Another Planting Day, May 13, 2012 - continued

 Another planting day at our house, continued.  Bruce then planted the hanging baskets into urns.  We like to re-pot them into urns for our patio.  The garden has evolved over the years and has mostly perennials etc in the borders.  The annuals go into containers and urns so they can be moved around the patio.  You can plant different plants each year as well. 

This is one plant that is growing on Bruce.  I did not like it at first but I must admit it seems to be growing on me as well.  This is Suncatcher Pink Lemonade Petunia.  To me yellow plants look chloritic -- when plants go yellow they are sick.  This petunia has a pink tinge to it which is rather pretty.  Bruce planted both of these Suncatcher Pink Lemonade Petunias in matching black pots.  They look rather good.

 

 Both of these are hanging baskets that were re-potted into urns.  We did not change anything, just re-potted.  Annuals are Rocky Mountain Pink Geraniums, Verbena Lanai Twister Pink & Callie Purple and White Calibrachoa.  They are called  'Bursting with Pinks'

Bruce re-potting the tropicals, PC Hibiscus Tricolour, PC Gardenia Standard & PC Mandevilla Bi-colour.  In the closeup photo you can actually see the black pot that the mandevilla is still in.  He just sunk the whole pot into another pot so we can bring in a smaller container for the winter.  This is an experiment so we will have to see how it works.

 Last but not least he planted the hanging basket fuschias into pots as well.  These fuschias are day-neutral which means that they do not need any particular day length to bloom.  There are hundreds of blooms on them.  I like fuschias but can never seem to get them to bloom.  I will love these.  I am not sure whether I like the pink or the red better, only time will tell.  The Lysimachia nummularia 'aurea' in the first pot came over the winter in the pot outdoors with no winter protection so Bruce decided to leave it there.

The strawberry urn of Honey Bee Petunias is settling in really well.  It is starting to look good.

Bruce also managed to find a place for my geocaching stepping stone.  Looks great in the the mulch

I really like the way Bruce positioned the plants on the path.  I am getting excited about gardening and summer.

 

---

Juleigh

Another Planting Day, May 13, 2012

Today was another planting day at our house.  Yes, it may be Mother's Day but that day is not celebrated in our house.  Mother's day is EVERYDAY!!  LOL!!  I spent a good portion of the afternoon in the front yard, hand pulling the weed veronica.  It has a very pretty blue flower but in the lawn it is not good.  This is the gift our neighbours have bestowed on us.  Ontario has a pesticide ban so you cannot use any chemicals on the lawn for getting rid of weeds so Bruce boasts he as a 'Weed Lady' that hand pulls all his weeds.  Guess who that is?  You got it ME!!  He even bought me a Dandelion digger a few years ago for digging out dandelions.  I don't think I will be put out of my job!!

These are the trays of plants that we needed to plant today.  We did get some of them done but not all.  Bruce started by re-potting the PC Hibiscus Tricolour -- 3 different coloured hibiscus with their stems twisted together.  He didn't take the hibiscus out of the pot just sunk the whole pot into another one.  This is because they have to be brought in for the winter.  We do not have a lot of room.  The hibiscus will have to go into the dining room so we don't want to have to bring in an enormous pot.  That goes for the PC Gardenia Standard & the PC Mandevilla Bi-colour.  Around the bottom of the plant Bruce planted annuals, sunshine impatiens & geraniums.  The pot they are planted in is an imitation plastic clay pot.

PC Gardenia Standard with Mango Sunshine Impatiens

PC Hibiscus Tricolour with geraniums

 He then went on to plant some of the other containers.  The yellow container is a Lego container minus the lid.  It was going out to the garbage when I rescued it as I thought we didn't have enough containers for our planting spree this year.  Bruce drilled holes in the bottom for drainage and now we have another planting container.  Remember to reuse before anything else.  You will never look at a container the same again!!

Here it is planted with geraniums.  The variety is 'Rocky Mountain Red' so the colour contrast is going to be phenomenal.  

A few of the pots finished and along the path.

---
Juleigh

President's Choice Insider's Report - Lawn & Garden

President's Choice Lawn & Garden Insider's Report event is in stores today, Friday, May 11, 2012.  Check out the back page of the flyer for 'bring home the TROPICS' as well as the other 'new' & 'exclusive to us in Canada'

PC Tropical Hibiscus Tricolour

After you have finished planting all those plants you have bought this spring for your garden, don't forget to bring your empty pots back to any PC Garden Centre to be recycled into new pots for next years season.

First implemented in 2008, the program enables gardeners to return empty plastic post and flats to PC Garden Centres and receive a $5 coupon* for a minimum of 25 pots or flats returned, to be redeemed when they spend a minimum of $50 on gardening products.  In 2010, Loblaws improved the program to include essentially any plastic plant container from any retailer.

Here's how it works: customers purchase plants, they return empty pots and flats to a PC Garden Centre, empty pots are shipped back to the greenhouse where they're reduced in a crusher, bales of plastic are formed and taken to the pot factory, the plastic is shredded to make pellets, then pellets are used to make new pots and flats, which are then filled with beautiful plants and flowers to take home.  Then the cycle starts again.

