Blooming Tuesday

I wanted to show you our purple fence. We had some old lattice at our business and I took it from the thow away pile and painted it purple - this picture doesn't do it justice but it really looks great. On the other side is our shade garden/side yard with the pond etc. It is quite lovely.
I haven't had time this week to take many pictures - next week I will make up for it.

Also I have to share again - our next baby came! (2 grandbabies in 6 days - we have been busy!) WOO HOO! (see pix below)
Shay and Casey and baby Tate.

Have a wonderful Bloomin' Tuesday!I'm joining MsGreen "thumb" Jean for Bloomin' Tuesday! Come join in or see others!

Blooming Tuesday

Hi Girls,
Sorry I have been MIA - I have been working in mygarden and getting ready for 2 new grandchildren due this month. One daughter had her baby boy Sunday August 9 and another daughter is due any second!

Here are a few before and after pictures of the Beans

First picture after a heavy rainstorm in June.

Second picture yesterday

Corn after a huge rainstorm

Second picture - yesterday

Sqaush yesterday - I can't get the blogger to upload the before picture - sorry!

My tomatoe tree! It started out as a 12 inch plant. It is so happy and covered with green tomatoes.

A Beautiful Swing our Son In Law made us.....we love it and use it every night! He does this for a buisness and made us one - so sweet! .....of course I have to post a picture of our #4 grandson!

Our #5 grandson should be born anyday! WOO HOO

Blooming Tuesday - Spring Blossoms

Welcome to Blooming Tuesday!

This is a pictue of our back corner yard. The amazing pink tree in the back corner is in full bloom - it is amazing! It is a Hawthorn Tree. Next to it are the lilacs. Everywhere you walk in our neighborhood you can smell lilacs. It is amazing. You can see a few iris in the corner of the picture.

Here are a few of my Iris'. The purple ones are in the side of the picture above. They are in the cutting garden and the yellow ones are tucked in the Woodland in a dark spot - they really brighten it up!

As always, thanks to Jean at for hosting Blooming Tuesday. I love this day to look at everyone's gardens and how they are growing. Check out this link to see other participants http://msgreenthumbjean.blogspot.com/

Blooming Tuesday - Fruit Tree Blossoms

Our weather is all crazy - we had 60 mile an hour winds on Friday, it froze night Saturday Night and Monday it was 90*, today it is windey again. My poor plants! I am watering today like crazy.

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With the hot weather yesterday the blosssoms on the fruit tree's are all starting to open up.

Here are a few pix:

Cherry tree's in blossom.

A cherry blossom

An apple blossom

The apricots and plums haven't blossomed yet. I hope the frost on saturday night didn't hurt them.

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I also wanted to show you my newest bleeding heart. I am sorry to say I can't remember it's name, but it is supposed to be this lime color - isn't it awesome! My other bleeding hearts aren't in bloom yet. They are all the darker green leaf color.

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One more - our freshly tilled garden! WOO HOO You all know what I am going to be doing this week.

As always, thanks to Jean at for hosting Blooming Tuesday. I love this day to look at everyone's gardens and how they are growing. Check out this link to see other participants http://msgreenthumbjean.blogspot.com/

Stepping Stones - Yard Art - Blooming Tuesday

I am getting so excited to add to my yard "art". It has been really blowy and rainy this week (winds gusts today of 60 mph) so I haven't been able to get out much. I have been looking for yard art and working on a few creations. I will show those later, but wanted to share with you some of my stepping stones. Some I have made and some are gifts.

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First - this is what my husband gave me for Mother's Day, a beautiful geranium hanging basket and paint for my yard art! I am so excited!!! Shayla our #4 daughter made this to go in the hammock quadrant in the side yard/pond area.

This is in the grandchildren's garden - each has a stepping stone they helped me make.

Shayla made this for me last Mother's Day.

This is in the Oriental Garden in the Entry area

Garden of Sitting - next to the bench by the pond made by Mesha our oldest daughter.

