Caladium

I bought Caladium tubers earlier this year because I thought that they looked so pretty and I wanted a dash of color in my yard. The colors on the package had nice pretty colors. I had tried to grow an elephant ear and it did not do well at all, so I was hesitant to get another leafy type plant. I know I grow coleus but I consider them different because all the ones I have are in pots, well I planted some of the Caladium in pots and others in the ground. The ones I planted in pots have come up and doing well I am happy to say. I just wonder when if or when the other ones are going to come up.

I have a China Lantern

Well it has taken a while but I finally have a China Lantern on my plant. It is suppose to get up to 26 inches tall which is about the height of it now. I planted the seed the beginning of March this year. I was told by several people that I was starting the seeds to early, but I anticipated that the weather would get warm sooner than normal (which it did). It does not really matter most of the plants grew just fine and considering the rabbit problem I have had to deal with I think that they have all done very well.

The China Lantern is in a container, because the dirt in my area is not the best in the world, It is very sandy. So if I want my plants to do well I have to confine the plants to containers. I do however have six rather large oak trees surrounding my house which shades my home very well but the drawback is that they just take what ever nutrients out of the soil and leave nothing for the other plants around them including the grass. If I keep the plants in containers that takes care of that problem. Sometimes I will even dig a hole in the ground and place the container in the hole, it looks like the plant is planted in the soil, even when it is not.

Starting plants in water

There are several ways to propagate plants. One of the ways that I have found the easiest is simply putting the plants in water. You take a pickle jar or olive jar, hey any kind of jar. I use glass jars, you don't have to use a glass jar but it helps keep track of how long the roots are and you can let that help determine when you can place the plant cutting in dirt. I usually use the cuttings from when I am prunning around the yard.

I did not want a leggy looking butterfly bush, I wanted a bush looking bush so I snipped the tallest sprig from the bush I had in the ground. After I snipped the sprig it started bushing out and it actually looked like a bush instead of a weed. Well I did not want to throw the cutting away so I placed it in water and it started growing roots. It does take several weeks maybe longer depending on the temperature in your house. I just place the jar with the cutting on my window seal and simply wait. I did the same with the coleus that I had. I will say the coleus rooted a lot faster than the butterfly bush. I purchased some pots off of eBay that came in earlier this week so and I am going to set aside a day for potting plants. I find working with plants relaxing and fun. I'll just have to find a place to put them when I'm done or someone to give them to.

Thrasher in a tree

I saw this bird in the back yard of my house. I have a tree that I call the bird feeder tree. All types of birds sit in this tree and yes they do fight in this tree. Near the tree I also have a birdbath. I guess you could say that this tree is the tree that all the birds come to. I've even seen the hummingbirds sitting in the tree, which to me is amazing since they seldom sit still.

This bird is called a brown thrasher, it measures around eleven inches from tip of bill to the tip of his tail, so he is somewhat larger than the birds that normally congregate at the bird feeders. The birds at the bird feeders are not worried because the brown thrasher eats insects, he's not about to take the bird seed they are eating, I guess he's looking for bugs which is a good thing. The more bugs he eats the less bugs there are going to be that eat the plants in my garden.

Rooting a Coleus

I cut off the tops of several of the coleus that I started from seed and placed them in water. As you can see they have roots. I am planning to place the rooted plants in some potting soil and keeping them through the winter. I have thought about selling them or giving them as gifts. At present I have quite a few of them outside. I know that I will not be able to keep them all inside over the winter but I am hopeful that I will be able to keep several.

2 Woodpeckers in the yard

I saw this and could not help myself. I had to take a picture because it is so rare that I see both the male and the female woodpecker out at the same time. I saw the youngster earlier this year but was not fast enough to get a picture. The male has a red hear and the female has a red and grey head.

Marigold plans for next year

Well I have been doing some research on marigolds and once again I have to say this flower is by far my favorite annual. Not only does it keep the rabbits away The articles I have read say it might even keep nematodes away as well as moles. Hey that and the face that they aren't a bad looking flower certainly does not hurt. I have decided to start a bunch of marigolds next year alongside a lot of other plants. I am planning to border just about everything I have with the pretty little flowers. I know I will probably need more room than I have but I will cross that bridge when I come to it. Even if they don't keep the nematodes away I know that they will keep the rabbits away and this year that has been a major problem I have been having. either way next year I will have a nice pretty flower garden that the rabbits won't eat, hopefully.

My Seattle Dahlia is blooming

Well the Dahlia I planted back in February has bloomed (truthfully it has several blooms on it). I can't help but admire this beautiful flower. It is a tuberous perennial actually. This is the first year that I ever planted one. I let my daughter pick it out. I was trying to get her to pick a pink or red color, but she was adiment. She wanted the yellow and white one. It if I'm not mistaken this one is called Seattle or something simular. As of now I am planning to get another one to plant next year. I already have a good idea of where I am going to plant it. I also plan to let my little girl choose the next one as well. I have absolutely no idea what color she will pick. I do know that she will pick a pretty one and the color will be what ever color is her favorite at the time.

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The rabbits stayed away

Well my little flower survived without being eaten by those nasty little rabbits. I can tell you one thing I am definitely going to plant tons of them next year. I have already been working the soil. You see the soil in my yard is very very dry and sandy. It needs to be build up so that it can grow something. I am hopeful that next year the yard will have flowers that I can me proud of. I am somewhat making a list of what to plant so far I can assure you that marigolds will without a doubt be the border.