Picture Log #2: Growth!

Here are my dying Bleeding Hearts:


My Calla Lilies that I totally cut back are coming along nicely, despite some brown around the edges!


Sorry this one is blurry, but here you'll see my Marigolds to the left, and my one Sage to the right:


What's the story, Morning Glory?


My first bit of mulching! Yeah, you can see the newspaper, I didn't want to overdo the mulch, but I probably have to put more:


Now for the front yard.







My poor Hydrangea:


The one of the two rose bushes that has blooms:


And just because, this is my favorite indoor plant we have, the Swiss Cheese plant:




In other news, I took out the Lavender and Columbine and planted those yesterday,

Snapdragons are sprouting!!! 2 in the tray where the Marigold, Sage, and Chives are, and about 4 in the big pot!

-sigh- Keeping fingers crossed for the Canterbury Bells...I really REALLY want those.

Also, I really want our other rose bush to bloom. I want to see the color.

Log #11: Mulch

6 Marigolds are fine.
1 Sage is fine.
2 Chives seem to still be doing well.
I cut a few branches from the Bleeding Hearts. Not sure if I want to cut it all the way back yet or not.
Cut off the blooms from the Hydrangea.
Pruned may of the frontyard flowers, and it seems to have helped a lot.

I just got back in from test mulching. I was in the mood to do some yard work. I weeded the parts that I originally weeded in Log #1 again because a few have popped back up.
Note: Applying spray weed killer and then weeding really helps.
After that, I decided to just rip strips of newspaper, and laid them down in a test area. I then put enough mulch to mostly cover the newspaper. I really like black colored mulch.

Not sure what's going on with the gardener. We're really tight on money as of late. -shrugs- Well, I said I wanted to do it on my own anyway, right?

Edit:
In the tray I planted, 2 Snapdragons actually emerged! I just noticed them today.

I replanted my Morning Glories in a bigger pot. I did the same with the Roma Tomatoes.

I'm wondering if I'll see any action from the Snapdragons and Canterbury Bells I replanted.

Log #10: Re-Potting

4-5 Marigolds are doing fine. I believe 1 or 2 died while I was in San Diego.
Only 1 Sage is growing.
1 Chive has popped up.
Planted Snapdragons and Canterbury Bells in two different pots. Canterbury Bells are in the tallest pot.
Calla Lilies are fine.
Bleeding Hearts are dead. I may cut them back to the root, but I'm not sure the spot is good for them anymore.
I may dump the two Easter Lilies I have growing [I did cut them back, not sure I want them anymore].
Fuchsia is okay. I believe it has a disease. While I was in Laguna Beach this weekend, the house next to use had a HUGE Fuchsia plant!It was pretty much a bush. Hum...
Hydrangea is dead as well, but they may pop back up if I cut them back a little.
Parsley is not growing at all.
Will be taking out the Columbine and Lavender seeds from the fridge soon.

Useful Tips From The YGG Forums

I just wanted to document this for later reference.

You know, I've been seriously considering looking up information on going to school for Horticulture. I should ask Siren, since she's doing it, but she hasn't been around. I've just noticed how excited and fascinated I am when I see what I've planted grow, and instead of getting angry about something I fucked up, I'm more interested in learning why I fucked up and what caused the plant to do it, and..etc. Who knows?

Anyway, TRANSPLATING TIPS:

-Blooms may droop due to transplant shock.

-Plant on drizzly or overcast days. Never plant in bright afternoon sun.

-Plant in the morning - so plants have a little time to acclimate to their new place before they also have to deal with chilly night time temps.

-Keep newly planted/transplanted plants well watered.

-I'm not sure about this, but I don't think you want to feed or fertilize newly planted plants right away, i think it's too much for them to deal with.

- expect plants to look a little crummy right after being transplanted, they need time to adjust.

-Try not to transplant when your plant is in full flowering mode - it needs to use all it's energy adjusting to it's new environment, so the blooms will suffer. Usually, the younger/smaller the plant is, the less it will suffer from transplant shock.

Log #9: Setback

Saturday afternoon, I left for San Diego, which is about an hour's drive south. I returned early evening of Sunday.

I watered everything before I left.

My Bleeding Hearts are very wilted.
The beautiful Hydrangea is completely wilted as well, something I honestly did not forsee.
My chives that were doing great wilted within a day. I'm not sure if they'll pop back up.

Everything else seems to be fine.

Also, another note, the rose I planted from what my brother picked is completely wilted and dying as well.

My Marigolds and Morning Glories are going strong.
My Sage is popping up as well.
I have one sprout from my Canterbury Bells.
My Roma Tomatoes got their first two blooms.

I'm surprised I have nothing from my Parsley.
I think if my Chives fail, I will just buy cuttings of Chives and Parsley. I'm also thinking about buying some Rosemary.

Log #8: Chives, Sage, Snapdragons, and Planting

About 5 Sage seedlings have emerged.

3-4 Chives.

2 Snapdragons [still very tiny].

Morning Glories are growing strong.

Roma Tomatoes are just fine.

Worried about Canterbury Bells and latest planting of Parsley.

Front yard I decided to plant the Bleeding Hearts in the shadiest place. Also planted beautiful and big, purple/blue Hydrangeas my mom won yesterday.

Cut off dead leaves on the bamboo plant and tropical plant.

We have a smaller Hydrangea plant that has pink blooms. I cut it in half and planted the other on the other side of the bush.

Am going to get rid of the mystery flowers.

Tomorrow I will probably finish rearranging front yard for my mom.

Hoping to get a hanging plant container and will plant the Fuchsia in that.

Picture Log #1: Pictures, anyone?

