Gardening on the Moon ( GOTM )

Sorry for the lack of new posts recently. I’ve been out of town for family related business. Some good and some not so good; the Yin and Yang of life we all experience. I will have a new post/garden picture soon.

I have begun tweeting again so you can click the link and follow me on twitter. See the link above if you are interested.

Written by Jeff
Non-GOTM pictures credited by hover notes – move cursor over image

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  Mini Garden Makeovers

  I’m sorry for the pop up that you will probably see when you visit this web page, but it has some good ideas to offer. Check out the tip with the shoes as they look particularly good. I always enjoy picking up one or two new ideas and I hope you do as well.

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  After bloom care for daffodils (Don’t go daffy!)

  Almost everyone enjoys the first blush of daffodils in the spring when little else is providing a sunny smile and cheerful repose. This article will explain how to ensure that your daffodils maintain their vigor and return with glory for many, many years.

http://mrbrownthumb.blogspot.com/2013/06/caring-for-daffodils-after-blooming.html

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  Color choices for the garden
  

  Dashes of bold color in the garden add interest and beauty. Color can bring a bounce to the eye forcing it to move along. Vivid colors also visually excite the onlookers. We like galleria and gazania which offer interesting color.

http://reddirtramblings.com/roses/color-in-the-garden-will-change-your-life

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  VIDEO – A trick to save Peonies for L-A-T-E-R when you wish you had more!

  Watch the video to learn the trick. Give it a try and let us know how it works!

http://www.finegardening.com/item/28095/save-peonies-for-later-on

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  Templates for planting seeds in the garden

  If it is too late for this year, save this to work on during the off season and be ready for next spring. This is great for those who direct sow.

http://chiotsrun.com/2009/03/19/square-foot-gardening-templates/

Gardening on the Moon, www.gardeningonthemoon.com, originally published this post

Garden Snapshot Template

Written by Jeff

Follow Jeff on Twitter for daily garden tips and news!

© Jeff Ross and www.gardeningonthemoon.com, 2000-2075. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts of 50 words or less and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Jeff Ross and www.gardeningonthemoon.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

To keep our garden inspiration flowing, I will post pictures of flowers, trees and other plants that I have found pretty and/or interesting for one reason or another. Many of the pictures will be of drought-tolerant or xeriscape plants because I live and grow in the Sonoran Desert.

I hope these photographs stimulate your creativity and keep you enthusiastic about the wonderful world of horticulture. Please feel free to share your thoughts with me by leaving a comment below.

The plant in the picture above is Lycianthes rantonnetii ‘Royal Robe’ /Blue Potato Bush although we have always called it the purple Potato Bush. This is basically a low-maintenance plant for a warm climate. It does insist on its share of water, but it isn’t a “hog.” The only problem we have had with it is that once in a while, a squirrel or chipmunk will decide that it is something good to eat and it will nibble on it. One time the Javelinas tried it as well.

It is very pretty. The picture above was taken in the morning with the light behind the blooms. It blooms regularly if fed and produces flowers in abundance as you will note. Here is more information about the plant>.

Gardening on the Moon, www.gardeningonthemoon.com, originally published this post

Visit Amazon’s Garden & Patio Markdowns

Written by Jeff

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Our courtyard was at its peak a couple of weeks ago, but still looks quite nice. This is the time of the year in the Sonoran Desert, however, when temps are climbing and some of our cooler weather plants begin to shut down. Our trailing pansies highlighted here are all but gone. In the picture above, the flower pot all the way to the right contains our doorway guardians, very pretty pink geraniums. As you can see (below), the foliage is still quite nice, but the buds are blasting.

Here’s a better picture…

Each spring/early summer we have a ritual whereby we replace the geraniums with vinca. I have espoused the virtues of vinca several times, but most notably here. Since we have already planted several large pots of vinca in our backyard, we save some of the plants that were in the multi-pack for this purpose. They have become our Courtyard Ladies in Waiting and this week they will take center stage beside the doorway.

The ladies in waiting above sit in front of our snail vine, but there is also a single lady waiting patiently to see if she will be chosen for sentinel duty by the door.

Last year we had this angelonia that performed superbly and we were able to winter it over and give her another dramatic spot in the garden this year.

We were so pleased with the performance that we also bought a pink mate to place on the opposite courtyard wall.

Here is another picture of the pink angelonia’s quarters with her “buds!”

In addition to our Ladies in Waiting, we also have a variegated bower vine in training. As you can see by the picture below we are training it to grow onto and up the curved trellis on the courtyard’s eastern wall.

We are hoping for a well appointed courtyard by mid-summer, but in gardening like other things, one never knows. I hope your garden vision is coming along this year as well.

Do you have any Ladies in Waiting?

Gardening on the Moon, www.gardeningonthemoon.com, originally published this post

Written by Jeff

We continue our series of personalized (vanity) license plates in Arizona. To maintain individual privacy, we try to show as little information about particular cars as possible as long as we can reveal the license plate.

NOTE – License plate photos may have been archived for quite some time. The years indicated on the registration stickers DO NOT necessarily reflect the current status of any given plate!

We hope you enjoy these PL8 A TUDES!