My Amphibious Friend

I just wanted to pop in and share some pictures of the frog that's been living in my pond for the past month or so.  I'd have shared photos sooner, but my automatic reaction every time I've seen him thus far was to shout "FROGGY!!!" and immediately try to catch him.

This time I restrained myself, ran inside to grab my camera, snapped a couple of pictures...

 

... and THEN I tried to catch him. ;-)

Pond Ponderings

Lately I've been thinking about the things I can to to further beautfy our pond area:

We don't have any lighting in that area, so while it's nice to hear the sound of the waterfall at night, we can't see it.  I found this gorgeous light on the Home Depot website, and I think I will pick a few of them up:

It got great reviews, and I think it would look wonderful around the pond! 

I debating getting some sort of underwater pond lighting, but since the pond is on the small side and the water lilies pretty much take over, I'm not sure it'd really be worth it.

I'm also planning to pick up some more goldfish, since it looks like only one made it through the winter.  He needs friends. ;-)

For the time being I'm sticking with the usual 29-cent feeder fish and hoping for the best, but how cool is this calico fantail goldfish?

Maybe next year, if I'm feeling confident in my ability to keep fish alive...

Last, but not least, I've been thinking about seating... After all, how can I fully enjoy my little pond paradise without a place to sit?

My mother-in-law told me about this bench she saw at Lowe's:

The design is adorable and it's small enough that it wouldn't overwhelm our not-very-big pond... but I'm not crazy about the color.  I'd hate to spend $98 on a bench just to spray paint it... So something tells me I'll be prowling thrift store and yard sales this summer. ;-)


I'm hoping to take care of the light and fish situation after work today, since tomorrow I'm seeing Newsies and eating dinner at Veselka with some friends from high school.  So excited!!  What are you plans for this weekend??



Garden Photos 2012 - Getting Started

I got a later start than usual on gardening this year - too much rain!  But my gardens are off to a good start.

I decided to change up the large planter in the front yard.  No more icky, scraped up plastic thing (which is now home to our roma tomatoes, as you'll see later), instead I got a nice cedar one:

For years now, I've done coleus surrounded by alyssum, but this year I decided to start completely fresh and do a spike plant (I already managed to lose the card and I don't remember the exact variety!) surrounded by trailing vincas (Mediterranean apricot broadeye, which I used in another part of the yard last year).

I hadn't planted zinnias at this house yet, but I used to plant them at our apartment all the time.  I decided to return to an old favorite, the swizzle cherry and ivory, in the front flower bed.

I also planted some petunias and some of the extra vincas, along with the usual perennials - coreopsis and blue flax. I'll share more photos of that garden once it's filled in a bit more.

I rearranged the rozannes so they'd form a straight line in this bed, and eventually fill the whole thing out:

And I moved our herb garden to a tab le on the patio:

So far, we just have chives, parsley, basil, rosemary, and dill.  I've been picking up a few herbs from the farmer's market each week, so I'm sure there will be more here soon!

We're also trying our hand at growing tomatoes:

We're also going to add some peppers, and maybe spinach and/or kale in the near future.

Elvis's beloved catmint is back in full force:

Or at least I'm assuming the catmint is his favorite, since it attracts the bees he so loves to stalk!

And here's the pond, all spruced up:

I finally laid down some weed fabric under the rocks, so now I won't be stuck pulling weeds in that area practically every day.  At least one of our fish survived the winter, as did a lot of the snails we bought last year!  I even found one of those pea-sized babies, so hopefully we will have a nice, self-sustaining, algae-eating community of Japanese trapdoor snails for years to come.

And of course, all that gardening and lawn care is hard work, and our old hammock was in terrible was in terrible shape, and could only hold one person... So we treated ourselves to a nice, new, two-person hammock to relax in and enjoy our back yard:

Next project: a fence!  (But, uh, we're paying someone else to do that!)  Expect videos of Elvis running around like a maniac in the near future. ;-)

Gardening + Jewelry = A Match Made in Heaven?

Since warm weather decided to make an early appearance this year, I've already managed to fall horribly behind on my gardening.  The amount of weeds in my yard is absurd.  But at least some of the pretty stuff is also growing.

Here's the blue flax:

The clematis is already a couple of feet high:



And the cherry tree in the back yard is in full bloom:

And so far all I've managed to do is clean out our pond and replace the filter on the pump.  Funny story about that, by the way: I assumed our fish were all dead.  Imagine my surprise when I dumped a bunch of  decaying leaves on the ground next to the pond and found a little orange and black goldfish flopping around!  I returned him to the pond.  No idea if any of his buddies survived, but I will have to pick up a few more, just in case.

