Sweet Dreams!

The other night Kip called me from work. "Hey, I've been thinking about something"  He says.

"Yeah?"

"I was thinking we should double your Red Clover budget."

Silence.  "Really?" I say cautiously.  

You see, I know finances have been stressful, and that our budgeting has needed to get on track the last couple of months, and that spring has been a great temptation for me.  Double Red Clover?  But, shouldn't we save that money?  

"With one stipulation," He continued,  "that under no circumstances do we go over your budget."  

I sheepishly smile to myself, recalling that earlier that afternoon we bought a Hydrangea  bush for eight dollars.  I only had three left in my account.   

"That sounds good."  I say, not wanting to be selfish at all in agreeing with this budget adjustment, yet already thinking of the wonderful things that could come of it!

This morning he said, "I thought you would be more excited."

I explained that I was, but was trying to be aware of what we needed to save, spend, etc., and not wanting to be selfish by using a little extra money for my garden. 

"No, no, I like your gardening!  I'm more interested in it now then when you started, and it's a useful skill."  

Smiles.  I think I married a saint.  

Dear Begonia,

Dear Begonia, 

I've been so pleased that you decided to come and stay, and have enjoyed this time together, although you have been rather cross.  I write you now in the spirit of apology, and promise that it won't happen again.  You were so beautiful when I saw you at the nursery; I brought you home and set you in the windowsill until I could decide what to do.  You were quite happy, blooms shimmering and all.  Now, I didn't know that you like to have a tighter situation, that you prefer your roots to have a snug pot.  In my ignorance I placed you, and two others, into a larger pot where you would have plenty of room to spread your leaves.  I watered you as seemed fit,  setting you out to sun in the warm afternoons.  I have seen plenty of Begonias in larger pots, so do not fault me entirely. 

I do appreciate you telling me something was wrong by falling apart, your petals turning brown, and a general bout of pouting.  In an effort to improve your situation I looked online for whatever I could find, realizing that not only was I watering you too much, but you also needed smaller quarters.  If you recall with any degree of fairness you would remember that I immediately repotted you and your two friends into smaller pots, and altered the watering schedule.  You are pleased, I can tell by the way you are stretching yourself out and acting smug.  Now, please, can we be friends?  Let me be the congenial hostess and you the ever pleasant guest. 

With respect, 

Red Clover

Forget Me Not?

After eyeing my plants that I had moved to the north window sill I queried out loud, "What do Forget-Me-Not(s) look like?"

Kip burst out laughing in the other room.

Thank goodness for google images...I just remembered.

Mystery Solved

Yesterday I mentioned a desire to identify this beautiful blossoming plant, so this morning I went down to the nursery and there it was!

Super Red Flowering Quince. That's a nice name, Flowering Quince...don't you think?

It's nice to know the name. I'll have to add it to my Garden Book in the "Someday you want to plant this in your yard" section.

Then on the way home from a work appointment I saw this yard with four or five of them lined up.

~ Red Clover

P.S. When I was leaving the nursery I could hear a little voice calling, "Help, help!" I looked around, determined to rescue whoever was in such deep distress! When I finally located the poor damsel she was sitting in a crowded tray, surrounded by other plants that looked slightly hostile. Her butter yellow petals, and charming blue at the center, were too much; I brought here home with me.

Of All The Blossoms in All The World...

... I had to fall in love with this bush! It's blooming all over town, and as much as I like the cool pink blossoms you find on so many of the trees these days, I love the warmth and freshness of these blooms. They are already in my future garden. I thought I saw some at the nursery the other day (in a bit of a hurry), so tomorrow morning I am going to head on over get all the info. I'll post what it is when I get home.

This particular bush was a bit unruly, but I'm sure you could prune it down just a touch.

Here are a few shots of the small miniature rose bushes we planted. One from the side where you can see how I ignorantly "staked" it up. (?) Let's hope these two beauties stick around!

I've spent a the last couple days wondering why I was bit so hard with this gardening bug, but I have and there's nothing to be done, but go with it. Smiles. I'm having to learn the balance of fantasizing/planning for grander, and taking simple pleasure in the smaller reality. And for now, that's just fine.

~ Red Clover

Trees

 I didn't take pictures of trees on purpose.  They just happened without consideration, unlike my flowers.  It's not that I don't love trees, but when you love a lot of things you are not always thinking about all of them.  The tree photos just came out of nowhere so I decided to give them a fair shake. 

What is this tree?  I am completely in love.  

Very pleasant, I thought. 

Bridal pictures are frequently taken in Central Park, and when I saw this tree I christened it "The White Bride"; her dress flows behind her, as if walking in a slight breeze. 

White blossoms were falling all along a path at the edge of this lawn.  It was picturesque and nice. 

~ Red Clover

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Apocalyptic Bob ~ Thanks for commenting on the roses.  They do seem to like their space (granted the occasional dead head, etc.) despite the amount of books dedicated to them.  Fickle lovers I suppose, need more freedom. 

KSR ~ My columbine has dropped her blooms, and some of the side leaves are yellowing.  I've removed both, and the stem and base leaves seem pretty healthy still.  Guess we'll just see what happens.  No pests though...at least I think. 

