Mammoth Sunflowers In The Garden

 

Spraying pesticide on the sunflower.

Very tall Mammoth Sunflowers.

We decided to plant a few Mammoth Sunflowers in the garden this year.  Look that these giants!  They're taller than my husband, who's 5'11.  Wow!  I can't wait to see how huge their flowers would be. It is going to be a very exciting summer gardening.

 

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Happy Spring 2020

I hope you have a wonderful day today. It's the first day of Spring. Signs of Spring are out to see like this first bloom of my red Petunia. So pretty.

How about you? Did you find signs of Spring in your yard today? 

Possible Career in Landscaping?

One of my dear friends, who lives in a nearby town close to me, is moving.  She and her family are moving to Houston. She said it's a work-related move so she has no choice. Haha! 

Kidding aside, they are listing their home for sale in the market.  So I came over to help her pack and get the landscape look pretty and presentable. It was hard work. But with the help of some of our friends, we did it. 

When you have a house for sale it is very necessary to include cleaning and beautifying the yard.  Now, can this be my part time job?  Landscaping? 

Mulches Help Keep The Moisture In The Soil

Months after my husband pulled out the old bushes by the front porch, finally, we planted new bushes.  It's long overdue, I know.  But here it is.  My dear husband and I did a lot of yard work today.  I don't usually brag about accomplishments and stuff but it's a productive Sunday for us here in the Sefcik household.  I am just super happy that we were able to get our gardening going again this year including the front porch's flower beds.  New bushes in the row that will take years to grow into hedges.  But that's alright. The house is now happy that we came to our senses to beautify our home again.  

We bought the new bushes from Home Depot using the Visa gift card my dear husband claimed from the rewards he got from buying paints a month ago - also from Home Depot.  We bought a few Boxwood Holly and a Sky Pencil Japanese Holly to replace the Wax Myrtle that's previously planted in the corner where the water hose is.  Then we topped the flowerbeds with red mulch that according to my hubby will keep the moisture in the soil so the plants won't dry out in the summer heat.

I know it's quite silly but I had to pick the red mulch so it matches the red bricks of the house.  Target for this project is to complete the planting of flowering plants before the fourth of July comes.  It would be nice to have a newly planted flower beds when the holiday comes.

Wordless Wednesday: Beautiful Red Hibiscus Flower

Red Hibiscus flower

Wordless Wednesday: Fresh Produce From The Garden

Yours truly with a bag filled with fresh produce from
the humble vegetable garden of my dear friend.

Lazy Rainy Sunday Morning

Front yard.

We love lazy Sundays.  It was a rainy morning yesterday and quiet, too.  I woke up at around eight o'clock.  My husband was awake and already made coffee.  He was sitting in front of his computer working on the book he is writing for his side project.  Our daughter still sound asleep on the air mattress bed we bought from Academy few weeks ago.

I grabbed a cup of coffee and went to the garage.  We have a radio/cd player in the garage.  I turned it on and listened to Jack FM station.  It was kind of oldies music day for me. New Wave and 80's music.  Brought lots memories.  Good ones.

Stargazer Lily plants.

And when the rain stopped, I planted the Stargazer Lilies my friend R gave me the other day.  I hope they will grow nicely and gives beautiful orange blooms next year.

Cleaning Up The Flower Beds

My dear husband and I are supposed to start cleaning up the flower beds in the front yard tomorrow in preparation for new garden plants this year.  But we are not gonna be able to do that task tomorrow because we are going out of town.  It's our 7th wedding anniversary.  So this task will get done next weekend probably.  Hopefully. We'll have to go to Home Depot to buy some new pots and garden soil on Sunday.

Wordless Wednesday: My Rose Is Coming Back

The Garden Is Looking Good But We Have A Problem

Here's the latest picture of our vegetable garden.  The tomatoes are bearing and there's plenty of them.  The okras at the back are looking great.  They are ready to give us some harvest soon because I saw a few little ones in there.  

The problem we have now is that some of the red tomatoes have holes in them.  Looks like they're pecked or something.  My husband and I were seeing a bird landing on the sticks that he was trying to scout where the ripe tomato is.  So I asked my dear husband to buy a plastic owl from the garden center.  I got the idea from my girl friend because she has one.  I hope this is gonna be effective.

But something is also bothering us.  Grasshoppers are around again!  I spoke with my neighbor and mentioned to her about the holes in the tomatoes.  She said grasshoppers also do that pecking thing.  Oh no!  We have to do something about it quick.

The owl is watching over.

Jalapenos and tomatoes.

Anyway, here are some tomatoes and jalapenos I picked this evening.  We have so many jalapenos, too.  We gave some to our neighbor across the street.  It's always nice to share.

Weekend Snapshots: Flower Bed

Flower bed

 It's about time to tend my flower bed in front of my house.  It has been are for a year now.  The only plant in there was the miniature rose that my mother-in-law gave me as gift on my birthday three years ago.  It's a shame that I didn't take care of my flower garden.  But now, I am determined to make it look great.  

Oklahoma Rose.

 Last Saturday, I worked on putting bricks around the edges of the flower bed.  My husband bought some garden soil and he spread them evenly in the flower bed.  Few days later I bought a couple of rose bushes from Lowe's.  One is called Oklahoma Rose, the other is Golden Yellow Rose.  According to the description, both have big fragrant blooms.  We'll see.

