DOT Pots™

DOT POTS™ were new last year at Johnny's, and I haven't tried them before. I think I'll pick some up and see how they fair. Using the large, plastic trays is really a pain each year and I always waste more soil than I need and mold always seems to develop.

Here is some more info regarding DOT Pots™ from the manufacturer's website.

Seeds & Disks Purchased

In my attempt to keep things simple, I picked up four different varieties of seed disks at work today. These disks are terrific. I already had the containers we sell from a couple of years ago, but the disks always sell-out early, so I figured I'd better get my hands on them now while they're here.

Then I picked up a few other easy items that I may, or may not get planted, but it's nice to have a few options. :-)

I bought seeds for the following:

Vegetables:
2775 Arugula 3 seed DISKs
2958 Crunchy Royale Mix Radish
121 Emu Spinach

Herbs:
2921 CatMINT
2777 Genovese Basil 3 seed DISKs
3804 Greek Oregano 3 seed DISKs
2773 Parsley 3 seed DISKs

Flowers:
1647 Purple Majesty Ornamental Grass
1865 Cherry Brandy Rudbeckia
1644 Prairie Sun Rudbeckia
1815 Sunny Smile (2 pkts)

Garden plan? What Garden Plan?

I’m so envious of everyone’s beautiful garden plans! VERY impressive. If I had a big field out in some extreme full sun, I’d probably do more, but I have my flower garden and my containers – and even some of those aren’t exactly prolific, but I try and I enjoy what I CAN accomplish each year. As I get older, I’m getting lazier, but this year my reluctance to go hog-wild with indoor seed starting is because I have something for more important to plan…our wedding! :-)

I’ll probably start some more parsley indoors in a week or so and maybe some other herbs and possibly some snapdragons, but I don’t intend to go crazy. Mostly because I need to save my money, but also because my time will be consumed with other things later this spring and watering my seedlings, probably won’t be one of them! Getting everything planted and maintaining during the month of June could prove interesting so I’m keeping things to a minimum…at least that’s my plan.

Oh, I’m not giving gardening up completely and now that we have the fantastic greenhouse, I may do more planting out there once we get that set up. I just may have to take a breather this year to concentrate on other things.

I know I won’t be doing the oodles of container plants like I did last year. Although the deck may look very naked without them, soil is damn expensive and we spent a LOT of money providing soil for plants that didn’t quite make it. I may just wait until after the wedding and then go for seedlings to plant instead of growing them myself. At least I’ll know they’ve already had a good start and that isn’t something I can always guarantee under my care.

And I may just be doing the REALLY cheap route and buying a ton of Impatiens and calling it a day. They last all summer, are easy to care for, and don’t require full sun to thrive. They’re also VERY good at letting you know when they really need water. Nothing like droopy leaves to get your attention. LOL

Thankfully, there are some beautiful perennials in the flower garden that I know will come back again this year and provide me with hours of enjoyment. I may plant more perennials in the garden this year. It sure is easier to take care of and if we can get some mulch laid down this year and it’s not such a horribly wet late spring and summer, hopefully the weeds won’t take over like they did last year.

So, my posts this season may be rather dull and lifeless, but it’s not because I don’t care! :-)

New Blog Name

Instead of creating a brand new blog (yet another one!) I just changed the name of my 2009 Garden Blog to Heidi's Garden Blog and we'll call it a day. That way I can keep last year's plantings close at hand.

This year's gardens and planting will be limited. We have a wedding to pay for at the end of June. I may not be doing as much indoor seed starting this year or container plantings until AFTER the wedding as now one will be here to water my plants the week and a half we'll be in NY.

I'll still do herbs, but may end up buying seedlings after the wedding instead of growing them myself. We'll see. Once everyone start growing their seedlings, I may feel pressured to do my own.

Mums and Asters

We’re selling asters and mums at the catalog store, so with my employee discount, how can I pass those up? Two beautiful burgundy mums and a ‘Peter III’ blue aster for $14.

The aster is hardy to zone 4, so I planted that in the garden. It’s FULL of buds, as are the mums. Should be very pretty in a week or so. I put the two mums into urns out on the deck. We could actually use some rain, which sounds VERY odd to say. Something I haven’t said in months.

The buds on the aster
The aster planted in the garden
One of the two mums on the deck