Classy and Opinionated Lifestyle Mom Blog
One of the first things visitors see when they come to your home is your front yard (or backyard), depending on where they park. I’m the type of person who enjoys gardening and setting up pretty little areas around our yard. First impressions and curb …
Every year I look forward to spring and the start of the gardening season. First to bloom are my mini daffodils, daffodils, hyacinths, tulips, bleeding hearts and then my bearded iris will start blooming. From mid March through the end of May that’s what you’ll …
Over the past few years I’ve shared with you my love for flower gardening. I’m by no means an expert and don’t pretend to be one. I’ve been enjoying gardening for the past 6 years and my love for it continues to grow. Every season I learn something new and I’m always seeking out new ideas.
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Last year I wanted to add more tulips to my flower beds and knew the best time to add them was during the early fall season. Hubby and I went out to our local garden center and purchased 5 packages of tulip bulbs at a really great price. He followed the package planting instructions, planted them and fertilized them for the upcoming season.
This year they all bloomed and bloomed beautifully! Every time I open up my windows I get a pleasant floral aroma coming through. I’m including two photos in this post of where we planted our tulips last fall so that you can see how they look the first spring season that they’re blooming.
I like to plan out my gardening so that I always have something blooming. Here in our area my mini daffodils are first and then followed by my hyacinths and full-size daffodils. Next are my tulips, bleeding hearts, grape hyacinths and azalea bushes. Some of my azaleas will bloom 10 days before others depending on where I have them planted. If they’re in the full sun…they bloom first. The ones that are in partial shade bloom a little later.
Next up are my beautiful bearded iris’s which I just love! I have 7 different colors of bearded iris’s planted throughout my flower beds. Shortly after they’re done my hydrangeas and rose bushes start blooming. I also have a few lilies planted and they will bloom 3-4 times each spring & summer season.
Once all of our early spring flowers are done blooming for the season we fertilize the flower beds, add our annuals (flowers) and then mulch. We personally like to do our mulching after all of the early spring flowers have bloomed and after we plant our annuals.
When it comes to annuals I like pansies, petunias, impatients, geraniums, begonias, etc. I’m not too picky…just as long as they’re inexpensive, colorful and easy-to-grow. I love that you can really find some affordable things these days out in the retail marketplace. You don’t have to spend a lot of money.
I adore garden accents like figural solar lights, statues, garden fairy figurines, garden flags, potted plants mixed in, mini garden chimes, decorative rocks, large seashells, all kinds of marine & animal statues/figurines, etc. I tend to stick to my coastal & beach theme…even when decorating outdoors.
How many of you enjoy flower gardening? What kind of plants & flowers do you enjoy? Do you do just a little or do you really get into it? Are you working on a specific theme or more eclectic in your design?
A few months ago when we were down at the beach house I collected some bay scallop seashells off of the beach. The bay scallops along the Jersey Shore are typically black to dark gray in color. They are great shells to use in a …
Over the years I’ve collected thousands of different seashells while walking the beach. A lot of my craft projects utilize clam shells and conch shells. With that said, I had an entire box of Razor Clam Shells and needed to find a way to use …
Every year we plant a garden in our backyard and every year, it gets bigger than the year before. This past summer we had a really great crop of bell peppers, so I wanted to save some of our pepper seeds to plant next year. It’s a really easy process and you’ll be able to start your own pepper plants early in the season, indoors.
How to Dry Bell Pepper Seeds to Plant Next Year
Step 1: Remove the seeds from your bell peppers and lay them out on a plate. You need to pick out all pieces of pepper, you need just the seeds.
Step 2: I like to line one of my baking sheets (a cookie sheet with airflow holes) with 3 paper towels. Spread the seeds out on the paper towels in a single layer. Try to make sure that they’re not touching one another.
Step 3: Let them air dry in a cool, dark and dry place. Every day I like to gently move the seeds around to make sure that they’re getting proper airflow and drying out. They need to be 100% dry which takes approximately 5-7 days for me.
Step 4: I wash out an empty amber colored medicine bottle with liquid soap and water. Make sure you rinse it well and thoroughly dry. I let mine dry overnight.
Step 5: Place your dried seeds into the medicine bottle and place the cap on top. Label the contents and date. I place mine down in my veggie bin inside my refrigerator and store them until spring.
Once spring rolls around and I’m ready to plant them…I remove them from the refrigerator and allow them to warm-up to room temperature. We like to start our own plants indoors and then will transplant them outdoors into our garden when planting time arrives. We use 3-4 bell pepper seeds in each cavity when trying to start our own plants. That’s it!
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Every year we plant a backyard garden and I’m always looking for ways to label and mark my plants. We typically start our seedlings in late March and try to plant them about 6-7 weeks later. While out on a nature walk a few weeks …
I have a lot of indoor houseplants and I have to admit, I’m pretty good at growing them. Back in late Spring I decided to grow some starters and last week they were finally rooted and ready to be planted. I decorate my home in …