tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66945978854686042002024-02-20T02:50:47.291-05:00See Jane dig.This is the diary of a girl and her garden.janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02970114848460567528noreply@blogger.comBlogger47125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6694597885468604200.post-50893712807982976942010-06-14T22:50:00.002-04:002010-06-14T22:54:07.298-04:00A Change of AddressI've finally done it. I now own See Jane Dig. All future updates of our adventures in gardening on the Lot will be posted there. The past posts here will eventually be shuffled over to the new address. I'm going to take Word Press for a spin and see how I like it.janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02970114848460567528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6694597885468604200.post-84381615768862229572010-05-31T22:06:00.002-04:002010-05-31T22:53:35.849-04:00Memorial Maintenence Marathon: Part 3This (very early) morning started with a huge bang as the first set of seasonal thunderstorms rumbled through the area. After comforting one of our four-legged garden helpers, I tried to get some more sleep. No such luck as yet another storm came through. And another. We decided to spend the morning inside and complete all those house chores I like to forget about if I can be outside in the janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02970114848460567528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6694597885468604200.post-20193947453847559202010-05-30T21:52:00.003-04:002010-05-30T22:20:10.022-04:00Memorial Maintenence Marathon: Part 2Today I was out of bed at 7am so I could get some pre-heat wave work done in the garden. Progress was made until we had to leave at 10am. When we returned home around noon, the weather was unbearably hot and humid (for Zone 5). Siesta time! Unfortunately, I was shutdown until around 5pm. Laundry has to get done sometime I guess.Nevertheless, here's what was accomplished today:all yellowed spring janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02970114848460567528noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6694597885468604200.post-326723605658216162010-05-29T21:24:00.001-04:002010-05-30T22:21:07.663-04:00Memorial Maintenence Marathon: Part 1This week I've been creating a list of things to do in the garden. Since there is an extra day because of the holiday weekend, I thought I'd get tons of things I've been neglecting. After all, spring is passing and summer is just beginning. The bleeding heart blooms are starting to fade and the blanket flower has it's buds. There's a subtle changing of the guard happening in the garden right now janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02970114848460567528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6694597885468604200.post-49713228414413338342010-05-28T21:49:00.005-04:002010-05-28T23:11:38.665-04:00How Could I Forget?!Last spring when I was planning Loki's flowerbed, I thought it would be nice to have a swash of forget-me-nots in the front corner.This is me at the beginning of June 2009:"What adorable flowers. I'll dump a seed packet of these small annuals in the front corner behind the violas. They are dainty, sweet little blooms that will look nice with the violas and hosta, but also contrast nicely with janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02970114848460567528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6694597885468604200.post-54176238222656607232010-05-23T21:19:00.003-04:002010-05-29T00:11:16.308-04:00Pfingstrose and the PergolaToday was Pentacost, a holiday in the Christian church marking the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to the apostles. While we were out in the garden, Mom G told me in Germany the peony is referred to as the Pfingstrose or the "Pentecost Rose" since the plants tend to bloom on Pentecost. My first peony bush of three began opening about three days ago and is now full of very pale pink, baby janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02970114848460567528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6694597885468604200.post-79546543864272615512010-04-06T22:30:00.004-04:002010-04-10T09:18:44.385-04:00The Dirt on Dirt: Texture & StructureI've been attending a free gardening series held in area during the spring and fall. Yesterday was the first class of the 2010 spring series. It was a presentation on soil by Kathy Rohm. Being a fledgling gardener, I did not know so many things could be said about dirt. The presenter did a fantastic job. Here is some info she shared with us on soil texture and structure.Soil Texture: the size of janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02970114848460567528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6694597885468604200.post-53861719727473228442010-04-03T20:31:00.004-04:002010-04-10T08:14:54.105-04:00Veggies Version 1.0We've done it! My Better Half and I planted our first round of vegetables in the new, raised beds we built last fall. Putting our trust in Weather.com, we made sure to head outside first thing in the morning to plant. That afternoon, our area was to receive some spring rainshowers.After reading about a few different backyard, veggie gardening techniques, we settled on a mix of Lasagna Gardening janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02970114848460567528noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6694597885468604200.post-45115733968017193372010-04-01T21:35:00.002-04:002010-04-01T22:04:12.966-04:00App