Today I am covering the questions to ask yourself before planning and beginning a garden.These questions are very important because they will give you an idea as to what you are truly looking for and what your needs are.

1) Do you want a big garden or small garden?________________________

2) Do you want multiple gardens?__________________________________

3)Do you want to make your garden/gardens a major feature, or use it/them as a foreground for a wall, patio, walk or foundation?____________________________________________________

4) Do you want to showcase individual plants, or is the overview of the entire garden more important to you?______________________________

5)Do you want a big show of bloom for a specific season, of a smaller show that continues to bloom from spring through fall?_____________________

6)What time of the year would you most enjoy being in the garden/gardens?________________________________________________

7)Are there times of the growing season where you would most likely be away for a few weeks?___________________________________________

8)Do you want a high or low maintenace garden?_____________________

9)Do you have a favorite color scheme or do you prefer a mix of colors?________________________________________________________

10)Do you have any specific plants or flowers that you would like to see in your garden/gardens_____________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

11)Do you want lots of flowers to cut for fresh or dried arrangements or will you enjoy them mainly outside? _____________________________________________________________




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This is a list of questions to ask yourself before creating a garden or doing any kind of landscaping for that matter. This can be very helpful if you are looking to begin a new project. It took me quite some time to create this list, it is what I call my landscape needs checklist and that is just exactly what it is.




LANDSCAPE NEEDS CHECKLIST

Hide a foundation, or transform a dull or ugly foundation planting
Soften a wall or fence
Add color under a shade tree
Add interest along the front of a yard
Surround a terrace, patio or deck
Add color to a door yard
Soften the edges of a pool
Beautify a lamp post or mail box
Create a boundary
Hide a unattractive view or element like a utility pole or laundry line
Add splashes of color in the lawn
Fill a bare spot
Create a place to walk in the yard
Beautify a garage or outbuilding
Beautify A garage or outbuilding
Surround a bench, trellis , arbor or bower
Soften the outlines of a raised porch
Give a new home a more finished look
Create a period look for the home
Fill raised beds where vegetables once grew

That is a wrap for today....

My dog and I chilling in my jungle ,out of the sun. Example of enjoying your gardens....

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As important as it is to our health and well being as individuals to have flowers in our lives, the benefits of flowers and gardens to ourselves and others can reach greater distances then we might ever imagine.
You may never know how you have affected the people that walk by your garden each day. Maybe it will inspire a child who can look at the petal of a flower or provide happiness to the elderly people who can no longer do gardening themselves.
Since one of the most well known traits of a gardener is their prosperity for sharing, be it through seeds, divisions, advice opinions, information or experiences, you may very well start a chain reaction with your deeds.
Many people do not realize this , even though a lot of people do gardening as a leisure activity that the benefits from gardening are outstanding. Psychiatrists, doctors and physical therapists all agree that gardening is good for both mental stress and anxiety, that is not even mentioning the fact you are also getting good exercise in the process. You really only need to know the basics about gardening and you do not have to be an expert to be able to do it.
Not only is it good for your health and well being it is also a great way to express your artistic creativity because that is what I call a well put together garden, art. Why do you suppose so many artists/painters paint them, they are a thing of beauty a piece of art work themselves that you have created to your own liking, an expression of yourself. Any garner can and will be able to tell you the joy it can actually bring, however; I am not talking about weeding but that is most certainly not the plants fault.
Plants have survived millions of years with out us, so when you buy one follow the directions on the back but there is truly no need to go overboard. Find out what zone it grows best in, the kind of soil it likes, and where it prefers to be in the sun or shade. That is pretty much all you need to do other then plant it.
To get the most enjoyment out of gardening here are a few to tips to make it easier to be completely stress free so you can enjoy it not look at it like more work.
1) Pace yourself, spread out difficult projects overtime.
2) Say no to projects that do not fit into your time schedule.
3) Try to let your worries go by doing some gardening, gardeners typically become absorbed in their work, giving their mind a rest from the normal worries and cares of the day.
4) Vary your tasks, for example a full day of pruning or weeding will not only become tedious but it will also give you blisters and back aches.
5)Do something for the kid in you everyday, like pick some flowers blow a dandelion blossom etc.... we all have a kid inside of us just waiting to be let out for a while.
And last but not least
6) Place stools, garden chairs or benches at strategic points in your garden so you will have many opportunities to rest and enjoy what you have created.

Well that is about it for today...

