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Its winter? Who knew....
Posted: 20 Feb 2014 Posted: 07 Oct 2013 Posted: 12 Sep 2013 Posted: 29 Aug 2013 Posted: 12 Aug 2013 All Entries |
Mrs. Galeassi's Blog
Its winter? Who knew....
Category: Not a beginner anymore | Posted: Thu Feb 20, 2014 5:37 pm So we had a few cold fronts that went down to the 30s, but the next day it was warm again. I see all the troubles everyones having with all the snow. That's so why I don't live up north..bbbrrrr... But I can't believe bad this winter is, oddly for us its the complete opposite, its our warmest.... I have been adding photos to my albums but I haven't been posting on the forums or written a blog in awhile. Been really busy with the kids and crafts and work. I feel kinda spread thin. But I'm good it will all work out. I've actually stopped adding to my list and have been finishing stuff to take it off my list. But one thing I did forget was to post the ninja turtle cupcakes when I did them, but better late then never right...... 
Madisons Ninja turtle cupcakes 11/21 ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) And the birthday girl...... 
Madisons birthday 11/26 ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) That was November, I had planned on posting them then.... I've been teaching kids crafts like the rainbowloom and more recently paracording. A lot of my time lately has been on making planners for the classes and learning the diffrent designs..... 
2/17 DayLilys ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
2/17 Broccoli sprouts ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
Red Mums (cosmo sprout in it pot haha) and Iris ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
2/17 Orange Cosmo (Thanks Don) ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
2/17 Snapdragons ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
I dont know! weed or plant? haha ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
2/17 2 Strawberry plants and Kale sprouts ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
2/17 Romaine Lettuce ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
2/17 Wheat ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
2/17 Morning glory sprouts, and spearmint ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
2/17 Mini roses ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
2/17 Blue Berry Bush ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
My Valentine mini roses from hubby 2/17 ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
2/17 Kalencho, vinca, poinsetta ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
Leeks, Butterfly bush, and more cabbage sprouts ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
Butterfly bush, Vinca, 2 pots celosia sprouts and Cabbage sprouts ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
2/17 Silver bells english ivy ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
2/17 tomatos ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
2/17 Our walkway ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
2/17 full right side patio ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
2/17 full left side patio ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
Mums,marigold sprouts, celosia sprouts ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
2/17 Sweet Williams Dianthus ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
2/17 Green Bean sprouts ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
2/17 4 pineapple plants ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
2/17 First pineapple sprout ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) That's my container garden now..... I'm pretty proud my gardening has come so far. I even got rid of those pesky white flies! I lost the mexican heather I had, the cosmos are blooming that a stewbie sent me. My roses from last valentines are huge and now I have another from this year. Good Hubby!! Hehe I'm still the queen of romaine lettuce. I'm trying cabbage and broccoli finally. I just planted some petunia seeds in hanging pots and hope they sprout soon. I'm trying my hand at strawberries and blue berries this year. I keep busy in the garden, it sure is easier then when it was in the ground though. Here's a few of my projects I've been working on..... Haha I keep busy I swear! 
Nautical centerpiece still a work in progress ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
Family Tree made by me! ;) ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
Rainbowloom bracelets i teach :) ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) Ok well that's all for now. Hope you all enjoy your day or night. Last edited: Thu Feb 20, 2014 6:09 pm This blog entry has been viewed 335 times
Fabulous Fall
Category: Not a beginner anymore | Posted: Mon Oct 07, 2013 4:17 pm Wow its great to walk outside and feel a nice fall breeze. Its about time geesh! Now maybe I can straighten my hair with out the humidity turning it to instant frizz! Speaking of hair... check out this cool hairclip I made.... 
Halloween hairclip I made ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) I've also been making a lot of friendship bracelets lately... its like little Laura is coming back out... haha... I made stuff like this when I was a kid and now its come back around... so here's a few I made for some besties I have.... 
