Bloom Where You’re Planted (or wherever)
Last summer when Mr Chiots and I were at a wedding, I spotted these lovely teeny tiny daisies blooming in the lawn. Some of them had gone to seed, so I picked a few seeds to try to sprout. When I got home, I planted them in a seed flat, but by fall nothing had germinated. I emptied the flat of soil onto the back hillside when I planted all those tulips.
Wouldn’t you know it, a month ago I spotted this one tiny little daisy blooming on the back hillside among the browning tulip foliage. It’s so sweet and so tiny.
Perhaps the seeds need to go through a cold spell before germinating, or maybe they just like dry sandy conditions. Isn’t that how gardening is, sometimes plants have a mind of their own, or we just don’t know what they really need.
Have you tried to start something from seed with no success and then had the plants start themselves when in the right spot?
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Saying Ahhhhh…..
Yesterday it drizzled sweet refreshing rain on the gardens of Chiot’s Run all day long. It had been three weeks since our last rain, my rain barrels coughed and sputtered last week and I was forced to use the sprinkler for the past week since temperatures were in the high 80’s and 90’s.
Here in Ohio we never seem to have a perfect spring, it’s either too cold and wet or too hot and dry. This spring is tending towards hot and dry, not great for all the brassicas in the garden. Looks like I’ll be getting some button heads on some of the broccoli because of the heat.
It’s funny how keenly aware of when and how much water fell the last time it rained. I have to laugh when I talk to someone who doesn’t garden and they complain about how much rain we’ve had this spring, when I know it’s been one of those really dry years.
Do you find yourself noticing different things as a gardener than other people do when it comes to the weather?
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Pausing for Peonies
Over the past couple years I’ve added about 15 peonies to my gardens. Some of them came from my mom, some of them I purchased. Most of them are just getting to the point where they’re starting to bloom and they’re stealing the show in the garden!
I simply love peonies. They’re so easy once established. I don’t really have to do much of anything to mine, every spring and fall they get a little chicken manure to keep them blooming beautifully. They’re drought resistant once established, I never have to worry about watering them during dry spells.
Unfortunately, the weather turned HOT as soon as they started blooming so they won’t last long in the garden. That’s OK, I’m taking lots of photos and enjoying them while they’re here.
How’s the weather in your garden?
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Friday Favorite: The Front Hillside Garden
Mr Chiots and I have lived here for ten years. I wasn’t much of a gardener when we purchased this little place so long ago. Even though I didn’t foresee myself becoming the avid gardener that I am now, I still added chicken manure and mulch to the flowerbeds each year. This is what our little house looked like when we bought it back in 2002:
This is the only photo I have, it’s from the survey they did when we purchased the house. I wasn’t much of a photographer back then, that hobby has evolved along with my love gardening. This is what it looks like now:
The first garden we started changing here at Chiot’s Run was our front hillside. Originally it had a few rocks in it and that was it, along with a very annoying ground cover. We gathered rocks and slowly built rock walls to terrace the front hillside. I planted Mediterranean Pink Heather, creeping thyme and a variety of other plants along with a few flowering trees.
This front hillside is finally coming into it’s own, though the trees are still small. This year the peonies I planted three years ago are blooming and starting to fill in. Later in the season these will be replaced with daisies, mint, floribunda roses and hopefully globe thistles blooming.
I want to encourage you to take lots of photos before you start any project. It’s good to take them every year as well. Here I am 10 years later wishing I had more photos of our house from the first five years we lived here.
Do you take lots of photos of projects along the way? Is there anything about your home or garden you wish you had more photos of?
Chiot’s Run Garden Tour
The Middle Garden
The Side Garden
The Front Hillside Garden
Mr Chiot’s Mailbox Garden
Garden Tour: The Front Garden
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High Mowing Seed Giveaway
A couple months ago, High Mowing Seeds asked to me to try some of their seeds in my Northeast Ohio garden. Since I love High Mowing and their organic seeds, I said sure. Then of course I asked for a giveaway for my blog.
I opted to have them send me a Heirloom Vegetable Collection which includes: Detroit Dark Red Beet • French Breakfast Radish • Red Russian Kale • Green Arrow Shell Peas • Yellow Crookneck Summer Squash • Rouge d’Hiver Red Romaine Lettuce • Boothby Blonde Cucumber • Ruby Red Chard • Red Cored Chantenay • Brandywine Tomato. I’m especially excited about trying the squash and cucumbers, bot new varieties for my garden.
They have a few other wonderful collections including:
- A Bee’s Garden Organic Seed Collection
- Garden Starter Organic Seed Collection
- Heirloom Vegetable Lover’s Collection
- Kid’s Garden Organic Seed Collection
- Kitchen Herbs Collection
- Easy Salad Greens Organic Seed Collection
- Summer of Sunflowers Organic Seed Collection
- Three Sisters Organic Seed Collection
Tell me in the comments which collection you’d like to grow in your garden and you’ll be entered to win that collection. Winner chosen, thanks to Random.org TJ from Humble Origins is the winner.
I love that High Mowing has a special Seed CSA in December where you can purchase seed shares at a reduced rate and use them to purchase seeds for the coming growing season. To keep up with what they’re doing, head on over to their Facebook Page.
So which seed collection would like to have for your garden?