Flower Stepping Stone - made by Kalea #3 daughter. These stones are what are used to walk up behind the pond.

This one was made with a little grandson helping me stick in marbles everywhere.
Another stepping stone used to step back into the garden when everything is up. Made by Shayla.
I taight a class last year of summer ideas to do with kids - this is one of the projects we did. Took a paver and painted a picture on it with "Patio Acrylic Paint".

All kinds of pictures of stepping stones –
http://familycrafts.about.com/od/steppingstones/ig/Garden-Stepping-Stone-Photos/

How To Make Stepping Stones
http://familycrafts.about.com/cs/steppingstones/a/040201c.htm

Blog with Stepping Stone Ideas
http://craftygardener.blogspot.com/2008/04/stepping-stones.html

Michael’s Stepping Stones Ideashttp://www.michaels.com/art/online/search?pageNumber=1&channel=0&search=yes&type=0&searchWords=stepping+stones&as_fid=1&x=15&y=11

As always, thanks to Jean at for hosting Blooming Tuesday. I love this day to look at everyone's gardens and how they are growing. Check out this link to see other participants http://msgreenthumbjean.blogspot.com/

We HAve Flowers!

WOO HOO! We have flowers starting to bloom in Idaho!

Here are the flowers starting to bloom. If the weather stays about where it is, there will be more next week!

These are the first of the tulips. As I have been around town, they are just starting to open up. You can see how tall the iris' are in the background.

This is candytuft from the Woodland Garden.

This is from the pond.

Thanks for letting me share - so happy to see the stirrings of color in our area!

As always, thanks to Jean at for hosting Blooming Tuesday. I love this day to look at everyone's gardens and how they are growing. Check out this link to see other participants http://msgreenthumbjean.blogspot.com/

Blooming Tuesday -

I keep promising tulip pix, but they are not opening because it is still a bit too cold for them. They are finally making heads. so are the violets and a ton of other things. Maybe next week if the temps will stay up like they are forecast to I can share some pictures of them!

We had another snow storm...this is how the daffodils looked - poor babies! I actually have about 6 different types of daffodils opened right now. They are all beautiful even with snow frosting!

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM MDT WEDNESDAY FOR SNOW... A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY MEANS THAT PERIODS OF SNOW WILL CAUSE TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES. BE PREPARED FOR SLIPPERY ROADS AND LIMITED VISIBILITIES...AND USE CAUTION WHILE DRIVING.

It causes gardening difficulties too!

As always, thanks to Jean at for hosting Blooming Tuesday. I love this day to look at everyone's gardens and how they are growing. Check out this link to see other participants http://msgreenthumbjean.blogspot.com/

Project Friday - Finally Spring is in Idaho and Fairy Gardens!

We have been cleaning out flower beds, getting the gardens ready and enjoying the daffodils! WOO HOO. I have quite a few theme gardens that are cleaned and green is popping up all over in them.

I wanted to add a fairy garden this year and we were able to get it started this week. But what started out as one garden has turned into a fairy neighborhood. I will update this on coming project Friday's as we complete it.

Our darling daughter is the chief architect for the first one. She still has lots to do and plants to add, but this is where it is right now:

This second one is being designed by our darling grandson who is almost four. He came today to help me put it together. It is about 3 feet to the right of the one above and next to the play yard.

When Wyatt was here a couple of days ago, he asked me if the fairies had come back yet. I told him they couldn't come back until we got their houses and yard ready for them. He is all excited to get it cleaned and ready for them to arrive.

Here are all the supplies we found around the house to use:

This is what we did this afternoon:

He is all done!

We still need to add some plants to the bare soil you can see. When Wyatt was playing in the play yard, the Fairies came to see their house, because the next time he checked it they had left sparkles all over the path and here and there.

