Spring

Okay Kids, spring is one of my favorites. I love taking pics of the yard because it only happens once.
Here in Ohio, we have had a strange one. Everything is so Late 3 weeks ago we got SNOW!

And things were just starting to come  up too. look at these baby radishes! Just covered with snow!

My helleborus looks so beautiful with a drop of melting snow on it.

The tulips also took the snow well. but look at the backyard!

Finally I had to go to the nursery and relieve my winter blues! Dills Greenhouse, is a great little nursery that is locally owned and has such genius little ideas, plus Look at all of these summer tropicals!

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Spring is here

In spite of a nasty cold northerly wind today, bringing yet more freezing temperatures, spring is definitely here in the Carolinas. 

It's welcome, for sure.  It's been a long cold winter for us; we're not familiar with the deep freeze (and snowy weather) that we've experienced this year.

But spring is still evident everywhere -- flowering redbuds and oaks, fruiting maples, flowering blueberries, and flowering winter annuals, too (not to mention all the Asian plants -- camellias, forsythias, and Japanese cherries).  The cherry trees are having a good year so far -- they're lovely -- we'll see after the mid-20's temperatures tonight.  Hopefully, they'll be fine.

I've just heard a few spring peepers, but lots of bird calls signalling that it's certainly breeding season!

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Spring Update

So, just as an update on the who camera issue, I did get the Nikon D90. My dad got for me as a going-away present. I have had a lot of fun experimenting with it and the 2 lenses that I got with it. I am really liking the fact that I can adjust the aperture on the camera. I do, though, have to buy a micro lens. I can get into fairly close to the objects, but not as close as I would like. If you have any suggestions on one I should get, please let me know.

Okay, so now for what I was going to tell everyone. You may have wondered why I said my parents got the camera for me as a going-away present. Well, this whole summer and part of fall, I am going to be leaving my home, garden, and birds for a farm. I will be interning on a all organic cattle and produce and am extremely excited. The farm is called Flying J Farm, and is located near Johnstown, Ohio. You all should come and visit me. I am terrible with directions, so don't even try asking for them. Instead, just go to his website, and get the Google map. So that is all the excitement for me right now. I will be leaving next Wednesday, so wish me luck. I don't know how often I will be posting, since I would think I will be pretty busy, but I will try my best to keep you updated on my adventures on the farm.

The tulips are blooming right now. Not all of them, not even half, just the early ones. Two different types of tulips are blooming. They are Flaming Purissima, and Darwin Tulips. I couldn't find my tags for the Darwin tulips, but could for the Purissima. The Purissima grows 18in tall and blooms in early spring. They are pale pink with vainage of dark pink. Really beautiful.

P.S. A lot of people have asked me where they could get the copper looking bird feeder in my post on Safflower Seeds. I originally got it at Park's Seeds for $9.72. But they must of discontinued it, because I cannot find it on their site. I did a quick Google and found the same on on the online store, Birds-n-Gardens.

~Next post on Rain Barrels~

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Orchid Forest

Oh wow, it has been a long time since I have posted, and I really need to. I have just been so busy with school, finals are this week, and I have been really busy studying trying to get a great grade in one of my classes!

So a while ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to see some of the most beautiful, colorful, and largest variety of orchids I have ever imagined I could lay eyes on. One of the conservatoires that is near where I live, has been doing what they call . . . the Orchid Forest! That just about describes it. This place is a tropical paradise for those who are tired and weary from the long cold winter! In this exhibit, there were fifty varieties of orchids and many other tropical plants and trees. In the Orchid Forest there were not only orchids, but tangerine trees, Koi Ponds, tropical birds, and a tree house (more like a viewing port), and it was WARM! This was such a fun excursion. My mom and I went to take a brake from school! I had so many pictures to show, but here are a few that sort of show the profile of the pics that I took. As you can tell there is a huge variety of orchids out there, heck, some of them don't even look like orchids. Some of the pics that I posted are not orchids. The glass orange, red and yellow structure is called the Sunset Tower. It was made by Dale Chihuli and is by far one of my favorite peices by him. It was even more beautiful in the setting of all of these orchids! Very cool!

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Spring Fever

It is so close to spring I can almost taste it! Ah! I don't know about you, but I have been flooded with a ton of gardening catalogs! All of which have beautiful, vivid pictures of the new and old. And if you are not careful, yikes you can be caught up in them all; placing orders here and there. Eventually, you've spent a ton of cash. Being a teenager, in school, and having a small stream of cash; makes it hard for me to be able to buy all the things that catch my eye. So I have decided to practice restraint! So how can you overcome the winter blues, and still not break the bank?

• First, decide what companies you want to order from, I like to pick only two or three. Pick the ones that are reputable or ones that you have ordered with before. There are many websites that have reviews for many companies that are out there. One that I have recently found was Dave's Garden. Here you can just click the the first letter of any gardening company, and it will instantly bring you a list of all the companies that have been reviewed!
  

Some good companies that I have had great success with are; Jung Seed Co., Seeds of Change, Park's Seeds, and Garden Alive.

• Its okay to look at the onslaught of magazines that flood you in the spring, but try to remember that many of the nurseries in your area may grow some of the plants you are looking at. Always call your nursery and ask them if they will be getting of the plants that you are looking at, if not, it doesn't hurt to ask if they can...all they can say is no.
  

• Last but not least, once you have decided what catalogs you will be ordering from, remember to look at their websites. Many companies have web specials. Just like it sounds, you can only get those specials if you order online. So be sure and look! Also be sure to order as soon as you can. Many times, if you wait too long, the things you want will be gone!
  

I hope that these little tips will help you when it comes time to ordering. Remember, if you have any questions, let me know. I am always eager to help!

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