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I most often choose perennials over any other group of plants because of their diversity, as in
colors, shapes, textures, sizes forms and bloom seasons. Perennials, more then any other group is in fact what most often converts the average yard into a wondrous thing of beauty, a garden.
Add a few Daylilies, Peonies, or Echinacea around a mailbox or lamp post, a cluster of ornamental grass or some English Lavender at the corner of your house, some Lamium or Rudbeckia under a tree or among the foundation planting of some shrubs and your yard begins to transform into a character of lushness and beauty.
Expend a little more effort into creating some beds and borders overflowing with the flowers and foliage of perennials and your on you way to having a yard or garden people fantasize about having.
I believe the biggest reasons gardeners have been drawn to them over the centuries is their ability to grow for years on end, theoretically saving labor, time and money.


I use annuals as fillers because I truly do love them, but as stated above they do not save labor, time and money for the mere fact, they have to be dead headed regularly to keep blooming throughout the summer. They also require a lot of watering but most times the effort is worth it if you have chosen the annual/annuals to suit your garden.
Annuals are very graceful plants and I have to love the fact that they do bloom all summer long always consistent color and bloom. There are thousands upon thousands of different types of annuals and most of them are truly beautiful.
If you like container gardening annuals are a must. Add some begonias, petunias and lobelia to a hanging basket or urn and set them by your entrance or in the front and you most certainly have a showstopper container. Also they are very useful when perennials have stopped blooming and you feel your garden is lacking the color and the beauty it had.


That's about it for today...

This is one of my garden's with perennials and annuals mixed, as mentioned, I like annuals for the purpose to act as the fillers for perennials that are not in bloom or have stopped blooming. It is always nice to have a contant show of bloom, thus; I use annuals to maintain that consistant show.

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Perennials:
A perennial is a plant in which grows back year after year and usually dies down to dormant roots each winter. Some perennials live only four to five summers while others can be enjoyed for decades, however; if maintained they can and should be divided every three years, thereby; increasing the chances of always having the plant.

Annuals:
An annual is a plant that completes its life cycle, from seed to bloom and back to seed again, all in a single growing season. A practical definition of annuals is that they are plants that have to be replaced every year in the garden. They are reliable in the flower garden in the sense they are continuously blooming from Spring through Fall, but again only reliable for one season unlike perennials.

Tomorrow I shall write the benefits of having perennials as well as annuals, however; my preference is perennials but I do like to use annuals as fillers.

That is it for today....

North America is divided into climate regions called hardiness zones. It is important to understand the basic principles of hardiness zones in order to select plants that will survive in your specific climate region.
There are 11 zones in North America with Zone 1 being the coldest, going up to Zone 11 the mildest.
There are 10 zones for Europe and they follow the same principles as the North Americian hardiness zone map.

Zone determination takes into consideration several factors and the are as follows:

1-2) Minimum and maximum temperatures
3) Amount of rainfall during the growing season
4) Depth of snow cover,
5) Length of frost free periods,
6) Length of growing season and wind conditions.
7) The length of the growing season and the lowest temperature of the coldest month are the most important factors in establishing hardiness zones.

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Living in zone 5, there are literallly thousands upon thousands of plants that will survive in my zone. When purchasing a plant always check the back of the tag and find out what the zone requirements are, for example if it says will survive in zones 4-8, yet you live in zone 2 or 10 it is not a good idea to purchase the plant especially if this plant is a perinnial. If you are considering annuals even many of them have zone requirements.
To be safe, always find out the zone requirements before you purchase a plant.

Tomorrow I will do a write up on the difference between perinnials and annuals.



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Another photo of my crocuses, corms only grow in certain zones, they require fairly cold conditions in order to bloom so regardless to say the winters have to be somewhat cold.

Thats a wrap for today.

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I realize this is a little off base, but I thought I would do something a little different where as it is Easter.
Above I posted one of my photos of the Easter lily. Rather pretty lily ,yet hard to grow out doors in my climate, therefore; I grow it indoors.

I happen to love this time of year. I think spring is my favorite season for the mere fact it is associated with rebirth, everything comes to life once again.
I will admit my birthday is also in April so it certainly adds to why I like the spring, however; living in a climate such as mine it seems to me everyone likes the spring.
We have fairly severe winters here and just when it seems as though you cannot take one more day it, the spring comes, brightening everything. The dreariness in which the winter had brought at last disappears. You cannot get much better then that....

Tomorrow I shall do a write up of the zones, but today I wanted to do a little something for easter.

