New Tulips!

About 53 degrees today. Went out for a nice long run. It rained on me, but only for about two minutes. I didn't mind much. I knew we were expecting rain, so I took my hooded jacket with me. And besides. I won't melt.

After I got home from my run, I took a little look around the leafy/mulchy area to see if there were any signs of the tulips I planted last fall. And there were! They have reddish leaves and are just ever so slightly poking through the ground. They blend in really well with the ground because of their reddish hue. I took a quick picture of one of them...I'm just now noticing that it turned out a bit blurry. Oh well, you get the idea.



There are about a dozen of these little reddish nubs sticking out of the ground. I am just hoping they aren't disturbed by the 'gardeners' who trampled my tulips last year. I hope they come up slowly as we are expecting some cold nights this week. I think one night below freezing.

I really hated trying to protect all of my tulips last spring. It went on for what seemed to be every night for weeks and weeks. If they could all just take their time and come up once it's actually warm, that would be great. I am happy that the new Menard's tulips did actually come up. I guess they really were just on a different schedule.

Also, I have a mouse in my house!...kind of like bringing the outdoors in, but in a bad way.
Nothing has been disturbed in my kitchen or pantry, but I hear it scratching inside my kitchen walls. Generally not good. I've heard it the past three nights. I told the lady at the leasing office today...not sure what good will come of it. I think I should have to pay less rent if I have to share my apartment with a mouse!

More Window Shopping

This past week I've been doing lots of 'window shopping' of seeds and plants on line. I fill my shopping cart and then close the site. I know I could spend hundreds of dollars if I had less will power, yet even when window shopping I look for the best deals, the highest seed count per package and the buy one get one free specials. I already have plants coming for Mom's garden from MI Bulb and I've already bought seeds at Target. I also have seeds saved from last fall. I think if it was time to actually go out and plant I wouldn't be so tempted to buy more seeds, I would be busy with the planting and the growing and would be distracted from the buying and the shopping. I'm just glad I've been able to close the sites before buying or I would be hundreds of dollars in debt.

A Few Pics

Happy House Plant...it's blooming for the second time since I got it. It was a birthday gift from my friend's mom.

This is a very sad story about a pretty pink flower. I bought six little pink sundrops from MI bulb last spring. Put them in and they did wonderfully. Then the "gardeners" at my apartment complex pulled them out (did I mention they left the true weeds behind?). The little pink sundrops are no more.

Flower Boxes & Elf the Gnome

Mom came to visit Tuesday. We went out with my real estate agent and looked at ten houses. Sooo many to see. One of my favorites with a big yard is now pending to someone else :(
Mom brought me four flower boxes and the garden gnome with the creepy eyes.
The apartment complex came in to do inspections on Wednesday. I bet they were thrilled to see a big bag of dirt, flower pots, tools, and a garden gnome waiting patiently for spring in one corner of my living room. The garden gnome was in a cardboard box my dad labeled simply, 'ELF,' so the gnome's name will be Elf. She also brought me Easter goodies. I've already polished off the chocolate bunny and the Robin Eggs. Thank goodness I took the little chocolate bars to work to share.

Small Signs of Spring Poking Through

The only sprouts that remain alive are the popcorn sprouts, growing straight and tall and each has added an additional leaf.

Mom may be bringing me flower boxes this week. If so, I want to fill them with potting mix and set them outside to try a little winter sowing. I'm thinking plastic wrap may make the best cover if I just poke a few holes in it for ventilation. I figure it will be just like winter sowing in a container, except I won't have to transplant them. If it doesn't work, I can just plant again in May.

Little signs of spring outside...the tulips that came up too early last year have again come up a little too early for the freakish Indiana weather. No buds or blooms to freeze and die just yet. Just leaf tips, so hopefully no damage will be done. Still no sign of the tulips I planted last fall. I got them on sale at Menard's. I tossed a couple, but most looked good when I put them in. Since I haven't seen anything from them yet, I'm hoping they're just on a different internal schedule than the 'early bloomers' that have already appeared.


In the kitchen, I just tried my hand at split pea soup for the first time yesterday. Success! Just a bag of peas, three chopped carrots and three chopped potatoes (I left the skins on) some garlic, parsley, onion, and thyme. Two and a half hours latter, perfection. I am going to be eating split pea soup for quite some time though. It made a lot!

