Dirt, dirt, and more dirt

Hi there! 


Welcome to my blog about gardening. I've been having such a great time this summer, planting flowers and watching them grow. I really just wanted a place to share and store all of my trials, errors, successes, and flower failures :p. I started planting around the end of my, which was a little late but I still seem to be having some luck. Here are a few pictures of my very first attempt:

 This is a small area located on the west side of my garage. It gets 3-5 hours of afternoon sun. On the left I have impatiens. In the middle (the brown ones that look like they are dying) are Columbines. I brought them home from Colorado to see if they will grow here in Minnesota, as you can see they look pretty sad. I'm hoping next year they will come back since they are perennials. To the right I planted a TON of gladiolas....like, probably too many HAHA. But I'm hoping it will be gorgeous in a few months. 

Also in my backyard (the west part) I planted this nanking cherry bush. I don't expect it to do anything to fascinating this summer except grow....but here is a picture of it after it was planted. 

I bought it because it blooms white in early spring and will produce fruit in the summer. I'm excited because I'm hoping it will attract lots of butterflies and birds to my yard! 

Moving on to my east facing deck. The deck gets 6ish hours of morning sun a day. 

 I would like to introduce you to Elvis :) I found this cute little guy in Colorado vising my family for $6.95 and I had to have him. I have planted some pink and red geraniums inside him. They seem to be doing really well, I filled him completely with potting soil and they seem to like the easy drainage. 

These neat little plants are called coleus. I have them positioned
so they don't get TOO MUCH morning sun.  

Here's another snapshot of the deck. Here you can also see our
jalapeno plant (Mr. Peno) and our green pepper plant (Mr. Pepper)

AND.....

 On the other side of the deck you will find more gladiolas planted in the green pot and cana bulbs in the brown pot. The cana bulbs were also given to me by my mom. I thought they were a lost cause when i found out that i planted them WAY TOO DEEP. So i dug them up, kept the ones with shoots on them, and replanted them. We'll see what happens.....


MY TRACTOR TIRE!!! <3

I basically went through hell and back to get this stupid tire. But I got it and I love it! I'm really hoping the end of the summer it will be overflowing with flowers. The tire is in my front yard, which faces south. It gets sun pretty much all day accept int he late afternoon in evening, when it's shaded by a tree. 

 In the middle I planted pink, salmon, and red geraniums. On the right and left side a planted various colors of petunias. In the front I planted three snap dragons (love these!)

and in the back I planted three of the dug up cana bulbs. 

Lastly, I planted this honeysuckle vine - transplanted from Colorado. It should come back every year and climb all over our fence. Just like the cherry bush, I don't think it will do a ton this summer.

Lessons I've learned thus far:

1. DIRT DIRT AND MORE DIRT....don't attempt projects such as the tire without having dirt. 

2. Planting flowers isn't quick and easy. It takes lots of time and thought. 

3. Every zone is different. Make sure to check which zone you're in and recommendations for planting each type of flower, shrub, or vegetable (my cana bulbs are a great example)

Thanks for reading....my pics to come :)