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]

I know the pain @Saradestin. Before becoming a teacher, I bounced around from odd job to odd job, one of which was working for a mom and pop landscaping company. I helped with everything from tree roots to grading soil to building pergolas to laying down sod. It was exhausting work but I learned a lot and was the most fit I’d ever been in my lifetime!

[Saradestin]

I know @JoSometimes ! My grandpa was calling his orchard his gym. So appropriate! 😁

[sister13]

Oh wow! That’s a ton of work but wow have you made progress! Ours is a blank slate, which is now just weeds (my few bulbs, lol) and this awful muddy clay that is the worst and sticks to everything!!! 

I wish that I’d been able to sheet mulch it last fall but just didn’t get to it and now I’m regretting it badly. That would have gotten rid of the weeds and helped the soil, but, oh well! @Saradestin 

Cant wait to see more and share more gardening tips!

[Saradestin]

Yay! I was going to start a gardening thread after the last gardening comments we exchanged and you read my mind @sister13 !!! I love it! Thank you!! 

[sister13]

Oh gosh, great minds think alike! I had been thinking about it for a bit and was kind of surprised we didn’t have one yet! 💗💗💗 @Saradestin 

[Saradestin]

I was surprised as well, because we have a thread for almost anything @sister13 😄. I will be boring everyone here because I love gardening and I always have my hands in the dirt! I should post some pictures of how covered in dirt I finish sometimes 😂

[sister13]

Tagging @JoSometimes and @Saradestin !
💗💗💗

[JoSometimes]

@sister13 @Saradestin I was thinking of starting a gardening thread too! Great minds think alike!

I’m starting late this year. The April was mostly on the cool, wet side of things, so I only really got to mowing the lawn a couple of times when the rain let up. The city snowplough’s gouged some of my front yard during the winter, I have to do some lawn maintenance. I’m not sure what vegetables I’ll get to plant this year since I’m starting so late. The perennials are doing well though since we got so much rainfall. Here’s a few photos from the back yard. I’ll come back with an update next weekend when I can get to doing some more work outside. 

Strawberry patch is growing nicely. The net keeps hungry children critters from getting to them…

Chives have been thriving even with me coming it frequently to harvest some for garnish.

Cherry tree is done blooming and the cherries are on their way.

The Magnolia tree that just keeps on blooming.

And the magnolia-inspired look from Makeup Challenge of the Week 2021/2022/2023 

[jaaayp]

@JoSometimes WHO NEEDS FARMERS MARKET STRAWBERRIES WHEN YOU GOT YOUR OWN?!?! I can't wait to see them!!

[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!