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A colorful Marigold

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This weeks Theme is Colorful

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I haven’t planted any marigolds yet, but I have purchased some. They’re sitting in their little seedling containers just waiting for me to plant them. This marigold is my neighbors.

On mother’s day her family actually did some work in the yard and they planted some flowers for her. A few days later I was out taking photos of my flowers and she insisted that I take pictures of her flowers too. Funny thing is that once I started she wanted me to stop because she decided she didn’t want me to waste my film. Try explaining to a lady that’s almost 90 what a digital camera is!

I truly must be on some kind of orange kick. I have flowers of many colors but I keep wanting to post flowers with orange in them. Even this new theme that I picked out and modified for As the Garden Grows has a lot of orange in it.

Orange is not my favorite color, but for some reason I seem to be very attracted to it in the last while. Odd. I haven’t purchased all my annuals for the garden beds yet … I wonder how many of them will have shades of orange this year?






October Gardening Tips

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If you live in a cool climate here are a few things that you should do for your garden this month:

  • Plant scattered clusters of early flowering bulbs, such as crocus, throughout your lawn in order to achieve a more-relaxed, “natural” look, but, don’t mow the area until the foliage dies the next summer.
  • Clean up the area around your perennial flowers, such as rose and peony. If left on the ground, leaves and stems can harbor diseases and provide convenient places for pests to spend the winter.
  • Ferns can be planted or transplanted in fall.
  • Wear gloves when handling hyacinth bulbs as they have an oil in the bulb that may make some people itch. Also remember to wash your hands with cool water and soap immediately after planting.
  • Cut stems and foliage of herbaceous perennials when the leaves begin to brown.
  • Occasionally some spring-flowering bulbs to send up a few leaves in the late fall or early winter. The bulbs will remain safe over the winter and will still produce flowers next spring.
  • If cannas, dahlias, and gladioli are not hardy in your area, bring them inside after the tops are browned by frost. Allow to dry, clean off soil, and store in peat moss or vermiculite in a cool location free from frost.
  • Move and divide crowded perennials. Give some to your friends and neighbors if you have too many!
  • Let a few of the seeds of your favorite delphinium and hollyhock ripen on their stalks. When they mature, you can plant the seeds in a garden bed where they will grow into little plants that survive the winter well.
  • Add mulch to your garden beds. A 1-inch layer of chopped leaves or weed-free straw will help conserve soil moisture, protect the root system, and reduce plant loss by soil heaving during the winter.
  • lily bulbs are never dormant, you must plant them as soon as they are purchased. Prepare your beds ahead of time.
  • Mark the spots where late starting perennials will come up next spring as you clean out the flower beds, so that you can avoid damaging them while working in the beds next year.

Stinking brew! Alfalfa Tea

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Oh my. I did something this evening that I have to do under the cover of darkness. No, I’m not doing something illegal or trying to hide some big gardening secret from my neighbors.

No, nothing quite as simple as that I’m afraid.

You see, I’m quite sure that my neighbors are well aware that something is going on when I do my sneaky deed.

It’s the smell that gives it away.

Remember sometime near the beginning of July I posted that I was going to brew a batch of Alfalfa tea? Yup, well I did. It brewed and fermented, and I stirred it and tended to it and the herbal grow juice was more than ready to be poured onto my garden beds.

I used two large garbage bins. Added 6 cups of alfalfa pellets to each bin and filled them to within 4 inches of the top. Then I added 1.5 cups of Epsom salt to each container as well. The alfalfa contains a natural growth hormone that the plants respond to very quickly, plus the alfalfa gives them a nitrogen boost too. The epsom salts add some magnesium to the mix. Just for good measure I also added some Iron Green. Read the directions on the bottle to figure out how many capfuls of iron Green to add per litre or gallon of water. I followed the directions but I can’t remember how much I added at this time.

When I was done preparing the mixture I gave it a good stir with a big stick and then put the lids on the containers. I stirred it two or three times a day for most of the last three weeks. It was ready after about one week but we were going through a heat wave here so I wasn’t ready to use it.

Oh, I also added about a cup of molasses to each container on the third day. This feeds the bacteria that is developing and aids in the fermentation process.

It’s very important to stir the mixture at least once a day to add some air into the fluid that brewing away in your driveway, or backyard. If you don’t it will smell even worse when you decide to use it.

But I digress. I stopped to tell you my recipe for alfalfa tea in case you want to try it on your own garden. You might not, by the time I finish my story, but let me testify that it works. No matter how bad it might smell you will get results and you’ll get them very quickly. Honest, I wouldn’t lie to you.

I guess, to my neighbors, this might seem like a big garden secret because I only pour the stuff on my garden late at night when most people are inside their homes. Then they see that my garden is lush and full of new growth on all the plants and that I have lovely blooms on all of my flowering plants.

But I don’t pour it on the garden at night because it’s a secret. No, I’d gladly share my recipes with them. No I do it because it smells terrible. Like a cross between poop and vomit. Really disgusting. Well, this batch was anyways since I’d let it go to long thanks to the heat wave.

I’m sure anyone around can smell it for several blocks.

My husband helped me. He pre-watered the garden beds so the alfalfa tea wouldn’t just roll off the mulch when I poured it around the plants. I, of course, had the nasty job of filling watering containers with the nasty brew splashing myself in the process as I walked back and forth from the flower beds to the brewing containers.

Whenever a bus would go by and stop at the corner we’d try to hide ourselves in case someone walked in the direction of our home. If we saw someone walking down the street and knew they would pass our house we’d stay out of sight then too. The job is so nasty that you just want to get it over with and you don’t want to stop and talk to neighbors inquiring about the awful smell.

Chris went over the areas that I had applied the alfalfa tea to and did a normal watering of the area. This helps soak the alfalfa tea into the ground and, well, it cuts the smell down a lot too.We had to shower when we came in to get the smell off of us, but I think my hands still smell.

I wouldn’t do this if the results were nil to mild. Uh huh, it wouldn’t be worth it. The results are spectacular! I started using alfalfa tea last year. I think the garden got at least four doses of the stinking brew. Within days of each application new growth could be seen on most of the plants. The roses would start to grow basal canes, and other plants would start to push out flower buds.

You’ve seen pictures of my garden on this site, and if you’ve been cruising around you’ve also seen my plants on Tricia’s Musings and Breath of Life, that should be proof that it works and that my garden is healthy. I don’t use any chemicals in my garden. Everything is natural.

If you are daring, and you’d like a lovely garden, take my advice and make some alfalfa tea. It stinks but it works. You’ll love it. Oh yes, you might want to apply it to your garden when your neighbors aren’t around just as I do, otherwise I’m sure those around you will have something to say about it.

More information on alfalfa tea:

Fertilizing roses – Alfalfa Tea

What are the Benefits of Aerated Compost Teas vs. Classic Teas?

Enjoy!

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