I know that it's Mary that's supposed to be quite contrary but my garden seems to disagree with me too often.
I've lost a tree to overzealous fertilizing.
I’ve planted flowers in the wrong season… tip for you: you don’t plant by “what looks prettiest”.
Some of those pretty little flowers may be wilty within a week.
In spite of my brief stint as a landscaper, I was in college and needed a job- any job, I’ve learned that desire does not equal smarts.
Good gardening is the result of careful study.
So… if you want to keep Mother Nature from wincing any time you pick up a gardening implement you’re going to need all the help you can get.
And do I have a site for you.
It’s called folia… or myfolia … depending on how you arrive there.
You can use it to organize, track and even share information about your gardening.
This site will help you decide what to plant and when as well as how to take care of it.
Now… maybe Mary won’t be quite so contrary.
Thanks Chuck. I've been pretty lucky lately, but that might be due to the fact that I never stray from the things that I always plant ... over and over! I'm so boring!
Year's of gardening in PA prior to my moving to FL....You just get used to it...You cover your plant's/garden with plastic if it get's cold...you put bucket's over fragile new plants...
I can't tell you how my children got mad at me when I made them help me cover up the new plants at night when the weather channel said it was going to frost!
Thanks Chuck! I will check it out.. The boys and I recently started a garden. It is their first garden (the twins are just 2 and our oldest is 3 years old) It has been a fun thing for us to do together but I need to learn some more so I don't kill everything! :-) So far, we have corn, carrots, tomato's, okra and some flowers.
Wow, Chuck, thanks for posting this site. I will have to go there. I am not a green thumb at all. This year in homeschool we are learning about plants. We already grew sunflowers last year. We also plant pineapples. You just cut off the top of the pineapple and stick it in the ground, and here in Florida it just grows new pineapples! I am surprised you can grow anything but cactus in AZ:)
Dana- My problem is I think I'm ready to go out there and do something without checking first. I've had my share of disappointments but with a few happy accidents.
Karen- Where in Pennsylvania? I love that area- especially in the fall. Yes... I assume if you can garden with the seasons you'd know your stuff. Our seasons are hot, superhot, less hot, and not very hot.
Nick- It sounds fun. My father grew up on a farm so we grew quite a few things in our backyard... I'm going to blog about it at some point.
Katerina- It's surprising what grows in Arizona. We have quite a bit of cotton, corn, and peaches. Where I live we have a large variety of citrus- I used to have 23 orange trees but (sadly) had to cut down a few of them to build the home. The citrus is outstanding- if you've ever had a sunkist orange in the past thirty years, there's a teeny-tiny chance you've had one of my oranges.
I was raised in Harrisburg. I raised my children and my one acre garden in Gettysburg, PA. My children never ate processed foods until they went to kindergarten...sigh...Lot's of work, but healthy for them.
I had flower's and tree's that were beautiful for every season!
Karen- I love that area... as I said the fall is my favorite but I haven't see springtime there. I used to shuttle from Phoenix to the BWI. Then I'd take one of the prettiest autumn drives in America... the road up to Harrisburg then on to my final destination- Scranton. I managed to see the glorious color of the leaves three years in a row. Now that I'm mostly travelling the southwest I have to admit that I miss that trip quite a bit. Next time around I want to start in Florida and head to Maine.
Chuck,
Fall was alway's my favorite time of year in PA too. Until the weather dropped below 50 degrees!
I am going to become rich, so I can hire a landscaper. That way I can have the beautiful yard I want and not kill it or myself.
Surprisingly, learning how to garden successfully only takes desire. It isn't rocket science (although it can be helpful to know a little soil science). The USDA has hardiness maps so you can learn what is safe to grow in your weather zone. Starting with native plants is a good way to go. Concentrate on perrenials, they come back every year and have, in my opinion, the most enduring beauty. And Chuck, the Hopis were growing peaches in northern Arizona hundreds of years ago.
Karen- I've been there in the winter as well... the grey snow hides a thing or two. :-)
Doreen- I have no cocoplums... matter of fact I don't have any of the verification words in my yard- I'm beginning to think they need a native Arizona plants list added to their list.
David- The one "soil science" thing I have learned is that for some of the soil we have here it's best to plant on the side of the furrow rather than the peak... this prevents some of the alkaline interaction that can be a detriment to the plant's growth. And regarding peaches- my father in law had a large peach orchard here. The fruit grew well but they planted the wrong variety. Other farmers planted a better tasting variety. Now... that former orchard is covered homes valued in excess of $1 million. If only he'd sold it for development instead of agriculture a couple decades ago.