Bonsai project

So, today (or the past two months, rather) is another day of heatwave overkill, so to keep chill, I spent some of the day doing a bit of indoor gardening. I took pity on three very sad trees and decided they would be best suited for bonsai.

Acer ginnala (Amur Maple)

I pulled this one out of a pot while weeding at work, so I decided, since I adore the fall foliage on this particular tree, I would make it into bonsai. Since it's been probably 3-4 months since its birth, I have planned no rigorous training yet, but the root and stem was unusual enough that I would try to plant it over a rock. 

Buxus sp.  (Boxwood)

A freebie at work, a very pot-bound little boxwood that needed some serious cleanup, pruning and shaping. Wires are fun! I'm not sure what shape I'm going for just yet, I'll just watch it grow and decide what to keep and what to clip. I'm not sure how hold this one is, it's been in stock at a nursery so long. I hope the moss comes back.

 

Ginkgo biloba (Maidenhair Tree)

I couldn't pass up the opportunity to render my favorite tree into a bonsai. I wrapped the entire trunk with wire, and wrapped the trunk around my finger. I'll probably never live to see the day, but I want my ginkgo to be as twisted and crotchety as possible. 

A hundred more garden projects on the go. Waiting for the summer heat to die down a little bit before I start shoveling. Next year I'm going to get started a lot earlier, relax July/August, and work hard in September as well. Two border gardens and a rose bush are all I have to do this summer/fall, and I think then I will call it a growing season. 

-D

No pics today...

Weather: Chance of showers, mainly cloudy
Notable blooms: Tulips just about to open, daffodils, still a hurtin forsythia.

Yesterday I decided to jump into three new things that I have never tried: Potatoes, onions, and roses. I bought my first rose today, a 'Sunsprite' Floribunda variety. Almost as a way to keep the aphids off my vegetables.. I will also have a small nasturtium culture to keep them off, and perhaps get some beneficial insects when it warms up.

Square foot garden is coming along, but since I haven't said anything about it yet, I have already got the carrots (purple, orange), beets, and peas in the ground. Now I'm checking frequently for updates out there, but nothing as of yet. I might be late in this, but the seed potatoes are left out to pre-sprout before I plant those too. Some kind of purple skin/flesh variety.

Also have a Chester blackberry, and I'm considering a Triple Crown cane too..

That's all though, I have a load of seeds and seedlings waiting for it to get past frost time. Lot of renovations coming up for spring and summer, notably the front yard. And there has been some overseeding for the lawn.. what lawn! Lol, our lawn is mostly weeds and clover.. I'm going to try and fix that. I don't want people to see us as the negligent neighbor that gives everyone dandelions.  This is a very garden-competitive neighborhood, after all.

If I remember, pics tomorrow.

Breakin the buds!

Spring is coming, finally, and I can tell you why: We have ants! As of two weeks ago, I've been finding the odd ant here and there in the house. Large ants. Bitey ants!

But that's not the only Bitey thing I've brought into the home. We also took home our Valley Bulldog puppy, Penny on the 22nd! She is the bringer of breakdowns and gnasher of unarmed feet, and has come a long way since the day we picked her up. She is now capable of "sit" and often, "come", can walk well on a leash, is partially housetrained, if we clue in when she is asking to go out. She is now starting to understand the notion of fetch, which will make the boyfriend very pleased, as this is what he wanted, as criteria, for our dog. She is by no means a perfect puppy, but we have taken no break in training her to do exactly what we want right away.

This morning I woke to see two pheasants strolling through the overgrown thicket in the back of the yard. It's a little disappointing that I'll be clearing a large portion of it and taking away a safe space for them to pass through, but I've got to have my vegetables, and a garden. I started some seeds yesterday for tomatoes, and as we go through the month, I'll start more annuals and vegetables. I'm just antsy to get out there and start pulling the weeds and marking off where we want the garden tilled.

The front yard is going to be the biggest candidate for a makeover this year. And both yards desperately need grass seeding, since mud collects everywhere. I also need to start getting some bat houses built, to keep the mosquitoes at a more acceptable level. It's pretty bad here.

So now, my eye is on the tree buds. I'm waiting. I'm excited to see all at once, the properties, yard after yard after yard, explode in a yellow fury of Forsythia. Bring it on!

2010 KICKOFF!

Birthday, Ribbit, posing in front of my painting...

Well, it's another new year, and I've already declared my new Year's Resolutions. It's not as cliche as most years, by the way, it's more about getting the most out of my year... How, exactly?

BY FINISHING WHAT I START!

This might sound like quite a trivial feat, but to me, this is a major thing, because I absolutely love jumping into fresh things, and I really feel it for a while, but eventually, I lose steam, veer off, and just abandon it altogether. Let's see... when has that ever happened for me...?

- Most knitting projects

- Things I offered to make for people out of sculpey.. (coughcough the leaf..)

- I have like 5  needlepoint projects on the go, and like 20 kits that haven't even be touched. And proly about 4 or 5 that I have opened, and started to sort the floss for and never jumped into yet.. heh heh..

- Paintings.. I have about 3 incomplete, one is just an orange background.

- Hey, I see a change occurring in my muscle tone and weight loss, I should follow that to the end shouldn't i? Don't fall off the fitness wagon this year.

- All these hoarded recipes I've printed off but never cooked. I'm gonna make these things now! I'll alternate between meals, and sweets/desserts.

- Digital art.. man, don't even get me started on my works in progress..

I'll have to make a queue or something so I can keep myself focused! Arrgh! I can do this.

So, onto the accomplishments. As shown above, I DID finish a knitting project this month, and in under a month! Geez! Above is fwouggie for my mom's birthday, I made him, hoping my mom still loves frogs and isn't terribly sick of everything frog related I've made for her at this point.

 Frog in its natural habitat

On top of knitting, I also finished another really cute project for the home: A tile matchbox/trinket drawer:

 

I had this old decrepit ginkgo leaf sandwiched in my tablet, so I decided to put it somewhere that it could be appreciated. I collected this leaf from the bowels of my hometown, more and more people are using Ginkgos as street trees, Good for you guys! Keep em coming! This project took 2 4x4 tiles, 6 boxes of matches, lots of glue, and a little bit of lacquer. I got this idea from a book I purchased with one of my christmas gift cards, called "The Big-Ass Book of Crafts" by Mark Montano. All of the crafts are really awesome (my copy is dense with post-its!) and they're all home-decorative crafts. I'm excited to start some more, perhaps gather some more components for another project today, since it's my birthday and I can't seem to decide what I want, besides seeds, hort related goodies, insects...well that's all I've been into for the last lil bit.

Want to knit your own frog? - Ribbit

Interested in the Craft Book? - craftytown

Til next time!

- Dee