Milestones since the program was implemented

• Over 4 million pounds of plastic pots and flats recycle.
• More than $225,000 worth of coupons given out
• More than 20.1 million pounds of plastic pots and flats were collected in 2011, which is equal to the total amount collected in the previous three years.
• In 2010, Loblaw improved its program to include essentially any plastic plant container from any retailer.
 
*Coupon valid from May 11 – July 5, 2012. Coupons can be found at cash registers of participating Garden Centres.

Planting Day, May 6, 2012

Today was 'Planting Day' at our house.  Yes it is technically too early to plant in Southern Ontario but the soil temperature was 65 degrees F & that was 8 inches down.  We did plant the tomatoes but added the protection of individual greenhouses.















We left 2 spots for the tomatoes from Tree & Twig when we planted the tomatoes today.  We planted 10 plants, 8 tomatoes & 2 peppers.  The quantities and varieties are 2 Carolina Gold, 2 Golden Honey Bunch, 2 Ultra Sweet, 2 Marianna & 2 Kapelo peppers.  We left space for 1 Snow White & 1 Black Prince.  I am sure Bruce will pick up one more at Tree and Twig so there is a little space at the back of the vegetable garden.

My 'Hired Help' did all the planting and decided to plant some of the plants we have.  They were planted into a strawberry urn because that way we can bring them to under the eaves if there is chance of frost.  Bruce planted PC Honey Bee Petunia in the strawberry urn.  It looks wonderful.

The tray is the plants before they were planted in the strawberry urn.  The urn is on top of another clay pot so that it is higher in the garden and can be seen from the patio.

We actually got the youngest member of the family fertilizing all the perennials, small flowering shrubs & miniature roses.

I told Bruce we didn't have enough pots so he got the ones we have out of the garage and put them in the backyard for when he does the planting in the next couple of weeks.  Do you think we have enough?

This is the Cordyline that we planted  in a container last year.  Bruce put it in the garage to see if it would come over the winter.  Maybe it was the mild winter we had but it does look good!!

 

More planting days to follow!!

The Vegetable Gardener's Container Bible -- Book Review

The Vegetable Gardener's Container Bible by Edward C. Smith. As often as I have manned the Plant a Row booth at shows or given talks about Plant A Row I have heard the same statement every time “I don't have the space, just a patio, deck or balcony.” This book answers the question what can I grow on these inhospitable hard surfaces. Soften them up with bold and beautiful planter of vegetables, herbs and edible flowers and shoots.

The book gives you container ideas that are nutritious and colourful. But lets start at the beginning, The Vegetable Gardener's Container Bible covers pots, planting mixes, watering, fertilizing and bug control. I have always grown vegetables on my own balcony. Friends use to say driving down Finch Ave they could tell which apartment was mine. Even when I bought a house I have always done vegetable gardening in containers. When the children were small they loved harvesting the potatoes, Russian Banana—and others. Each child had their own vegetable box built for their height that grew taller as they did. I still grow herbs and sunflowers in containers. The sunflowers never fail to attract the gold finches.

Containers offer you less work such as digging & weeding with the reward of fresh, wholesome and nutritious food. This book will help you make it all happen on you patio, balcony or deck.

--

Bruce

Preserving The Canning & Freezing Guide for All Seasons -- Book Review

 

Preserving The Canning & Freezing Guide for All Seasons by Pat Crocker is a great resource. It starts off with Preserving Basics on Home Canning Equipment and Methods & then has step by step instructions with pictures on both the Boiling Water Method & the Pressure Canner Method. There is also a section on freezing. Preserving The Canning & Freezing Guide for All Seasons is also divided into the season, Spring, Summer, Fall & Winter.

Within the Season section, this book is further divided into the categories, Fruit & Vegetable. Subsections for each of the Fruits & Vegetables are the following:  Good Preserving Varieties, Purchasing/Storing, Good With, Preparation & Canning Instructions. There is also information on whether the fruit or vegetable can be frozen or not.  After these sections are recipes focusing on a particular fruit or vegetable.  This makes it easy for you to utilize the seasonal fruits and vegetables.

All in all a fabulous book for both the beginner and experienced canner.  Now I am going to have to expand my canning equipment & invest in a pressure canner.

--

Juleigh

The Green Roof Manual -- Book Review

The Green Roof Manual by Edmund C. Snodgrass and Linda McIntyre is an excellent book for the professional and the amateur who are considering a green roof option. Small or large this book covers the basics of green roofs and walks you through the economics, benefits, risk assessment, guidelines and standards. This book even covers weed control on your green roof. Ha ha you thought you could escape weeds by going up. Not a hope!!.

The first green roof I was ever on was the Chicago City Hall Green Roof. That day insects and butterflies were in evidence. Monarch butterflies in the middle of the Chicago skyscrapers was incredible to see (Roof Garden on Chicago's City Hall). The green roof industry is evolving so quickly that you will need to constantly keep up . The resources section of this green roof manual directs you to organizations to keep yo with the latest changes in both the United States and Canada.

This book get 4 stars because no book can keep up but you need to know and absorb the information before you can move on up.  For Small Green Roofs see review. Small Green Roofs Low Tech Options for Greener Living
--
Bruce