Budget Blooms

{ Bulbs in Bulk, Walmart-style }

When I do my trips to Walmart to pick up random assortments of items I usually enter through the Garden center because the parking lot is less full and there is a shorter line. As I entered yesterday, I was greeted with an awesome site: $1 bulbs! Now these are not just plain bulbs that I have to wait months for a showing, they were already sprouting! Hyacinths, tulips, and daffodils in a variety of colors! I was so happy that someone did the work for me and I get to reap the rewards for a buck. No more planting in the winter, or forgetting to! I just planted my lovelies yesterday and will get to see them soon.

{ my selection }

{ the little ones snug in their new bed }

Thank you Walmart for making our lives easier, except when we have to try and survive the lines at Christmas, find a parking spot that is semi-close, and try to not let the fertilizer I bought touch the fruit snacks or the new casserole dish that I just picked up.

Making Babies

{ My Glory Blue Hydrangea }

Unfortunately I am referring to plants and not myself. I am totally in love with my Endless Summer hydrangeas, in case you haven't noticed. I want a ton of them in my yard, but I don't have the cash to buy 3 or 4 more plants so I did some research on propagating. Basically you are creating a new plant from the stem of an old one.

I found a couple websites that offered various ways of doing it. One site was way to "technical plant geek" for me and another gave info that wasn't really doable, so I combined what I read and tried it the traditional way- put a cutting into water to make it root. This is my way:

1. Find a stem on your hydrangea that hasn't had a bloom on it yet.

2. Cut the top section of the stem right above the 2nd leaf nodes- so you have one section of leaves on the stem and the very top leaves intact.

3. Put that baby in water, and wait... Forever... for some roots to grow!

4. Change and refresh the water every couple days and put it in a sunny spot in the house, near a window works well.

Keep checking your stem for root growth. Again mine took about 2 weeks to get some good roots growing. Once I had about 1/2 inch of root growth I transferred it to a small pot with a 70/30 mixture of potting soil and sand. Keep your new planting in a semi-shade spot outside and continue to water it. Try to keep it well watered.

So far mine is trucking away. I think I'll pull it up this week and replant it to check the roots. I hope this helps some of you hydrangea-lovin people from having to buy more plants! Let me know if you have some success too! I'll keep you posted on mine.

New Neighbors and Growers

While waiting for the furry one to do his business, I found this guy on a nearby tree.

Don't you just love symmetry?

But I really wanted to give you an update on my Madison Jasmine. I planted these vines a while back and they are growing like crazy! They are taller than I am and are quickly wrapping around the columns that will be their new home. I give them lots of water and I temporarily staple them to train them up the columns. So far, so great!

Even my ivy is thriving around its trellis.

You have any new sprouts or visitors of the insect variety?

New Vines a growing...

{ from here }

I adore the look of lush, green living accents to homes. An ivy covered wall, or a wisteria engulfed archway. Our little craftsman neighborhood is seriously lacking greenery. We are one of the lucky few who have a tree in the front yard, but I want more. I wanted to have a statement entry to our abode, so Erik finally agreed to let me grow one!

I purchased these amazing smelling Madison Jasmine vines a couple weeks ago. I have them planted and primed to climb up and cover two pillars that frame our front porch. They have done some serious sprouting due to a few good rains. I can't wait for the green accent to the porch! I'll keep you updated on the climb!

Growing Away

It's going to be a scorcher here in GA today, 97 degrees! I hope all these new blooms can take it!

Can you tell I like white flowers?

New Porch Accessories

The front porch needs love too! We have been, and will be, spending so much time working on our back porch that I wanted to show some love to the front as well. Our teak furniture was looking very gray and sad after a long winter, so I got some teak oil and gave all of it a nice new sheen.

{ Doc is very sleepy on the freshened up porch furniture. }

I also had to change out my little boxwood shrubs from my planters- they fell victim to squirrels who were insistent on hiding their nuts in the planters. I replaced the shrubs with these gorgeous Glory Blue Hydrangeas and some vinca. I'm sure they will eventually out grow the planters so I'll have to move them one day. Until then they are giving the porch a nice burst of color.

Privacy is even an issue on the front porch too. Living in a townhome community has its pros, but the biggest con is that you are surrounded by people and houses. To fix that I got this matchstick blind on the cheap from Garden Ridge and hung it for some added shade and a filtered privacy.

The pergola is on pause for the moment but we will be gearing up for more work on it this weekend. We have decided to stain it the same color as the front porch, so I will be on a ladder with gloves and a brush for quite some time... hopefully I'll survive.