Flowering Trees in the Landscape

With Spring weather coming a bit early in Northern Indiana it seems all our flowering trees are more showy this year! I find myself looking out the window and walking all about our landscape often to take in the beauty of the season!


A Bradford Pear Tree in our front yard

Our Cherry Tree blooming for the first time!

An Eastern Redbud in our back landscape

A Purple Leaf Plum next to the garden

A close up of the Purple Leaf Plum

Annual Flowers have been planted for the year!

This week I was so happy to get all my annual flowers planted! Three years ago my husband and I started the tradition that my Mother's day gift would be the pleasure of buying and planting annual flowers. I love being outside and I would much rather have money to pick out and plant flowers outdoors (that I can enjoy all summer) than have a vase of flowers that dies in a week!

So, I am already enjoying my Mother's Day gift! :) This week I enjoyed planting Marigolds, Salvia, Celosia, & Begonias in my various flower pots & planters. I especially love the warm & sunny color combination of the orange Marigolds, Red Salvia, & the bright yellow Celosia!


Featured in the photo I took (above) is the Celosia. This flower is new to me. Isn't it beautiful? It has unusually bright shades of yellow, orange, pink, red, or purple. The Celosia requires full sun. Plants range in height from 1 - 3 feet (depending on variety)and make excellent dried flowers.

Happy Mother's Day to me! (Thanks Honey!)

A new item for my landscape! (update)

Awww... Spring is here! I am so enjoying the 60 & 70 degree weather that has finally arrived the last couple days in Northern Indiana! I realize how much I have missed being outdoors enjoying my yard, landscape and gardens!

I've been making all my outdoor garden & landscape plans for the season.
Last summer I was on a hunt for a trellis or planter of some sort to put between some outdoor furniture I have in front of my home. The space was just begging for something! We have a lot of mature landscape in front of our home. However, there was one bush that had outgrown the space and we sadly had to remove it. In it's place I sat two chairs for my husband and I to enjoy sitting out in on nice summer evenings. However, the area looked quite bare without the large shrub that had occupied the area. I am so happy to have found just the right item to place in that empty space that was begging for something! I will soon be receiving the planter pictured below from Teak, Wicker & More. It is 36" tall and 32" wide and will fit the space quite well. I look forward to receiving it and planting some flowers in it!

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May 6th - UPDATE
Review of the planter from Teak, Wicker, and More:

I was happy to receive the planter this week! It was so easy to assemble - no tools were required! I had it together in less than 5 minutes. It holds 80 pounds of soil and once the soil was in place I found it to be very sturdy. I was happy to get some Marigolds, Salvia, and Celosia planted in it yesterday. Right now they are a bit short in the planter but over the summer they should fill it out quite well. Next year I may consider planting a Clematis or a miniature Rose bush in it to take better advantage of the trellis! Great product.

Time to plant tomato seeds indoors!

Now is a great time to get tomato seeds started indoors! This morning my daughters and I planted Roma tomato seeds in one pot and Jubilee Tomato seeds in two pots. We will transplant them out into the raised garden bed in mid May.


TOMATO, ROMA VFN
"A heavy-yielding variety used for preserves, solid-pack canning, tomato paste and puree. Very little juice and of mild flavor. Determinate, large plants have good leaf cover. Disease resistant."






TOMATO, JUBILEE
"An All-American Selection! Golden-orange fruits have a mild, non-acid flavor. They are large, globular and smooth with a meaty thick-walled interior. Few seeds. High in vitamins A and C. Indeterminate."

Anxiously awaiting gardening season 2009!

I am so excited that gardening season will soon be upon me! So excited that even though it is still cold and somewhat bleak here in Northern Indiana (snowing!) I already have my garden soil loosened up and my tomato cages in place! :) I just couldn't wait.

What I am planting this year:

Dwarf Apple tree
(2) High Bush Blueberry bushes
Spinach
Lettuce
Peas
3 Tomato Plants
More strawberries
Zucchini
Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes
Green Beans (bush variety and pole variety)
Okra
Maybe a couple pepper plants

My new Raised Garden Bed...

My husband recently completed my raised garden bed! (Thanks honey!) He did such a great job. I am so pleased with it. I can't wait to plant in it next spring.

PROJECT Begins: (at the very back of our yard)


AFTER Completed: (just awaiting more soil)

Craft with the Kids - Milk jug bird feeder

I just came across a very simple method for making a bird feeder with children. An adult or older child is needed for doing the cutting into the milk carton but younger children could also help by rinsing out the milk jug, helping poke the sticks in the holes for the perches & helping put the bird seed in.

You likely have the needed supplies for this project right now in your home & garage!
Click below for link with directions and illustration:
Milk Jug bird feeder
I'm going to make one today with my daughters.

Growing Apple Trees in Indiana

Now is the time of year for planting apple trees! We are on the hunt for the perfect apple tree for our yard. In doing research today I came across some very helpful links related to apple trees in Indiana (see links below). I also learned that crabapple trees can cross polinate apple trees! (Yeah! We already have a Sargent Crabapple Tree in our yard.)

How to grow pest free-organic apples

Pollination of Fruit Trees

Apple Tree Cultivars information for Indiana

Starting a compost pile

I am starting my own compost pile. If you don't already have a garden compost pile or bin I found the following link to be very helpful:

Compost Tips

New project: Making a raised garden bed

I am excited to soon be adding a raised garden bed for next year!
My husband is going to be adding some much needed drainage pipe to our yard and we came up with a productive use for the extra soil!

We are going use landscape timbers to make a raised garden bed in the area where our girl's playset use to sit. After we have constructed the raised garden bed we can then dump the extra soil right in!
The following is good video on making a raised garden bed.