Envy and Prepping BedsOne of my gardening friends, Mrs. R, just shared a new app with me she had purchased for her iPhone. It's a gardening app, developed by NanoSoft, called iGarden. It only took a few flips through the features before I coveted it. The App is reviewed here on Doug Green's Garden blog. I think he has some valid points on what could potentially be viewed as shortfalls of the software. However, seeing janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02970114848460567528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6694597885468604200.post-57561339115121322742010-03-28T21:18:00.002-04:002010-04-01T21:35:30.100-04:00Mother Nature, are you being sneaky?I checked in the front, South bed today and my daffodils are in bloom. What?! This warm weather is really stirring up the activity on the lot. When I checked my post for my daffodils last year, they had bloomed around the end of April. Are they early this year?...or maybe last year they were late? It's going to be fun comparing my growing notes and garden photos from this year to the previous.Thejanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02970114848460567528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6694597885468604200.post-38695789942601684152010-03-21T21:13:00.003-04:002010-03-21T21:51:20.125-04:00The Other Shoe DropsMarch 20th is the first day of spring. I exclaimed this while my Better Half and I were munching on breakfast yesterday morning. We both looked out the window into our backyard, looked at each other and started to laugh. It was snowing.Last year at the beginning of March, all the snow melted away and temperatures reached into the upper fifties. This year during mid-March, temperatures warmed in janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02970114848460567528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6694597885468604200.post-7068613813797630922009-12-04T08:55:00.002-05:002009-12-04T08:58:58.156-05:00Holy frozen, atmospheric water vapor, Batman!Overnight. Bam! It’s here. Another beautiful Michigan winter. It sprinkled a little bit the evening of Thanksgiving so there was a dusting of snow on the cars the following morning. Now it’s time to get serious. Is the garden completely ready? Of course not!janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02970114848460567528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6694597885468604200.post-48621251408866630622009-09-16T23:37:00.003-04:002009-09-16T23:48:50.142-04:00Garlic: A Veggie BulbAs fall draws near, my Better Half has been asking about planting garlic. He loves garlic. I love garlic. Garlic does not love me. However, after sampling some of Mr. L’s homegrown garlic, I am going to make the attempt to grow it.Here in Zone 5, it is recommended to plant garlic six weeks before the ground freezes. Bulbs should be purchased from nurseries or catalogs because store-bought garlic janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02970114848460567528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6694597885468604200.post-392310039970062742009-09-04T22:03:00.002-04:002009-09-04T22:27:57.754-04:00Tick, tick, tick...With fall setting in and blooming periods winding down, I'm finding myself doing a lot of research on individual plants on our lot. Should I deadhead? Prune? How do I get this plant ready for fall and eventually winter? My most recent research subject is our Moonbeam coreopsis (tickweed or tickseed). This version of coreopsis is a threadleaf ground cover with tons of small, daisy-like blooms. janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02970114848460567528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6694597885468604200.post-72555355315076645282009-09-04T21:19:00.002-04:002009-09-04T21:54:36.904-04:00Don’t BotherThe astilbe (false spirea, false goat's beard) in the gate bed has had spent blooms on it for awhile, so I did a bit of research to see how to deadhead it. Apparently, there is no point in deadheading astilbe other than redirecting the plant's energy into root growth instead of seeds. Unlike a lot of other perennials, the plant will not respond by producing more blooms. Other plants with the samejanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02970114848460567528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6694597885468604200.post-9883360308248303372009-08-18T22:52:00.007-04:002010-03-21T22:39:12.700-04:00Flowers Made from MoonsIt started when we were at the Farmers’ Market at the end of last summer and I spotted a moonflower (Datura) plant at one of the booths. It had a single, huge, beautiful bloom on it. Miss A had grown Moonflower vines before, which are actually not Datura, but Ipomoea (belonging to the morning glory family). The last time I've seen a moonflower plant/bush was in my grandmother's garden when I was janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02970114848460567528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6694597885468604200.post-13356110419751101672009-08-12T23:00:00.003-04:002009-08-12T23:24:24.203-04:00Deadheading DragonsI purchased both white and red snapdragons this year for the white, black and red bed. After dutifully planting them in a sporadic grouping, I was rewarded the next morning by all plants being nibbled down to bare remnants. Blast! I was not a happy, fledgling