.

You’ll find lots of nature photos and splendid macros of insects and flowers. Also graphics and clipart which is generously offered. Seasons, mountains, buildings, wildlife and so much more will grab your attention. And they can be used commercially free of charge! (Not all images can be used this way because of trademarks / brands.)

I use Pixabay for my work, and whenever I need an image for a post that I don’t have myself. Pixabay is a relatively new site so they don’t always have what I am looking for, but people are contributing from all over the world, and the landscape photos are stunning.
They occasionally hold contests for contributors, and give out awards to the deserving. It might be a place you will enjoy visiting.

What I Learned From Fabric Pot Gardening

growing vegetables in fabric pots
Gardening in Fabric Pots
Last year I used these black fabric pots to plant vegetables in sunny locations in my small backyard. It was an experiment and I had no idea if anything would grow. But I needed a fairly easy alternative to digging up the grass.
These fabric pots are not very expensive and I would think that they can be reused. I’ll see when I dig them out to use this season. I like the fact that they can be set wherever there is sun, but then they can be taken down. The smaller ones (shown in my pictures) I used to grow potatoes and beans. I ended up with a bowlful of edible, but small, potatoes. The bag is really too small to get much of a potato crop. They would do better in the ground, but I don’t have the space.
I also grew green beans in two of the pots and I had loads of delicious beans! I will definitely try that again.
The larger holder is where I planted tomatoes along with basil, some herbs and radishes. (I have a photo of that one on this page.) The tomatoes got too large to stay upright and the “pot” wasn’t deep enough to hold a wire tomato cage. By the end of summer my tomatoes had fallen over from their own weight. I also had planted too many of them. I wouldn’t put tomatoes in the bags again.
I’m thinking a squash or zucchini plant may do well in a smaller pot and then it could drape over the sides and spread out. I always grow zucchini and even one plant takes up a lot of area in my little garden.
The larger bag might hold my cukes, carrots or beets. I guess it depends on what I decide to plant. When summer was over and the harvest was in, I emptied the pots and stuffed them under my deck. I am wondering if I could leave the dirt in the larger one next time. I don’t know how it would do over the winter.
If you want to try an easy way to grow something that can be moved from year to year, without digging up the ground, maybe a fabric pot would be right for you. For more ideas please read Discover the Benefits of Container Gardening by my friend Mike. It’s because of his page that I tried this! Thanks Mike!

Fabric Bag Gardening in a Small Backyard

small backyard
Small backyard space

Having a small backyard means facing some challenges when planning a garden. Throw in tall trees bordering the property taking away sunny patches, and it adds to headache. That is why I tried my hand at fabric bag / pot gardening.
My backyard is small and narrow. The picture I’ve added is one I took before I closed on my house. The slider was taped off so one would try to go out where there were no steps. Who would? Anyway… those are the old, wooden steps sitting out back at the edge of my small backyard. Although I have an acre of land, the usable part of my backyard stops right there. So the space I can use now (with a small deck that I added) is long and narrow with spotty areas of good sun.
Last summer I had planned to dig up a couple of new areas back there that tend to get pretty good sunshine, but that is so much work. I really didn’t want to have to dig and then add amendments and all that. Plus I didn’t have the time. I needed an alternative to the traditional way of gardening. So I decided to try container gardening.  But instead of regular pots I used fabric bags, in various sizes, filled with good dirt.
black fabric raised bed large bag
This large fabric bag held tomatoes, basil, radishes and some herbs. There was no digging involved, but I did buy a truckload of good loam and had to wheelbarrow it over to fill the bag. I planted my small seedlings and they took off.
I also used smaller fabric bags to plant potatoes, green beans, and carrots. I learned a few things from using these bags, and some things I will do differently this season, but all in all I was happy with them.
I wondered if I could save the bags and re-use them, so we’ll see how well they hold up when I try that this spring.