A house spider on the water hose.

 After the work's done, it was time to water.  When I was about to grab the water hose, I saw this black fuzzy-looking spider.  It freaked me out!  I called my husband to have him get rid of the arachnid.  He said it's a house spider and it's not dangerous.  Still, 'gave me goosebumps. 

Anyway, next thing I'd do is to fill the space in the flower bed with little flowering plants.

Weekend Snapshots: Thinking About Planting This Beatiful Burning Heart Tulip

Burning Heart Tulip

We had a wonderful weekend again.  My girl friend invited us to her son's birthday party and my little girl had a great time playing with other kids in the playground in the backyard.  It was a pleasant day today and being outdoors was so wonderful!  As soon as we stepped on my friend's pathway towards her house, I was captured by this lovely flower.  I was sure it's a tulip but I didn't know what the specific type was until I looked from Google.  This type of tulip is called a Burning Heart Tulip.  Ain't it beautiful?

Planting the wild flower seeds we bought from Walmart.

But before today's party, we gave daddy a little help in the yard yesterday.  My darling daughter was so excited about planting. We bought a few packets of wild flowers seeds at Walmart few weeks ago.  My husband decided to have them planted yesterday.  He made a horizontal plot by the red tips bushes.  Then we scattered the seeds there. :) I hope they will grow fast. I was thinking of planting some tulips at the front yard, too.

Wordless Wednesday: Can't Wait For Spring

Wordless Wednesday: My Hibiscus

Weekend Snapshot: Presenting Our Vegetable Garden 2013

This is what our the garden looks now.  The tomatoes are growing so fast.  The long beans are climbing aggressively up the trellis.  And oh, I also have a couple of bitter melon vines at the far end of the trellis.  The okras are looking good, too.  I cannot wait to see the bok choy sprout so I can harvest them soon for my pork and mixed veggies soup.

In the photo, my little one and I just finished picking ripe cherry tomatoes.  She likes them.  And they're good in garden salads as well.

Tool Rentals At Home Depot

We are so ready to plant veggies in the garden.  But the weather is not cooperating yet.  Thunderstorm and last freeze just came and the ground was wet for a couple of days.  We might get vegetable plants next weekend.  In the meantime hubby tilled the garden soil.  He rented a soil tiller from Home Depot's equipment rental on his way home from work.  You can rent gardening or farming equipment, truck, and tools at Home Depot.

Now that the soil is tilled, there's way we can stop planting vegetables in the garden now.  I already got the seeds ready. 

Planting at Anytime of Year

You can plant whatever you'd like at anytime of year with hydroponics! Get the knowledge and supplies first, then get going. There are lots of different kinds of grow lights within the hydroponics industry. The best grow tents for your hydroponics set up will most likely be the special grow lights you can get from www.thelashop.com. 

 
Hydroponics is basically growing plants without soil, but still using water and nutrients or whatever ends up being chosen. There are tons of helpful nutrients that you can add to your plants that will be able to help you grow more efficiently and safely. Some of the nutrients that are available include tons of different hybrid mixes and whatnot that were formulated to help with the growth and health of your plants. Some mixes are only a dollar each, which means it’s very easy to keep your plants growing and happy! Some would recommend the “Organic Feeder” which would mix nicely with most plants, no matter what you are growing. LA shop Hydroponics has been BBB accredited since 2011 and is thrilled to keep serving its thriving customer base. Specializing in garden and plant life, LA shop Hydroponics will surely help you create a garden that is easy to maintain and serves you well. Tons of indoor gardening supplies are available as well as quality grow tents and lights that will help any aspiring indoor gardener to get started. 

From organic to aeroponic and many other types of indoor gardening, you can be sure to find everything you need from LA shop. Hydroponics isn’t hard at all and anyone who is curious should read a little bit more on it and see just how easy it is! After you have all the supplies set up, it’s really only a matter of maintaining. There is a lot to learn about hydroponics, but just keep in mind that after the initial week or so, it is smooths sailing from there.

The Garden Soil Needs Tilling

Well, my husband was supposed to till the garden Friday but a thunderstorm came Thursday morning with heavy rains and strong winds.   And so the ground was wet.  The soil here is a type of clay so it gets really muddy when wet.  Hopefully the weather will be pleasant the whole week so the garden will be ready for tilling this weekend.  We are anxious planting vegetables and flowers again this year.

Wordless Wednesday: My Garden Tomatoes, Ready To Share With The Neighbors

First Harvest From The Vegetable Garden 2012

My husband watered the vegetable garden this morning.  He told me, on the phone, that my green peppers got some big ones already.  When he came home from work we walked down to the garden together and I was surprised that our vegetables are bearing.  Here's my first harvest, a few green peppers.  They are good for soup and do-it-yourself sauce.

My husband is happy to see that the tomatoes are out too.  Though it will take a long time for them to turn red, we cannot wait to harvest them also.  The string beans are growing more than two inches every day since he placed those bamboo poles.  Seems like they are waiting for something to wrap their vines with before clinging to the trellis. 

The garden is scheduled for a plant food again in a couple of weeks.  So they will be very happy getting their food again.