Also in my love of sprouting things from my kitchen, the seeds of the most fabulous grapefruit are now under a blanket of dirt in an empty pot. I should have taken more biology classes in high school because I love the experimental side of waiting to see what will happen. I bet most gardeners would make good scientists as every thing we plant is an experiment.

planted too soon

The little marigold sprout has died. The stem stayed straight and strong, but the seed leaves withered and turned brown. The lentils got very tall, maybe six inches, but now they are falling over limp. Only the popcorn sprouts remain green and growing in my windowsill. I bought Burpee seeds at Target yesterday. All for my mother's garden. Morning glory and Moon flower for the long fence. An heirloom sweet pea for the fence by the rose bush. Patio sweet pea for out on the corner by the little red fence. And zucchini because it called to me.

Sooo displeased

I checked back at the Purdue Extension/Master Gardener Classes website today.
They have their fall classes listed. ALL at times I CANNOT attend because of work. Soooo not happy with them!


Day Class
• Master Gardener Class #2008-3: Wednesdays,
October 1-December 10, 2008, 9:00am-4:00pm (one
hour lunch break), Purdue Extension-Marion County
Classroom, 6640 Intech Blvd., Indianapolis, IN
46278, 18 3-hour sessions, $95 registration fee.

Evening Class
• Master Gardener Class #2008-4: Mondays and
Wednesdays, October 1-December 10, 2008, 6:00-
9:00pm, Purdue Extension-Marion County
Classroom, 6640 Intech Blvd., Indianapolis, IN
46278, 18 3-hour sessions, $95 registration fee.

Plants to Try Wish List & New Plants for this Spring

PLANTS I'D LIKE TO TRY:
Iris
Roses (from cuttings)
Sweet Pea
Morning Glory & Moon Flower
Peony
Astilbe
Hosta
Bleeding Hearts
Foxglove
Daylily
Balloon Flower
Canterbury Bells
Bluebells

Tomatoes (from seed)
Cucumbers
Zucchini & other squash
Peas

PLANTED LAST FALL:
Maiden Pinks
Creeping Myrtle
Sedum
Mountain Lilies
Rembrandt Tulips
Hardy Glads

ARRIVING THIS SPRING:
Blue Hydrangea
Red and White Lilies
White Dragonflower
Red Coral Bells
Red Carnations
Rose of Sharon
Geranium
Asiatic Lilies

Master Gardening Classes

I was looking on the Purdue Extension site at their list of Master Gardening classes. They don't have their fall ones listed yet, but the ones that are over and currently going on look like they're at such inconvenient times. Inconvenient for me anyway. Even if I had known about them in time to register, I wouldn't have been able to go to the classes because they were all during my work times. :( I hope this isn't a sign of class schedules to come. I'm crossing my fingers that the ones in the fall will be at a time I can actually attend. I need to remember to keep checking the site to make sure they haven't posted the new dates/times.

Flower Boxes & a Garden Gnome

This year my mom has offered up her planter boxes and a garden gnome that mysteriously appeared on my parent's porch.

The big plus for the planters is that if/when I move, I can put them in the car and take them with me. Not that it would be awful to will my plants to the next inhabitant of my apartment, but I'd just like to have some instant color in my new home and for all of my hard work not to be left behind.

I was thinking of how many things I will need if I get a house: lawn mower, edger, rakes (garden and leaf), shovels (garden and snow). Right now, these are things I either don't need, or that are provided for me (courtesy of my dad's garage) when I go digging through my parents' flower beds.

waiting for spring

Living in an apartment with no garden to call my own, only a front stoop and some mulch they call 'landscaping' outside my door.

I've started spouting lentils and popcorn from my pantry as I'm desparate to see something grow during this gloomy time of year. Now that they've sprouted they've gone to live with the houseplants for lack of a better home.

I planted marigold seeds saved from last summer too. So far, only one has sprouted. I fear the others were hybrids and have no future.

Spring refuses to come and snow continues to come down and I long to see the tulips I planted below the mulch last fall. This year I will dig up the bulbs and hope I have a new home, new yard and new garden in which to bury them this fall.

About five lily's are sleeping below the mulch too. I don't be able to take them with me. Any potential move would happen while they are still growing - digging them up then might kill them.

I've been looking through seed and plant catalogues for months now, circling and planning, basically just window shopping. I would have no place to put them, besides I would be broke if I bought them all.

I have 50 dollars worth of plants, flowers, bulbs, and shrubs on order, scheduled to be delivered in May. I have broken the news to my mother that there will soon be an influx of plants to her yard. She's very good about letting me use her yard to experiment with new plants. Its unfortunate that she lives two hours away. If I get a house and a yard, with a little luck I'll be able to step out my back door and get my gardening fix whenever I want, without the two hour car ride.