Anyway, this year it looks like I'll be merging my love of gardening and my love of jewelry, starting with the cherry blossoms.  I've decided to start pressing the flowers that grow in my garden, and using them to make pendants.  I've used pre-made pendants with pressed flowers to make necklaces such as this one, and they always seem to attract a lot of attention (and sales!) at craft shows. 

I think it will add a special something to my pieces if I can say I grew the flowers myself, as opposed to simply buying the pendant as-is.  I'm definitely planning on using the cherry blossoms and the blue flax.  I might try the rozannes for big, chunky pendants.  I haven't figured out which annuals to buy for my gardens this year, but whether they will look good on a pendant may factor into my decision.  Anyway have any suggestions??

Also: I finally did inventory!  I don't know why I insist on waiting so long.  I've procrastinated so badly on doing inventory for all 3 tax seasons that I have had this business.  And all 3 times, it's taken me no more than a couple of hours.  I just dread it so much!  But now I can finally finish up the 2011 tax return and really start moving ahead with projects for this year!

Garden Photos: Part VIII

It's been awhile since I've shared photos from the garden, and the pond has some new additions!!

One of the ladies who works at the courthouse with me has a pond as well, and her water hyacinths were starting to take over so she gave some to me:


They help balance out the pond nicely, since there are a ton of water lilies on the bottom section, but nothing in the top.

And over the weekend I stop by Petco and picked up some new fishy friends!


We did have fish in the pond the first two years we were at the house, all named after Charles Dickens characters, but we learned our lesson the hard way: If you give you fish names like Smike and Little Nell, they WILL meet an untimely demise.

As of yet, these fish remain unnamed. ;-) Here they are settling into their new home:


And as I type this, there are some Japanese trapdoor snails en route to my house. They should help keep the pond water clean, they can survive the winter, AND they give birth to live young instead of laying eggs, which I think is adorable.

And moving to the other side of the back yard, here's a close-up of the vincas:


It's hard to believe that when I first bought them, they looked like this:


Needless to say, the vincas are definitely on my "buy it again next year" list!

And check out the daisies:


I wasn't sure how they'd do since I transplanted them from the front of the house, but I think their new home agrees with them, don't you? :-)

Garden Photos: Part VII

After a week off, garden photos are back!!

I'm not going to bother sharing the state of my roses with you, it's become really sad. I'm fighting what feels like a never-ending battle with Black Spot. :-(

In happier news, the daisies are in full bloom:


And the clematis by the hydrangea is beyond ridiculous:


Crazy, right? If you look carefully, you can see where the hydrangea is finally starting to bloom.

And here's a close-up of the clematis:


I'm really looking forward to 4th of July weekend. I'm taking a half day at work tomorrow to spend time with some friends from college, going to see my husband perform in a comedy show on Sunday (if you live near Bethlehem, PA, you should go!!), and on July 4 my nieces arrive from Colorado to spend the week with my parents!! Also, there will be much reading, gardening, and spending time outside with Elvis.

What are your plans for the weekend??

Garden Photos: Part VI

I can't believe I'm already 6 weeks into this whole garden series!

Here's some threadleaf coreopsis I got from my mother's garden, it just started to bloom this week:

Dianthus are to the left, impatiens are to the right.

The rozannes are getting huge!

Every day I have to push them off of the sidewalk. They should be easier to train as they get more vine-y.

Hey, remember all those weeks I kept promising gloriosa daisies, and then failed to deliver on that promise? Well they're finally here!!

And you can see the little vincas next to them are finally getting bigger. To the right, out of frame, is our out-of-commission hot tub. Unfortunately it blocks afternoon light, so the set of vincas to the left aren't growing quite as well. Hopefully we'll be rid of the hot tub soon though. Hopefully.

The clematis are getting out of control. I love it. :-)


I don't think I've shared this next plant yet. I didn't know what it was until I came across some for sale while buying a new fire pit cover at Lowe's yesterday:

It's called May Night Meadow Sage, or Salvia nemorosa. No, it is not the kind you can smoke. ;-)

(And if you look carefully, you can see a black and white blur that is Elvis, just beyond the salvia.)

The next area I want to tackle is the fire pit. Maybe next week? (The long wait for gloriosa daisies has taught me not to make promises!)

Garden Photos: Part V

Fewer pictures than usual to share this week, and still no daisies!

