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 sun 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]

 

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

[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. 

[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.

[JoSometimes]

@Ispend2much6 Yeah, power tools have a way of doing that!

I found my carrots weren’t bad. Just thirsty. This year, I’m just doing potatoes, berries, and an experiment with some peppers. 

[sister13]

Everything is beautiful! Those grow bags seem perfect! My mom had 10 million hostas, she was always letting people come take some. I just saw some balloon flowers in the Lowes for the first time, they are pretty! @JoSometimes 

[JoSometimes]

Thank you @sister13! I discovered grow bags from a YouTube channel called Epic Gardening. I’m jealous of his ability to grow dragon fruit like they’re dandelions!

[Titian06]

Your daylilies look great, @JoSometimes !  I didn't know hostas (or some varieties?) flowered!  I've only ever seen them as foliage and used in landscaping for the color of their leaves.

[JoSometimes]

@Titian06 These ones bloom mid-summer here. Most of the time they’re just leafy foliage but the green/white makes them look really interesting.

[Ispend2much6]

Yesterday’s harvest. I have a lot of work ahead of me!

 

 

[sister13]

Oh wow! Incredible! I have some cherry tomatoes to make a caprese salad,  but I also keep eating them first, lol. @Ispend2much6