Tomato Seed Shopping Spree!

I know it’s probably quite early, but I threw caution to the wind and purchased several packets of tomato seeds today, for next year’s tomato container garden.  Inspired by the miraculous emergence of tomatoes in my container garden in the winter (see the previous post), I purchased the following varieties of seeds: (1) Black Krim, [...]

Tomatoes in the Winter?!

Indeed, it’s true! I was doing a little bit of weeding this morning and found that a very late-growing tomato plant (likely cherry tomato) is producing a few tomatoes! Click on the photo and look at the top center to get a better view of the lovely green fruits!
As reported in my posts earlier in [...]

Fuchsia Revelation and Identification

My fuchsia flowers have made their debut, with more en route, I am happy to report! But now, I’m in the middle of a mystery: Just exactly which fuchsia is this? I’ve attached two photos. In the first is one of the flowers that has bloomed and looks clean and neat: white sepals with the faintest [...]

Succulents: Easy Container Garden

I love easy-to-make container gardens, and one of the easiest is one of my succulent container gardens. Populated by cuttings and broken plant pieces from various gardening mishaps (!), this container garden has thrived and is one happy family consisting of the following, from left to right: (1) plush plant, also known as Echeveria harmsii [...]

Weeds in the Garden

Even with careful mulching, weeds can still emerge in our gardens, including container gardens! This coming weekend, I’ll be focused specifically on removing weeds from my garden. I usually use a strategy of spraying Roundup and pulling younger weeds from the soil as soon as they emerge. This strategy has helped tremendously, but it is weeding [...]

Poinsettia!

This week, a coworker gifted me with a lovely poinsettia. So thoughtful! This native of Mexico, also known as Euphorbia pulcherrima, is in my bathroom currently. I will keep it in its container during its flowering season (though the red ”flowers” are actually petal-like leaves known as bracts).
My plan for this plant is to try to [...]

Cymbidium Orchid: Lengthening Flower Spike!

About one month since this cymbidium orchid’s spike first emerged, quite a bit of growth has occurred. When the first buds appeared, the buds appeared tightly bound to the spike and in close proximity to each other. Now, the length of the spike has increased quite a bit, allowing each flower bud sufficient physical space [...]

Fuchsia: Flower Buds Emerge After Pruning!

Nearly three weeks after my visit to the Lowe’s bargain bin in the gardening department, my fuchsia plant is showing very impressive growth of new flower buds. Wow! These white-colored buds will eventually mature, with a flower bursting from each one. This plant is also showing new leaf growth, so the plant really is healthy. Click [...]

Digging Holes: Be Good To Your Back!

In a previous post, I’d written about the benefits of container gardening, and how it allowed for me to garden while minimizing stress to my back. But what if you do regular old-fashioned gardening? Are there strategies to minimize stress to your back? The answer to that is a resounding yes! There are many gardening activities [...]