Bracelet I made ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
Another bracelet I made ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) I've got a few sprouts on my window sil going. A few came from stewbies (thank you again)... I've got 3 Astors, Romaine Lettuce, Orange Cosmos, 1 Blackeyed Susan going, I planted some peony poppies but no sprouts just yet and some mammoth sunflowers again(yeah I just keep trying them). 
( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) This basket I painted about 20 times since I've had it. It gets used for so many various decorations. Now its my centerpiece I just popped my Jade ripple plant in it. Don't worry its in a liner. Didn't want to ruin my basket. Ok here's my walkway. I have 3 daylillies still going pretty good. They have been getting some spotted leaves but I think it will pass. I have 3 okra still producing and the white bird of paradise is still looking awesome. The snap dragons and mexican heather are still flowering and my pepper plant that was in this area I pulled, it just wasn't producing. So now I've planted a mum in the empty pot. 
( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
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( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) My sitting area would be nicer if I could get a thick vine over there.... I have morning glories that I found growing in the back yard planted there. They are different then mine that I grew from seed... the people that lived here before had a lot of plants and I keep finding things I know back there... haha So this one is producing small flowers. 
( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) And here's the rest of my sitting area..... 
( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) Now this is the area really affected by the white flies, but I've gotten them under control just not demolished! I lost my Cuphea though and I don't know why, was it the flies or something else. Ugh so pulled it today. Now I need something tall over there. Maybe the cosmos would look good there. The orange celosia I just bought pretty much seems to be dying off but I planted the dead heads in the pot with it and have a whole bunch of lil sproutlings. The pink celosia babies are getting pretty big. I'm not fond of these plants, they never live long after I get them, but at least they produce babies. I'm still mad some of my purchased plants don't produce good seeds! Argh like that african daisy I loved! My rose, marigold,sweet williams, tomato, mint, leeks, oregano, ivy and vincas are all still doing great! I am thrilled! The come back king is the butterfly bush.. right off the rescue rack! Its flowering for the first time. :) 
( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
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( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) So that's what's going on in my lil world. Hope your garden is blooming :) Last edited: Tue Oct 08, 2013 12:20 am This blog entry has been viewed 308 times
Patiently Awaiting Fall
Category: My first Gardening experiences | Posted: Thu Sep 12, 2013 11:41 pm Well I'm about over summer. I'm patiently awaiting fall, see this is going to be my first fall actually growing things. Don't get me wrong I've had plants for years, but I wasn't any kind of gardener, I didn't know what plant was what. I just knew I liked plants and I half heartidly cared for them. My White Birds of Paradise is living proof of that era of my life. And last summer I was mainly veggies and annuals so after they let on I left my beds to just grow in. But this year I accumulated quite a collection of perinnials, biennials and evergreens. So my annuals that are currently growing and not far from there life cycle are the Marigolds and Morning Glories. And I have 3 Mammoth sunflowers just starting to show petals, they are only about 3inches in height. I have 1 Shasta daisy sprout left and honestly I don't have high hopes for the lil guy, I haven't had much luck with the seeds, but I bought them late in the season so the weather hasn't been favorable. Same with the Astors which I have 3 sprouts that are looking pretty good and hope they bloom this fall. I just found a celosia in the daisy pot and its about 2 inches tall, must be a baby from the first celosia I had this spring cause its pink, my rescue rack celosia is orange and its not looking good already. The flower has faded a lot. My Veggies and Herbs are still growing this season. I have 5 Romaine Lettuce plants just about a foot tall and just now starting to produce good size edible leaves. And I have 13 sproutlings. The Okra is still producing and probably has a good 5 weeks left in them. The oregano and mint are still doing great. The leeks are still growing but hasn't sprouted any new ones. The only hot pepper plant left is nice and full but the flowers just keep falling off and nothings coming of it. I have 2 new sprouts and hope to harvest some hot peppers this year. My 4 pineapple grew a lot over summer but still no fruit and this is the second summer for them. I also have 5 cherry tomato plants that are flowering, they are actually grown from seeds from a store bought plant that died over summer. When fall hits I'm still going to grow the veggies until they die off and hope to keep my herbs over until next spring. I'm hoping to start a crop of cold weather veggies, I'm just still undecided besides lettuce. My perinnial, biennial and evergreen plants that I have currently growing are African Iris, Daylily, Angelonia, Coleus, Cuphea, Periwinkle, Sweet Williams, English Ivy, Kalanchoe, Butterfly Bush, and Columbine. I have done my research and its best to leave the foilage until it gets close to the end of winter. And then cut them back. I'm pretty sure that covers all of them except the Ivy. Ugh I think.... I gotta do a bit more research. I haven't seen half of these in full glory or bloom cause they are mostly off the rescue rack. So next spring is going to be so awesome. I can't wait to see the Iris and Daylily blooms. I have some seeds thanks to a few wonderful Stewbies that id like to grow. Some from what I've read I will have to wait until next spring. But a couple I can probably grow this fall. And after the okra finishes I want to replace them with some Mums. This week I'm going to go pull all my fall/halloween rubbermaids and start decorating to get in the mood. I am patiently awaiting fall! This blog entry has been viewed 315 times
I love the rescue rack!