Rose ~ What can I say, when we walk down the sidewalks people stop.  Luckily we're mainly past the autograph stage.  Ha ha.  

Help!

So, I bought two miniature roses that are quite charming, and planted them together in a pot. Apparently everyone has an opinion about roses, and how to take care of them, and what their favorite songs are, etc. You get my point. What I need is some sound advice on "The Basics of Rose Maintenance". I know that many of you actually know what you are talking about, and I am a blank page {except I did get a wooden dowel and stake the longest branch to grow up, instead of flopping down}.

Thanks,

Red Clover

Manhattan: Container Garden for Millions of People

When I first started this foray into gardening people often asked me about my garden, "Well, I actually grow everything in pots right now." A few gardeners bothered to correct me. I was a "Container Gardener". Who knew?  Though, I've never really liked the word "container" (compared to jar, bottle, or jug it's rather, shall we say, plastic?).

One thing I never noticed before was that NYC is one large container garden. There is room for nothing else. Yes there are parks (other post), but the city is flowered in pots, baskets, or a small bed around a tree bound in by concrete and brick. Here are a couple of the pictures I took.

Apparently 5th avenue caters to the daffodils. They run down, every ten feet or so, as if deciding what to buy. Or perhaps cheerfully smiling at all those people who think a Luis Vuitton bag is an important status symbol and saying, "It's spring, really. Don't buy a bag for $1,100 dollars! Get an ice cream instead, and sit in the park!"

Lexington Ave. was covered in Tupils! This was my favorite colour combination.

Aren't they nice?

Central Park was favored by blue Hydrandeas, white & yellow daffodils, snake grass, and those purple grape like flowers. (There were Hydrandeas all over the city!)

Above planters were on this bridge, the Bow bridge, and consequently my favorite. This is some of the detail.

The tiles of this Mediterranean restaurant looked nice with the flowers.

A fun idea for planters.

Were I to own a shop in Greenwich Village, I would hang a basket like this, too.

Not a fabulous picture, but I wanted you to notice the pussy willows popping out above it all. Quite charming in real life.

Someone on the Upper West End sets out a little garden. I told Kip that if that were me the whole sill would be covered by now.

Beautiful! And appropriate choice to be outside a very tall office building. The all white Tulips were perfect for that planter.

White Madonna Lilies were all over the city! These few were taken outside of Trinity Church.

Rockefeller Center (Below) also had hundreds.

This pink flower (tree) looked awfully like Astermaria, but I am not sure it grows in that climate, or in trees. Anyone know what it is?

Thank You, Kip, for stopping to look at more flower pots & containers then you were anticipating.

~ Red Clover

Spring in NYC

We are home!

We are home ~

We are home...

That is how I feel about being home. New York was fantastic. We had the most wonderful time, and you'll have to check out my other blog if you want a few posts on "what we did". I've got so many flowers to post I feel giddy! Springtime in New York is a wonderful time to be there. The weather was so perfect that the entire city started spreading out into the parks Friday night and by Saturday each one was saturated with sun bathers and city dwellers stretching their winter muscles.

Kip was talking to his mom last night as he was sorting through all the pictures we took, and with a smile mentioned that we had taken "a lot of pictures of flowers." True. I'll post them here later...once I decide how to organize them.

Until later today...!

-Red Clover

Start spreading the news...

I am taking off for New York in just a few minutes and am excited to see what spring in the big apple offers.  Be back in a few days...with pictures!  

-Red Clover

(I got my Dad to water my seedlings while I was gone...nice guy!)

Seedling's Progress

I don't have space for a serious light system...nor the funds to get it set up. So I purchased a small lamp for $9.99, and found a 60 watt lightbulb that is meant for reptiles ($4.99) and ta da! I have a light system. I turn it on while I am home, moving it from one tupperware to the next, then to the small plants, every hour or so. And you know what? It's actually working!

My first round of seeds I didn't see much progress with my poppies, one or two bloomed, but there wasn't enough light to get them to stand up and grow. This time they are all starting to break open! and I anticipate I will be able to get a few kinds of each poppy (oriental, california, iceland) planted. Fingers crossed.

Here you can see my cosmos, dahlias, and forget-me-nots all beginning their second, if not third, leaf set. You can also see my first transfer (morning glories) totally dead. They were my first try and I man-handled them. I restarted the seeds and will replace them - very carefully.

Poppies! Beginning to come out

Here are my other morning glories and some nasturtium. The packet said that the nasturtium does not transplant well, so we will see. I also planted some outside just incase.

black-eyed susan and...

mexican sun flowers!

This is my garden book, where I keep a record of all my plants happenings.

I keep track of when the seeds were first started, then when they sprout, and when I move them to the next stage.

I also have a list where I keep track of all that is planted in the outside containers. I put the date planted, whether they were a 1,2, or 3 when planted (1= tuber, bulb, 2=plant growing, no blooms yet, 3=plant already has blooms). And then I write any notes I think are important, like when shoots begin to show, etc.

Not only am I learning more about each plant, but I am feeling tremendously organized and like I can do anything...like clean out the storage room or run for president. I am determined to stay at it.

- Red Clover