New Plants and "Easy" Stepping Stones

My new plants

Giant Bird Of Paradise

Calla Lilies

A vine that I just fell in love with! Can't remember what it is called

I have been wanting to do stepping stones in our garden, or more the path and have been dragging my feet about it. But when my Great Grandmother and Granddad both died this week, I knew that I wanted to make stepping stones to remember them. I found a kit for $9.99 at Michael's which included the cement, mold, and stir stick. I bought letter stamps specifically for stone and them some glass rocks. In the future all I will need to buy will be the cement. Which is $5.99. Not bad for something to remember loved ones with. I am also thinking of doing prayer stones.

Little Ones Working in the Garden

It is very tough to get your little ones to do what really needs to be done in the garden properly. However, one of the things that our lovely Arizona soil needs is to be loosened up, broken up, turned and have nutrients added to it. This is where little ones are so very helpful. I have done some of the work with my lovely and always present garden claw (for lack of a better word). But after adding manure, compost, and soil additive (gypsum) it still needs to be worked in. Why not have the little ones dig, turn and build towers. Lets them start to garden and you can do other things.
Yes, this use to be the mud pit but no longer. I have planted Giant Bird of Paradise, Calla lilies, and another climbing vine! We have also added Passion Fruit Vines! My hubby built wonderful hanging trellises in which they can climb!

What We are finding in the Garden!

First, I know it has been a long time. But that is one of the biggest lessons I have learned with a garden is patience! We are getting ready to paint our home and needed to move our compost piles. So my lovely hubby did. As he was dividing the soil up and turning it he came across this

I think it is a grub. For size we put it next to a milk cap. The thing was not cooperating and kept moving. What was weird was it was upside down! We have also been finding a lot more earth worms in our soil. When we started we never found any. I am not exaggerating! Zane has loved finding all these cool insects.

My last post I told about my new container gardens. I am happy to announce that there is growth! The first is the potato and then next two are my carrots!



I also wrote about getting roses ready for spring, but forgot to post the pictures. So here is what my roses looked like after I pruned them in the middle of January.
And here is what they look like now! Full of blooms and thriving. These are the first blooms. Some of them have already died but I know that every few weeks I will have a new batch. The white roses are always blooming and the others come in waves. My red ones are starting to open with the bright pink finishing their first bloom and the yellow and pale pink will be blooming in a couple weeks. I love spring!
My memorial garden is also thriving. I added steer manure in Jan or Feb and the flowers have just exploded!
There will be changes coming to this garden. I am not going to be doing much in the way of vegetables because of the low yield and high work. Especially in such a small area. I will still do veggies in containers but the side yard is going to be a flower garden. My oasis!

More Containers!

I have started my carrots and potatoes! I am trying both. Well the carrots, again.

With carrots, you have to have rock free soil. Not going to spend hours taking rocks out so I tried something else. Cut the tops off of lots of .5 liter bottles, drilled a hole in them then super glued them together. Zane and I then filled them with soil and planted the carrot seeds. We will see how this one does.


We also planted our potato. This is a first and we will see how it goes. To plant a potato cut around four eyes and take the rest of the skin off. Place it in a paper bag and let a "scab" form, will take about 2 to 4 days. Plant in a large container and cover with 1 inch of soil. After the leaves start to emerge, cover with another inch of soil. When it looks like the plant is dead, it is time to harvest the potatoes!

Time to get Roses Ready

It seems as though I was a little late this year. Last year I did not have to trim them until Feb. But with the warm weather this January, I was about a week late. However, it is not too late to get it done.

Here is what I do.

-Find the last leaf of 5 that has a bud on it and cut, straight across, right above the bud.
-After you cut then use a dab of glue (I use wood glue because it is waterproof) and put it on the cut.
-Then strip off all the leaves that are left on the stem.

You will not want to fertilize them until April. I only water them this time of year when the soil is dry. As for photosynthesis taking place, it is. There is chlorophyll in the stems. If they are green, there is chlorophyll.

Also, it is time to start to prepare for our next planting. I was mistaken, I should not have done my tomatoes. And it shows. I will be trying again. I am also wanting to try carrots. They are a little tricky because the soil needs to be rock free. Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Summer Squash, Corn, Cucumbers, are all to be planted in Feb and March.

Fresh from the garden

I had enough lettuce to add it to the baby spinach and I got one tomato that was ready. Have more tomatoes that are getting there. SO YUMMY and very pretty to look at!
Also so excited because I have learned where and when farmers markets are here in Arizona. You that visit that live here will want to check here! Can't wait to go tomorrow!