I Might Be Declaring War

Do you know Joey Feek? She was the singer that lost her battle with cancer last month. She loved to garden and would start seedlings in egg shells. This winter, while lying in her hospital bed in the her mother's home, she asked her family to save egg shells for her to plant seeds in. That's where I got the idea to try this experiment.

I collected egg shells for several days....washed them, poked a hole in the bottom for drainage, put the potting soil in and then planted sunflower, geranium and zinnia seeds inside. They came up and looked so healthy. I kept them under a lamp light, kept them moist....basically babied them until they were big enough to plant. I had enough to plant at the beach and the lake and the cool thing is that you just plant the whole thing, egg shell and all.

The results of the experiment.......

The Lake:
1) Lost one sunflower to the cold weather, two weekends ago. The other two look good.
2) Lost all the geraniums to the cold weather, two weekends ago.
3) Lost only 3 or 4 zinnias to the cold. The many others are still small, but looking good.

The Beach:
1) I only planted geraniums at the beach. They were on a covered porch and not bothered by cold weather.  They were looking so healthy and cute.

However, I came to the beach today to find that every ding dong geranium planted in the egg shells were dug up and strewn around on the porch. Dead....every last one of them. Egg shells and dirt and dead geraniums everywhere. What in the world?

SQUIRRELS!

They make me so mad......in more ways than one. I know some of you think they are cute. No! Don't be fooled! They are a pest, a nuisance and probably from the devil.  I might declare war on them.

I was so mad, that I didn't think to get a picture of the mess. I'm back to square one with the geraniums. And for sure, I won't be planting seeds in egg shells anymore.

Cooling off,

Laurie

Geraniums In January

It's January the 4th.  It's not normal for geraniums to still be blooming, yet here they are. I took these pictures this morning. It's been so warm that the geraniums have continued to flourish. However, it's supposed to get into the high 20's tonight and I'm guessing that will be the end of Geraniums in January.

Laurie

 

Something's Always Blooming

Zinnias...planted from seed. They did wonderful. I'll definitely plant them again.

Geraniums.....planted in pots. They love the sun and heat. They've done well.

I'll, also, plant these again.

Canna Lily.....these were planted by the previous owner of our lake house.

I really don't care for them that much. I dug them up because they blocked our view of the lake from the den. But, have mercy, they don't go easy. Apparently, I didn't dig up all the rhizomes. And they love the sun and heat, too. They're blooming their heads off!



For this flower lover, it's all about the blooms! I have been pleasantly surprised that there's always something blooming at the lake. Although, I have sad news to report......after returning from my Wyoming bike tour, I have lost several shrubs that were planted last fall. Take it from me, until they are well established.....water them every other day, if possible. Soak them once a week. This is where I failed. The sprinkler system is not enough to keep them alive. I was hopeful. But, not being able to baby them for a month in this very hot, sweltering, inferno of a summer we are having proved to be detrimental. So, I've chalked it up to a learning curve. I'll replant this fall. Cliff is adding a new watering system dedicated to the flower beds, so we should be good to go.

Wishing you many blooms,

Laurie