Spring has Sprung!

Wow! What a beautiful spring we are having; I have enjoyed all the sunny days but am apprehensive at how dry it is already! If we keep up this rate we will be in a drought this summer.
As I have been preparing my gardens for my summer plants I am amazed at how many weeds I have this year. We have used a professional style "Preen" in the past and ran out of it and didn't use it in February.....I am paying the consequences for that now! I am amazed at how many little trees want to grow! Ha ha ha As I am working in the gardens I am being visited by many birds all around and their sweet voices are so melodic and soothing. I can't help but smile and marvel at the simplicity of the joy they bring.
I think I have an idea of how I am going to add color under my river birches, I am going to try and find large pots with multiple holes in the sides for plantings, I can then use impatients in there to add color and height to the garden, in places where I want it low I am going to try and actually plant some pots in the ground and use color that way. We will see if it helps or works. I love my river birches and how pretty the bark is on the trees but am so disappointed with how little I can do around them now. They are thirsty trees! : )
As you enjoy the beauty around you, take time to thank God for the joy he brings through his wonderful creations!

Spring is here...yeah!

Wow....what a long winter this year! I finely was able to start cleaning out our flower beds this weekend, untill the rain started to make it too miserable. I am always amazed to see the new green sprouts popping up, it's almost magical, it warms my heart to see the growth and renewing that happens each spring! I was looking at the gardens and thinking how I can plant things different this year to give wow facter and ease of maitance for watering. As the gardens have grown over the past 7 years I have two river birches that make growing plants under them impossible now. I am open for suggestions if anyone has ideals that would look pretty and low maintance. I have tried many type of plants and due to the trees drinking too much of the water with their shallow surface roots I can't seem to keep things looking good the whole summer. The plants look good in the begining of summer and then they just don't grow more in size and often die from lack of water, the roots won't spread due to the roots from the river birches. I try to water almost every day because of this issue.
I have gone to putting pretty ceramic clay potts in the gardens to give punches of color under these trees. I love clusters of intense color and miss being able to create that under these trees!

This winter has really cause some challenges to clean up in our gardens and yard, all that snow has saturated our gardens and yard, leaving alot of errosion. I am thinking about ways to make my natural bed look like a rock -drybed to help with all of this natural water flow....may be fun project this summer. I hope everyone is enjoying the spring and all its splendor. Have fun!

brrrrrrrr....it's so cold

I am frustrated by politicians that push adgendas that focus on areas that benifit their districts or them personaly. All this talk of global warming appears to be cycles of our natural earth's processes as it has for years before us! I am all in favor of protecting our air, water and environment but some of the things they have said are just out there! If people would use common sense we would be better off! I am angered by the push to use CFL's for lamping fixtures, they have shoved this on people without giving ways to dispose of these or recycle areas that are convienient for consummers. I am in favor of lower watt consumption but the disposal issues concern me, the manufacturs tell us the murcury content is low, yet they tell you to wrap them in2plastic bags!!!! If your child pulls one out of the shopping cart and it breaks in their hands, they will have this chemical on their hands! Not cool Obama and other politicians pushing this stuff! Please re-think what your pushing on people and kids before you force it on us! I want to see recyle bins at every company that sells CFL's, if you are adding to the problem then I believe you should have to make a way to correct a negative! The government mandated laws to manufacturers to change wattage production on lamps to use lower amounts with higher output of lumens production, I love this and feel this is awesome for our country but they needed to have better options in place first! LED's use much less wattage and would solve the disposal issue! Lets see some change out there!

Happy New Year!

As I look out the window and see the snow flurries I feel a chill inside. It makes me wonder as I see the trees blowing side to side when will I see the rebirth of spring. My heart longs for the warmth of the sun beating down on the earth making things stir in ways we can not see. Winter can be magical in it's mystery of ice and snow but nothing beats the magic of the first flower we see sprouting with a force, through the cold snow. The irony of it some how melts the ice off out hearts and reminds us of a higher power in control of all things. As we all start this new year I pray the power within is strengthened and grows to bring a new realization of where our hope lies. Happy New Year and may God Bless everyone!