About fuckin time! I finally found the USB cable for my digital camera. Some of these are blurry for some reason. I'll take better ones later.. anyway..ahem, no further interruptions!

My Bleeding Hearts


Fuchsia/Fuschia...not sure on the spelling


Marigold Sprouts


Morning Glory


Roma Tomatoes


Rose Bush [already planted]


New Rose


w00t!

The Chives and Sage are too small to see yet. When they grow more, I'll update the pictures.

Log #7: Chives AND Sage!

Today I noticed 2-3 very tiny and thin sprouts from my Chives!!

I'm uber excited. AND Sage has about 2 tinier sprouts!.

WOO!

My Morning Glories and Marigolds are doing just fine, as well as my plants out on the porch.


Edit:

Planted new Parsley seeds in a bigger container.

My little brother brought home some roses he picked, but with a good amount of stem still attached, so I took a branch and planted them. They're not a terribly obnoxious pink like the other rose bush in the front.

There are now 4 sprouts for Chives and about 3 or 4 of Sage, though still in very early stages.

Log #6: What's The Story, Morning Glory?

The story starts right here in this pot:



These were planted May 6th, but were soaked for 24hrs previously, and then softly rubbed a bit with my nail file, and today, they popped up! I hope they do not regress like my Marigolds did.

Also, in the big tray I talked about, one of my Marigolds is starting to sprout.

This has really made my day.

My other trays, I uncovered them as well, since it seemed to work well for my other seeds.

My Bleeding Hearts are doing just great, and my Fuchsias are blooming nicely.

My Roma Tomatoes haven't seen much action, but I don't expect any for a while.

One of the two rosebushes out in the front has a bloom on it.....pink -gag- We have too many pink flowers out there, and the last color I like roses in is pink, unless it's a pale pink, in which case these are not.

Also aslo! I snipped my Calla Lilies back quite a bit. There were just little stumps in the pot. Inside of the stubs, new stems are starting to grow! I am really please with this as well.

-squeal-

Edit
2:50pm:

I just went out to check on the trays to make sure the sun wasn't drying them out, and WOW! My Morning Glories actually grew more! AND there's another Marigold that popped up!!

Log #5: Taken from YGG Forums

My mom talked to our gardener today. The weekend after next, he will be fussing with all the weeds and tilling in all the soil and cleaning up our backyard.

I really wanted to do this all by myself, but I guess this is probably for the best, though I feel it's an easy way out. Our backyard has been let go for so damned long, it probably would take more than just myself to fix it all up.

-sigh-

It'll give me time to fuss with my seeds, I guess. I'm getting worried about them, because only one Marigold has sprouted, and even that looks like it may be dying and I'm not sure why.

I still have a couple starter trays left, so I may plant a couple of the same seeds. I never chilled my lavender and columbine, which it says to do, so I'll be doing that.

I'm still feeling a little discouraged, though:(

=========================================

I suppose you all are right, but I was totally willing to do it all by myself, but my mom just thought it'd be a better idea to have someone else with some experience do it.

Our gardener is a really nice guy, so that makes it a bit easier to let it go...though I asked him about mulch/compost, and I'm not 100% sure he really understood, but that's okay. I'll do that myself so I feel like I've done something.

As far as my seeds go...well..I've started these:
Columbine
Sage
Parsley
Marigold
Lavender
Canterbury Bells
Snapdragon
Chives
What I'm going to plant tomorrow: Morning Glories
Cuttings/flowers I bought: Fuchsia, Bleeding Hearts, and Roma Tomatoes.

Maybe you guys can tell me if I'm doing something wrong with the seeds:
I bought starter trays [without the plastic top, I've been using cling wrap] and starter soil.
I only used 24 slots, each type of seed had 3 slots. They've been planted 2 weeks.
My Marigolds had popped up almost a week in, all 3 slots. The next day I look, and they all had died down. Then a day or two later, only one slot popped back up. Now, it's all wilted. I keep them moist, and do not believe I have overwatered them. I have had cling wrap over them, as well.
I live in SoCal, and the weather has been getting hot on somedays, and perfect on others. I mostly keep the trays indoors by the window in my kitchen, though sometimes I take them outside to get better sun, but bring them back in when I worry the sun is too hot.

Today [5-3-06], I planted all the same things, but differently.
I took a long, rectangular plastic tray, cut holes [not too big or too small] in the bottom for drainage, filled it mostly with MiracleGro potting mix and some of the lighter starter soil I bought with my trays.
I planted Sage, Chives, Snapdragon, Marigold, and Canterbury Bells in it. I'm leaving it uncovered and outside.
I'm soaking the Morning Glory and Parsley seeds right now [I was surprised on the Parsley packet it said to soak them] overnight, and will plant those tomorrow.
With the starter trays I originally used [I had some extra], I prepared the soil and planted the Lavender and Columbine. Now, I see that it would help if both were refrigerated for about 3 weeks [or so I've read].
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I'm worried there may be something wrong with my Fuchsias. I did some pruning this morning. I think I won't water it tomorrow.

btw, FUCHSIA is the correct spelling.

Log #4: Garden Design Woes

I'm in a bit over my head.

I bought Bleeding Hearts yesterday.

Fuschia and Bleeding Hearts need shade.

I realized my backyard isn't as shady as I had thought.

I am toying with the idea of making a makeshift tent so I can plant them where I want, and buy a trellis and grow a viney flower over it in hopes it will create shade.

I'm not giving up on my seeds yet. I will now document what kind of light each needs:

Chives: full sun
Parsley: full sun
Sage: full sun
Lavender: full sun
Marigolds: full sun
Canterbury: sunny to partial shade
Snapdragon: sunny to partial shade
Columbine: partial shade


I am thinking of replanting about 4 of them, though still keeping the others as well.