Category: My first Gardening experiences | Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2013 5:22 pm I love the rescue rack, whenever my garden is in transition and I have some plants dying off and sprouts coming up or still little, the rescue rack is my go too. I just hit the lowes up and get some plants to fill in. And in that I also get some that I cut back but know that they will fill in in a couple months. So here's the new guys: 
8/28 celosia off rescue rack ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) This celosia replaced the pink one that I had. It was looking bad so when I trimmed it back it died. :( I need to figure these kind of flowers out better. Or not its an annual so it means its supposed to get pulled right?! 
8/28 African Iris off rescue rack ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) I found this Iris for a dollar, never had one but it looked like my daylillies and that's what I thought it was at first. Never had one, but glad to have another periniel. 
Vinca and butterfly bush off rescue rack 8/28 ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
Vincas from the rescue rack 8/28 ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) I also got these Vinca's, I've had one many years before my gardening thumb and it survived my abuse for years and I had no clue what I was doing! So got them to get a lil more color to my patio. Now the top vinca has a Lochinch Butterfly Bush aka Buddleia Lochinch Butterfly aka Buddleia davidii Lochinch behind it. I cut it way back cause it was pretty dead. So I got the bush and iris for a dollar each and the others were 57 cents a piece. Not a bad lowes visit.... :) so that's all my new rescues..... Here's my garden now..... 
8/28 Snapdragons up close ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) Here's my rescued snapdragon its blooming again, just need to research how to care for it, like do I cut it back for winter or just before next spring? I cut it back when I first got it and its bloomed twice since. I've never really had year round flowers or bushes for that matter! 
Aug 26th Mini Roses ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) Here's my mini rose bush I got from hubby on Valentines day. And let me say wow its such a bloomer and grew so much! Id love another, maybe white roses.... 
8/28 Okra bloom, notice the small okra growing right above the flower ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) My 3 Okra plants are flowering a lot this week and I've counted 3 tiny okra veggies growing. I don't like okra but I love the flowers. My nieghbors and coworkers will get blessed with some free fresh okra! Haha 
8/28 left side front ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) Here's 5 cherry Tomato plants I grew from seed and Marigolds I grew from seed as well. And my 2 Sweet Williams I bought that are still blooming like crazy! And way at the top right you can see my 10cent rescued English Ivy and its growing pretty well too! 
8/28 Left side ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) In this picture is my Oregano, Celosia, Mint, Marigold sproutlings, mystery sprouts, 5 Sunflower sprouts, 2 Shasta Daisy sprouts, Vinca's, Mini Rose Bush, Butterfly Bush, and in the corner is another bush type plant from the rescue rack but can't remember the name. Oh and how can I forget my Leeks..... 
