Odds and Ends...

I realized after I posted my blog with the recent small projects that I did not include a photo of the pond lights at night. I has it in the initial blog I lost, but didn't get it in the recreated version. So here it is.




I bought six feeder goldfish today at PetsMart for .30 each. We shall see how they fare. I wanted to add some fish and get my cycle going and see if they can survive out there. Not just in the pond in general but we do have some rather larger raccoons that come around. I didn't want to spend more money on fancier fish and have them disappear. I don't have any photos of the yet.




The spring garden is full of white, pink, blues and purple. The summer garden is full of yellows and reds and the shades in between.










I purchased this lovely bird feeder. My first one ever. It hung for several weeks and then it was attacked. By a squirrel, I assume. It ripped off the nice little wood shake shingles trying to open it. This is a squirrel proof feeder. I had trouble opening it the first time. So I will be making a trip to a local hobby store at some point to buy new shingles and some weather proofing for it.



Captain, my angora mix. He is 13 now, a senior. He doesn't stray as far as he used to and can often be found lounging in the garden. In this photo he is glaring at Ms. Grecian Goddess. I hope in another month or two to purchase a matching St. Francis.


Jean's Dilly Alberta spruce.








Mini barberry. After the heavy rains a couple of weeks ago this little guy and the cotoneaster pushed some more growth. I will be pruning them back this week.


Old man bones sedum.


This is my next project. Beings that the other areas are coming along nicely, I decided I needed a new playground. I received a replacement white weeping spruce from work this spring-the original was killed by our visiting elk last year. So I still have a small patch of rocks to remove. This is the absolute worst part of the process. I hate it. It is so expensive to hire it done that I suffer through it on my own for weeks. Once it is done I have a stump I need ground out. Then I can rototill and amend and grade.

I am not absolutely sure what I am doing with the area, I do have a few great ideas. I hope to get the main foundations no background type stuff done before the snow flies, but we shall see. Keep watching for more on this area. I am super excited!

This is the second to last area in the front yard. I am confident the last section will be easy. I will be hiring a skid loader to come in and scrape that are off. Planting a small tree and installing raised beds for a community garden. This area will be easy. I already have it figured out.

Then. Shall start in the back. And hopefully perhaps put in some concrete edging instead of the meal that exists now.

I hope you all have a good week!

:) Posted by Heather using BlogPress from my iPad. Happy blogging!

Location:W Flora Pl,Denver,United States

Divide and Conquer

The best way to conquer your neighbor's hearts is to give them some of your hard-earned bounty.
This is my pond at the bottom of the waterfall rock garden. I can tell you before I even started this project, I had a vision. My vision was for a dry river bed with a copper basin at the bottom. I had designed the scree bed with a cut-out in it on this end or side just for this purpose. Knowing that in a couple of years I would be completing this project.
Over time my brain transitioned and when I started working the soil after its delivery, I knew it was to be a small pond with a real flowing waterfall. It is small. I didn't want a huge one due to the maintenance and the area I was working with. All of my gardens installed have been completed within the confines of the existing beds-from previous owners. So far it has worked out just fabulous. I have been able to accomplish all I have wanted, thus far.
Even though it is small, I just love it. At times I wish I had something larger so I could add more plants, have fish, and have a contoured bottom for variety. Perhaps someday in the back.
Last night I decided it was time to divide my pond plants. For several reasons. First, the iris didn't bloom very well. Probably because they had become so cramped the pot was no longer round. and I am visiting my parents' tomorrow for a family reunion. They live about an hour-and-a-half north of Denver, so I wanted to be able to share my bounty with them. They installed a pond in their front courtyard last year. And it feels so good to be able to share what comes so naturally for me.
I currently have an iris, a canna, a water lily, and another plant whose name escapes me now. I have the tags, so sometime soon I will upload my planting lists. The picture above was taken yesterday.
So here we go...

So here are the plants freshly pulled from their safe haven in the pond.

This area is typically used for my small veggie garden. I have left it allow this season. Not really on purpose, just one of those this that hasn't happened. At any rate, made a perfect repotting station. I turned over some of the regular garden soil.