In the Fairy Garden Neighborhood there is a secret place where wood used to be stored and the tree's and lilac bushes grew around it. We have a secret chair and table in there. We are going to paint them lime green and hang fun things also painted lime green from the tree's back in there.

Click here to see the whold post about the garden show with these ideas

We have a few more spots to add things fairy tingles to to finish our neighborhood, this has been so fun this spring!

Check out the other Project Friday Participants at http://sugarplumcottage.blogspot.com/

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Daffodils Are Starting To Bloom!

From Blooming Tuesday

I wanted to share with you a few of our daffodil's. The tulips aren't opened yet. You have to remember, that we had snow until Friday, so these little beauties are still just waking up!

Here is another:
and another.....

As always, thanks to Jean at for hosting Blooming Tuesday. I love this day to look at everyone's gardens and how they are growing. Check out this link to see other participants http://msgreenthumbjean.blogspot.com/

I Am Out Of Yard Shape!

We are under a winter storm watch, so it is really cold out today. we are supposed to have snow by tonight, with promises of the sun by Friday! That is why I spent yesterday in the cutting garden, clipping and cleaning and transplanting. I am pretty sore today and I love it!

I also widened my little planting area from 4 inches to 12 inches around the picket fence in the play yard and planted sweet peas. It has bricks etween it and the grass so it will be a cinch to mow around.

This is the area from last summer.

This is close up:

Next week I should have flowers I can share from this year! My daffodils and tulips are ready to pop.

Thanks to Jean at for hosting Blooming Tuesday. I love this day to look at everyone's gardens and how they are growing. Check out this link to see other participants http://msgreenthumbjean.blogspot.com/

50* In Idaho Today!

This week for Blooming Tuesday I want to show you a couple of pictures from last summer of a corner of the cutting garden and what I worked on today. The cutting garden is about 50 feet long and hosts a variety of flowers.

It was 50* out today - most of the snow melted from last weeks 3 blizzards and it is glorious!

Here are some pictures of some of the Hollyhocks:
From a distance:

This is a little closer (our 3rd daughter checking another flower- she is graduating from college in Horitculture in August.) Look just a little closer and you can see a bee inside.

This is how it looked this morning when I had the area about 1/2 cleaned out:

Thanks to Jean at for hosting Blooming Tuesday. I love this day to look at everyone's gardens and how they are growing. Check out this link to see other participants http://msgreenthumbjean.blogspot.com/

Blooming Tuesday- Entry Garden - March 31, 2009

We had a huge blizzard here over the weekend with snow and winds 35mph and gusts of 50 mph. Anyone in snow country knows that means it gets crazy!

I was going to show how much my iris and tulips were growing, but you can't see them!

Today I am sharing before and after from our entry garden.

This area is on the north side of our house. It is a little courtyard of sorts. I have struggled with this over the years. Finally about 3 years ago I figured it out! The first picture is 3 years ago when I started.

This second picture is last year and the plants finally starting to fill in. I still have one spot right in the front that I haven't been able to grow much in. I think it was the ice melt we were using and it was all getting scooted in that spot - so this year we changed that, I will see if it works! I added the gravel square because under this tree, the plants really struggled. It added the right ambience to the garden. The pots were a perfect add for a splash of color here.
This is the other side. This first picture was before.

This second picture is after I added a small raised bed last June - wow! That made a huge difference. I need to add some tall plants to the back and get the height up. I think also some hanging baskets would help it with the dimension.

The hosta's love it here! I am anxous to see how they do here now they have been in a season - thes hosta's were starts from other hosta's in the hosta bed. I will show that another time. (The rocks are where water comes of f the house when it rains. They work perfectly.

Thanks to Jean at for hosting Blooming Tuesday. I love this day to look at everyone's gardens and how they are growing and share in this carnival. Check out this link to see other participants http://msgreenthumbjean.blogspot.com/

March 24 - Blooming Tuesday

Thanks to Jean at for hosting Blooming Tuesday. I love this day to look at everyone's gardens and how they are growing and share in this carnival. Check out this link to see other participants http://msgreenthumbjean.blogspot.com/

We went to a garden show at BYU-Idaho on Saturday. I would lke to share some fun pix from that show with some cute yard decorating ideas.

