Spring in Minnesota

As promised, I ventured out to the greenhouse with my phone today to grab a few pictures of the seedlings. On my way through the snow... yes snowy wintery mix fell all day yesterday here in grand ol' Minnesota, I found this columbine covered in water droplets. I love the colors of new columbine foliage.! As it varies from species to species, quite a few of the varieties I grow have a purple tone like this one here, and also the newest leaves look like a sweet potato color... pretty perfect.

I also admired my own handy work. I made these leaf bird baths from hand last year, and the water looks so gorgeous in them, especially on the table my husband made. Yay! He was about to scrap this huge chunk of metal when I nabbed it for my gazing ball. My son scored the raccoon for free at a yard sale last year.

Okay, so here we are in the greenhouse! It was 38 outside, and 50 inside the greenhouse. I don't have a heater in there, so with temps regularly dipping in the mid thirties I've experimented with bringing several strands of lights that keep warm-  so far it has worked to keep temps about 10 degrees higher. Seedlings here are stock "katz mix", Mexican feather grass, and blue bachelors buttons.  

Here are some of the tomatoes.  

I have two kinds of black eyed susan vines this year, blushing Susie and Spanish eyes. I've just transplanted the to large pots and included a little teepee for them to cling to.  Beside it you will find lettuce and cats grass.

Just a few days ago I planted all of the profusion zinnia seeds. I ordered them offline, and love giving them a little head start. I won't be transplanting them for two more weeks, weather permitting.  

 

I have transplanted some things that germinated in the basement into the greenhouse, including: basil, true lavender, rosemary, peppers, black eyed susan vine, stock, Mexican feather grass, eggplant and tomatoes. For my own record keeping purposes, and perhaps your curiousity, I'll include a list of seeds that germinated in the unheated greenhouse so far (note: I'm seeing new germinations every day, despite the cool temps overnight and the highs in the greenhouse reaching less than 50 for a few days): Mexican feather grass, lettuce, cabbage, kale, radicchio, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cat grass, borage, calendula, Spanish lavender, tomatoes, peppers, squash, pumpkin, cucumber, several varieties of basil, marjoram, true hyssop, hollyhock, zinnia, bachelors buttons, snapdragon, cleome, aster, lobelia, painted daisy, foxglove, and more...

 

 One more outside picture- taken from the back window. I have never seen this kind of bird at my feeders, so I had to get a shot of it for ID purposes. My neighbor and friends tell me its a brown thrasher. I thought it might be, based on my bird book, but I so frequently get the bird IDs wrong!

 

Happy gardening! 

I'm turning into my mother.

My mom has had a long time love affair with all things pink. When I was a little girl she loved "Dusty Rose," so naturally my snotty little butt despised it. I rejected all things pink. Now, I have furniture painted in pink, I can't find enough clothes with pink roses on them... and looking into my garden there's pink EVERYWHERE. My mom's favorite rose, of course, is David Austin's Mary Rose, in full bloom now:

 

Other pinks in the garden today include this gold flame honeysuckle:

This big pink azalea that was here when I moved in:

Pale pink painted daisies:

Rose, Distant Drums: 

Columbine, McKana's Giant, from seed, changes from pinky to orchid purple as the blooms ripen.  

Coral Bells pink blooms during a rare moment without a hummingbird feeding of them:   

Peony:

The name of this rose in unknown, as I acquired it at a yard sale in nothern Wisconsin, but it is a beauty, and in just a few years it has grown so large.

I am surely becoming my mother, but its not so bad.

Aquilegia from Winter Sowing

Back in the winter of 2010 I tried my first winter sowing in milk jugs in the backyard. I was thrilled to see how well it works, and grew tons of poppies and columbine (and more). I had tried columbine for years with sort of blah results. The waiting for winter stratification took so long, and often the seed would get lost from crutters, etc. But winter sowing? I had a milk jug full of seedlings ready for transplant. Well they don't bloom the first season, so when we moved I made rom for every one year old seedling I could fit, and finally I am able to see the fruits of my labor. Boy, am I excited!!! A long wait, but well worth it!! Look at all the spectacular blooms!

And this isn't even all of them! I have some more just opening up, too. Pretty awesome! The best part? I winter sowed more the next year, and they should be blooming next season!

Little Finland, Road Side Junk and a New Rose

During my mom's visit here we ventured to Northern Wisconsin. We road a steam train in Laona, and visited Little Finland in Hurley, WI. The road sides near Laona were lined with ferns. So beautiful!

My mother's side of the family is 100% Finnish. In past internet browsing we had read about Little Finland, a small museum/gift shop near Hurley, WI. On the way to Laona we saw Hurley was only 80 miles away, so we made a detour on our way home. The museum was closed, but there was a lady working on the property who opened the store up for us.

While my mom browsed the gift shop, I walked around the little Sauna and cottages. I was pleased to see the lady working there was putting in a garden. She had planted some evergreens, columbine, hosta, daylilies, and some annuals. I told her if I lived closer I'd give her some divisions from my plants. if my hubby and I venture in that direction in the spring ever I may bring her some goodies.

They had also been working on putting in a nature trail. They lined the start of the trail with birch trees, or Koivu, in Finnish. I've been told, by my grandparents, that birch trees are abundant in Finland.

There were several established 'Koivu' on the property also. I love birch trees, and plan on planting some when we get our next home (run out of room here, lol). That's the good thing about being a military family, there's almost always going to be a next 'home.'

On our way between the two places we saw a little junk store on the side of the road we could not pass up. As I was browsing, already carrying this $4 bunny you see here in my veggies and herb garden:

I passed this rose & could not stop smelling it:

The shop owner was very attentive, and noticed my smelling. I asked her about the rose, and she explained an ederly gentleman, who had since passed, gave it to her. She remember him telling her it was an antique rose. She explained this was the first year the rose had done this well. She loved how hardy it was, too. I was intoxicated by the smell, for sure. She then pointed out that the rose was sending up "runners." You know where this is going...

She dug up two of the "runners" with roots and put them in a pot of manure and soil for me. I grabbed a bottle of water at our next stop, watered it, and the powerful little plant never once wilted, not even in the hot car. I planted them in my front yard, right along my picket fence, so they can lean if they need to later. I was so excited that this sweet lady would dig these roses up for me and share.

As far as what kind of rose this is, I asked some of the knowledgeable folks on GardenBuddies, and it seems it may be the damask rose 'Ispahan.' No matter what kind, I'm pleased to have it!

I also picked up this little metal thingy. I plan on hanging it somewhere soon, but for now it sits in the corner of the yard, in the shade, with a creeping ficus in it. :)

A nice road trip day, for sure. I'm happy to report days have passed since I planted the roses and they've shown no sign of shock or stress. :)

Happy Gardening.