What did you do this week?

So everyone knows that to keep a good garden going it takes work.  Did you know that it takes work all year around?  Different gardens need different types of work and in different amounts.  Coming this next year  lets discover together what each garden needs to keep it looking good.  Join me and find out what you should be doing or could be doing in your garden each week.  I can't wait to get started.  Each week we will post about what we did in our gardens and post a picture about it.  Be it just watering the plants or taking the  spent blooms off the Christmas Cactus, there is always an occasion to post a picture.

The first post will go up December 31st as it is Monday.  Lets see what gardeners around the world do each week through out the year.

How to kill a spider plant

So raise your hand if you own a spider plant. Keep it up if it has babies. Continue to keep it up if you have given away tons of babies.  Ok you can put it down now.  I love my spider plants.  And love it when they are producing babies.  It means I am doing something right.  Being a good gardener and plant care taker I would never want to kill a spider plant.....slow it's baby making down maybe but never kill........

But thats what I almost did to a few of my babies.  Spider plants are indoor plants but even up here in New York they can benefit from a little time outside in the summertime.  See mine were no longer producing any babies.  They were just well just there.  So putting them outside in the summer air helps them grow stronger and suddenly I had baby shoots all over the place.  But then being in NY a frost came.....

As you can see it just about killed my plant.  I have several containers of spider plants and some didn't make it...this one seems to be recovering but you can see it was quite full and was very pretty.

Todays lesson?:
Pay attention to the weather when you have indoor plants basking in the sun outside.  Frost WILL kill a spider plant.  Now if thats your goal yea for you!

Sorry it's been so long been having issues logging in and been busy.  Going to school to get my business degree to go with Irish Gardens, and was busy with the farmers markets.  But I have lots to post about so get ready to learn some stuff and enjoy some pictures.

The making of a new plant

Making baby plants is fun.  Kids will love it.
Here we have 2 kinds of mint that I placed in water 2 weeks ago.  About 4 days ago roots began to grow and now they are longer and more of them.  It is an exciting way to make baby plants.  Not only is it fun but also produces a bigger plant that starting one from seed.

In this picture I took a Japanese Maple and a Hydrangea and placed them in water.  Just over a week later the Hydrangea is sprouting roots all over.  In fact it is doing so well that it has begun to bud....yup this newly made baby plant is only 2 weeks old and is about to flower.  Starting from seed it would take sometimes over 2 years before you see flowers.

Not all perennials will root in water, and some won't even root.  But taking a cutting of your favorite bush or tree and seeing if it does is fun and can be very rewarding.  I still can't believe that the Hydrangea rooted in just water....

Have you every made baby plants?

HEGT - June 2012

A few days late but here we go....it's time for the June edition of the Harvesting Edible Garden Tour.  Every month on the 21st (supposed to be anyways) we gather together around the blog table and read what everyone is harvesting that month.  Since I started the Farmers Market I harvest herbs every week and this month the 21st landed on Market day.  But that doesn't mean I didn't take pictures of what I was harvesting.....so fresh from the Market here is what Irish Gardens harvested this week.....actually all month.

Ok so the Rhubarb I didn't harvest all month just Thursday.  From left to right the herbs are:
Sage
Mint
Dill
Rosemary
Lemon Balm
Chocolate Mint
Marjoram
Chives
Oregano
Basil
Rhubarb

So what do you have that you can harvest in your garden?  Any veggies out there?  Add your post to the link below so others can visit and see whats harvesting around the blog table.

GBBD - June

Ah yes it's that time again when Carol over at May Dreams Gardens host this lovely event called Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.  A day where we all post about what is blooming in our gardens.  A day we get to see what is blooming in other gardens all around the world at all times of the year.  I would like to take you on a blooming tour of Irish Gardens now.....see what we have blooming today:

 The lilies have started to make their beauty and presence known in the front yard.  Pretty in pint these guys are big and bold.

 In the butterfly garden the first of 8 different Butterfly Bushes has begun to bloom as well.

 More lilies showing off.

 And add to that the day lilies have begun to open up.

 Still in the front yard but in the Rose garden we find but of course the Roses.

The morning sun shining on a newly opened rose makes for a lovely start to the day

 Right next to the Rose bush the 4 O'Clocks are still doing their blooming thing and showing off their yellow flowers.

On to the side of the house or also known as the driveway garden the Hosta's have decided to come out and play the blooming game too.

 A few mixed zinnia that still need to be planted have decided that even though they are becoming root bound and are craving some water they will bloom for me too.

 And into the heart of Irish Gardens we go.  Starting in this years bean and pea garden.

This Marigold decided to grow from a seed that some how was missed in the fall clean up....so the seed lasted the winter outside.....weird.

 Continuing our tour we head into the Greenhouse and see whats going on.
Anyone want to take a guess as to what this flower is of?  Many don't see it....it's lettuce.  Yup in case you didn't know if you leave the tops of lettuce alone long enough they will flower and produce seeds....

 Behind the lettuce is Echinacea showing off their pretty flowers now too.

 Here is another one that not many folks know about.. Marshmallow.  Pretty delicate flowers with purple pollen.

Leave the onions in the ground too long and this is what you get....I am wondering what happens now.