Look at these darling chairs! So bright and fun - I have seen trellises that match these colors at the nurseries this spring. I think I am going to spray paint my old plastic chairs in these bright colors.I loved these brushes painted and hanging from tree's to match the chairs. You could paint any object and use it for decor and follow a color scheme.



Here is the blue and purple corner with blue flowers

This was an amazing pipe fountain - the water circulated and was colored blue

Here is the orange section - look at thes fun twigs bundled and spray painted orange. You could just throw them away at the end of the season.

An orange wind sock

This was a really neat gate that you could make.

Close up of the corner part

This is a picture looking through the foilage at our daugher and her husband. As a senior she was one of the people in charge this year of this show. (They are going to have a baby in August.) My husband is in the tan shirt - he has lost 40 lbs since January -doesn't he look great! (He has 40 lbs. to go.)

I Raked - 6 Feet At A Time

Thanks to Jean at for hosting Blooming Tuesday. I love this day to look at everyone's gardens and how they are growing and share in this carnival. Check out this link to see other participants http://msgreenthumbjean.blogspot.com/

Though I stil have snow in piles in the shade, I have a few spots that have been in the sun and things are coming up! I raked one side of our side yard area and raked all the leaves backa nd there are hundreds of green things coming up! It is cold again today but supposed to warm up the end of the week so I will rake some more.

Here is my picture of Saturday. Along the fence area we are going to get some rock up in the mountins about 30 mins from here and make a raised bed. It needs some height and more texture. We also want to add some lattice to the dividing fence where there are just frames right now you can see.

This picture is last summer of the same area.

This is looking at it from the other direction.

This garden area is a favorite of ours. It is right out the sliding door of our living room. You can see the pond in the corner and in thesummer, it is amazing out there. It is a shade garden and there are hundreds of shade plants.

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6 Feet at A Time
I have a friend who has a beautiful yard and works full time, is a duitiful grandmother, contributes to the community and her church. I asked her how did she keep up? She told me she works 6 feet at a time. She has a measuring stick that is 6 feet long and lays it down. She does that 6 feet. If she has time she does another 6 feet, if not she starts on it the next day.

Project Friday - Bird Houses

Thanks to Rose at Sugarplum Cottage for hosting this. Check out http://sugarplumcottage.blogspot.com/ to see the other participants.

Today I am making bird houses - this will be a project I will do for a few days. We still have piles of snow where there were drifts and my gardenshed is snowbound. My sweet friend Betty and I have been talking about making bird houses for our gardens. She lives around the corner from me and she made this one yesterday, I just have to show it off to everyone.
I will post mine as soon as it is made.

Vegetable Garden - March 9

Thanks to Jean at for hosting Blooming Tuesday. I love this day to look at everyone's gardens and what they are doing that sign up and share in this carnival. Check out this link to see other participants http://msgreenthumbjean.blogspot.com/

This week I am still working on my garden plans. I bought veggie seeds and some flower seeds on Friday.

Our local nursery has said that for the first time in 27 years gardening is making a huge comeback and they can't keep in their garden seeds. I decided I better go and get mine. I usually do it in March anyway because I have spring fever by then and it is fun to be in a nursery. I tried to find some herilom seeds because I plan to harvest seeds this fall.

We are in zone 4 so we have warm weather crops and cold weather crops.

The things that will be planted first (sometime in April are:Peas, lettuce, beets, radish, carrots, onions, etc.

The warm weather crops here are things like corn, beans, squash, pumpkins, zucchini, and things I buy that are started like peppers and tomatoes.

I like to dry some of these things so I get extra to do that. I also get an extra bag for next year and tuck it in my basement. I also have a can of heirloom seeds that are canned in case of survival situations.

