I grew these radishes this spring!  They are called Easter Egg radishes

Easter Egg Radishes I grew this spring.

for obvious reasons. I purchased all of my seed this year from Territorial Seed Company. This was my first attempt to grow radishes and they are really good.    As you can also see, I just planted them in the early spring in between some flowers, just to utilize some bare space.  I will remember this technique next spring!

My radishes ready to be harvested.

My preference is to grate my radishes in to my salad.  That makes their flavor blend in and provide an overall hot and spicy flavor.

The largest and heaviest package ever sat under our Christmas tree, a combined gift to me from Bob and his Mom.  My guess was a stone bird bath, like the Country Gardens Bird Bath at Garden Accent Heaven.  The first piece out was the removable roof piece of the Miniature English Garden Cottage at Garden Accent Heaven.

The roof piece was certainly not a part for a bird bath, so I dug deeper in to

I dug deeper in to the well packed box to find the house portion. What a delightful gift!

the well packed box to find the house portion.  What a delightful gift!

With the installation of the drip water system and the resulting delays, we finally came up with a plan and location to feature the English Cottage Garden.  At last Bob has completed the platform construction before he leaves for his three week trip to Pennsylvania and Ontario. And at last, I have the vegetables and flowers planted and I can take a Sunday drive to my favorite nursery Flower World.  I really love the variety of plants they have, the healthy condition of the plants,  the friendly attitude that permeates the staff, the information booth that is always staffed with a knowledgeable  consultant, and their prices are the best!

Check out my pics for ideas about what you can do!

Such a lovely gift to be enjoyed for many years!  I will keep you posted as the seasons change!

You will likely recognize some of the succulent plants which are very low maintenance and really great ground covers.  The names of the ones I know are:

Couple of varieties of  Hens and Chicks;

Stonecrop Sedum called Tricolor with striking foliage complementing soft pink flowers;

Sedum Seboldii October Daphne with blue green arching stems gracing this hardy deciduous sedum and pink flowers forming in late summer;

Erysimum kotschyanum Creeping Wallflower, a dwarf mat forming rock garden plant with small bright yellow fragrant flowers;

Woolly Thyme, an herb with tiny silver-gray leaves and rose-pink flowers for rock gardens and paving stones.

Soleirolia soleirolii Baby Tears, in chartreuse and green, spreads easily, needs to be contained.

I opened my Christmas present expecting to find a bird bath and instead I found a roof!

I began by placing the miniature garden tools, pots and furniture around the cottage.

Details I added to the front of my cottage.

Next I began to put my pots of ground cover and succlents in place and moved them about until I had a pleasing arrangement.

I planted all of my plants and then added decorative rocks and pices of petrified wood.

Once I had all the plants and little miniature details in place the cottage looked good but seemed to be missing something?

I went to the pet store and purchased some large aquarium rocks and made a path of stepping stones which was the final detail needed to bring my miniature garden cottage to life.

I use the winter months for educational reading to improve my gardening

Linda's Garden in winter sleep March 15, 2011

success. My favorite book this year is one written just for gardening in our specific climate.  Each region and zone have particular problems, so  go to your Extension Agency, gardening clubs, libraries and local nurseries to find books for your climate and zone.

The Maritime Northwest Garden Guide produced by Seattle Tilth is the most helpful book I have  encountered!  The three most important things I have learned from this book are

how to correct any soil deficiencies I might have

how to address the ph needs of different plants and

the amazing importance of crop rotation.

I have received over a dozen seed catalogs from different companies and now they are sending a second round!  To simplify my seed ordering and planning, I am using just one particular supplier, Territorial Seed Company.   They have the same maritime climate as me, have done experimental research and they offer only plants that have done well here.  And equally important, they have the best growing instructions for each family of seeds.

I have taken inventory of the flower and vegetable seeds I have from previous years.  Next I  read all the pages of the Territorial Seed Company catalog highlighting each seed I want to order.  And today I placed the order!

Most importantly, I ordered a soil test kit!  That will eliminate the guess work of what fertilizer to be adding.  I already have a gauge to determine the PH, general nutrient content, and moisture. That has been very helpful.  I also have a thermometer to determine the soil temperature two inches deep. The soil temperature tells me when to direct seed and to transplant my starts.

Lindas Garden Notebook

Because of these two books, I have started a journal in a three ring binder to increase my garden success.  The major categories will be identified according to the sequential numbered raised beds and open garden areas to be planted.  I can then add the actual pages from the catalog that includes the instructions and descriptions of the seeds.

Confused? Maybe this example will help:  I will be growing a cabbage called Tenderheart. I have taken page 56 from the catalog which includes complete growing and harvesting instructions and the description of Tenderheart. I will enter this page behind the divider of raised bed number three.  I will also have a lined blank page where I can;

• log the date that I started the Tenderheart seeds in my green house with the heat pad
• what fertilizer I used throughout the season and how often it was applied
• when I harden off the plant and transplanted it to the garden
• watering patterns
• how it grew and how productive it was.
• any insect problems that might develop and how  I managed the problem.

