• Skip to main content

Kimberly A. Cook

Military Romance Author

  • Home
  • About
  • Romance Books
  • Nonfiction Books
  • Sign Up
  • Blog
  • Amazon Store

planting

To Nap, Perchance To Plant?

June 28, 2016 By Kimberly A. Cook 1 Comment

by Kimberly A. Cook                     (Twitter@  WarriorTales)

Last weekend we had fabulous sunny weather and I knew the petunias, impatiens and basil had to be planted before they crawled into the house and mugged me. In high hopes once again, I’d bought more plants than I planned. They sat for three weeks due to nutty weather.

IMG_1526.JPG
Spec Ops Cat resting after a hard day of supervising  my yard work. He had to sit on the carpet in a sun spot and look out the patio door. Tough job. 

 

It’s always fun to dig in the dirt, whether hunting for rocks or planting posies. Normally all the plants are in by mid-May, but obviously I’m disorganized this year. The tomatos got planted on time, but they don’t look too happy about it. Hot temperatures, cold weathers, rain and hail make for unhappy plants.

The roses just about put up the white flag too but they keep blooming, hardy little souls. Once again I am attempting to make fuchsia starts grow from the plant at my Mom’s house. Transplanted from the huge natural fuchsia at our former beach cabin on the coast, one of these years I am going to make them grow.

IMG_1522.JPG
Ready for surgery on the potting table. These glasses are for liquor, but the fuchsias seemed to like them very much.

 

Mom put the starts in water and brought them to me. I carefully transplanted them into the tall shot glasses which look like test tubes and left them in the Southern window for a couple weeks, adding water. Bought special potting soil for them and Saturday was their big day to be transplanted.

IMG_1525.JPG
Starts sitting on the back porch waiting for their water shower. Amazing what I find in my garage when I need to. Perfect pink pots. Priceless.

 

Found matching pink plastic starter pots in the garage, because I am sure that helps them take root. Rocks, potting soil, starts planted, then water and back in the house. Stuck them in used cat food cans for coasters to hold the water. Keep your fingers crossed. Maybe this year the magic works.

I love the smell of potting soil in the morning! Got plant starts?

 

 

Share this:

  • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

Filed Under: Garden Tagged With: back yard, fuchsia, fuchsia starts, garden, Kimberly A Cook, planting, potting soil, Warrior Tales, writer, yard work

Are You Having Garden Daydreams?

March 15, 2016 By Kimberly A. Cook 1 Comment

by Kimberly A. Cook             (Twitter@  WarriorTales)

This past weekend I got caught in a rain storm, a thunder and lightning storm, sunshine and hail; all in the same two hours. Welcome to Oregon in the Spring! Between March Madness on the tv and political crazies everywhere, it seems the safest bet for mental health these days is to plan my garden.

IMG_5335.JPG
Found these gents hanging around in the garden center a few years ago. Okay, I had to draw the line somewhere with these three-foot tall dudes, so I took their picture. But they were on sale….. Back away from the gnomes!

 

I’m thinking about buying a very big blue pot to move either the fairy rose or the boxwood into. A focal piece. Then surround it with inspired fairies, gnomes and gorgeous rose quartz rocks I picked up at the Richardson’s Rock Ranch last Fall.

Downsizing the yard work and upping the fun factor is my mantra this year. Since I have clay soil the consistency of concrete, I keep everything in pots. From herbs to roses to strawberries and ferns, pots r us.

The Burpee seed catalog arrived before my tax packet from the accountant in early January. Now that the taxes are out of the house, I can focus on what plants to buy and how to rearrange all the pots. Thinking more color this year. The pots I mean, the flowers are always colorful.

So since we had more hail storms yesterday and 22 inches of snow on the mountain in the last two days, of course it’s supposed to be sunny and 65 degrees on Friday. Welcome to Spring!

Support a bunny, plant lettuce. Got garden plans?

 

Share this:

  • Share on X (Opens in new window) X
  • Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...

Filed Under: Garden Tagged With: backyard, Burpee, garden, gardens, gnomes, Kimberly A Cook, planting, seeds, Spring, Warrior Tales, yard art

Copyright © 1997-2019 Kimberly A. Cook All Rights Reserved WordPress · Log in

 

Loading Comments...
 

You must be logged in to post a comment.

    %d