8/28 Romaine Lettuce, African Iris and Morning glory ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) Here's my 5 Romaine Lettuce. My second batch, the first was great and we ate them all and I harvested the seeds. My new African Iris and my Morning Glories, bad photo for the morning glories. They are actually growing well this time. This is my second try in this spot. The first grew well I just planted too many and then fungus got them. 
8/28 Walkway ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) And here's my walkway which has White Birds of Paradise in the corner, the 3 Daylillies to the left of it. And my 3 Okra plants, a Hot Pepper plant, Snapdragon plant (can't remember the other name off the top of my head), and my Mexican Heather which is still blooming too. I resently lost my astor and columbine sprouts. I planted more columbine last week and hope they grow... Well my pineapple plants not pictured grew quite a bit over summer and I still haven't cleaned up around them. I'm hoping as soon as it cools down a bit I can clean up around them and put down some mulch. So there's my container garden and the new guys! Haha Have a great day my fellow Stewbies! This blog entry has been viewed 310 times
A few flower power pictures!
Category: My first Gardening experiences | Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 4:26 pm After posting my last blog update I realized I needed to post some better pictures. :) 
Aug 12th Mini rose bloom ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) I really need more plants like this one! Serious bloomer! 
Aug 12th Marigold ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
Morning glory vine Aug 12th ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
Aug 12th ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
Aug 12th ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
Aug 12th ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
Aug 12th Sweet Williams ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
Aug 12th ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
Aug 12th Daylillies ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
Aug 12th Romaine sprouts ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) This blog entry has been viewed 343 times
Lost summer!
Category: My first Gardening experiences | Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2013 3:25 pm Hello my prettys! I totally lost summer. I missed out on all my stewbies post and haven't updated my blog in quite some time. I haven't harrassed anyone with my million question forums. Where has the time gone? Where have I been you ask? Well I got swallowed by summer it seems! One minute I'm having a good time on garden stew and playing in my garden, enjoying the kids home for summer and then it happend! My very new part time job at the craft store picked up and I taught a kids summer craft class for 7 weeks. And had a blast but it became very time consuming because I had to learn the crafts before I taught them, so I had homework that my wonderful kids helped me with. It got so hot out, I'm talking 100% humidity and 90*+ temps. That my garden took a bit of a beating. I lost all squash, green bean and pumpin plants. Which squash and pumpkin always have been my problem children. Green beans was my best crop last year and this year was lost from spider mites, but that you probably already knew. And then we had a month of straight rain. Some plants had fungus and blight. But I've been keeping my plants on a neem oil treatment. I'm still winning my white fly battle but they aren't quitters that's for sure. My romaine lettuce was a great crop and now I have 5 more sprouts in there place. I just should have started them sooner so the gap wouldn't be so big between harvest. I lost all my fairy garden plants, I couldn't understand why at first till I caught my kitty messing with them. So the only one that survived is the kalenchoe. I took it out temperarely, its on the patio table under shade. My huge pot of marigolds got rust and I finally pulled them. My african daisy is on its last leg and the seeds I have from it won't germinate. My rose bush is still kicking butt and so are the sweet williams. The english ivy is doing well by the trellis but I have to tie it up. Does it not climb by its self? Hmmm forum time... haha. My Daylillies are still doing well but no sign of a second summer bloom. I have 3 okra plants getting close to flowering and 1 pepper plant that is flowering. My mint and oregano are still growing well. I planted cotton and no sprouts still. I have mamoth sunflowers growing from the seeds of my mothersday plant that up and died a week after mothersday. And I have shasta daisy and astors and columbine sproutlings that I hope survive the heat to be my fall plants. I also lost 1 cherry tomato plant but I planted some of its seeds and now have 4 cherry tomato plants. And the first cherry tomato plant I bought for my husband actually came back to life and sprouted new greenery. I was really shocked to be honest, glad I didn't pull it when I thought it died. A lot of my lowes clearance plants are still doing great. Just can't seem to remember all the names! :\ hehe So that's what's going on in the garden. And here's just a couple pictures. 
