Things are starting to happen!

Hello All!

Today I got outside for a while and worked up a sweat cleaning up old twigs, berries and weeds from fall.  The garden areas were (and still are in some areas) FULL of that kind of stuff.  China Berry trees, while beautiful in form, have to be one of the worst garbage trees on the planet!  They have pretty flowers in the spring, but the rest of the year they are nothing but trouble!  Too much clean up!

Some things have already started happening for this year.  I planted some Daffodils into the ground in the front yard about three weeks ago, but as of yet nothing has come up.  I think that bulbs may have trouble in TX, as we don't really get a winter.  I think it's hard for them to determine what time it really is...Is it time to bloom, or just sprout?  I have lilies here that still have all their foliage on them from last year, and I'm wondering if they are going to bloom this year as well.

Of course the Bermuda Lilies (Easter Lilies) have started to come up.  I planted two bulbs last year after Easter, and I have 5 coming up this year.  I  think that they like the sandy soil, but I don't exactly know what to expect from them this year.  Will the ones that bloomed last year bloom this year?  I doubt that the babies will, but it will be fun to watch the older ones and see what happens.  Two weeks ago I planted some very nice Red and White Tulips in pots in the backyard too.  Much like other bulbs planted, they have not made an appearance at the top of the pot yet either.

A friend of Dana's (my partner) gave us some sort of plant for the garden last year.  I put it in pots and it never rebloomed, but rather just went wild with new growth.  This year it's starting to put out MASSES of flower stalks, and some of the flower stalks have little orange bells on them.  I sure wish I knew what these were.  I think that they are some form of Kolanchoe, but there are so many different varieties!  Can't wait to get some photos of these when they bloom!

A new pest type weed has come up in the garden this year.  It's the stinging nettle.  It's a small plant with a BIG bite.  If you've ever handled a "Jack in the Pulpit" plant before, then I can compare the pain from it to that.  Little else can compare.  I spent a good deal of time today trying to root that stuff out of the gardens and everywhere else I could find it, but the only way to touch the stuff without THICK gloves is to grab it by the bare root.  What a pain.  I think I got the majority up though.

Two new plants I've purchased for the Garden this year are Tall Snapdragons (best for use in cut flower arrangements) and Floribunda and Tea Roses.  One is called "Rosegold" and I cannot remember what the other is called, but it is supposed to be a deep purple rose.  I had thought that I'd bought the Peace rose, but a second look shows me that I did not.  I'm kind of glad...I like purple roses.  Another new thing that I'm going to try this year is growing roses from seed.  The nursing home where my Mother stays has a beautiful garden filled with rose bushes and tropical Hibiscus.  Yesterday I managed to snag a rose hip.  After some research I feel as though this is something that might be fun to try.  I will keep everyone posted on the progress of this.

I've also taken FOUR cuttings from the Tropical Hibiscus from the nursing home. I hate to mention this because right at this moment they look pretty bad.  I have them standing in a mix of Vermiculite, Perlite, and light seedling mixture.  Very fast draining stuff that retains a bit of moisture.  I have them covered with plastic soda bottles as well, so each is in a little greenhouse of sorts.   Wish me luck on this, but judging by the look of them today I'm not going to hold my breath.  Remember...I am an amateur, and most of the things in my garden blog here are experiments and fun things I do just for fun!

Well, I think I have you caught up for now.  I'll get to work on the camera and see if I can get that going again.  A computer crash about a month ago saw the loss of nearly all of my camera software.  Getting that stuff back is going to be a major endeavor!

That's all for now!  Happy Gardening!