As you scroll below you will be able to click onto the different years diary that I have kept for Home Farm. You will also be able to check out my two latest gardening books and we have made them both available for downloading should you not want to invest in a hard copy. Please sign my guest book
Arlene's Gardening Diary for 2007 with tons of info, photos and informational gardening articles.
Growing Raspberries and Blackberries?
Here is an article I wrote.
, also Caring for Crape Myrtle, Deer Resistant plants and trees. "Drying Flowers" , Here's how to make a wildlife garden., How to Make Your own Liquid Potpourri and other good stuff! ,Growing Roses ,Dividing Daffodils ,Planting bulbs.
January 20, 2008. 10 degrees and the gardens are a mess as usual. Our part of Kentucky does not offer a lot of snow and winters are short here. Our garden ponds are frozen most mornings and we are dealing with last year's after affects of Global warming visiting our part of the world. As our 2007 gardening diary will verify it was a terrible year here. We are looking forward to see whether or not our ordchard that was fruitless after the April 2007 5 days of freeze will have buds this spring. I am surpressing my winter gardening urges by limited myself to a few seed packets and not opening any nursery catalogs. I will be 73 this February and it has been horribly hard to hire any help in the gardens for the past 2 or 3 years. Especially 2007 even at $9.00 per hr.!
So we start the new year with a glad heart whether or not we are able to go "crazy" in the gardens. This last fall I decided I was not going to put in a couple of hundred bulbs like I do each fall because the underground critters dine on 95% of them all winter.
February the whole month
Not much to do here but watch the rain. We have had tons of it and hopefully it will bring our water tables back up and replenish a lot of farmers ponds. We even had a couple of blue sky days, but cold.
March 1, 2008
March came in like a lamb and we can bet that it will go out like a lion.
March 2, 2008
Blue skies and upwards of 70 here. Crazy.
March 3, 2008
Still blue skies, but windy. However warm enough to open the french doors and let some of the winter inside air out. I noticed the first crocus and the first daffodil open today. We are still hanging back here as the prediction for the coming days weather is cold, cold and even rain and possible snow here in zone 6.
I have a new article How to Force Bulbs Part I on GreenThumbArticles and it continues in How to Force Bulbs Part II
March 4, 2008
Too windy and cold again today with tons of rain through the long night and up until about 1 pm today. I look out a the desolate gardens and wonder what will have to be done this spring. I can see we will have to do a whole lot of rose bush rose bush trimming, pond cleaning and dragging out the last of the annuals that did not biodegrade themselves.
I got to thinking today about the Victory Gardens that I remember from WW II and thought about the high cost of fresh produce in the market places today. It made me think that one might be able to combat some of those costs with today's type of Victory Garden. Read more.
March 5, 2008
Should this year be the year you are going to start your first garden then perhaps you may want to consider starting a biodynamic garden. Read more.
March 7, 2008
Should you seriously think about gardening this year then seriously consider creating something grand along the lines of a simple botanical garden in your own back yard. Read More
March 8, 2008
Friday mid morning we lost our water and Carl said,"Oh No not a broken pipe". because there is about 2000 ft of pipe coming into here. I called George and they were out. So I called the water department and they were repairing a pipe somewhere and had turned everyone's water off and that was a relief. About an hour later we had water. It started to snow a little bit late Friday afternoon and about 8:15 p.m. we lost the power. Out came the cards and Carl and I played by candlelight until time for bed. On March 8, we woke up to electricity and snow which meant canceling out haircut appointment that afternoon and no trip to Louisville on Sunday to the Annual Arts and Crafts Market place at the Louisville Fair Grounds. When Chocolate came in from being outside she was covered with snow. There is a prettiness to gardens with a little snow.
March 13, 2008
For those of you who are considering enriching their garden salads and cooking with sprouts here are some good hints on How to Grow Sprouts.
The weather is in the 60's by noon each day now and the Cleveland and Bradford Pears along the driveway look like they will be popping out any day now. In the village the crocus are blooming all around the courthouse area. Soon gardeners, at least in this zone, will be thinking of transplanting. In the event you are here is an article I wrote called How to Correctly Transplant Trees and Shrubs.
March 16, 2008
We have had some cloudy but warm days here now. Up in the high 60's and all the spring bulbs are opening up.
March is the time that most of us in the warmer zones can start thinking about scratching the ground and hoping that by the end of March, at least in zone 6, we will be having our last frost. In 2007 we got a big surprise after all of our orchards and many of our grapevines and other flowers and early vegetables received 6 nights of killing frost. This ruined many a vineyard in Kentucky and for us it meant no peaches, pears, apples, cherries or grapes at all. We hope that we will recover and see fruit come forth this season. This is also a good time to start planning your Foundation Garden read more.