The binder will allow me to rearrange pages as I make adjustments in my crop rotations next year. This is so cool!

Linda's Garden 3-15-2011

I have been blessed with a green house and I start 95% of all my plants there on a heat pad.  I save lots of dollars by over wintering my fuchsias, geraniums, petunias, and many other plants in the green house.

The best alternative to a green house is a cold frame, and it is very affordable.  I can see that I will have a cold frame in addition to my green house next spring!  My small green house is rather full!

Setting up row covers is another very important and helpful step to start plants earlier and to control insects.  This year I will be growing red peppers and eggplant all summer long under the row cover since they need more heat than our maritime climate provides.  This is my first time to try this so watch for a blog on the progress!

An economical measure important for any gardener is the proper storage of unused seed.   I really enjoy a wide range of vegetables so I have lots of seed left over each year.  A good seed company or a good book will tell you how long the seeds remain viable.  To extend that life, keep the seeds refrigerated in a sealed heavy freezer bag year to year.  I add those useful silicone gel packets from my supplements to further reduce the moisture. I keep one bag for flowers and one for vegetables.  When you are doing your planting, never allow the unused seed to get wet and keep them in the shade. By taking these steps, my seeds last longer than projected on the package.

As soon as the rain stops, I will start the spring clean up of all the beds.  I have a small yard but I have 16 separate planting areas.  Visitors are amazed at the amount of plants I have.  This means I am always relocating plants to adjust to changing light conditions, dividing, or removing those plants which have become too invasive.

At my house, only December and January are the months with minimal gardening to be done.

You gotta’ love it!



The cold winter months are here. Jack Frost visits us most mornings and we are

Heated Bird Baths in Linda's Serenity Garden

scraping the frost off our car windows each morning. Those cold winter nights also freeze over the shallow sources of water that our feathered friends need. Birds need to have shallow sources of water not only to drink but also to clean themselves. In Linda’s Serenity Garden we have two heated bird baths to keep fresh water available to our backyard songbirds all winter wrong. We have one Allied Metal Stand Heated Bird Bath. Inside of the bowl Linda has 3 decorative rocks that give the birds a place to access the water from. We keep about 2″ of water in the bowl year round.

On the ground we have a Farm Innovators Ground Heated Bird Bath. This bird bath sits on the ground and holds about 1 gallon of water. We have seen the ground feeding birds jump into it to drink and clean their feathers. Also squirrels, possums and raccoons have also been seen drinking from this ground bird bath. With these two heated bird baths we have fresh clean water available for our feathered friends year round.

As we go into fall here are some things to thinking of while working in your lawn or garden. It is time to begin fall clean up now. Get busy with pruning, pulling and fall planting. Now is the time to pull out those rose bushes or shrubs that have not performed well for the past several years.

The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting cooler.  The cool nights, ample rain fall and morning dew are about as good as it gets for grass to grow. Many lawn expects claim that fall is the most important single lawn feeding of the year. By applying a fall lawn feeding in September or early October will help your lawn to begin to rebuild grass roots that were damaged during the hot, dry summer.  A second lawn feeding, 2 months later, in November or early December will strengthen your grasses roots and increase nitrogen storage for an early spring green up and healthier lawn next spring. Just because the temperatures outside are no longer high you cannot forget about watering in the fall.
The first step in preparing your lawn for its long winters nap will vary, according to whether your lawn is composed of a warm season grass or a cool season grass. If you are unsure which type of grass you have in your lawn take a sample to your local county extension agent.
Common cool season grass turf grasses include:
Bluegrasses
Bentgrasses
Fescues
Ryegrasses
Common warm season turn grasses are:
Bermudagrass
Saint-Augustinegrass
Zoysiagrass
Buffalograss
Once you know what type of grass you are growing in your lawn it is time to over seed. By over seeding with annual winter rye grass (Lolium multiflorum), lawns that are planted with warm season turf will we green all winter long instead of brown. When you buy the grass seed make sure you are buying annual, not perennial. Annual winter ryegrass will die back when the hot summer heat returns, turning your lawn over again to your warm season turf grasses. The problem with the perennial winter ryegrass is that it doesn’t go away. It grows all year round competing with your warm season grasses for sunlight, water and nutrients.
Lawns that are composed of cool season turf grasses also benefit from over seeding. In this case the motivation behind the over seeding is not winter cosmetics, but to fix bare spots, so they will come up green next spring.

Fall Lawn Mowing
If you are using cool season grasses adjusting the lawn mower height for fall mowing is not a problem.  Mow your grass the way you normally would right up to the time the grass stops growing for the winter.  If your yard is composed of warm season turf grasses then your mower’s height should be increased by ½  inch .

Do not forget your feathered friends. During the fall the birds sources of food a being reduced at the same time that they are beginning to migrate south for the winter and need plenty of substance to make their journey. A bird feeder in your back yard will bring you joy as you prepare your lawn for the winter months just ahead.  Some colorful lawn decor items will also bring life back into your backyard for the fall season.

Credits: Pruning photo from http://www.dannylipford.com/. Click here for a good article on pruning.