Last summers garden

What to plant in my Herb Garden?

I typed this up a few days ago but wanted to share it for blooming Tuesday this week. When I can start making lists and plans like this it means that SPRING IS IMMINENT!!!!!

Thanks to Jean at Mrs. Green Thumb for hosting Blooming Tuesday - see her blog at http://msgreenthumbjean.blogspot.com/ to see other participants!

I have been planning our garden and yard this past week. I love this time of year to look at seed magazines and decide what is happening in our little garden.
I have been studying what type of herbs I want to plant and that can live in a zone 4. These are herbs that can be used for cullinary but have medicinal benefits as well.

Here is my list so far:
Basil - bite pain, cramps, nausea, indigestion, headache, fever, calmative
Dill - sedative, insomnia, gas, cramps,stress
Marjoram - nausea, toothache, sprains, joints
Mullein - skin irrations, burns, antiseptic
Parsley - blood sugar, bites, swelling, nerves
Peppermint - headaches, antiseptic, sinus/bronchial congestion. digestion, gas
Sage - depression, yeast or blood infection, congestion, diarhea, fever
Plants
Alfalfa - minerals, detox, builds blood, joints, diuretic (May plant along outside fence area)
Cayenne Peppers - antiseptic, sore throat, bleeding, ulcers, pain
Onion - sprins, respirtory congetsion, diabetes
Garlic - antibiotic, anti viral,adust blood pressure,
Dandelion - digestion, liver, blood sugar
There are other plants as well, but they can't be grown here, so I will need to either have ahouse plant or stock up on the herb.
Aloe Vera - speeds healing, antispetic, digestion, burns, skin ailments
Cinnamon - antibiotic, antiviral, antifungal, diabetes, ulcer, nausea, ulcers, cramps
Cloves - toothache, nausea, gas, mild depression, insect repellent
Ginger - great to take baths in when sick
Nutmeg - diarhea
Oats - nervous exhaustion, depression, shingles, eczema
Olive Leaf - antibiotic,anti viral, enerby, lower blood pressure

The Snow IS Melting!!!

I can not help myself - the snow is melting and I am so excited! I had to take a picture of my pond. The ice is gone for the first time in months and my fish are HUGE!

This is how it looked last fall, so excited to dig in the dirt again!

Thanks for Outdoor Wednesday to share this! Check out http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/ to see the other participants.

Waterless Pond and Rock Wall Idea

Thanks to Mrs. Green Thumb for hosting Blooming Tuesday - see her blog at http://msgreenthumbjean.blogspot.com/ to see other participants!

We spent last week in St. George , Utah where it is warm and very dessert. I loved this waterless pond and would love to put one like it in our entry area. (We are still under snow here.)

This rock wall was also at the house we stayed at. Here is apicture of a tall version, I took it to see more detail and a smaller height in the second picture.

I want to put a planter like this in our side yard.

Heading for ST. George, Utah

This weekend our #2 daughter is blessing our #3 grandson. We are leaving snowy Idaho to find the sun! It is 14* right now here and 43* there. I post again on February 23. See you next week!

The Side Yard - Before and After

Sorry scanner not working - I had to use my digital camera to get duplicate pictures.

This is our side yard. When we first moved in the tree's were small and we had grass. As the tree's got bigger the grass died and we had a mess. This is what we came up with and we all love it!

This is Before - Looking out to south into our back yard

Picture in about 2002

This is after we leveled it and added dirt

Picture in 2003 - Looking South

Picture in 2004 - Looking South

The picture at the top of the blog is from 2007 and is looking north into the same area from the other direction. More pictures at bottom of blog.

The Bistro - Before and After

Sorry scanner not working - I had to use my digistal camera to et duplicate pictures.

The area against the house on the south side had some plants growing. It was so hot against this side of the house they were the only thing that would grow. I don't know what they were as the people who lived here previously planted them.