March 18, 2008
It is getting close to the time that I will be going out to clear all the remains of the annuals that did not biodegrade themselves. Our city cousins will be getting ready to do their Urban Gardening.
Many of my favorite places in the world are in the <st1:place>Mediterranean</st1:place> and since most of these places are so old many of the towns have become big cities. Those that have not are mostly stone, concrete, narrow streets and very few have large plots of land with the buildings unless they are out in the country. read more
March 27, 2008
Today was the first day to finally get outside and work in the gardens. I was able to trim a lot of roses. All the climbing roses that were planted last year suffered greatly from the 2007 drought and I had to yank out about 50% of them and trim back the remaining 50%. Hopefully, they will get some good spring rain and survive.
The daffodils and lots of other bulbs are showing off now. I got to clean out a lot of containers. Though overcast the temperature was in the low 60's and it really felt good to be out there. Even Chocolate enjoyed it.
March 28, 2008
Today we awoke to rain and now it is slightly windy with overcast skies. The forecast is to drop down to 35 tonight. Today I noticed that some of the Cleveland and Bradford pears are ready to blossom. The plum trees are ready to pop also and in the back patio garden the weeping Japanese cherry trees are about to make their grand entrance.
It is time to start thinking about planting the annuals. Here is a humorous story about The Time Carl Planted Sun Flower Seeds.
March 29, 2008
The Redbuds are just started to give a hint of breaking forth with their glorious magenta flowers and we are getting ready to go on a working holiday at the 2008 Glass and Bead Expo in Las Vegas. I hope we do not miss a lot of spring blossoms. There are lots of reasons to plant and grow Redbud trees, but for me they are a living memorial to our late son, Fred, who loved to see the Redbud trees each spring. Read more
March 31, 2008
The woods surrounding our property are becoming alive with dogwood trees and as I drive into the village in early April I can just see their blossoms starting to break open on the lower layers. Quickly the village inhabitant’s yards will burst forth with those creamy white or pink bracts that have their distinct layering of blossoms. Read more
April 8, 2008
We arrived back just in time to see the Forsythias in their glory and armies of grape hyacthins marching all over the place.
The Bradford and Cleveland Pear trees are showing off our long driveway.
On the shade side of the house the Bleeding Hearts are just beginning to peek out.
And the Grape Hyacthins are up all over the place.
Grand showings of ground covering violets.
I don’t know where they came from. I don’t think I ever planted them and at first I spent a great deal of time pulling them out like weeds. However, over the past 8 or 9 years I have let these little "nuisances" have their own way and I have discovered that these Common Violets make a wonder ground cover. Read more
April 9, 2008
The weeds are growing fast now because of the April showers. I soon will need to find some teenagers that want to help with garden work. The containers I can do by myself, but the bending etc has now gotten beyond me if I go more than 10 to 15 minutes. I was thinking about the sweet peas all ready and when I do my mind conjures up cottages with sweet peas growing up the sides of the front door and trellises and arbors in full bloom with the multicolored little beauties filling the air with their wonderful fragrances. Read More
April 11, 2008
While we enjoy April showers we get a chance to see the blue sky and sun shine on the glory of the Flowering Crab Apple tree and that is what I was able to enjoy on my way to my Thursday night art lesson. As a passenger in a car one can really enjoy the landscape as it flies by. Read more
April 13, 2008
I was able to find a lovely variety of seed geraniums at one of my favorite garden centers for only $1.00 each. Good and healthy looking so I bought 36 of them for my containers. I was also able to get some lovely pansies for only $1.12 at the same center and 24 of them went into the cart. I will keep them on the back patio for about a week.
We have been having grand April showers with days in the low 70's and nights in the low 50's. However, it turned cold again today with 42 degrees at 6 am and Carl says the forecast is even for some frost this week. I hope we do not get what we got last April about this time when every living, blooming thing was wiped out after 5 nights of frost.
I see these trees by mid March in our area of Kentucky and they are truly magnificent. For years I called them the Tulip Tree simply because they blooms looked like tulips. Some folks referred to them as Saucer Magnolia, Black Tulip tree or Japanese Magnolia. However, the correct name is the Soulangeana Magnolia and you pronounce Soulangeana as soo-lan-jee-AY-nah. Read more
April 16, 2008
I am able to get some really lovely seed geraniums in all sorts of colors today and a nice flat of penny lane pansies. I planted the pansies today in the front containers. The tulips are starting to give us a grand show.
