Candy Corn Vine(My favorite vine)

The past couple of years I have grown candy corn vine(Manettia) in a pot on my deck. The hummingbirds, my kids and myself all love this vine. It is easy to grow, doesn't sprawl out of control and is fun to look at.




I picked up two today at the Piggly Wiggly. They are too tall to move around, so I will have to cover them if it gets too cold at night. Last year Steins Garden Store
carried these as well for those of you in Wisconsin interested in growing one.


I am still waiting for the first hummingbird and oriole. I'm thinking they might be bit delayed this year with the late spring we are having, but I usually don't see any until May 5th or so. I'm hoping some feeders and flowers will get the attention on any that happen to be flying by:)

Future herb garden and a soil experiment

My future herb garden is growing well under the lights. It is my first time growing this many herbs from seed. Can't wait until it is time to plant them outside.







This year I bought Jiffy seed starter peat pellets and Burpee's coco fiber pellets. The Jiffy is the type with the mesh that surrounds the pellets that you add water too and they expand. The Burpees pellets you also add water too, but they are not covered in mesh. The Jiffy is the top tray and the Burpee the bottom.



These seeds below were both planted the same day and both are Lady in Red and Coral Nympth Salvias. As you can see the Jiffy pellets have grown a much bigger and healthier plants, while the Burpee have hardly grown at all. Both have been under the same lights. The Hyacinth Bean is the only plant that has done well in this soil.


My husband built me this great seed starter rack this year. As only a true gardener would do, I had him set it up in my living room. It may not be so beautiful there, but the plants are able to have natural light as well:)

Mint invasion, one lone asparagaus and a new toy

While checking the site of last year's wildflower garden, I noticed a suspicious looking weed had sprung up everywhere. After examining it I figured out it was mint!(the horror) Two years ago I grew a pot of mint on my deck. I made sure to remove the flowers, so it couldn't spread. Somehow it must have survived last year and now this year spread everywhere. I had a similar experience with Lemon Balm in my old garden in Pennsylvania and the only way I got rid of it was to move to Ohio.(being sure it would somehow follow me and start growing there as well). Needless to say the mint has me a bit worried. Time to try and take action.


When we first moved here a couple years ago I planted some asparguas in our wild space behind the garden. My husband promptly mowed it all down. Every year since then we get 1 or 2 asparaguas. Here is a picture of this year's crop.


We bought a new toy(not garden related, but it is outside). It is a Weber smoker. Today we are attempting to cook a brisket on it. It sure did smell good while I was out looking at the mint today. I think we will enjoy it this summer.

More spring flowers

The weather has been awful here the past couple of days. Horrible thunderstorms followed by cold and wind. Today it calmed down and made it up to 50 degrees and it pretty nice out. I am looking ahead though and see a low of 30 predicted with snow showers for Monday night. No......

The spring search for hummingbird plants

Every spring I like to check out the local nurseries for hummingbird plants. I grow alot of plants from seed too, but it is fun to have some plants already flowering in case a hummingbird shows up. I've had good luck finding plants on Ebay as well. The plant with the orange flowers is a Cuphea that looks to be David Variety. I found it at Yerke's Frog Alley Greenhouse in Mukwonago. This is a great family run business and I always have luck finding some plants there. The owner told me hummingbirds often nest in their hanging baskets and they have to mark them not for sale:)


I found a new type of cuphea llavea called Totally Tempted at Ebert's Green House Village in Ixonia. It looks a bit brighter than the types I have had in the past. I will probably put it in a hanging basket and see how the hummers like it. I also found this Abutalon(flowering maple) at Eberts. I'm going to try it in a hanging basket as well. In May the Piggly Wiggly in Hartland will set up their garden greenhouse in the parking lot. Last year I had great luck there finding Black and Blue Salvia and Candy Corn Vine. Spring shopping is so much fun.

first butterflies and bees

The first of the butterflies and bees are out today and the wonderful scent of the hyacinths has drawn them in:)

First Tulips

The first tulips started blooming today. The ones that were not devored by rabbits and deer. The leaves on the trees are getting ready to pop out as well. I would say spring is definately here, but then again I did here a rumor of snow showers next week. I really hope that isn't true.

beautiful spring weekend

Just some images from a beautiful spring weekend.

More pictures from the Milwaukee Domes

Can't wait until everything is blooming outside the way it is in the domes.

trip to the milwaukee botanical domes

We are still a couple weeks away from flowers like this here in Wisconsin. Instead these are pictures from the Milwaukee Botanical Domes. If you are in Milwaukee and like to garden I highly recomend visiting the domes.

Searching for signs of spring

We had one nice weekend and then back to pouring rain, cold temperatures and even some snow. Not too many signs of spring to take pictures of, but I managed to find a couple.

A good day for ducks

We are getting about two inches of rain today. A sure sign of spring is when the ducks come back and walk through our back yard. I think I have a picture of them on my blog from last year at this time as well.

Starting to get excited

The hummingbirds usually return here around May 5th. I haven't yet put out a feeder, but will do so soon. From checking the migration map http://www.hummingbirds.net/map.html I see they have reached Illinois, Indiana and Ohio so they are on there way. Spring seems a bit later than usual here this year, so I am wondering if the hummingbirds will be delayed. Who ever spots the first one in our family wins $5, so even the kids are excited for their return:).

Nice weekend and the first daffodil

It reached 60 degrees here for the first time since October 30th! The first daffodil bloomed today, although they see a bit stunted in height this year. The stores got their first shipments of pansies in as well. I had to pot up some pansies right away:) I also talked my husband into expanding our veggie garden. It was so small before it would always get overgrown. I cheated and bought some spinach plants from Home Depot. I usually grow them from seed, but it is so nice to see something green coming up in the garden.