Clematis revival

Holy clematis, batman! I cannot believe the growth of this little guy. And a month ago Claudia and I were wondering if it was dead! My hope is that it will wind its way all around our banister by next year. Can you believe I actually have a plan, and the patience to carry it through?

Ficus Adoption

Last Wednesday I was on my way to work, surveying peoples' trash put out for trash day, when I spotted a plant 100 yards up ahead. At first I quelled my excitement by telling myself it's likely nothing more than a simple vine. But lo and behold, it was a ficus lyrata! I couldn't believe my eyes! As you readers know, I already own one and it is my prized possession.

Needless to say, I swept it up in my arms and ran home. It had been mangled when jammed in the trash bag, and also looked like a cat had attacked it. Many of it's newly opened leaves were slashed and bruised. One of its branches was hanging by a thread. I splinted a bent branch and trimmed off the dead leaves. This picture is how it looks now.

I'm a bit worried because the splinted branch is sagging and the leaves are wilted. But this truly was a gift from God, so I'll trust that he's taking care of it with my meager help.

Spring is springing!

Okay, perhaps spring isn't here, but it's close enough! My indoor plants are beginning to wake up! I haven't really watered them all winter so they can hybernate. They've been doing fine, but recently they've looked a little droopy. I watered them, and baby shoots came out in all directions!

And today I planted Marcella and Matt's wedding bulbs! I collected four, which will hopefully be donning our front stoop in a month or so.

My next step is to read more on permaculture so I can start my spring garden in the healthiest way. I intend to have a thriving botanical garden in two years. You are my witnesses.

Are you getting the itch to be in the garden and watch God's creation thrive under your care? What are your latest gardening projects?

In My Dream Garden...

...I'll have wisteria trained up the wall of my house. There will be a shady, green oasis with hosta, a fountain with stepping stones, and a stone bench. An enormous vegetable garden will be off to the side and it will be enough to feed the family. The veggies will be in raised beds, (built by my husband). The fruit will be the vegetable garden boarder: trellised blackberries and raspberries, cherry, pear, fig, and apple trees.

All around the house there will be flowers, in a cottage garden style. Enormous hydrangea bushes will run across one side of the house. On that same side, climbing hydrangea will be trained up the wall. There will be an espalier on every sunny side of the house: pear and cherry trees. A clematis will climb up the mailbox and honeysuckle will climb up the fence.

In the spring, pots of tulips and daffodils will welcome guests at the front door. The pathway up to the house will be flanked by flowers. There will be lilies interspersed throughout the garden- fragrant, show-stopping lilies. Ground cover will be all over, like moss, creeping thyme, creeping jenny, and other low-crawlers.

I'll have window boxes full of seasonal flowers. There will be lavender bushes all around, to harvest and fill our house. Blueberry bushes will be along one side of the perimeter of the garden and there will be a magnificent magnolia tree with flowers the size of basketballs.

So it's obvious I love plants that climb! I have a lot to learn about gardens, so to some more seasoned gardeners this might sound ludicrous, or even wrong (is it possible to fill a flowering garden with ground cover?). Somehow, though, it feels very good to document it and get it off my chest, even if it may need some revising along the way.

Some privacy, please?!

Finding a good-looking curtain for our 3x1' bathroom window has been a tough decision. It seems like every color except a transparent white makes the room look drab. Of course, the white affords us no privacy. I finally realized that I could use a plant to shade us from the public's eye.

After much research, I decided on "Thunbergia Alata," which is also called "Black-Eyed Susan Vine." I already purchased the seeds a couple of months ago, it's an evergreen vine, it has cheerful, orange flowers, and it's a hardy grower. I found a pot big enough to fit a three-foot tall trellis, and I planted a seed. Right now all we have is a pot of soil. I'm just hoping it will sprout in fall weather.

Reusable Leeks

Michael loves leeks. Maybe it's a newlywed thing, but I find this adorable. When we got some at the farmer's market a couple of weeks ago, I decided to plant the root-filled base. It was a whim, and I forgot about them, but they sprouted! I love self-sustaining plants. I guess we'll see what happens.

The Poor Man's Garden...

...or woman's, in this case.

Recently I was on the phone with my mother, lamenting the fact that Michael and I are renting. Thus, we'll be moved out by the time the garden is thriving. "And I've spent so much money on the garden!" My mother replied, "Why are you spending money? You don't have an income!" Touche, mom.

It's kind of a relief to not be able to spend money on the garden. I have unimaginably big dreams for the garden, but we're probably moving in a year or two. If I were to realize my gardening dreams within this time frame, it would be nearly impossible, financially and physically.

This means I'm going to have to use tried and true propagation methods- mainly seeds and cuttings. I don't have to feel so bad about my sparse and fledgling garden. As they say, "First year it sleeps, second it creeps, third it leaps." Well, I'm going to have to be okay with a sleeping, creeping garden for now.

A couple of days ago I blogged about planning to buy a couple of hydrangea bushes and a climbing hydrangea. I later learned that climbing hydrangea takes three years to even bloom. And hydrangea bushes cost about $30 a piece. Maybe in our next house... when we have an income. In the meantime, I've put hydrangea, lavender, and african violet cuttings in dixie cups (see above pics).

There's something wonderful about asceticism... and making do with what you have.