Fertilizer Friday - Flaunt Those Flowers!

It's Fertilizer Friday so be sure to go over and visit our hostess Tootsie after you leave here and see what's blooming in everyone's gardens! And while you’re there why not join in on the fun. I got a surprise in the mail - Sweet Bay sent me 3 Yarrow plants. She had them all potted up so nice they’re ready to plant. They didn’t seem to be phased by travel in the least! I can’t wait to see them bloom next year!
A close up of this beautiful heart - don't ya just love it? Hope it blooms as long as they say!.
The other day I was reading Catherine’s post over at A Garden In Progress and she said she hadn’t been to a nursery for a while and wanted to go. Then she came back and showed all of her new flowers. This made me think that’s what I wanted to do. Life has been so stressful around here lately with running back and forth to the hospital and then over to my parents house after they brought Dad home that I haven’t done anything fun for myself. So I promptly left her post and headed for a nursery too! Since not much new is blooming in my gardens I’ll show you what I bought that day – and it’s all Catherine’s fault that I got these beautiful new flowers but it’s also her fault that now I have a truckload of work to do planting them! ;-) The Mums I bought last week are still waiting to be planted to so I’d best get busy.
A new Dicentra Bleeding Heart, Burning Hearts is suppose to bloom from March to September.!
And then I found these Lilies that weren't named - just Hybrid Lilies. They were definitely screaming my name with their beautiful wine color - they're actually a bit darker than shown.
A new Chocolate Creeping Jenny. Is this gorgeous? And it's evergreen! My other Creeping Ginny is fairly young so I don't remember if they are normally evergreen or not.
I fell in love with the dark foliage on this Euphorbia Blackbird. Next I want the other Euphorbia with the light green foliage and huge stalk. Can't remember the name of it.
Matrix Sunrise
Catherine's Littlest Gardener had a beautiful Winter Pansy and I decided I wanted one. I've always thought Pansies were gorgeous but thought they were annuals and I had other annuals I bought so didn't get them. When I heard these bloom all winter and were perennials I decided I had to have some. This one is Rose Blotch
Pink Shades
And last is Premium Pure Light Blue

Fertilizer Friday - What's Blooming?

It's Fertilizer Friday so be sure to go over and visit our hostess Tootsie after you leave here and see what's blooming in everyone's gardens! And while you’re there why not join in on the fun The Aster is blooming and putting on a nice purple show.
This is a new little flower that apparently showed up from the seeds I sprinkled. Anyone know what it is?
These showed up in a pot in my greenhouse earlier this season. They look like Snapdragons but they don't stand up well. I also found some out in my flower beds.
The Dinnerplate Dahlia has lots of buds but is it going to make it in time? I'm thinking I might get to see a smidge of color if I'm lucky but not much more than that. Maybe the weather will stay nice and prove me wrong. I hope so.
Another shot of the two of them.
And one last close up.

Drying Hydrangeas-And The Winner Is . . .

I decided to try drying some of my Hydrangeas again this year. I remember a few years ago I had a beautiful dried bouquet but don’t remember how I did it so tried a few different methods.

I took some and put in a vase of water Put some in a vase without water
None of these turned out very well as you can see by the pictures.
And hung some and put in the laundry room where it was a little cooler

Ironically, I’ve been trying for months to get back to watching The Ed Hume Gardening In America TV show and then the Gardening with Ciscoe show which follows it on Saturdays – but I always think of it too early then get busy or think of it too late. This time I happened to catch them and Ciscoe was doing one on drying Hydrangeas. I decided to try this experiment since nothing else had worked for me.First pick your Hydrangea bloom and take the leaves off of it.
Get a shot glass
fill it half full of water
Since the tall stem would fall over in the shot glass put it down in a vase then put the Hydrangea into it.
Place it in a cool dark place and let it sit until done. I don’t think mine even took a full week. The color is darker and more blue but the petals look great doing it with this method.

To see a video of this click on Ciscoe. I think the way I did it a few years ago was just to let them stay on the plant and pick them later in the season. To see more on this method click Drying Hydrangeas Naturally.

Fertilizer Friday . . . Still Blooming

It's Fertilizer Friday so be sure to go over and visit our hostess Tootsie after you leave here and see what's blooming in everyone's gardens! And while you’re there why not join in on the fun. The Dinnerplate Dahlia is still trying to make it but I don't think it will. It's about 'teacup' size now.
This Dahlia must have had it's Cheerios . . . look how this stem stretched up above the others.
Red Valerian has got to be the winner of the year for longest blooming. It's still going strong!Red Valerian has got to be the winner of the year for longest blooming. It's still going strong!
I laid a stem of Baby's Breath on the Snow In Summer. Looks pretty together, doesn't it?
This is the bright orange Geranium the lady sold me saying it was pink. It's losing color and looks really pretty now.
I hope my Cleome re seeds. This one is new to me and came up from seed. I want lots now!
Bachelor Button
Begonia
Malva Zebrina still going crazy!
Sedum Autumn Joy
Soapwort
There are still Campanulas, Snapdragons, Dianthus, Asters, Mums, Spanish Lavender, Fuchsias, Dahlias, Begonias, Primula, Petunias, Purple Heart, Geraniums, Roses and Bleeding Heart showing their last blooms of the season.