gardener. After writing the plants off as having to be replaced, I was pleasantly surprised when they bounced back without any aid from me.janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02970114848460567528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6694597885468604200.post-4391406163350730352009-08-10T21:03:00.004-04:002009-08-10T21:31:41.814-04:00How to Prune the Rose CampionThis is the second season I have a rose campion (Lychnis coronaria) on the lot. It is nestled along the left edge of the backyard bed. This plant came to us from a co-worker’s daughter’s garden early summer of last year. The plant offers a burst of five-petaled magenta flowers on silvery, felted stalks. The rose campion has been blooming since the beginning of June. I do not know how I should janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02970114848460567528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6694597885468604200.post-51165436797346741172009-07-29T19:11:00.000-04:002010-01-31T22:48:59.642-05:00Fieldtrip: United States Botanic GardenMy Better Half and I traveled to D.C. to attend a wedding and to visit some friends. The trip was a whole lot of fun. However, in a city oozing American History, one of my favorite stops was the United States Botanic Garden.The gardens were absolutely beautiful, with both interior and exterior exhibits. I couldn't take enough pictures! Here is a very brief overview of the exterior gardens. All ofjanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02970114848460567528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6694597885468604200.post-49273041093236472292009-06-27T22:30:00.016-04:002010-02-15T22:28:10.272-05:00Garden Tour & IdeasTouringMiss A and I went on a local garden tour this past weekend. In addition to suffering extreme garden envy on several occasions, I snapped tons of photos. These are simple ideas I’d love to incorporate into our lot.I like how this container is nested in a sea of ground cover. What a simple, fun way to add a splash of color and also create height. This seems to be ideal for annuals so the janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02970114848460567528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6694597885468604200.post-32942923363218342112009-06-17T22:49:00.005-04:002009-06-30T19:13:35.569-04:00Exhibitionists in the Garden!Oi with the bugs! This year I’m having a heck of a time with insects. I am aware I should take care not to harm helpful insects, but whoever chews through the plant leaves and lays eggs in the budding flowers are not considered good guys. Maybe this year I am more aware of them.Anyway, I was admiring the hollyhocks a few days ago. They are about five feet high and ready to tilt their heads up to janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02970114848460567528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6694597885468604200.post-65051662560277999492009-06-16T20:21:00.003-04:002009-06-27T16:58:38.008-04:00Bites & BelmishesOne thing I’ve found very annoying about gardening is the fact that plants get sick. I know, there is no such thing as easy, non-maintenance gardening. I am also willing to work for beautiful plants. But, it doesn't change the fact I fret and even get grumpy about plants being chomped on or made ill.Both the catnip and the foxglove are showing such signs. I snapped pictures so I can try to puzzlejanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02970114848460567528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6694597885468604200.post-4636033821448441402009-06-09T18:51:00.001-04:002009-06-27T16:13:27.092-04:00Fieldtrip : John Ball ParkMy Better Half and I took a stroll this evening through John Ball Park. I believe volunteers from MSU’s master gardener program care for the landscaped sections of the park. As a result, it’s always a lovely place to visit with it’s very own rose garden.As mentioned before, I do not know much about the care of roses. That’ll have to change because boy, oh boy, are some of those plants pretty. I janehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02970114848460567528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6694597885468604200.post-49315144480276803342009-05-30T23:07:00.002-04:002009-06-26T18:51:30.840-04:00Roses?! Rock on.Yes! Both of the rose bushes on our lot have flower buds. These poor plants have been receiving threats from my better half and Miss A since the day we moved in. They didn't do anything last summer, preferring to concentrate their energy on hamstringing my husband while he mows and snatching pets away from neighbors. Could it be my promises of getting them a real, genuine big-rose-bush trellis tojanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02970114848460567528noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6694597885468604200.post-91946058559143610112009-05-18T18:13:00.002-04:002009-07-05T21:28:18.007-04:00One Year MarkThe tenth of this month marked our one year anniversary in our home. The lot has seemed to reset, with the Star of Bethlehem in full bloom in the front bed. I remember marveling at these little star-shaped flowers when hauling furniture to and fro from vehicles on moving day. They were the first flowers to greet us and they've returned en mass to celebrate our anniversary.I’ve also noticed in alljanehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02970114848460567528noreply@blogger.com0