It's plant shopping time! It's so much fun to go and see the huge selection of plants and flowers and pick out what we want for the season.
It might be flower shopping time but it's not flower planting time. I just heard we have a frost warning so they are all going into the greenhouse to wait for warmer days.
Seeds and plants are finally starting to pop up! Aaron's rhubarb is always one of the first to make an appearance.
Tomatoes are creeping along in the greenhouse.
I uncovered my patio planters to plant seeds and found a surprise spinach that sprouted!
I planted some more spinach.
And lettuce.
And my herbs. Excited for the peppermint. Typically I have only been able to find spearmint seeds so I was happy to discover these.
With all the rain we have had this summer, our little square foot gardens are growing at a rapid pace. Aaron built this awesome garden structure for tying up the tomato plants and holding up bird netting to keep the hungry squirrels out. He made it so that I can crank the pipes on top as the plants grow and tighten up the twine. Clever! These along with the other 20 tomato plants I have in pots will have us swimming in tomatoes.
Shamrocks, aka Oxalis, are my favorite house plant. What we call shamrocks (oxalis) here in the States is not the same shamrock plant in Ireland. It's close enough for me however. Shamrocks are a popular St. Patrick's Day symbol because each of the three leaves represents part of the Trinity. They say St. Patrick was the first one to make that analogy.
They are such a sturdy plant. I have let mine get too dry on many occasion and they died back. After some watering they always come back for me!
I got my first shamrock in 1998 when I got my first apartment. I still have that same shamrock plus three more! One is called a "Charmed Wine Oxalis" and has maroon leaves with lavender flowers.
When I saw Wegmans was selling them for St. Patrick's Day I couldn't help but get another one.
Oh Wegmans had Irish Moss, so I picked one of those up also! This Irish Moss should not be confused with the red algae that grows along the Atlantic coast, also called Irish Moss, Chondrus crispus or carrageen moss.
This Irish Moss is called Sagina subulata and makes a nice ground cover. It's not really a moss, but a plant. It looks really cute sitting next to my shamrock!
Remember the greenhouse Aaron got me for my birthday? We put it together a few weeks ago and I love it!
We had an unseasonably warm day today and I started filling it with plants.
I moved my celery from the garden inside and also planted some garlic.
My potted herbs will stay in the greenhouse over winter too.
I think I will try some other plants also, maybe lettuce? I really need to read up more on greenhouses. I'm dreaming about eating fresh homegrown veggies all winter which may be a tad unrealistic but we shall see.
I got this glass bauble at Crate and Barrel years ago and occasionally would put a flower bud in it. I spied some little air plants at Wegmans so I got one for it. I love seeing it hanging above the sink.
Next time I was at Wegmans I got a bigger one for one of my terrariums.
They are so easy to care for! You just give them a squirt of water with a spray bottle every once in awhile.
This week I saw one of my favorite local florists, Arenas has GIANT airplants. And I saw a twitter peep posted a pic of her tiny airplant.
It's funny how sometimes I take an interest in something and then I start to see it everywhere. I think the next big thing will be air plants!
We are home in PA for the weekend.
Checking out some of the trees and bushes around my Grandma's.
Tomorrow is the First Day of Spring!
This is how things go for me. I spy a box of gallon jars in my mom's basement. I get a bright idea to make a terrarium. I take all nine jars. Yes. i am making nine terrarriums. Here are the first two.
My grandma gave me the wee little Japanese maple tree for this terrarium. It was a little taller so I had to have the jar standing up.
I got the moss up in the mountains when I was home in PA.
The second one i was able to make on it's side.
I followed directions online with a layer of pebbles, charcoal and then soil.
Aaron is going to make me wooden stands for the jars that are on their sides.
It's the season for blooming, and despite the fact that Aaron has been chopping down all the shrubbery around the new house (as discussed in AaronSaysJennySays Blog) there are a few things that escaped his chainsaw.
I love our magnolia tree. It took forever to bloom and Aaron is already grumbling about all the petals that will fall and cover the ground, but I love it.
A straggly forsythia bush survived his reign of terror in the backyard and I brought a few branches inside.
Even Oscar is enjoying all the blooms!
After I got to meet Martha almost a year ago, I thought "Whelp, that's it."
Well, I didn't get to talk to her, but I did get to see her again since she was back in town for an Ad Council luncheon and to film the lilacs at Highland Park. (of course Tina and I hot footed it from the luncheon to the park to trail behind her and peek from behind the bushes at her and her film crew)
She just left all her lilac bushes at her recently sold Turkey Hill home, so they gave her several to take back with her. The mayor also declared today Martha Stewart Day. AND there is a lilac variety named after her.
The lilac segment will air on her show on Thursday.
Even though I only have furry children, I get to celebrate Mother's Day.
For breakfast Aaron made me a Dutch Baby with whipped cream and berries. It was buttery-licious!
Oscar and Stewie pooled their pennies together and bought me two Japanese Maples for the front yard. We went to our local Oriental Garden Supply where they have greenhouse after greenhouse of Japanese Maples to choose from. I picked a lacy red variety.
To end the day we went to the Lilac Festival to sniff the lilacs and eat vast quantities of kettle korn.
A good day for a puppy and kitty mom.
I got a Sylvester and Tweety cat grass kit for Christmas and since it doesn't look like spring outside, I thought I would plant some inside. It grows faster than Stewie can eat it. It doesn't help that he nibbles it ever so daintily.
I had some extra seeds so I planted them in an old coffee cup. I thought it was so cute I moved my little sage plant over into a coffee cup too.