Aug 12th front walkway ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
Aug 12th Right side Patio ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
Aug 12th Left side Patio ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) The kids go back to school on the 20th and hopefully life slows down a bit. I hope my Aunt who is really ill with cancer gets better this has been weighing heavy on my heart. And my cousin her son can feel relief, I'm worried about him. I have been making him a lot of stuff trying to take his mind off things. I hope to get to spend more time with my favorite gardening community and catch up on what's happening in your gardens. My goal for my fall garden is to get some florida fall plants and add some more perinials to my collection. Now that the summer kids classes are over my boss said the floral designer can teach me faux floral arrangements. She is a wonderful designer and lady so I can't wait to learn from her. I'm so happy to be able to write this and get back into the swing of things. Don't let summer pass you by! Xoxo, Laura Galeassi This blog entry has been viewed 275 times
I'll get you my pretty, and your little pod too!
Category: My first Gardening experiences | Posted: Sun Jun 16, 2013 1:43 am So like most new gardeners I had no clue what I was doing when trying to collect flower seeds! See the first time I learned how to get seeds was from a marigold, so now I'm wow that was easy and went along through last summer thinking they would all be that easy. Now I see some of you seasoned gardeners are saying it is that easy. Well I beg to differ! Cause no matter what there are some plants, these ones that have pods or whatever are just the worst ok. So from a newbies perspective this is what I've got so far, and here's some of what I just don't get. 
Collecting dried seeds ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) So I have been taking the dead flowers off and saving them. The marigold is so easy and even from the pictures its easy to see its a one step process once they are dried. 
Collecting marigold seeds ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) And the African daisy is the same kind of process, but the seeds are much smaller. 
Collecting African daisy seeds ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) Ok so that's about all I've gotten a handle on. So with the Sweet william dianthus I had a bit of luck but wow did it take a bit of trying. So here you see the different steps to get these basically its peeling away some of the foilage and pulling the alien pod out which may have already split and sprinkle it and the smallest little seeds come out. I'm still not convinced there seeds haha, they are like a pencil dot size. 
Collecting Sweet Williams seeds ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
Sweet Williams seed pod (alienish) ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) Now here's some pods that I really don't get! Ok the hibiscus, I really want to start one from seed. So I keep trying to get this pod at the right time. I've kept such a close eye on then and I have gotten the pod off when it was getting ready to fall off but wasn't splt. And then I let it dry out. And when I tried to open it it was hard and rubbery. But I let it dry for well over a week. I don't know about this one. 
Hybiscus pod on stem ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
Trying to collect hybiscus seeds ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) And the last one I've tried and had no success with also is the petunia. Its a pod also like the hibiscus but much smaller. And I've not had any luck at all. I've waited even until the pod shrivled and turned black. 
Petunia seed Pods on tips of stems ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) On these I had to leave the stem on because the pod is so small. But I didn't let them dry long enough. Just the one to the left of my finger is all dried and the pod is on my finger. I just wanted to show how small they are. How are you honestly going to get seeds out of there, I don't think I can even get that open. That's why I'm just going to hope that this works. I put another pot under the hanging foilage to catch some seeds. If this works I hope it self seeds in the pot its in and the pot I set under its foilage. The celosia is really easy, I almost forgot about this one. Basically you save the flower its self and let it dry and save the whole lot. Hey maybe that's what I should do with the petunia pods. So this is about all I've gotten from my seed gathering so far this year. Hope you learned something or had a laugh or just enjoyed my babble. Have a great night my fellow stewbies! :) This blog entry has been viewed 391 times
Summertime lovin'
Category: My first Gardening experiences | Posted: Tue Jun 04, 2013 3:25 pm So its officially summer. Hurricane season started on the first and the last day of school is Thursday. They are predicting an active season. Ha they always say that. So we run around stupid and scared. The weather is always unpredictable id rather worry when and if the time comes. This ain't my first rodeo! Hehehe. So the weather is annoying me, I want to get these marigolds in the ground around the pineapple plants. I'm going to try and see how well they do there and maybe it will liven it up. 
