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!

Summer Project - Pergebo Floor

PERGEBO - Combination Pergoda and Gazebo = our Pergebo!

We have a corner in our back yard we have turned into a sitting area. It has a swing and air chair in it. I have wanted a stone floor in it. Casey, our son in-law said he would like to do it. So Shayla, Casey, Kalea and Ben found the rock east of town. Casey installed it. He did a great job!

In the winter when I have more time, I would like to post a picture history of each of the area's of our yard. It is quite amazing to see transformations of each area.

Summer Project - Tree Stump

In our side yard area we had a huge pine tree. We had to cut it down because it was planted to close to the foundation. It was rubbing against the house and ripping off shingles with it's branches. It was making the soil around it pretty sterile. Last summer we had it professionally cut down. It was a huge tree and a big job.

This summer, our son in law Ben decided he would like to dig it out. WHAT A PROJECT! It is out and I love having that area free from that stump. Below are pictures from that day.

Gardening In Idaho

It is fall and soon there will be a frost.
The snow will come soon and put all my flowers to sleep.

I took these pictures a couple of weeks ago so I can study them in about February and make garden plans for next spring and summer.

The pictures are at the very bottom of the page.

They include pictures of:
The side yard and pond
The hosta bed
The oriental entry garden
The heriloom garden
The veggie garden
The herb garden
The thinking spot
The play yard
The pergebo
The cutting garden
The bistro