I was looking out the window one day and realized we needed a place to eat our breakfast outside and a place I could read my scriptures in the sun in the mornings in the spring, summer and fall. One thoought led to another and the Bistro was born.

This is the best before picture I have of the area.

This is our after picture. I plant everything in here in pots and in the colors of red and yellow. I would like to put up a permanent covering this summer.

Play Yard / Back Fence Area Before and After

Sorry my scanner isn't working so I had to use my digital to duplicate pictures.

The back fence area started out as a few swigs in the ground against the split rail fence. Over the years the lilacs have grown and other shrubs and bushes.
One year we decided to make some theme gardens back there. Now we have the pergebo in the corner, the thinking spot, the miniature garden, the play yard and the fire pit.

Pictures of the Play Yard Area

This is just a few years after we moved in. I wish I would have taken better yard pictures, but all of our children were little and the pictures were more of the children. This pictures shows a bit what it was like.


This is a picture of the play house being painted and the play yard beginning to take shape.

2002

Pickett Fence added 2004

See below for current pictures

Cuttiing Garden Before and After

Cutting Garden Area - Before and After

This area against the house had huge juniper bushes. I don't have a great picture of what they were like before. Our daughter painted the house the spring of 2003 and the picture is taken then. We had a hard time keeping out the grass and spiders, which also meant we had spiders in the basement.

We took out the junipers in the summer of 2003 and put in the cutting garden. Most of the plants came from people who were thinning out their flower beds, so they mean alot to me.

I love this garden, I can see it through our daylight basement windows and it is beautiful. Every plant is a perennial for our area. It changes week to week from bulbs in the spring to asters and mums in the fall. I think I will try and take a picture every couple of weeks this summer.

I couldn't get my scanner to work so I had to use my digital camera to take the pictures of before. So they aren't really clear. My apologies.

Summer 2003

Cleaned Out - We planted things in the fall of 2003
This is the summer of 2004 This is the spring of 2007

I am Dreaming of Spring!

I have started looking through my books and magazines for ideas for our yard.......

Update on Geraniums I am Overwintering

My geraniums are doing great.

I have some in pots and they are all in full bloom. The others I took out of the ground, and put them bareroot into a box. I have been soaking them every 6 weeks. They are getting little green things on them. I am anxious to see them again in March when I am supposed to pot them.

So fun to experiment like this.

Update on Purple fountain Grass - January 13

Still doing great!

Update on Purple fountain Grass - December 10

It is the middle of December and my fountain grass is doing great! After Christmas I will take a pix and post it.

Over Wintering Purple Fountain Grass

Pictures above taken Oct1, 2008 - all my plants are looking pretty tired. In the wine barrel is a picture of the purple fountain grass I am trying to over winter.

I have to share this. I have tried to overwinter this grass for years and decided to give it one more try. I read that the grass likes a tropicla enviroment. So I thought maybe if I put a plastic bag over it, it will help. So I chopped it off to about 2 inches, watered it. put it in my south basement window (about 65*) and added a bag. It has been down there for 3 weeks and I have watered it once a week. When I checked it, it has new growth and looks great! I am so excited. Maybe I have finally found the secret.

Overwintering Geraniums

Getting My Plants Teady for Winter

Here in Idaho we are going to get our first hard freeze tomorrow night. It is quite late this year, but that is ok because our last snow was on June 12. That means we have had about 4 months of growing season.

I got a great article on the gardening list I am on called "At Home In The Garden" posted by Patty. It is about overwintering geraniums. I do a lot of geraniums each year because the add such nice color and are so easy to take care of. I usually bring in about 5 plants to over winter. This year, following this article I am going to pull them all in and try this.

Scroll down for the article.

Summer Project - A New Fence

We have needed a fence along the back of our property to help give us more privacy.

Last summer Mitch and Jonathan put in the posts.

This summer Jonathan put up 1/2 of the cedar fencing across the middle part of the yard.

Next year we will finish the rest...it is a really long fence!