How Easter came to be

For the Christian world, Easter is the commemoration of Jesus's resurrection, observed on the first Sunday after the full moon following the spring equinox, which can fall anywhere between March 22 and April 25. But for those who love food, it is also a holiday associated with chocolate, painted eggs and big family meals. Early on Easter morning children get up and search the house for eggs and other treats left by the Easter bunny. the eggs and the rabbit itself are ancient symbols of fertility and springtime rebirth.

That is about it for today, I hope everyone has a wonderful easter. Cheers.

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While taking a stroll around my yard yesterday I was delighted to see my Crocuses in bloom and doing so well.
I decided to take a few photos of them which turned out rather good, so I added them to the blog.

As mentioned yesterday about division, I had divided the corms last year as well as my Tulip bulbs and they are now full once again and looking their best, unlike the year before, for the mere fact the bulbs were too overcrowed and beginning to lag from insuffiecient amount of room for the roots to spread properly.

My spring garden is going to be beautiful this year. In fact a few of them in which I have are going to be lovely, but there is one inparticular I dote on because it is the first garden you see, right beside the entrance of my house.
The first garden your eyes focus on should always be the best. The show stopper so to speak, something that brings interest and curiousity to your visitors eyes as well as your own. That creates a balance all on its own and speaks volumes about the rest of your yard.

I shall list the plants I have in my showstopper garden and they are as follows:

Crocuses mixed colors, purple, orange, yellow, white and lavender
Hybred late blooming red Tulips,
Angelique, double pink peonie Tulips,also a late bloomers,
Normal red, yellow, and mixed red and yellow Tulips
Tiger tulip
Moss phlox, candy cane and dark pink
Foget me nots, blue
Primrose, sunshine susie
early blooming orcids, white and yellow
Hyacinths, blue
Violas, mixed colors, blue, purple, peach, yellow and white
King Alfred daffodils

Now in other gardens I have those same things, but also some space takers suchs as:

4 different colors of Peonies
Bleeding heart, D'eximia
The himalayan blue poppy, this is from the alpines of tibet
Convallaria majalis, lily of the valley
Saponaria, soapwort dark pink in color
Anemonies, coronia, mixed colors doubles
Rhodondendron
French lilacs
Miniature eastern redbud
Bearded Irises
Syberian irises
Stone crop sedum called sun
Chives

That about sums it up for my spring gardens.
I hope some of these plants I listed can be helpful in choosing plants if you are looking to create a spring garden, or the four season gardens as I have.
All of these plants look wonderful in the spring and even having a few of them in your garden will delight you.
Also tulips and daffodils are wonderful to have a cut flowers to not to mention leaves you with a sense of satisfaction that you yourself grew them.

That about wraps it up for today.

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Spring begins

The spring has arrived and everything is beginning to come to life either, budding, sprouting forth from the ground, or early spring flowers blooming.
It is now time to clean the gardens out from the winter damage and whatever else that may be keeping it from looking its best. It is also time to plant the new bulbs, corms and tubers you may have for the late spring and summer bloom.

Bulbs are plants such as Tulips, Daffodils and Hyacinths. They should be planted in the fall.
Corms are plants such as crocuses and gladiolis. They vary, crocuses in the fall, gladiolis very soon, after last frost because they are a summer blooming plant.
Tubers are plants such as Dahlias and some begonias. They should also be planted when there are no signs of frost. Even a small amount of frost can and will kill tubers.

Each plant varies in shape and size not to mention whether they have to be dug up each fall or left in the ground.The depth to be buried also varies.
Plants such as tulips, crocuses, daffodils, gladiolis and hyacinths can all be planted fairly deep so that you can plant summer blooming plants on top of them.
Again as mentioned above, spring blooming plants should be planted in the fall. Late spring and summer plants should be planted in the early spring providing it is in a frost free enviroment.

Bulbs and corms that are left in the ground normally are able to regenerate and create new bulbs from the mother plant/bulb, this is called naturalizing. After a few years they have to be dug up and divided because they usually become overcrowded and have a tendancy not to bloom as well, if at all. The advantage to division, however; is that you get a fairly good amount of bulbs from this mother bulb so that you will be able to plant them in other areas around your home and garden without having to take another cent out of your pocket book for more bulbs.

When the blooms begin to fade, before they go to seed, they should be cut off the stalk to ensure the bulbs conserve and stores enough energy in order to produce blooms for the following season. Let the leaves of the plants dry on there own and then cut them off when they are dried.

That about wraps it up for today. I shall be back with more tips very soon.