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]

@sister13 @I hope you’re able to get them into the ground before the temperature really drops. 

[sister13]

I got most of then in pretty late last year (like maybe even December) and they came up beautifully, so we should be okay. Although it is definitely more pleasant to plant when it’s not so cold! And since it’s been so warm, I don’t want to plant too early. I’m seeing some bulb shoots but not sure if it’s the ones I planted in like March in a desperate move since I didn’t plant them in the fall. @JoSometimes 

[JoSometimes]

 

Sunflower update. This thing doesn’t quit! 🌻🌻🌻

[alicoj]

I love sunflowers! I want to try growing sunflower seeds indoors this winter in the hope of having these beautiful flowers at home. If I succeed, I'll transit them outdoors in spring.
I read that the best time to start planting these seeds indoors is about 6-8 weeks before the last expected spring frost, so it is too early now.
Did you plant your sunflowers indoors or outdoors? It would be great to learn from the people with more experience.
Thanks in advance.

[sister13]

Hi @alicoj - Sorry I missed this message before, I've been so busy! 

I haven't grown sunflowers, but I'm a huge fan of Winter Sowing as opposed to seed starting indoors if you have a balcony or outside space. Basically, you just throw seeds and dirt and water in a container with some air holes (the cloudy milk jugs are probably the best to use, but people use other take out containers/plastic salad clamshell containers, etc.). They mostly just sit outside in the cold (usually outside of full sun) all winter and then they start coming up when they're ready.  You don't generally Then, they are already more hardy to the cold and you don't have to worry about hardening them off and them getting shocked by going from a warm inside to the harsh realities of life outside. I can't post outside links, but you can google Winter Sowing and search for your growing zone for recommendations.

I think @JoSometimes had sunflower volunteers that popped up, but may have other recommendations for you!  

[JoSometimes]

@sister13 Ahhh my sunflower grew all by itself last year. I did absolutely nothing to it, it just grew on its own!

@alicoj Look up your local growing zone to see the best times to start your seeds. I usually do late February/early March and it works out for where I live. 

[Titian06]

OMGosh, @JoSometimes !  It's so sunshiny and happy and look at those seeds! 🌻🌞💛

[JoSometimes]

@Titian06 I thought it was the type that would be just one massive “flower” but it ended up being more of a tree type with so many flowers everywhere!

If I don’t act quickly after the seeds reach maturity, they will get ransacked by squirrels. I watched a squirrel nibble off the head and drag the entire bunch of seeds away to its nest last year. 🐿️

[JoSometimes]

 

The sunflower bloomed last week! It’s been visited quite a bit by bees like this one here.

And this is yesterday. It’s got multiple flowers incoming. The third flower on the right also started opening this morning and should be fully open later today.

A few blocks away, there’s a house with properly planted sunflowers. They are a LOT taller than this one. Considering where it’s growing (in a crack between the house and the walkway…) I’d say it’s doing pretty well. 

[sister13]

So pretty and cheerful! This looks a lot like our wild sunflowers in Colorado, they pop up in July and august all along the roadways and they are so pretty! @JoSometimes 

[JoSometimes]

Thank you @CorgiMommy @Titian06 ! It’s just about done but keeps trying to put out more flowers. I’ve been trying to grab one of the heads for it’s seeds but the squirrels keep stealing them before I can. 😡🐿️

[CorgiMommy]

@JoSometimes lovely

[Titian06]

@JoSometimes - This is so exciting to see your sunflower doing so well! 🌻

[Margalee]

@sister13 I like those Hyacinth! One of my beauties has bees regularly.

 I think it's a type of Helichrysum.

[sister13]

Oh thank you! They were better than expected and much enjoyed. Your flowers are so beautiful and always so lovely to see the bees enjoying the fruits of our labors! Thanks for sharing!  @Margalee 

[JoSometimes]

What a great garden @Margalee! It’s so amusing to watch bees doing their thing when they find flowers they like. 🐝

[Titian06]

Your flowers are so pretty, @Margalee ! 🌻  It's great that you have bees! 🐝

[JoSometimes]

Incoming potatoes! I like growing them containers. Just dump them out, pick up the harvest, and put the soil back for next year. It’s also the perfect opportunity to amend the soil and get every mixed up nicely before returning them back into the containers. 🥔

The daylilies are doing very well and are showing off all their pretty colours. 

My kids love these balloon flowers. Or rather, they love to POP them before they’re ready. 😤🎈

And the hostas are on full display. I almost love the leaves more than the flowers. It’s so interesting seeing the light and dark variations in them. 

[Ispend2much6]

@JoSometimes   Wow!  Containers are a great idea!  I tried that one time, just using straw, but I think I didn't know how to do it correctly.  It sure beats digging up dirt!

[JoSometimes]

@Ispend2much6 They’re great for any root veggie, as long as you get ones that are deep enough for them to grow. I did carrots a few years ago. It was so easy to harvest them! Another option is those big construction buckets from Lowe’s or Home Depot but you have to drill out the bottoms for some drainage. 

[Ispend2much6]

@JoSometimes  I did use the construction bucket trick one year!  I felt very powerful using a drill all by myself. 🙂

Maybe I'll have to try carrots again.  I love them when they're fresh, but they seemed kind of finicky the first time I tried.