I handed a few handfuls of organic compost and turned it over to blend it in.

I did re-use a couple of my pots, I bought some new strainer type pond pots, and I brought some recycled planting pots home from work. I placed a coffee filter in the bottom and filled with soil. The coffee filter does help Prevent the movement of the media out of the pot, causing it to foul the pond.

Roots were growing everywhere. Even into my filter in the bottom of the pond. I pruned these roots off and cut the pot to expose the plant.

I gently pruned some of the roots off the bottom of the plant. This is a good time of year to do this because in Colorado they still have about two to three months to re-establish more. I didn't remove more than about three inches off the bottom.

I cover the soil with my recycled gravel and some new pea gravel and pat into place. Finished off by dousing with water to allow some initial settling.
I had three of the four plants I started with in need of division. It couldn't have worked out better. By the time I was done I had three of each- a set of three for my parents, a set of three for myself to put back into my pond, and a set of three to give to my neighbors for their pond. A small thank you for allowing me to recycle some crushed granite into their side driveway. They weren't home at the time but had some little pretties at their garage door when they returned home last night. They loved them. And it felt good. I completed a project in my garden in need of completion and I was able to share what I had with a few people.
:) Posted by Heather using BlogPress from my iPad. Happy blogging!

Location:W Flora Pl,Denver,United States

Plants Galore...New Beginnings

I had a blog 99.9% done and hit the wrong button on my iPad and lost the whole thing...

So here is to new beginnings, not the same, but new.

This spring I opted to not take on any new projects. Rather, I opted to finish some old projects and complete some enhancements. I have spent my fair share on plants and enhancements this spring. Mother nature has thrown a few curve balls this season. Unseasonable temperatures, forest fires, dry weather and monsoonal flows. But, I continue on towards my goal.

The scree bed is now four years old and the Rock garden water is in its third season. The perennial bed has been in transition as the aspens mature. Typically aspens are not viewed as a great shade tree. However, with compost, proper watering, and some great annual pruning I have created nice, compact aspens to accomplish this.

I continue to purchase rock garden plants for both the scree bed and rock garden bed to achieve my desired look and textures. At this point I estimate I have room for about a dozen more plants before it goes to maintenance mode. A variety of textures is important. I find my prospects in a variety of places and ways. My childhood BFF and I have attended the Denver Botanic Gardens plant sale for the past five years. I can always find something there!

I fell more in love with the fantasy, or as I call them miniature trees, this spring. Having found a local supplier with a good selection. You can find them at a local supplier too or check out www.twogreenthumbs.com. They are fabulous in the ground, in containers or in miniature fairy gardens. I snip them gently back periodically to maintain their shape. I have purchased about ten this spring. Here is a sample below.




I made some new additions last year and I cannot recall if I shared or not. This is my succulent pot. I bring it into the dining room to over-winter and enjoy the warm winter sun.





This spring while I was attending the DBG plant sale I purchased some bog plants. I bought plastic pot less the drain hole, filled it with regular garden soils and a bit of compost, planted my plants, and topped it off with some small polished river rock.



I purchased some shade plants from www.plantdelights.com. Some of them are, for Colorado, what I consider specialty and rare plants. Some of them are just other varieties of species I currently have. I will probably do a separate post on these.

The rock garden is filling in rather nicely. I am very pleased. The pond plants are doing very well and are ready to be divided. I winterized my pond each fall because it is small. I disconnect the pump and filter and move them into a large Rubbermaid tub in the basement for the winter months. NOTE: water has to be added periodically. So hopefully later this week I will be dividing them and along with my Iris and giving them away.

Some of other enhancement purchases this spring included a set of submersible LED pond lights. They provide a great atmosphere in the pond as the lights wave from the falling water movement. Great silhouette and shadows. I added a small birdhouse and a hummingbird feeder. No hammers yet, but I am hopeful. They have visited before.

That is about it for now. In the future I will share thoughts on using rock in your gardens, summer prunings of perennials to keep the garden looking fresh, and the perennial garden. I have also been working on plant lists with photos of my gardens to share. For now, enjoy my photos!

