Showing posts with label watering. Show all posts
Showing posts with label watering. Show all posts

Friday, March 28, 2025

Midwest Gardening 2025: Prepping and Planting in the Greenhouse

Ad-Free Blog

Well, we have a few temps moderating...today is a balmy 70 ish....nights are still quite low, and the heater goes all night long in the Greenhouse. Our average frost date here is listed as MAY 7 which is a long ways away.

My goal for April is to get everything out of the kitchen and into the greenhouse by April 11th, so I can get my house in order for Easter.

This week I Prepped a bunch of containers for planting after I watered and cleaned out the greenhouse to make more room for more starts.


oldnewgreenredo

We bought quite a few on sale LARGE POTS 
last Fall at the end of the season.
This is a 20" double walled pot 
that we needed for PEAS. 

My Peas and trellises blew over several times last year...so I will have to dolly this monster out of the greenhouse later. 

oldnewgreenredo

Here's my hand to give you scale, and that's a 7" wide pot upside down to eat up some of the space in this huge pot. 

oldnewgreenredo

I stuffed a bunch of old stems, wood and dried garden waste in the bottom and then

oldnewgreenredo

Stuffed dried leaves into it also.

oldnewgreenredo

Two 8" pots full of dried leaves. These were tamped down, and then two more pots of leaves.

oldnewgreenredo

Then a thick layer of a heavy potting soil. 

oldnewgreenredo

Then alternating layers of my bin potting soil with peatmoss and vermiculite. This is getting down to the bottom, but the compost pile is still frozen. I have a few pots around the yard I can add to the bin and then modify the soil.

oldnewgreenredo

The layers were stirred around...mixing the damp hard soil with the loose starting soil from my bin.

oldnewgreenredo

I then stuck in my 6' bamboo sticks in and wire tied them at the top. When the PEA Sprouts begin to come up I'll add some fabric trellis around. This will be kept in the greenhouse until it has 3' tall plants.

oldnewgreenredo

Another 14" sale pot was started with two Canna bulbs. I will split these later. Hopefully it is warm enough on the floor in the greenhouse to get them started.

UPSIDE some of my Dahlias in small pots are up about 2-3"---YAY!

oldnewgreenredo

I had to move lots around in the greenhouse to make room for these big planters on the floor and some on the shelves.  All will be started with flowers/vegetables/herb seeds and watered. I have a paper record and sticks to put in for Identification.

oldnewgreenredo

This one I will use by the fisher kids pond...Nasturtiums, Allyssum, some Cosmos and a few Peppermint Zinnas. Some are old seeds, so I plant those heavy.

oldnewgreenredo

I planted 4 of this size railing planters with veggies a few weeks ago, but now we will be starting with flowers.

oldnewgreenredo

I made a second 16" pot for Peas with bamboo. Then I had to rearrange the greenhouse some more.



oldnewgreenredo

Tomorrow I will plant Evening Sun sunflowers in these pots, and some more
oldnewgreenredo

This sad little railing pot will be to be transplanted with  coleus eventually and maybe some bought Impatiens. I think I will move it off the desk to outside--the rim is cracking off from the UV rays and the heat we have been having the last few years. These railing planters I've been using for up to 10 years, so as they die, we replace them. This will be the last year for this one and it will be designated for shady. plants. That's it for Wednesday. I'm all out of water, so planting will have to begin tomorrow. 

What are you Prepping for Planting

 in your neck of the Woods?





All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own, I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or any products shown.  

Monday, August 2, 2021

Midwest Gardening: Midwest July , 31, 2021---HOT, STORMS, SUN, and SMOKE.

Ad-Free Blog

Quick post today because I have to go outside and garden again today! Temps are in the 70's so quick run outside, lol.

Shadowed in the back corner of our property is a small plot we call the 'Back 40' roughly the size of a small room. Anyway, Hubby has faithfully watered and we have pumpkin squash plants flourishing here in the shade. Very late for starting fruit, but we will see!

oldnewgreenredo

Behind the lattice is the compost pile, again, full of unintentional pumpkin plants. 
Mind you 2/3 of the seeds I planted never sprouted...but the freelancers are doing well.

oldnewgreenredo

On the North end, coming from the compost pile are multiple pumpkin vines and underneath is Rhubarb, I'm picking today.

oldnewgreenredo

Our shade is halfsun this year with the trimmed trees.

oldnewgreenredo

The on-going project, our flood plain with gravel and paver base. Eventually we will stone around the trees, too. This area dissipates our roof runoff. We had so many basement water issues, until we built and extension on the roof, and starting using paver base for run off areas.

oldnewgreenredo

I haven't cleaned up here for awhile, but all the perrennial starts still waiting for cooler weather to transplant safe in shade. And all my shade pots. It was SOOOOO hot the last part of July, yesterday was the first day out from hunkering down in the house. I plan to get this area prettified this week, if the weather cooperates.

oldnewgreenredo

Almost the last of the Day Lilies. You can hardly tell I thinned these out last Fall. This bed is do for a total redo this Fall.

