I go MIA in Spring... but you can always find me in the garden. I get plant fever every year and if it's time to grow something outside then that's where you'll find me. Ever since I can remember, I've planted striped petunias, even if it's only one basket. I love red and white striped petunias and I always plant geraniums!
But it is turning out to be the year of the hydrangeas for me. I've had a few of the 'year of the roses', the 'year of the irises', the 'year of the hostas' and some years certain plants just take off and demand more attention. I planted two of the smallish hydrangeas about ten years ago when the prices were affordable, back when I occasionally paid full price for plants. One on each side of the porch steps but one of them died.
So I moved the other one over to the side of the mini-barn and that's where it's been, uneventfully surviving but not blooming all this time. One year I thought I saw a few sparse little pink blossoms on one stem... that was all it did that year.
But this year - boom! It is really blooming lots of flowers. Well, lots means about a dozen or so to me. So I figured "success" even though all I did different this year was water everything in my yard about every other day (or every day in high heat). That's all, just more water. Who knew? So I also mulched the plants really well to help keep the roots cool and keep them blooming. My water bill is going to be crazy, right? We need some rain!
So I figured this year "I'm on a roll" with hydrangeas since I discovered their secret. It only took me ten years... So I bought three more distressed plants on the half dead plant rack at Walmart (just in case my hydrangeas skills are a fluke) so I didn't spend a lot of money on them - in case they don't make it. But they are already putting out new leaf buds!
They were $8 apiece. Also, my neighbor gave me cuttings of her huge white hydrangeas to root. So root them I did. I also took cuttings off these four that I have now. Who can afford these prices, right?
I also decided to fill my annual garden boxes with geraniums in the sun and coleus in the shade next year. I've always bought flats of wax begonias and impatiens - not next year. I can winter geraniums over in bags in the attic or on the cement floor down stairs where it's cool and bring them back in the spring. I can easily propagate geraniums and make hundreds more if I want. So I bought the clearance rack of non blooming geraniums for mostly a dollar apiece because I know they will bloom again. I can keep them going year to year forever if I want. I won't be buying annuals next year. I plan to start my petunia, moss rose, tomato and herb seeds next February for next year's garden. I've got it all planned out.
These prices are making me feel like maybe I need to homestead because the economy feels like "the sky is falling" especially in the garden. I feel the pinch but I'm not quite ready to go off the grid just yet... but it's moved me to be a little more self-sufficient you might say. I also got the urge to make another batch of homemade laundry soap but I've been making laundry and bar soap for years anyway. I like to do that occasionally. It has nothing to do with the garden though except for helping to cut the high prices and I really love homemade goats milk soap.
I also dragged out my bread making machine from the utility pantry. The machine does it all. You put the ingredients in, push a few buttons and an hour or so later you have homemade bread. Have you seen the prices of bread lately? The seed bread can go over $5 a loaf! I love iced raisin bread... and Italian herb and cheese bread... but who can afford that? You can with a bread machine.
So I've been very busy in the garden propagating my own plants and taking cuttings of my flowers. I will not be buying flowers next year at these prices, unless it's off a distressed plant rack. I have put down cuttings from all the roses and the weigela in my yard. I also cut everything back hard early this Spring to encourage growth and bushiness.
I even have volunteer babies from my flowering pink almond bush now! All I can think of is that maybe some of the cutting tips were not raked up and just took root where they fell on the ground. Never had that happen before though. It's also a possibility that when I cut it back it thought it was going to die and sent out several shoots... it doesn't matter why. What matters is that I have a lot of flowering pink almond babies. YAY me!!
I've also started a compost bin out of an old Christmas storage bin from the attic. I'm going to use the compost in my garden. I didn't realize how many kitchen scraps we actually have been throwing away! Banana peels, egg shells, coffee grounds, carrot tops, junk mail, cardboard, leaves, straw... and all my vegetable scraps and peels and more is in my bin. Might as well put all that to good use making mulch for the garden. We just cleaned the gutters out and dumped all that leaf mold into the bin and gave it a churn for more composty goodness. YUM!
And I built a rain water capture and storage system for my garden out of a 32 gal trash can. You can learn how to do anything on YouTube. But... it hasn't rained in over two weeks now. The grass is getting crunchy... just waiting for the rain... still waiting... it's suppose to rain this week... it was suppose to rain last night but it didn't... still waiting... I can add more barrels to the system later if I need to. I'm ready for the rain now... still waiting... Come on! I have a rain barrel to fill!
I also found hanging baskets of petunias for five bucks at Meijers recently. And they were in really great shape, fully in bloom. The basket prices of flowers this year is just crazy - $16 to $29??? . So I got two baskets of pink petunias. What I like about these $5 baskets is that I can reuse them again next year. Aren't they pretty?
I've also dug up, divided and gifted my neighbor with two huge clumps of some monster three and a half foot hostas that I should have divided a few years ago. And I still have eight monster hostas just like this one scattered around the shady parts of the yard. They are all way too overgrown. They are huge. I've decided to move the hostas out to make more room for new hydrangeas. I'm so glad these biggies have shallow roots. They were pretty heavy though.
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I kept plenty of them for my shaded areas. I have them in three sizes and varieties that I'll grow out for a year or so and then move out into other parts of the yard. There is no shortage of hostas around here.
And I found out that you can use creeping jennys in the pond. So I planted a few pots of those up and just stuck them in the margins, pots, dirt and all. They are doing great and the plants help keep the algae away. I have not had an algae problem all summer once the first algae bloom in the Spring was done. I hit it with hydrogen peroxide and waited for the water lilies to cover the surface.
So I've been busy pruning, propagating, planting and moving stuff in the garden. I fell in love with little moss roses this year. I never knew how easy it was to propagate them. You just pinch off a stem, remove the lower leaves and stick them in the dirt. Keep them watered and you've got more plants in no time.
They even bloom in the bucket while they are propagating. You just can't stop them!
I'm starting to think I really have a magical green thumb this year. I feel like I can make unlimited plants from just a few. That's what I've been up to all this time. Just working in and enjoying my garden. Propagation is the best way to get more plants, not by paying these high store prices. It helps if you have neighbors that garden too so you can exchange plants and cuttings. But if not, just multiply your own plants whatever you have and plan on planting seeds early next year.
I don't think the prices are going to get any better any ways soon. I'm not a doomsday prepper but it doesn't hurt to cut your costs anywhere you can. You gotta pay for that gallon of gas, right?