Always willing to help out fellow gardeners so just let me know if you have a question:)


































:) Posted by Heather using BlogPress from my iPad. Happy blogging!

Location:W Flora Pl,Denver,United States

SSSSssssssss.....

The title is in honor of my youngest son. He sees the tank and thinks there is a snake living inside of it. So he always walks up to it and says SSSSssss.

This past Christmas my Husband truly surprised me. He purchased a new terrarium for me. I started years ago in high school with an anole. Very easy to care for. I graduated to a pair of Gold Dust Day Geckos. They went to college with me. I had them for about 10 years.

I sold my set up a couple of years ago. I knew that when I was ready to jump back into this hobby that I would want one of these new setups. I kept most of my old items, but they have become outdated.

Sadly, it has taken me almost this entire year to get this one setup with the animals. I finally found someone that breeds them here in Denver. I was very lucky to have found this young man on FB. Otherwise I would have had to pay huge shipping fees.

I picked up my new set of Geckos last week. They are still very small and young. Only about half their adult size at 3". But I am so partial to the Gold Dust Day Geckos and they are only moderately priced compared to some of the others available. They also require moderate care. I ordered a small waterfall that I installed yesterday. I feed them flightless fruit flies, small crickets and a mixture of crushed papaya and peach babyfood. So Far so good. Love them.

Today I added a sprig of Pothos, an orchid I had purchased at Lowe's and a couple of stalks of bamboo that I had in the Kitchen. These were plants already on hand and easy to add. The other plants are fake. Perhaps someday I will phase out the fake and add more live growth, but for now the fake is also very easy to care or to not care for...

I will get some photos of the actual little guys soon. I have them on my cell phone, just haven't transferred to my computer yet. These little guys are such gems. They are too young to sex still. Hopefully someday I will have a pair that will lay eggs. But I am happy just to have them again in this wonderful tank. I am still working on getting some more automation to the misting that needs to happen throughout the day, the lighting, and heating systems. So things are not on all of the time.

Wildlife Interrupts Coasting

WILDlife is beautiful...

This is Blitzen's Cousin. He visited our greenbelt on Saturday evening. It was a pleasure to have such a gentle, friendly giant visit us. Nonplused by us, he feasted on what the outside of our fence has to offer. Our apples, chokecherries, and alfalfa.

Enjoying some chokecherries.

Hmm, where should I go next...

I see you, seeing me through the tree.

WILDlife messes with the wrong gal...

Aspen twigs strewn about on the ground.

I got up this morning - early - to re-stake my poor little weeping spruce

hoping that I could save the top. He broke the top two foot out of it. And it

isn't even a year old. I found this on my Aspen trees.

And these... Hoof tracks... Oh, Mr. Elk, I have been trained by the best eye.

While out watering my annual pots I noticed my weeping spruce.

I started to weep. Thinking it was my sweet, little two-year-old. He has

been known to pull apart my plants. My husband, said Nathan wouldn't do

that. I chalked it up to never really knowing.

Well, look at what other gardening chore he helped me with (my words filled with controlled, seething anger)... He dead-headed the roses, ALONG with the new buds!

Most people that know me, know I was raised by a hunter. I grew up part of my life in the mountains and the eastern plains of Colorado. Learning to respect wildlife and natural world the Lord blessed to us, our keeping. Learning the signs of these animals. Learning how to stalk these animals. Times that I would never trade for anything in this world. I relished going with my dad. They also know I could never kill one of these animals.

The other thing people that know me, know about me, is my passion for my yard. My yard is my third child. I spend at least 6-8 hours in my yard this time of year and twice that during a project in the spring or the fall. It isn't just a hobby to me, a lifestyle, or the way I make my money. It is literally in my blood. My grandparents on my father's side were gardeners and farmers. My grandparents and great-grandparents on my mother's side were avid gardeners and my great-grandmother was a famous gardener in her own right-a flower judge and has a park named after her.