6/2 Marigold babies going in the ground soon! ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) My green and wax beans are in a battle along with a squash and an okra and a few tomato babies from spider mites. I treated them with neem oil and I hope this doesn't ruin the bean plants, they are looking pretty bad. Lost a lot of foilage. So I have my fingers crossed cause I already lost the last of my pumpkin plants this week. 
6/2 Green and Wax beans, Cherry tomato sprouts, 1 Okra and 1 Squash ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) The romaine lettice is doing outstanding. But I'm not going to lie at the slightest chance of rain I bring them in or stash them outa harms way! I think they are growing in the perfect spot for them. Its shady yet some sun rays shoot right through. 
6/2 Romaine lettuce doing so great! :) ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) The celery expeirement is working out real well. The carrot one failed, I just got a holy carrot top with no greenery, I bet if I would have tried with soil instead of sand it would have worked. 
Store bought Celerys babies 6/2 ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) So I also have garlic from the fridge, I've known about this since last year, I did it then too. I've just never harvested it. Last year it rotted from the rain. This years looks real good too. 
6/1 Garlic (yep outa fridge) ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) My flowers all seem to be doing ok. I'm a bit worried they won't survive the summer heat. I finally figured out how to get seeds out of the african daisy. The petunias are still a problem, I don't see any seeds in these pods. I've left some on the plant and I've put a bag around one. I've tried numerous things to find this mystery pod and yep nothing! The sweet williams pods are easier to find and watch, I got that part, I even think I have some seeds. They kinda look like crushed red pepper. 
6/2 Morning glories, Marigolds, African Daisy, Mini Roses Leeks, Celosia and Okr ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) My leeks have some sort of onion at the base, hhmmm do I leave that? I was just going to trim and use as needed and not do anything else with it. The oregano is growing but not as well as last years. I think its the container, but its not dying so I'm good with it staying where its at. 
6/2 Mini rose bloom ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
6/1 Mini Roses, Cosmos, and Squash ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
6/2 Sweet Williams :) ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
Daylily 6/2 ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
6/3 Zinnias and Oregano ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
6/2 Sunset ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) The chili pepper plants are doing great, but my poor morning glories are having some trouble. I 1 over planted in the pots, yeah rookie mistake ok, and 2 blight or something is making the leaves yellow. I just treated them and thinned them a bit so hope to see improvement. If not its a pot upgrade, which I really don't want to do. I like them how they are, but its not about me I know! 
6/2 My cozy spot right next to my awesome petunias! ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
6/2 Growing slow and steady! ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
Morning Glories 6/2 and Cherry tomato sprout ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
6/2 Cosmos and Wheat ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
6/2 Wheat, okra, peppers and mint ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) Last edited: Tue Jun 04, 2013 6:57 pm This blog entry has been viewed 320 times
The good, The bad, and The stinky!
Category: My first Gardening experiences | Posted: Tue May 28, 2013 1:08 am I am so absolutely thrilled with my container garden. I do miss having a huge yard to grow whatever and however many plants I want. But the bonus about the containers are that you can move an unhealthy plant away from the others until you either chuck it (it happens) or bring it back to good standing. The pain is that you need a lot of pots (well I do) and big pots. I did a lot of upgrades (transplant) to bigger pots the past couple weeks. But this is a learning experience still so next year I will full on fledge know what to expect. Sshhhh or that's what id like people to believe. :) So I have been trying to learn as much as possible to help ensure a good harvest and also I like to retain as much information as possible on whatever projects I have on hand. And over the past year I've tried different methods and learned some stuff from some fellow Stewbies and google. And I kinda mixed them a bit to work for me. So here's what works for me in my climate 9b. 
My special blend compost booster ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) This is my special compost blend. I sometimes don't put all the kitchen compost in the bin and I make this which I take some coffee grounds, egg shells(boiled to sanitize), bananas and peels, and sometimes other fruits and veggies all chopped up real small and put in a pyrex with lid for a few days. Then I go put it in the ground near the plants once its all rotten. 
