Even Better at Night

First Big Snow of Winter 2009

First big snow. You can see all my flowers giving the snow a little texture out in front of the house.

Peppers (Part 2): Pepper Sauce

So, with many peppers around, we decided to try a new recipe. The recipe for pepper sauce, found here, only takes a few minutes. Put a handful of peppers, some peppercorns, garlic, and a pinch of salt in a jar, and cover in warm apple cider vinegar. Allow to cool, stopper, and keep in the fridge. In a few days the vinegar absorbs all the flavors and is ready for use.

We'll let you know how it turns out. Look for Peppers Part 3 for more pepper uses.

Fall Color

In the spring, my wife and I with the help of our daughters, planted 2 large river birch and a royal burgundy cherry in our backyard. These trees were mainly for summer shade and beauty, but I couldn't turn down the opportunity to show how beautiful the fall foliage colors are. The contrast between the yellow and red is quite striking. Over time, I think we'll have the best display of fall colors possible in such a small space.

Peppers (Part 1)

With the winter season taking its toll on my summer's plants, last weekend found my daughters and I gathering up our cayenne peppers. We picked a lot of red peppers, with some even starting to try on the vine. A few of the newer peppers were still green. Both can be eaten, according to online sources, though the green peppers have a milder flavor. Here are the pics of my helpers with the peppers. We got these from about 6 plants.

In part 2, I'll show you what we did with them.

Ragweed, Mums, and the Late Summer that didn't Happen

Ragweed pollen count is off the charts here, so my gardening activities are kept to a minimum.

My wife and daughters are picking tomatoes and every time we get a large batch we cut them up, boil them, run them through the food mill and cook them down with spices into tomato sauce. The sauce gets put into ziplock bags and stuck in the freezer. Of course, a little might get eaten on pasta on tomato sauce days. :-)

All the mums have arrived in green houses in the area. We bought some orange and purple ones to plant in the front flower beds. I like purple and orange for Halloween, and mums are usually in full bloom as it approaches.

The grass in my front yard is still green even without watering this year. The late summer heat and dry spell didn't hit us this year. The strange weather patterns of this summer lead to a cool, wet August. It seems to have been good for plants, but it makes it difficult to know what is doing well because of good gardening and what is doing well because of the atypical weather. It is very nice that I haven't had to worry about the trees I planted in spring. They have been well watered and are doing fine.

In the Family

It looks like the green thumb runs in the family -- second place in the plant contest.

Even More Peppers

Veggies

Veggies are really coming now. Not bad for an 8' x 12' garden.

My first tomatoes are starting to ripen.

My tomato plants have reached 6 feet in height from the ground now and the top are covered in new flowers.


Here you can see how well the horizontal tomato cages are working. The only maintenance is threaded side branches back into the mesh.


My pepper plants stand tall in front of the tomatoes. I have a couple bell pepper plants, and the rest split between banana peppers and cayenne peppers.


We picked the rest of the onions today. They seem to die earlier and get more weeds when I don't mulch with straw. Still, not a bad harvest -- some of the onions were 3" across.

Second harvest of peppers yesterday.


First harvest of peppers a couple of weeks ago.


My three helpers that help me pick veggies and pull weeds.

Zone 5 Fuchsias

Fuchsias are a beautiful flowering plant. My wife recently purchased a fuchsia hanging pot at a local nursery and I just love the mixed colors and the unique flowers. And so I began my quest for a zone 5 hardy fuchsia.

Reports online talk about zone 5 fuchsias but I find no mention of them actually being grown.

I checked at a nearby nursery and they said they had tried growing hardy fuchsias a few years ago, but they all died.

And so the quest continues.

Daylillies in Bloom

Happenings in the Garden

As June starts to take hold and temperatures rise, lots of new things are popping up.

The yucca plant is getting new growth and getting ready for flowers.



The garden is jumping but still looks pretty tidy. Unfortunately the weeds are jumping too.


Sweet williams are in bloom.



Our new red hot poker plant is getting ready to bloom.



Our little alcove of sweet williams and phlox is in full bloom.


My new rose hedge has already double in size.


Daylilly buds and coming.


The patches of clover we left for the bunnies are in bloom.


The purple clematis is blooming.


The perrenial blue veronica (I think that is what it is) out front is getting ready to bloom.

Spring Walk Around (Part 2)

There are always more things to see, so here are a few more stops in my garden.

This is a spot along my patio wall where I transplanted phlox and sweet williams last year. They seem to be taking off. Later in the year, we will be rearranging the plants for height and installing a water feature.


Out front, my two lilacs, a holly, hostas, and some spent tulips and daffodils stand together. Since these pictures were taken, the lilacs have started to bloom. After they are spent, I'll need to get out the trimmers to shape things up a bit.
A rogue bachelor button migrated out of my wife's cutting garden and around the corner into the landscape rocks. It seems to be doing well. I'll have to move it back when I get the chance.
I am trying a little Asian inspired growing this year with this hardy bamboo and japanese blood grass. I haven't grown either before and they are off to a bit of a slow start. I hope warm weather helps them along.

Sambuca "Black Lace" elderberry is a new addition. With a height of 8 feet, the black foliage with pink flowers should look nice in my wife's cutting garden.

Gnorm, the gnome, guards one of my boxwoods that are growing like crazy this spring.
Another boxwood stands in one of my beds that needs weeded.
The circle out by our front porch is greening up. With the shade it gets on the north side, the host lillies and hosta do awesome. I added astilbe this year for color. Daylillies and other flowers sit in the sunny part of the bed. In the center, I added my witchhazel this year.

Well, that is enough looking for now. More projects to come as planting season continues.

Spring Walk Around (Part 1)

Spring is my favorite time of year as all of the little surprises emerge from the ground. I like to just walk around and see what is going on.

My clematis is climbing and this year looks to be the best so far at the new house. After a problem last year with trellises breaking loose in spring storms, this year looks to be the first year my deck will be covered in vines and flowers.


My newly installed garden bench is also surrounded by clematis vine.


The garden is taking hold. Onions, lettuce, radishes, peppers, tomatoes, and peas are all greening up.

The cherry tree we planted a while back flowered and now is getting its burgundy leaves.

The two river birch we planted have taken hold and leafed out too.


A new rose hedge I put in from bare root is getting green. At full height these Robin Hood Roses should be around 6 feet of red wonder.

One of many Rose of Sharon I planted last year is leafing out. This one has been cut back as I prepare to grow it into a tree form over the next few years.


The silver mounds I planted last year came back. They are a stunning plant. Unfortunately, the flowers I planted with them didn't survive our arctic winter blast, so I'll have to fill in with annuals.


Our tulips were a big suprise this year with several new colors and varieties.


More to come.