Scoops

Surviving the Hellstrip

May 21, 2013
Hellstrip Plans

Hey Guys, hop aboard the crazy garden train today with me! I’ve been thinking a lot about my “hellstrip” lately (aka boulevard garden) (aka the garden between the sidewalk and the street). The weather is still springish ’round these parts. I’m guessing I’ll have limited days before the sun starts heating things up and gardening won’t seem fun anymore. I need to get started on this boulevard garden project before it literally gets too hot to handle! My “hellstrip” (I love calling it that) goes from shady to sunny, so I had to consider what were the best plants for the space. Hostas have done well on the shady side already, they will stay, but will be dug up and repositioned. The sunnier side will call for Iris for the spring, Phlox and Salvia for the summer, and grasses and Sedum for texture and shape. I’m also planning on adding good ground cover to help with erosion. For the shadier spots I’ll be planting Golden Moneywort (aka Creeping Jenny) and in the sunnier spots Purple Dragon. I have both of these ground covers growing in my gardens, so it’ll be free to take a little and move it out to [...]

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Tulips for the 1st Time

May 20, 2013
Tulip Peach Blossom

This is my first spring with Tulips in my yard! I planted 3 different types of Tulips this fall, 20 Peach Blossoms, 10 Spring Greens, and 10 Foxtrots. I was getting a little sad that none of them had made it through the winter, but then slowly I began to spot them. I haven’t done an exact count but I would say about 30 of the bulbs have popped up! I was happy with those results but am sad that the 10 missing bulbs all seem to be of the Foxtrot variety. I also planted 20 Canaliculatis Daffodils and I haven’t see a single one. I’m guessing I must have planted the bulbs too deep even though all the instructions said to plant them in 4″ of soil. I will try my hand at planting another round of both the missing Tulips and Daffodils this fall. Maybe with a little more research I can figure out what went wrong for these guys. In the meantime, I’m totally enjoying these fresh spring blooms in my garden!

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Hellstrip (AKA The Boulevard Garden)

May 17, 2013
Boulevard Garden Hellstrip

Inspiration Photos Found On Pinterest Guys, did you know that what I have been referring to as a “boulevard garden” is much more commonly known as a “HELLSTRIP”? Cause I had no idea, until I started googling around looking for inspiration for my much more mild mannered “boulevard garden”. I realize now that “hellstrip” is a very fitting name (plus it sounds pretty badass), it describes that little patch between the sidewalk in the street where nothing grows. Here in snowy Minnesota our hellstrips takes a beating, not only is it compacted with snow, but also pummeled with salt too. My hellstrip has seen better days. I planted it 4 years ago. One day I was out weeding and the next thing you know I was digging up the front boulevard. I’m am so sad to say that I think a lot of the perennial plants I had “growing” out there didn’t make it through the winter. I need to come up with a plan and make this area rule, I’m determined. Last year I started weeding the other side of the hellstrip, which until then had remained grass, er ah, weeds, er ah, a hot mess. Weeding quickly turned [...]

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Flowers & Mulch

May 15, 2013
Mulch & Flowers

For Mother’s Day I received flowers for my window boxes, and mulch. I love this! It’s become a tradition and nothing could make this girl any happier. Over the years I’ve tried out a few different combos for my front window boxes, the first year I planted reds, whites, and lime greens. The second year I planted pinks, purples, greens and oranges, and then last year I tried an minimalist approach doing only white sunpatiens. I’ve made a habit of keeping all my plant info from year-to-year, that way, if I find a combo that looks great and works well, I can go back and reference it re-buying the same flowers. Anybody with me on this approach? This year, I decided I was going back to year two, the year of the neon window boxes. I don’t know if it looks the best, but all those color make me happy, and I really wanted to see what the bright flowers would like against the new dark blue paint color. I really love these window boxes, and I can’t wait to see them fill in. I missed not having overflowing boxes last year, and I’m happy to have lush potato vines [...]

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Hipstamatic Print Lab (For Yer Instagrams)

May 14, 2013
Square Photos

Okay, so, I’m kind of a snob when it comes to having photos printed. I can’t just fall for any run of the mill drug store print lab, I need the real deal! I need to know that chemistry was used to make these memories 2D! It’s a weird bastardization of digital phone photography and quality archival photographic prints, I know, and I get it. I can’t help but loving a real photo though. They feel better, and they look better. I’ve gotten into the very good habit of an every-6-month-photo-print-sesh. I’m insanely paranoid about losing all my photographic keepsakes to a failed hard drive or broken phone. Seriously, the thought of losing precious memories almost kills me, the anxiety is already coming on just thinking about it. Plus, I like the sensation of flipping through something tactile, and I love the texture of a photo with a nice luster finish. Not only do I have fear losing digital files but I also fear outdated technology. I can imagine the kids being adults and digging through stacks of photos wanting to show their kids what it was like when they were growing up. I don’t want to be the old [...]

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