Needs More Pink

So the forecast (excluding today) for the coming week is all mid-fifties and possible sixties, which for Minnesota, is like skipping the whole month of March and most of April.

I am, of course, already spazzing about gardening.

I know I can't yet.  But I'm planning.

Here's my window box plan.

It's so gorgeous, it's downright crazy.

And I'm gonna do it.

I've pretty much figured out what plants are in there.  Except for the yellow ones, and I can tell it's probably gonna cost me a fortune.  My front of the house window box is about eight feet long.

So I'm planning ahead.  You can't buy it all in one fell swoop, otherwise I'll hear something like this from Matt.

Matt: What's all that?

Me: I had to get some dirt.  Regular dirt.  Potting soil.  Fertilizer.  Manure.

Matt: You spent 50 bucks on dirt?

Me: No.  I also got fertilizer and manure.

Matt: So you spent 50 bucks on dirt and shit?

Me: Well, when you say it like that it sounds bad.

So, I will buy a few things at a time.  A bag of dirt here.  New gardening gloves there.  And so on and so on.

So yesterday me and Sena were coloring with her crayons and I started drawing out my garden plans.  Lots of purple and red and orange and magenta and lime green.

Sena got very interested in my picture.

"What are you doin' Mommy?"

"I'm drawing flowers."

Sena grabs another crayon and goes to town.  "Needs more pink!"

Indeed.

Pretties

Back in the day I used to take pictures of things I thought were interesting.  Like flowers, sunsets, architecture, trees, landscapes, rocks, and hairy old nude men.  No, not really.  I didn't take many pictures of architecture.  Because I'm not a total knob.

Anyway, here are a few pictures I took recently of flowers.  The first is from a bouquet I made of garden flowers the last time my garden looked good.  Which was June.  Now, after the heat of July and August, it looks like Sister Parish's own personal nightmare.  Bonus points if you got that reference.

The pictures of water lilies were taken at the Conservatory in Como Park, Saint Paul.

Porn for Zone 4

Yesterday I loaded Sena up in the car and we headed to the Porno Palace for us Zone 4 gardeners, namely Bachmann's greenhouse.

Bachmanns has everything.  Every new flower or plant that your heart desires.  Plus, the people who work there know stuff.  And if they don't, they'll find someone who does.  These people bleed green.

As soon as I got out of the car and walked Sena through their landscape inspiration garden, I started to twitch like a diabetic who's just scarfed down a dozen donuts.  Flowers!  Flowers!  They were all there.

I pushed a cart into the annual greenhouse room and just about went blind from all the color molesting my eyes.  It's like being Dorothy and walking out the door into the land of Oz. 

Sena had a great time.  She loved looking at all the flowers, while I picked up things and put them down, examined tags, fondled petals and leaves like some weird perv.  I'm surprised none of the workers hosed me down, I was that excited. 

They do have hoses there, and they use them regularly.

I tried to pace myself but with 30 minutes I had picked out and mentally calculated how much I had spent.  I had to get out of Bachmanns! 

Here are some things I bought.  I don't buy the basics there because I can find impatiens for cheaper, but I tend to get unique plants that the Cub Foods flower lot doesn't carry.  Stuff like this.

I'll be visiting a few more places this weekend.  I'm a goin' on a bender, y'all!

Lush Life

One of my favorite daily routines when I'm at home is taking Sena for a walk in her stroller. I found a used BOB jogging stroller on eBay last year and snapped it up. I must say, they are well worth the money (if you don't pay full price for it). While I can do some running with her in it, it is somewhat awkward to push and run at the same time. Or, I should say, I'm somewhat awkward trying to do it. I'm still not in my running shape, but I just started my P90X training on Monday and I hope to be back in shape by the start of summer. That is another post entirely...I have a half-marathon race on June 6 that I signed up for last fall, stupidly thinking, "Oh, I'll be ready by then."

Yeah, stupid.

I'm not ready. But I want my overpriced T-shirt so I plan to show up and see what I can manage. I heard they are giving away free beer at the end; an incentive to actually finish the entire race.

But back to the BOB. It wheels over bumps and divots like a champ and keeps the ride somewhat smooth for Sena. She almost always falls asleep in it.

There is a certain route I like to take around the lake that brings me up the same street I live on, except that it is south of the creek. There are several houses in the neighborhood where there are more than a few crazy gardeners. Crazy in that they go full bore from late April to late October doing their yard up. Some of them belong in magazines. These are my kind of people.



If I had a porn stash, it would be pictures of people's gardens. I drool over the arbors and flag stone patios. Peonies the size of softballs. Perfectly manicured, emerald green lawns that no crabgrass or dandelion dare set foot in. Window boxes stuffed full and practically vomiting supertunias, impatiens, and geraniums.

So yesterday, as I was walking up the hill to the last house on the corner something really caught my eye. I had to take a picture, and luckily I had my phone on me.



These beauties were dancing and bopping in the wind so I stood there for several minutes trying to get the right shot. I was so consumed with them that I didn't care if anyone was watching me. Maybe the person who planted them was watching me... I'm sure they understood. And maybe they were a little bit proud. If someone stopped in front of my house and did that I would be thrilled. I'd probably be so happy that I'd run outside in my bathrobe and yell, "Doesn't my garden totally kick ass?"

Yes, yes it does.

Here's also a recent picture of the little chublet...even prettier than the poppies, in my opinion.

Blossom

Up here in the tundra we've been having the most amazing spring that anyone can remember. The lilacs are about a month ahead of schedule, and I was so bold as to plant my window box already. In this area, that is known as Tempting Fate. However, I used pansies, primula, and some mums. Plus I filled it in with plants I already had coming up: creeping jenny and lamium. The Scottish cheapskate side of me was thrilled at my frugal ingenuity.

Here are some photos. More to come as the lilacs and peonies open up.





Plus a photo of my Tuesday/Thursday morning coffee klatch group.