The clematis on the front corner of the patio is looking quite spectacular though:


Out of all our clematis, this is the one that grows the most aggressively. And the flowers are such a pretty, intense shade of pink!

Here's a close-up:

I'm not sure what variety this (or any of our clematis, for that matter) is, but the flowers actually maintain that shape instead of opening the rest of the way. They sort of remind me of tiny lilies. :-)

Oh, and remember that big pot in the front yard with coleus and alyssum in it? Well in just over 2 weeks it went from this:


To this:


I took that picture almost a week ago, it's looking even fuller now.

In sadder news, I'm pretty sure I killed 2 of the 3 mums that I transplanted this spring. Oops? But they're the only plants I've lost so far this year, and I've spent a grand total of $13.15 on plants this spring (in other words: a lot less than I spent on the 20 bags of mulch I've used so far!), so I suppose I can afford to buy a couple of new mums.

As long as the weather is reasonably nice, my mom and I are planning on checking out this garden tour tomorrow. This will have two possible effects: Either I will come home inspired and full of wonderful ideas for my gardens, or I will feel horribly inadequate and embarrassed of my novice gardening skills. ;-)

Garden Photos: Part IV

Memorial Day weekend was an incredibly productive time in my gardens, both on my part and that of my plants!

The clematis burst in the flower bed in front of the dining room window burst into bloom:


There are lots of roses on the rose bush to the right of the aforementioned clematis:

My rozannes finally started flowering:


I finally weeded and mulched around the hydrangea:


And the two big feats of the weekend-

My mom and I weeded, laid down weed fabric, and mulched around the cherry tree in the back yard:

(Now Elvis has a new favorite place to hunt bees!)

And my wonderful husband installed our new pond pump:

(No more malaria breeding ground!)

I definitely lied last week when I said I'd have gloriosa daisies to show you. They aren't blooming yet, but I think they will be soon! (I just won't make any promises as to when this time, I learned my lesson the hard way.)

Tomorrow I'll be checking out the Innovative Beads Expo in Allentown... I'm looking forward to it, but I have a pretty specific list of items I'm looking for. Here's hoping I can stick to that list! ;-)

Garden Photos: Part III

So, do you like how my blog about starting a small business has somehow morphed into a blog about my gardens?? Oh well, it seems like everyone is enjoying the garden posts, and I enjoy taking the pictures and writing the posts, so I'll keep 'em coming! ;-)

Remember my last post, when I shared this atrocity with you?


Well, I decided to take Wednesday off, and after a full day of weeding (and with some help from my mom), here it is (albeit from a different angle):


No more weeds!! And there's mulch! Now we just need a working pond pump so our pond can stop being a breeding ground for mosquito-born illness. ;-)

And here's a close-up of the catmint by the pond:

The catmint is a transplant from my parents' house. Thanks, mom!

Here's the very first rose to bloom this year:

Between when I took this picture Wednesday evening and now, a LOT more roses have bloomed. But the rose bush is still lopsided. ;-)

Of course, there is even more clematis in bloom:

These guys are in the rear section of the patio area, around the corner from the clematis I showed you in this post.

And last, but not least, the very first of my teeny-tiny trailing vincas to get a flower:

It looks like next week I might have some gloriosa daisies to share with you, and the flowers on the rozannes are finally starting to bloom.

I'm hoping the weather will hold out this weekend so I can spend some time relaxing in the hammock and reading the latest installment of Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! :-)

Garden Photos: Part II

My gardens are still looking pretty good! Well, at least the ones in the front and side of my house are.

The plants in the front are rozannes. They haven't bloomed yet, but by next month they'll be even bigger and have a ton of gorgeous purple flowers. Behind them is creeping phlox. I neglected this garden pretty badly last year, and this year I paid the price - I spent something like 4 hours digging up the grass that had started growing there. Lesson learned. ;-)


Climbing the trellis on the left is yet another of our many varieties of clematis. Eventually, this one will have pale, pinkish-purple flowers. On the right is our lopsided, slightly sad-looking rose bush. It wasn't in great shape when we first moved in, and I'm doing my best to get it looking better, or at the very least keep it alive.

A look inside the pot in the front yard: coleus and alyssum. I was absolutely convinced when I first planted the alyssum that at least half of them would die. It really wasn't looking good. But about a week later they were still alive and kicking!

The first of the clematis to bloom! This is a close-up of the middle clematis from this post. It's really something once they're all in bloom and climbing all over the lattice around the patio.

It's been so rainy that I haven't been able to work on anything in the back yard yet. Once things clear up a bit next week, I think I might take a day off from work so I can tackle this mess: