This is the first time I have seen flowers on my blue and white bearded iris. It was planted about 2 years ago by me. Last summer there were lots of leaves, but no blooms. Seeing the stalk shoot up from those tall, flat leaves and end up with four buds, was very exciting for me! And it’s a beauty…
Iris in the Garden
Bearded iris are a perennial plant which I don’t know much about. I think they will multiply on their own as I’ve seen big gardens full of iris. I got a few pictures of this first flower, but the rain has kept me indoors and the other bud has opened as well.
I used this photo to show how to remove something from a photo using a graphic program. That piece of garden hose to the right in the photo is what I wanted gone. Read that post here.
Oh how I’d love to have the land in that picture I used! It’s not my yard. I don’t have a big sunny parcel of land. Because of that, it makes growing vegetables, in our short, New England growing season, tough to do. The sun is scarce in my yard, which is surrounded by tall pines and hardwood trees. My yard is also small. I’m always on the lookout for solutions to these problems so I can grow more crops.
This idea of making a raised bed from cinder-blocks is not mine. I saw it in the “Organic Gardening” book. It looks ugly, but it was free to build because I already had the blocks.
When I came across an article in the magazine which showed five types of alternative raised beds, the concrete block one jumped out at me. I could do this!
Shade is a problem when it comes to vegetable gardening in a small yard
The thought of having another sunny spot to grow vegetables stuck in my mind as winter carried on. I would have to lug the blocks up a hill to my front yard because that was the sunny spot. While I waited for the mud to dry up in spring, I watched the path of the sun to decide the best location for my new patch of dirt.
Once the garden loam was delivered, I enlisted my teenage son to help me move the blocks – those suckers are heavy! I used the wheelbarrow to fill the space with dirt and some compost, and then planted the rest a tomato and zucchini in there. It’s not a huge garden, but it did give me some extra growing space.
This was an experiment for me, and I’m not raised bed savvy. It was a quick fix for lack of garden space and I did get vegetables to grow there. Since then I have learned a bit more about raised bed gardening and am beginning a new raised bed garden (made of wood this time) in my Florida home.
An even easier idea is to buy fabric bags and use them as raised beds. They work well for many types of vegetables.
I have tried many times to grow my own lettuce without success. Sometimes it would grow and look nice but it was too bitter to eat. This year I scattered seeds randomly in containers and in the ground (among the strawberry plants) and I am harvesting it!
I’ve learned that lettuce can be eaten when it’s fairly small. I cut off the larger leaves, rinse them and eat. New leaves grow to take their place almost immediately.
Lettuce likes cool weather, so I’ll try to get it planted sooner next spring. I can grow it in my little greenhouse on the deck, or next to the house. In fact I plan to plant some parsley early too.
Another trick I’ve discovered is to plant it in a pot like the one here. Then the lettuce can be moved out of the full sun on hot days. I set mine between two tall Tansy plants (weeds, really) that are shading it nicely. I also don’t have enough room to grow everything I’d like to in the ground.
I think I’ve planted buttercrunch in the strawberries (below) – I read somewhere to do that for shading. It’s growing and I am eating it! I’m so happy to finally be able to grow good, tasty, lettuce.
As I walk around the yard getting photos of what’s growing, I realize how fast things are changing.
The potatoes planted in the fabric pot are now huge. The zucchini and cucumber seedlings (they are in this photo) are now twice the size they were. Many of the tomatoes now have little yellow flowers. And all the strawberries are loaded with unripened fruit.
That is how it’s suppose to be. Everything has to hurry up and grow – Fall is not far away! Really, the growing season in New England is so short. It’s been difficult for me to adjust to this fact after gardening year round in Florida.
But having a garden blog means updating could literally take place every day – with new photos! Sorry, can’t handle that schedule. As I get ready to write about something I photographed last week, I realize I’m already behind. Continue reading “Gardening: Now it’s Moving Fast”
It’s the beginning of June and the hydrangea buds are beginning to form on my mophead varieties. The paniculatas are full of leaves, but no buds yet. Last year this plant had very pretty, light blue flowers which I used to create some nice wedding stationery in the design set I named “Blue Heaven“. You can see the RSVP postcard below. I hope the flowers will be just as pretty this year, but the truth is, you never know for sure what color blooms the macrophyllas will have.
Last year the Blushing Bride began with white flowers that ended up turning green. I am wondering what color they will be this summer.
Brides tend to prefer either the blue flowers or the light green of the panicled (or elongated) flowers like the ones that grow on the Limelight bush.
Way back when I began writing this blog I lived in New Hampshire. I was new to blogging and I understand why I wondered if it was worth the effort.
I loved living in New Hampshire, but I haven’t had good fortune in this life. Instead of being able to stay where I love and putting down roots, I’ve done a lot of losing (things) and moving (so much moving). It’s understandable that my writing was sometimes depressing, especially when it seemed no one was reading anything I wrote.
My comment to this: Blogging is worth it if you enjoy doing it. Don’t pay attention to the stats too much because everything you do online takes time to pay off. In the meantime, become a better writer. Make more links – within the blog and outbound. Don’t write because you feel you have to, write when an idea pops into your head and you need to write it down.
Now, I am re-reading this post and am answering myself! Just for fun. Life is not much better (but it’s a little better in some ways) and one thing I have learned is that acceptance is very helpful. Whether or not the future (if I dare look) holds hope … or nothing good at all, I keep on breathing and therefore I must keep on going. There is no point in feeling lousy and depressed. Let those days slide on by. Onward! There is no other choice.
Responding to Myself
The “Old Me” is the original post.
Old me: Quite often when I check the blog stats I get a bit depressed. Gardening blogs are numerous. So many of us love to garden and share our backyard adventures, but at the same time gardeners know everything other gardeners know – don’t they?
New Me: Well, not always. And as a gardener, I like to see what other people are growing and doing in their yards. It’s a good way to find help (if needed) or maybe try growing something new.
This used to be my yard! Short-lived fun.
Old Me: This blog began as a hydrangea themed blog. The only trouble is, I have hydrangeas growing in my yard for about 6 months and flowering for about three. So what to write about the rest of the time?
New Me: I think I eventually figured this out because I turned the blog into a general gardening blog. It’s a good thing too because I had to move away and go back to Florida. All my New Hampshire gardening information was suddenly irrelevant! So the blog changed, there was no choice. Grow, change, accept.
Old Me: I write this blog because I love to dig in the dirt. My grandfather did it, my father did it, and so do I. I have the chance to share what I love to do with others from around the world, even if visitor numbers are small. So it’s worth it to blog and share my photos as I plant and harvest. The stats seem to say “you are failing at this”, but I’ve decided I won’t pay attention to that. The outdoors is calling and I’m taking my camera (right after it stops raining).
New Me: Now I have an i-phone and that makes photo taking and sharing sooooo much easier!
This was an experiment for me, and I’m not raised bed savvy. It was a quick fix for lack of garden space and I did get vegetables to grow there. Since then I have learned a bit more about raised bed gardening and am beginning a new 
Hydrangeas Blue 