Showing posts with label Gardening. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gardening. Show all posts

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Springtime Gardening!

This morning we spent some time trying to get our garden in shape! It's tomato-planting season, and we actually managed to keep the sweet little tomatoes we started from seed alive, so in the ground they went! (Remember when we planted them and when they started to grow?) Here's my Big Boy Helper giving them a little drink:


I put some marigolds in with our tomatoes, and our gnome friend is standing guard.


The tomatoes are looking small, parched and sad already. They miss being inside our house. I sure hope they survive out there! (Ssssh... if they think it's bad now, please don't tell them what's in store for them come June...) I also got this little end bed ready to plant something - I can't decide what. In the past I've planted sedum - hens & chicks and such - but I'm thinking about small herbs this year, like some creeping thyme? It's a really small bed, though, so there's not room for much. Any suggestions? :-)


I already have some herbs throughout the yard, but I figure you can never have too many herbs, right? Here's a few... first my lavender bush, which has gotten quite large over the years!


Hello, oregano!


You're looking mighty perky, mint!


Good showing, chives!


Daddy also added some new sand to the sandbox, which made Carter quite happy.


Carter found a bug which he had to show me. Then he set him outside his sandbox and said "Go back to your home safely Mr. Sand Roly Poly, have a good day."


While I have you here visiting, I have to show you my honeysuckle coral vine, which is just about to bloom.


And my hydrangea - he always looks so happy and full of vigor at this time of year, but he's yet to make a flower for me. Which I'm sure is mostly due to the neglect I show him.


Ok, perhaps I should post this and try to Google "how to make hydrangea bloom in Texas" - maybe this will be his year!!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Thursday, March 25, 2010

A Trip to the Wildflower Center!

Today we were on a quest for butterflies! We decided to head down to the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center to see if we could find any! I hadn't been there in years, it was so nice to visit! Here are some photos...

As we walked in there was a VERY LARGE dragonfly there to greet us...


The ants were a little bit scary!


Hello, sweet bluebonnet.


Well, Courtney found a big butterfly! But should she be standing next to it? NO! She walked through a flowerbed to get there. I had to walk very gingerly around tiny plants to rescue her...


My own little bugs under a gorgeous vine...


Some more lovely flora...


Oooh, and some fauna!! Turtles!!


And finally... what we came in search of... one lone little butterfly! Yay for butterflies! (or is it a moth? I have no idea...)


The kids got to pick out a surprise in the giftshop. Courtney was VERY excited about her bugs!


Thanks for stopping by today!

Monday, February 22, 2010

Home grown tomatoes...

Home grown tomatoes, home grown tomatoes
What'd life be without home grown tomatoes?
There's only two things that money can't buy
That's true love and home grown tomatoes!

Remember the tomato seeds we planted last week? Look what Carter found this morning... I think the photos say it all!



Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Seeds!

After our fun party on Saturday, we've had a couple rough days around here. Carter came down with a fever Saturday night. When it still hadn't gone away by Monday, I decided to get him into the doctor. There we learned he has strep throat!! Boo! Yesterday wasn't pleasant, but I'm happy to report that he woke up today feeling MUCH better. So much better that we decided to do a little seed-starting project! It's actually a little late to be starting seeds here in Austin, but we're giving it a go anyway. Here are some photos...

Carter is so happy to be planting tomato seeds! We got some mixed cherry tomatoes - red, yellow & orange.Putting seed starter into the cups...After putting in the seeds, Carter sprayed them all with a little water...We put the seeds in the window so they get lots of light. Carter was very proud of his work!He asked me to put a chair next to the seeds so he could sit with them for a bit...Any guesses at what he was saying to the seeds? That's right - "grow little tunafish!" :-) Now let's keep our fingers crossed that they actually do grow!