Homemade composter ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) This is the homemade composter I made. A simple garbage can with holes cut into it. I found the idea looking for a small composter. I was supposed to glue screen over the holes but that hasn't happend. I normally just lay it on its side and roll it to mix it up.. I recently had something growing out of it. :) 
Germinated seeds getting ready for planting ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) I have tried different methods for germinating and I pretty much now can tell from the seed how it should be germinated, some do need a good soaking first or just a warm damp towel. These little reusable pots are awesome. I just use them over and over again. I bought the ones that are biodegradable but they were more of a pain then any help. And I totally love compost with poo. It stinks bad too! :( When you first use it is when it smells and there are flies for a couple days. But after all goes back to normal. Eeewww gross I know but it seems to keep some bad bugs away. Weird right? But the plants love it. 
What i use sometimes ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) Now I try to stay on the green side. But I'm not going to lie, I occassionally use this spray on my ornamentals, very light misting and only when needed. I don't use any on my veggie plants. It does work wonders though. The fertilizer is just a general 10-10-10 veggie and flower fertilizer. I use a spoon and sprinkle it around the plants every so often. I don't time it, but id say like once a month. I use watered down milk in a spray bottle, thanks to an awesome stewbie, to treat white powdery mildew. And every few days I add a couple drops of dish soap to my watering. I water only in the early morning and I don't wet the leaves of my veggie plants to much to try and prevent mildew/mold/fungus and rust. This is the stuff that works for me. I hope maybe that I can help someone by sharing, and thanks again for reading my blog. Have a great night :) This blog entry has been viewed 255 times
What a beautiful morning.....
Category: My first Gardening experiences | Posted: Wed May 22, 2013 2:41 pm This morning was absolutely beautiful. I'm almost at a loss for words. I said almost ok! Haha :) I really got some great shots here to show you of the sky line above our home. There were birds chirping and the air was perfect and everything was still wet from the rain last night. 
5/22 Just a beautiful morning :) ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
5/22 Beautiful morning :) ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
5/22 Looks heavenly above my home! ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) I felt like I was in some movie or something! :) haha So I have worked the past two days and its been raining so I went to see the damage done by the heavy rains. Thankfully everything looked great. This is one thing I've liked about having my garden in pots. I can move them outa the way from the line of heavy rains when they are all so young and tender. I have a pretty wide overhang so I just moved them all that way. 
5/22 Moved plants under over hang from the heavy rains. ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) And on the other side I have a small table and chairs so I tucked the plants under them. My romaine gets a little ripped up from the rain so I checked them and also found that some of my seeds took well to the rain. I've lost seeds in my start box to heavy rains in the past. 
5/22 Two days of heavy rains brings forth life! ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
5/22 tucked plants away from heavy rain ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) Here is the grapefruit seed and when I looked closely it looks like leaves will be coming soon. And nothing has really worked for the catnip. It was one of the first plants I planted this season. :( 
5/22 Grapefruit (L) Cat nip(R) under petunias ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) All the flowers look great today too. Even the mini rose bush which currently has no blooms, seems to be standing tall and perky. The african daisies are just absolutely amazing. I really want to get another. I recently put it in a larger pot and its showing me some thanks I tell ya. Just take a look, almost looks fake right? :) And the morning glories are starting to get there bloom on as well. Up to four so far. Can't wait till I can't keep track :) 
5/22 African Daisy... Looks fake its so pretty! ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
5/22 Five african daisy blooms :) So awesome..... ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) 
5/22 forth morning glory bloom :) ( photo / image / picture from Mrs. Galeassi's Garden ) I hope you enjoyed the pics, I enjoyed taking them. Gardening is so wonderful, makes you enjoy things a little more. It brings me and my girls together as we have something to share. They love looking for seeds and helping make compost and inspecting the plants. Have a great day and thanks again for reading about my garden. :) This blog entry has been viewed 291 times
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