Since living here, I have dealt with evicting skunks living under our front porch, raccoons and skunks digging holes my garden. I have handled these things in stride as they are out of my control. This Elk, I am stumped. We have been here 8 years and have not had a creature such as this visit us. Must have followed the creek down. We back to a creek/open space greenbelt. All I can do is try to rectify the damage. I know him scraping the Aspen is a sort of death sentence for this tree. While they withstand this type of damage/activity in the mountains, at this elevation they have so many health issues. This will surely open it up to canker. I am going to try to save my weeping spruce. It should be a 20 foot weeping tree in time, if I lose the leader out of it, it will only be a four foot tall weeping spruce and very fat. Doesn't work for the space I have it in at that point.

Well, Mr. Elk, I hope you enjoyed your visited to my garden that had so many comforts of home and delicacies to be enjoyed. Please move on now. We enjoyed your visited, briefly.

So now I pray that he does not return-oh, he can return, as long as he stays in the back!

Dog Days

Dog Days of summer have arrived. The days are slowly growing shorter in Denver and summer will start singing it's swan song soon. The mornings have already grown cooler and i know in a couple of weeks I will that sense of fall in the air. The growing season here is all too short, going by way too fast. Our days are still hot. We have not had rain for two weeks now.

My oldest returns to school in a week. We are very busy at work getting ready for our big finish of fall services and are booked for a month with pruning work. Awesome!

My kentucky bluegrass lawn looks ill and shows the fall out of the moisture and the heat: symptoms are faded browning and weeds galore this year. Moisture of July also brought on some other uninvited pests to the garden: grasshoppers (more than usual) and mosquitos. Living in Denver we don't see grasshoppers too often. We back to an open space green belt with a creek so this brings both these creatures into my urban haven.

Many of my plants are stressing. My hydrangeas in the shade garden are usually sad by the end of the day-even after their morning sprinkle. My miniature balsam fir burned up in the heat. My canberra grass (appears a moss, but its not) burned up in the heat. Not sure what happened to it. Supposed to be full sun. Perhaps not here in Colorado. too bad because I loved it. The moisture in July and these high temperatures are just wreaking havoc in my yard. Things that don't usually happen, are happening. I think the cool weather of July fooled the plants and really spiked our normally low disease threshold. I like that plant. Guess I will have to find another, and another miniature balsam fir.

So for now I have become frustrated. I have not completed any of my garden projects except for adding a few tidbits to the shade garden. And it seems no matter what I add, I struggle to get just that... Funny, at work the stuff just pours out of my soul to clients and it turns out great! I am my own worst critic. So not completing any of my major 2011 projects wears on my ego. I still have a few months go to get the work completed, so all hope is not lost. I just want to get the rock garden finished. Of course, my fellow gardeners and bloggers know that a garden is never finished. It is constantly evolving. Finishing the rock garden and a few more perennials in the shade garden are the priority for the end of the summer. Can you tell it is wearing on and driving me crazy?

So for now since it is so hot and I put so much energy into my work days I have spent the past month just doing the basics, deadheading, watering, and weeding. I did tidy the perennial shade garden up last week. The foxglove i cut back to 8", the lupine I cut back to 8", the spiderworts were cut back to 4" and the artemesia was cut back to 5". I just get tired of their tired and flopped over appearance after they become so heavy from holding up their poor little flowers heads. And by this time in the year they have produced enough carbos and sugars to push and flower next year-and my garden looks a little neater. August is a frustrating month for me in my garden. I hate August!!!

You know, after doing this process I looked at and thought to myself-oh look at all of the space I have for more plants! Then I chided myself: the same thing will happen next year and you will be over planted.

I did some more fussing and over-loving of the little darlings tonight as my human darlings were otherwise occupied. The garden and a bath on friday nights are my way of saying thank you for the end of the week and therapy session.

Well, I think I have rattled on enough-here are some new photos. Perhaps when my children are little older I will be able to blog a little more specifically on plantings and design and such. But for now I am happy just to have 15 mins here and there to just blather on to you all. Thank you for reading.

The photos of the perennial garden before cutting some items back.

My little helper.

A shade cloth umbrella to cover some items starting to be scorched.

My new crocosmia 'lucifer' that my mom purchased for me.

My hydrangea.

The rock garden. This is the side that needs some work with additional plants.

My canna in the pond started blooming again yesterday. Lovely.