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:

[Ispend2much6]

It’s a great garden year so far. This year we didn’t use chicken manure pellets, just Jack’s veggie fertilizer. Wonder if that makes the difference.

Herb garden

 

Main garden- We’re growing zucchini and squash vertically this year. That required snipping off the bottom leaves that were touching the ground. I think we lost some growing capacity that way. Hopefully we’ll get a lot. Plants are healthier than usual at this time than previous years so maybe there’s something to it.

Lots of cherry tomatoes!

Vertical squash plants.

First eggplant!

The “leftover” tomato and pepper garden. 

 

 

 

[Titian06]

Your garden(s) looks fabulous, @Ispend2much6 ! 🤩  That eggplant--wow!  Do you know what variety that is?  It looks very tasty.  I love homegrown veggies. 😋  Enjoy!

[Ispend2much6]

@Titian06  Thank you! It’s a variety called Sicilian. Only a few tiny seeds, and its taste is very sweet raw- no bitterness!

[hiwas]

Absolutely love this thread! We've recently moved to a new house. Our backyard needs much care, there is a lot of work there. The problem is that I have no experience in gardening. But I'm going to try 🙂 However, my husband already found this company which can help with landscaping and gardening.

Thanks for sharing your pics! They are so expiring!

[CorgiMommy]

Congratulations on your new home!  Have fun setting everything up !  @hiwas 

[Titian06]

Congratulations on your new home, @hiwas !  @sister13 and others will probably start adding to this thread once spring really gets going.  Feel free to ask questions and we'll try to help.  You can also look for a local nursery that might provide classes or just be helpful in answering questions.  If you have community parks, they may also have workshops on gardening, and of course there's the library and college extensions.

[Mellmars1185]

Some backyard plant pics

^planter 

^tomato (roma) and basil plants

Tomatoes (roma, cherry) and planter. Right now the planter has a lot of spicy peppers, green peppers and rosemary. It also used to have yellow beans and chives. 

 

 

[Titian06]

Everything looks so pretty, @Mellmars1185 ! 😍  I like the table and chairs.  Each spring I tell myself to get something like that for my patio, but I never do.

[Mellmars1185]

@Titian06 Thank you so much! Our backyard is small but it kind of makes a separate area. We got them last year. I think I may need to put some sort of finish on the wood. It looks like the weather is taking a bit of a toll on it.

[sister13]

Some pollinator and garden pics - not sure if you‘ll be able to see the cute bees unless you expand the photos!

We’ve had some weird weather with heat plus torrential downpours. Plus a terrible hail storm early in the summer that did a number on a bunch of things that haven’t fully recovered.  The hibiscus came back from last year - the veronica (spiky purple) are new and have been fun and the pollinators love them. I have a mostly pink/white corner, a yellow corner and then some other randoms. 

I thought I was done planting but then got tempted by some sunflowers and rudbeckia!  I‘ll try to get a pic of my herb & tomato bed. 

Our Dogtuff grass has filled in really nicely and we barely have to water it. 

[Margalee]

@sister13 What is the pom flower with the grassy bottom? 

[CorgiMommy]

You have a lovely garden @sister13 .

[sister13]

Aww thanks! Definitely a work in progress but it’s nice to see all The bees and plants that are mostly doing well with some issues here and there! @CorgiMommy 

[Titian06]

Lovely garden pics, @sister13 ! 🌷🌿😍  I'm glad your plants are doing so well after all the challenging weather.

[sister13]

Thank you!! I am trying to get more perennials planted and i still need more of an overall design plan and some heights, since it’s a bit haphazard, but it’s making me happy! @Titian06 

[Samtian]

Horrible pictures but I was finally able to log on and had to get something to share my excitement. If you've heard my stories you know I am a black thumb. Last year a friend gave me oh 7 or so lilac starts. I was out mowing the yard earlier this week and noticed that it looks like 2 of them might have survived! Well maybe three, but two of them were connected. I was so ecstatic. 

Sorry I didn't want to risk not being able to log in so I snapped that this morning.It's in there I promise. I pulled the weeds away. They'll grow back in 2 hours though.

I also planted a tree I got from my Power Company I chose a Chinkapin Oak. I named it Chickpea. I'm worried about it. I'm not able to get my finger to scratchy anything off to check underneath, before winter hit I did see green. But the branches aren't snapping when I bend them. I'm hoping it's still just transplant shock. I will not ever try to do trees again, so back breaking. Though I want a Weeping Willow so badly. 

[Margalee]

@Samtian Lucky you! I love lilacs!

[sister13]

Hey! I’m so glad some of your lilacs are back, and sending good vibes to chickpea for a strong comeback! 

My lilacs were in gallon pots but they got burned by the landscapers’ machine anfter planting, and they’ve come back nicely this year.

I have two new trees that aren’t really making it back, sadly. I had an arborist come out for a free estimate, I was hoping they’d be save-able but I guess not. I think it’s just too wet in those spots, which is crazy in Colorado, but we have clay soil that holds water and my neighbors water so mulch, that doesn’t help. @Samtian 

[Titian06]

Hi, @Samtian !  Logging in is so hit or miss!  Congratulations on your lilacs 🥳  You have to be so diligent with weed pulling sometimes. 🙄  Good luck with your tree.  I've never had much luck with transplanting trees.  Keep us updated. 🌷🌳

[sister13]

Some updates from around the garden! 

2 French Lilacs planted last year:p came back nicely:

Obsessed with these tulips that start out creamy white with blush tips then deepen to dark pink. I love the little mini baby ones too! The peony has come back too behind this patch, planted last spring.

This corner is a bit crowded so I may adjust in the fall. Paperwhites narcissus and tulips. One of he mock oranges came up

Mock orange in front and hibiscus in the back there. 

I think these are Big Love tulips. They grew so tall and withstood some wind, hail and rain. 

Paperwhites from my mom’s. 🤍🤍🤍

Can’t get over this chamomile, it overwintered and it’s massive. The petals fold down night and open in the sun. This I grew from seed and most f them died, none thrived last year but wow!