And finally we stay in the greenhouse for our last flower for bloom day....Dill


Hope you enjoyed the tour and come back again.  Leave a comment....let me know how many of my flowers you knew what they were before reading.  Be sure to stop by May Dreams Gardens and see what others have blooming this fine bloom day.

2 Years

Well 2 years ago yesterday My Garden, My Hobbies was born.  2 Years ago this past Memorial Day my garden was created.  A lot has happened in these last 2 years.  Good bad and other wise, but mostly good.  Today I did a little house keeping in the gardens....plucked out a few weeds, watered some newly planted herbs.....even gave a few herbs a hair cut.  Pictures were as always taken to document what was going on.

For my other blogging gardeners I am sure it is the same we look at the pictures each year and see when certain flowers bloomed.  I know I like to see did these 4 O'Clocks bloom the first week in June last year or was it in May?  And for spreading perennials like these 4 O'Clocks how much bigger is the patch than last year?  Did they just multiply or multiply and spread?

There have been a lot of posts lately about whether blogging is dying or not....not just garden blogging but blogging in general.  I know that for the ones I read it's not.  I like blogging about my garden.  I love showing it off and telling others what is going on.  My real journal though....thats my pictures.  Today I plan to spend the day organizing my pictures.  Like plants in the same folder separated maybe by year.....not sure how I want to go about it yet but I will figure it out.....I learn more about my garden through my pictures...

Have a wonderful weekend and take a picture of your garden this weekend....then look back over the years and see what has changed.

Little bugs everywhere

 Bugs are everywhere even after a rainy day.  With the right type of camera you can get up close and personal with them and see what they really look like.  Each bug is either good or bad....finding out which they are can help with a good close up.

 Like this ant.  He is on the peony bud and is very good.  They do something to help the buds...not sure what but I know they are supposed to be there.

I believe these are aphids.  The jury is still deliberating on what they actually are as most aphids are green.  But what ever they are they are on my Rose of Sharon plants and not good.  And as you can see there are lots of them.

 Not the clearest picture in the world sorry but these green winged guys I also am not sure if they are good or bad.  They are on my roses.....personally unless you are a ladybug you don't belong on my roses so I say bad.

A Daddy Long Leg on my Rose bush......not sure where to put him in the good vs bad category cause he is pretty harmless but in my opinion like above isn't a lady bug and there for should not be on my roses.


So what kind of bugs do you see hanging out around your gardens?  Ever think to take a picture of them up close and see what they really look like? Click on any of these pictures to get a bigger view of it.....you may be surprised as to what you can see.

HEGT - May 2012

It's already that time of the month....the 21st....Harvesting Edible Garden Tour.  The time when we post about what we are harvesting in our gardens.  Inside or out if you can eat it and it's harvesting lets see it.  This month or rather today I decided that I am going to focus on one garden at a time and harvest what really needs it then go back to other gardens and harvest.  Well today it was one garden, one herb.

 So here is Strawberry Fields.  Can you see the strawberries?  Nope cause the Chocolate Mint has taken over.

 Now here is Strawberry Fields can you see the strawberries now?

See how much Chocolate Mint I cut out of there?  Lots and lots.  And the smell is so heavenly too.  So is there anything in your gardens that you can harvest?  Post about it and let us know.

Add your link below and visit the other links as they are added.

How my gardens have changed.

It seems every year I add a new garden bed to my collection. I am not saying this is a bad thing as if I add a new one that means that I was able to handle last years load.  Now when I say add a new garden I usually mean for edibles......but this year it wasn't just 1 new garden it was 3.....Take a look

2009:  Lets start when we bought the house.  The front yard had minimal gardens...but some

 Here there is no Butterfly bush garden or my boarder garden full of Iris

 The poor Pussy Willow in a small little circle....

The back of the house where the greenhouse is now.....certainly makes the yard look bigger with out it.

 And the kitchen garden....a cleaned up version of it but this is the shape it was in....


That brings us to 2010:  Where the first of many new gardens were added to the yard.

 The beginnings of my blog started right here with my greenhouse.

 Later that same year this is the completed greenhouse and extension garden growing away.

The kitchen garden got a bit of a make over.

Then comes last year 2011:  Where gardens were added again and some were given new life....like

 Yup the kitchen garden again....a new flower bed area was added and the rest was straightened out a little more.

 The now bigger Pussy Willow tree now has it's very own shade garden....granted it provides the shade.

 Hard to see but here is the Iris boarder garden just after it was added.....

 Unhappy with the first try the Kitchen garden had more added to it....now I could harvest all of the garden.

 Then back by the Greenhouse the Strawberry mint garden was added.....sorry Strawberry Chocolate Mint garden.

 As was what became known as the vine garden....

   Another view of the Greenhouse for reference  as here comes 2012:  This year.....

The first of the gardens to be added this year.  One for the gardening class and one for Shannon.

 Remember back in 2009 that picture of the front yard with the Forsythia on the left?  Well to the right of that is now this guy....the Butterfly Bush garden.

Oh and that Boarder garden back from 2011 the one I promised was full of Iris.....well here it is.

And finally the last of the gardens built so far this year was added on to the new one at the back of the greenhouse.  One has plants for Aiden guy and the others are some of the veggies.

So my gardens have changed a lot over the last few years.  I imagine they will continue to change not only in what is planted in them but in how they look in general....then again I hope not too much....hard to name the gardens when they keep changing.