April 18, 2008
The weather is magnificent here and I get all the rest of the really red geraniums purchased today, plus the potting soil, humus etc. Naturally it starts pouring just as we get back from the gardening center and continues all night. The tulips and other bulbs enjoyed it.
It was just enough to pop out all the lilac bushes. Here is one of them.
April 19, 2008
It is calmed down now and I am able to get out at 7 am and start filling the front planters. By 8 am my new little 13 year old helper arrives and she is a good worker. Takes direction well and she cleans up the greenhouse in an hour. Then she and I start pruning all the fruit trees and some of the other bushes that need pruning. She then starts cleaning up one of the big beds that has gone to rack and ruin while I plant all the back containers with all those glorious geraniums. Here are some of the containers in front of our home.
And Chocolate helped me plant all the containers down the path to Glynis' house.
By noon we have completed a ton of work and I am delighted with the help and her with the good pay. Just as we finish it starts to rain. I have put in 5 hours in the garden and am practically cripple. I will feel it tomorrow.
The Bleeding Hearts are out in full force and the lilacs are beginning to blossom out.
It looks like we lost a 9 year old crepe myrtle, a 9 year old plum tree and a couple of small bushes and trees to last year's devastating April 5 days of frost.
April 21, 2008
Now that the greenhouse is cleaned up and workable, though 2 months late I started some lavender seeds in 3" pots and some Rosemary in the same size pots. If I keep my eye on them and keep the rear window open and the front door they should start. Rummaging around I found a half pack of tomato seed so I started 12 pots of them and I found a full pack of lettuce seed and I started a flat of them.
I finished planting the last container of geraniums and I emptied about 5 or 6 hanging planters and refilled and reseeded with wave petunias.
I discovered that another 15 ft. tall, nine year old crepe myrtle did not make it after that last April 5 day frost. These will be hard to get out.
After 2 hours I was tired, so even though the day was great, I was alone working and it was tiring. The temperature will go to 75 degrees today and it is supposed to be 51 degrees tonight. We were able to dine out on the screened-in patio tonight and enjoy the garden, sounds, sights.
April 22, 2008
55 degrees this morning and bright and sunny. Went out and watered everything in the greenhouse then weeded out a 10 ft. by 3 ft. part of the garden next to the patio. I planted some Moonflowers and then planted some Double Giant, mixed colored Zinnas, State Fair giant mixed Zinnas and some Thumbelina, mixed colors zinnas. Worked for about an hour and a half. Put Some Moonflowers in your garden, read more
April 23, 2008
I did not get into the garden today until about 9 a.m. because I had errands to run and the sun was up quite high thus only allowing me about 45 minutes of work out there. I trimmed one of my climbing rose bushes and planted a new section of Delphiniuim/Larkspur (Read More) and some Butterfly Flowers. (Read More)
April 24, 2008
Another beautiful day today with the morning temperature about 60 and moving up quickly. The sky has an overcast that suggests we may have rain either tonight or tomorrow. The first of the iris are out. Lovely yellow ones between the pond and the path. I got a big space weeded out this morning by the upper pond and found some carnations are ready to come out. I planted a packet of Sunspot dwarf sunflowers in that area. They should only grow to 18 inches in height. Tomorrow, if no rain, I will clear out the space in the back for the giant sunflowers.
Today I discovered the remaining 9 year old crepe myrtle is also dead. So I will have to get someone in to cut them all down as they have really large trunks at the ground level.
April 27, 2008
Got in about 2 hours of weeding, clearing and planting of the rest of the giant sunflower seeds and the giant zinnias before the rain came. Then it rained all afternoon.
April 28, 2008
I need to get out into the studio and create some fused glass, but I took the time today to water in the greenhouse and to trim and prune about 7 big trees.
May 2, 2008
I finally was able to get back into the garden and tackle another area of weeds. The yellow Iris are blooming.
Also the red azela's in the arbor.
I planted some more zinnias today (California Giant and Lilliput Mixed Color), also some mixed holly hocks, some more giant sunflowers and Calendula (mixed Colors). I got it done just before the rains came. We had some wind and it has been raining all day since noon. I was able to track down some more of that one wisteria I planted years ago and I was able to prune out a bunch of it in many unusual place. It is impossible to kill. Wisteria is pretty, but not near any buildings or arbors as it will totally wreck them.
May 5, 2008
Today I had help in the garden and we got a lot done for 2 hours and then my helper came in and helped me for another 2 hours in the house. The white iris are coming along now. I was able to clear out a whole part of the cottage garden that was loaded up with weeds again and I got the Dragonfly Hybrid Mixture of Columbine seeds sown and the Foxglove (mixed colors Digitalis) sown. I finaly was able to plant Russel's Hybrid mixed colors of Lupine and hopefully they will take and come back year after year.