oldnewgreenredo

The garden as is...with tons of tomatoes ready for picking! I think tomorrow I will be making sauce!

oldnewgreenredo

East side, is also busy being productive. I have no idea if I planted these, or if the birds did. Hoping they aren't invasive.

oldnewgreenredo

The yellow chair has not been replaced. A Zinnia pot is full of flowers.

oldnewgreenredo

This is two wood boxes of Hubbard squash plants and one or two buttercup squash plants. You can see the difference in the leaves..

oldnewgreenredo

Yes, you can grow squash on fences. If it gets too big for the vines, I will sling it with netting. 

oldnewgreenredo

The front pond area is colorful, enjoy this Rex Begonia finally coming back to life from the heat. It's been too hot and dry for this plant. 

oldnewgreenredo

Always we have hoses, hoses, we are constantly watering.  The Phlox exploded, and are almost done because of the hot temps.

oldnewgreenredo

Crazy spikes from the rose, and the brilliance of the Phlox. Honestly nothing is level in this photo.

oldnewgreenredo

Hubby working on the daily set-up of the watering. I wish we could do a permanent irrigation system. I do the pots, he moves the sprinklers. Rinse and repeat, repeat, repeat.

oldnewgreenredo

Speaking of pots, I caught our Elephant ears with perfect light---un-altered photo.

oldnewgreenredo

No fifteen-foot sunflowers this year...so many did not germinate---but of course the birds planted this one right at the landing of our front stairs! The air is full of smoke again today...hard to work and breathe. 

Midwest July 2021---HOT, STORMS, SUN, and SMOKE. 

Like much of the US and Canada, we have a constant haze here in Chicagoland. 
To all everywhere, Please stay safe! 

If You enjoyed this post please FOLLOW IT in the upper right hand corner, to get just one email of each new post

I will happily respond to every comment and answer every question!



Please visit these Link Parties:


Please do not use my photos without a link back to this blog without my permission.

Thank you for your cooperation, 
Sandi 
 
oldnewgreenredo



Friday, August 3, 2018

Midwest Gardening:August 2018

Ad-Free Blog


We've had a few milder days this week, but July was very dry and very HOT in Chicagoland. So that means, water, water, water----WATER!

oldnewgreenredo

Our mailbox planter is doing well, long as we keep pumping water in. Hubby built this holder for all the neighbors, or we would have five different poles standing haphazardly in front of our house.
At least the different mailboxes are in order now and a blend. The tubes are for junk mail, which 'thank heavens' we don't get much of anymore. 

oldnewgreenredo

The label on the purple said---Purple Salvia..? but this is what it does.It has been very prolific. The marigolds were supposed to be 1 foot to 2 feet high? hence they were in the middle. Two wave petunias one on each end, have been fabulous!

oldnewgreenredo

Love this fun version---as the designs morph into pinwheels.

oldnewgreenredo

Why is it weeds grow with no water---and regular plants are stunted?

oldnewgreenredo

My pots are getting lush, the dahlias are finally starting to bloom on the right.

oldnewgreenredo

This pot is waiting to explode into dahlias.
oldnewgreenredo

Potato Vine...my go to for lush trails of lime green color.

oldnewgreenredo

Something died on the left or was removed by a squirrel, with no evidence?


oldnewgreenredo

Getting ready to bloom.  Impatiens are having issues with the heat and are sparse and droopy.

Add caption

Pots under the eaves, get only half day sun, so are doing okay.


oldnewgreenredo
This area holds heat, despite being in shade half the day. The phlox, got huge with the spring rains, and now watering can't keep it happy.

oldnewgreenredo

The pond has one lonely resident frog this year. Mom was here and must have laid eggs and only one survived. She disappeared early in the summer. This little guy is used to us now, and doesn't dart away every time we walk by the pond.


oldnewgreenredo

My herbs on the porch are toughing it out.

oldnewgreenredo

Potted tomatoes have fried roots though,  and are yellow and loosing leaves fast.

oldnewgreenredo

Neighbors clematis is treating us to some color over the (long skinny Asian) eggplants, which are happy in the heat and producing like crazy.


oldnewgreenredo

Fledgling Robin nosing in one of my pots.

oldnewgreenredo

This area is in part to total shade all day---so the plants are lush! The sun was so bright though when I took pics.

oldnewgreenredo
Hubby finally getting the lights up we bought last year. having to crawl around his huge tomato plants. 
oldnewgreenredo

Luckily he could do some from our walkway.

oldnewgreenredo

Garden is very green, however we've had a few zucchini and beans aren't blossoming yet. Pickles are drying up---we aren't going to get many. Plants that are drowned for two months don't develop deep roots to survive in hot weather. Tomatoes are small, but sweet. Later varieties are holding---large and green, so we just keep watering!

How is your garden doing?

All the opinions and photographs in this blog are my own. I have not been paid or reimbursed in anyway for my opinions, posts or any products shown or anywhere I shop.

Thanks always for visiting. 
I will try and respond to every comment and answer every question.
Thank you for your cooperation, Sandi Magle
Sandi