The BIC Plant and Gardening Thread

[sister13]

Hello BIC friends and fellow gardeners! Whether you have a container on your balcony, some indoor plants, a whole garden, or even if you just happen to visit a botanical garden or see a lovely space or plant in your neighborhood you want to share, this is the place! Please share pics, tips, plans and tricks about all things gardening!  

For many years I had a container balcony garden with mostly flowers and herbs (when travel allowed), and I am now embarking on my first backyard landscaping and gardening journey. 

I am often taking inspiration from the natural world around me and have recently had some spring inspiration for the Makeup Challenge of the Week and have loved chatting about gardening in our other threads, so I thought a new thread would be nice. 

It’s always so interesting to me to see plants and gardens from different regions and countries, so I hope you’ll join the conversation!  

PS: if you create a makeup look based on some plant or garden inspiration, please feel free to post your look or flat-lay here, too! 

Here are a few pics of my spring bulbs to start and I’ll share more soon (kindly ignore the weeds)! 

 

 

My old balcony (from the outside) - I’ll try to find an internal pic too:

[JoSometimes]

Thanks @jaaayp! We got quite a big harvest last year and even managed to come back for a few more just before the end of the growing season. I’ve been wanting to expand them into another planter to get more but I need to find more space.

You could totally grow some in a few pots on a balcony and get a small yield to snack on after work!

[jaaayp]

@JoSometimes 🤔 you're giving me ideas!!!!

[JoSometimes]

You’re welcome @jaaayp! Unless you’re trying to avoid getting more plants, in which case, sorry! 😅

[sister13]

Oh my gosh, yes, great minds! Your garden looks amazing! I was just debating whether I should do strawberries, still debating, haha! Ooh, and a blueberry! And I love your magnolia so much! I’m obsessed with your chives too, I’m going to plant some this year. for some reason, I’ve never planted them! Thanks for sharing and can’t wait to see more! @JoSometimes 

[JoSometimes]

Yes! You should absolutely do strawberries! It’s nice to come home at the end of a long day and just rummage through for a quick strawberry snack. 

Chives are low maintenance and have nice purple blossoms. Mine were ransacked before the flowers could open and now they’re in a vase because my kids decided to pick them. I like it though. When I need some chives for garnish it’s right there, ready to go. Or sometimes I use it as a more mild substitute for green onion in a recipe.

I have some potatoes need to be planted soon and I saved a hot pepper from Vietnamese takeout that I wanted to try growing. 

[sister13]

Okay, I will definitely think about that, it’s so hard to get good strawberries from the store, but also know you don’t get too many from a few plants either. I’ll love to see how your hot pepper and potatoes do! @JoSometimes 

[JoSometimes]

@sister13 There are a couple of varieties of strawberries (only learned this recently). Day-neutral strawberries will keep fruiting throughout the growing season vs June-fruiting which only give fruit June to maybe early July.

And I will give updates on peppers and potatoes. I’ve done potatoes before. They’re usually ready to harvest by Canadian thanksgiving (mid-October). The peppers will be a new adventure. I haven’t even checked what their growing season is like. 😅

[Saradestin]

We all were thinking the same thing @JoSometimes 😅 ! Your garden looks so lush and gorgeous!! You made me laugh with your strawberry comment 😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂

Wow, those cherries look amazing! They are so big already!! 

[JoSometimes]

@Saradestin The year before the pandemic first started, my uncle gave me a few strawberry runners. I planted them in the planter and the next year they thrived. But I got zero yield that second year because the squirrels at the ripe red ones and my kids ate all the leftover white ones! I built the frame and net so I could cover them up! I have a blueberry bush beside it that also needs some cover. 😂

[Saradestin]

They are just way too tempting @JoSometimes !! 🍓🍓🍓🫐🫐🫐😋😋😋

[sister13]

I was super excited for my bulbs this year. I had tried to do bulbs in containers in the past with limited success. Anyway, this year, I planted bulbs in our new backyard last fall and have been so thrilled to see them come up. I lost my diagram of exactly what I planted where, but basically planted an array around each fence post of hyacinths mix, tulips in purple and a white/purple painted version, and some allium. 

 

I did a couple areas with daffodils, some purchased and some that I dug from my moms yard in Maryland. She had the most amazing naturalized displays of daffodils and paperwhites, so I’m thrilled those have come up! 

 

 

 

 

Not the best picture, and now the giant allium are coming up behind these and looking almost ready to bloom! 

 

Oh, there are also some iris and Siberian iris that I dug from mom’s, and I see those green tips starting to peek out, too. 

[CookieGirl1]

Wow, @sister13, you really have a green thumb!

[sister13]

thank you! Well, we’ll see how the rest of the planting goes before claim8g victory, haha! @CookieGirl1 

[jaaayp]

@sister13 they're ADORABLE 🥰

[sister13]

Thank you! I’m so proud of them! I was so rushed in the fall to beat the freeze and was just throwing everything in a hole but the colors turned out so nicely grouped! @jaaayp 

[jaaayp]

@sister13 If this is what throwing in a hole looks like... I can't wait for the next phase 🥰🥰🥰

[JoSometimes]

So many blooms @sister13! Everything looks happy and hearty. And it looks like you have quite the property there. Can’t wait to see what else you’ve got growing in your yard. 

[sister13]

Thank you! Our backyard is not very big but I think it will be big enough (for a while at least!) It looks bigger because we still need one side of the fence installed. It will be interesting trying to work around some areas that have sun/shade and in between! The houses are spaced further than some neighborhoods we looked at, but still relatively close. @JoSometimes 

[Saradestin]

You have such a gorgeous garden @sister13 ! Your bulbs are starting to give the best of them! 😍😍😍😍 I love bulb plants because they come back every year. They are “smart”, as my aunt says about them. 😊

Keep sharing to see how everything grows/develops ! 😃

[sister13]

Yes, I like that they don’t need extra watering or anything -just plant and forget about them until it’s time to enjoy them! ! I’ll probably throw some bonemeal down soon but definitely a great payoff year after year for a little bit of effort!  @Saradestin