Has anyone else had enough of this cold weather? I am beyond ready for spring. It's too cold to be doing much work outside, but I am thinking about what I want to accomplish in the garden in 2015.
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| March 2014 |
Observe & Adjust
Looking back, I did a lot last year. I worked in 8 different areas, and planted quite a bit. The major areas were the fence garden, the shade garden, and 4 different beds around the house. I added 2 roses, 2 peonies, 5 hostas, 7 azaleas, a bunch of daffodils, 60 tulips, swaths of purple cone flower & black eyed susans, plus plant sale and plant swap finds. Looking back, I'm pretty proud of myself. This year I need to see what survives, thrives, and what holes I have left to fill in.
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| April 2014 - New hostas from Maxine |
Hardscaping
I need more rocks. Most of the flower beds around my house are edged with rock that matches my foundation. Luckily this rock is 'native', meaning they used what was on the property when they built the house. Thrifty runs in the family, so I will be going on a rock hunt soon to finish edging the beds.
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| May 2014 - so many more blooms than 2013 |
Maintenance
I'm trying to work it so that I my mulching is on a rotating schedule. I don't want to mulch every bed, every year. This year I need to mulch the rock garden, the fence garden, and any new plantings.
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| June 2014 - one of my new window boxes |
Bleeding Heart
I have wanted bleeding hearts since the day I moved into my house. I ran out of money last spring, and I was too late to snag any fern leaf bleeding hearts from the Native Plant Sale at the Chattanooga Nature Center this past fall. This year I'm committed.
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| July 2014 - Australian Lily from Maxine |
Confederate Jasmine
I found $2 baby jasmines last year, and they all seem to be doing as well as expected. I also have one larger jasmine that will end up staying in a pot under a large Oak tree. It is the best spot I've found for the plant, but there is no way I can dig there. A large plastic pot should do the trick.
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| August 2014 |
Fertilizer Schedule
I've got a great excel file from last year that has the planning and schedule for my seed starting. I need to do the same with my fertilizing. I'd like to get to the point where I'm just fertilizing my roses on a schedule, but I have so many young plants, they will need TLC for the next year or so. My memory is a mess, so a schedule in one place would be swell.
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| September 2014 |
Bloom Day
I want to post all 12 months. It doesn't seem hard, but I've yet to do it. I didn't even blog at all last November. My blog is better than pintrest for this kind of archiving. I've looked through my blog today, and it's been a huge help and motivator. I did more last year than I remembered, and it's nice to look back year to year to know what I should be looking for. I'd also like to take more wide shots. My house has been painted, so there is nothing to hide. I'd like to have more of the big picture, so I know how things grow and change with time.
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| October 2014 |
My crocus came back! I'm not sure where it came from, but it showed up last year in my rock garden, and it came back this year. I snapped this picture Saturday afternoon when it was nice and warm and sunny out. I should have taken all of my pictures then, because I waited until today, and it is a cold rainy mess. Nothing like the 3-6 inches of snowy mess we were expecting. Oh well. At lease I have flowers in February!! 