I planted some more Clendula, Zinnia and Shasta Alaska Daisy.
I pruned some more rose bushes and other things that needed pruning. I can do all this stuff, still, but hauling it around is not easy for me any longer, so my little helper does that kind of stuff. I was also able to get the waist high raised planters refilled after a winter of settling and soon I will fill them with something.
May 5, 2008
It was 44 degrees at 6 am today. Even Chocolate did not like to stay out long. We had moved the 5 jumbo containers up from the driveway so our mower man would not have to weed-whack around them. They are now up on the pathway along the southside of the Studio. Today I was able to sow the following seeds in them. Dianthus, Nasturium and Alaska Shasta Daisy.
May 6, 2008
6 am temperature was 49 degrees but it went into the mid 70's by noon. I was able to get an early run over to one of the Amish nurseries to pick up some tomato plants. I got 4 Pineapple tomatoes, 4 Mountain Spring, 4 Romas (my favorite for eating and cooking) and 4 of something else that I managed to lose the label for between their nursery and my garden. I think it is called something like Big Mac or Big Red, so again this year we have another mystery veggie. I was able to get all these into the raised planters upon arriving home. I picked up 4 Big Bertha Pepper Plants. Plus some Ambrosia Cantaloupe, 4 watermelon plants, plus a lot of herbs and I will get them all where they belong tomorrow morning.
I treated myself to 2 lovely hanging baskets.
On the way home I stopped at the Tuesday Farmer's Market in the village and spent my last $3.00 on two lovely large pots of cushion marigold to set in with the tomato plants.
May 7, 2008
Temperature was 62 degrees at 6 am and a good time to work in the garden. I cleaned out a whole section and planted the cucumber plants, Ambrosia cantaloupe, repotted two rosemary plants, purple sage and curley parsley. I was able to finally find two replacement fruit trees at one of our local garden centers today and hopefully will get them into the ground within the next two days. About 4 p.m. we got some nice rain which is always welcomed when new plants go into the ground. Please read my latest article on melons.
May 10, 2008
Carl planted the two new apple trees plus he got a lot of pruning done on the climbing roses and trees that I could not reach. My helper did not show up today. She is a good worker, but unreliable as heck when it comes to showing up. I got the rose garden weeded out and our roses are starting to pop out here and there. Some more Iris are blooming. We had 2.5 days of heavy rain and everything got watered well.
The roses are starting to show and even though the Lilacs way out front in the full sun have lost their lovely flowers, the big bush at the end of the rose arbor between the bunkhouse and the garden cottage are just starting to burst into bloom. I think it is because that bush gets a good deal of shade. Here are some of the things that are just starting to bloom.
May 13, 2008
Today is my brother George's birthday. The day is bright with a brisk light wind and was about 65 degrees when I went into the garden this morning. I cleared out about a 10 by 3 ft area of weeds and put in 4 cucumber plants, and 4 watermelon plants. This year I guess I can call most of my gardens my "experimental" Garden. I also planted some cosmo seeds which are easy growers and I love the way all those tall pastel flowers sway in the gentle wind. I was able to get some more zinnas in and by that time I was pooped. George stopped by for something and I told him Happy Birthday you old 70 yr. old guy and I also told him that this may well be my last year for gardening. I am older than him and I am starting to feel it.
I'm weeding as fast as I can, but when helpers do not show up I fall behind and the perennials are popping up amongst the weeds. The white and red poppies are just showing their heads, the Siberian Iris is doing the same thing. The various colored Iris have similar positions and the batchlor buttons are looking extremely striking this year. The primroses which have become a real invasive flower in my cottage garden get a reprieve as they start to burst forth with their showy pink blooms. The Batchlor Buttons are stately and grand again this year. The tomatoes and peppers look healthy in the waist high planters.
Learn how to build a pergola
Now available
The Impractical Gardener by Arlene Wright-Correll
14 great chapters on easy gardening. Click here for a preview.
Take That Old Car Out of Your Front Yard and Plant a Garden by Arlene Wright-Correll
Another great book on easy gardening. Click here for a preview
Welcome to my garden. We are in Zone 6. This pictorial garden diary will be added to from time to time, so for those of you who are interested, just scroll down to see the latest of what is happening in and at Home Farm Herbery in Munfordville, KY. Also as you scroll down, you will discover links to gardening articles I have written that may help you as a gardener.
