Week 1



Cocrosmia



Begonia with new bud!



Cyclamen with heart shaped leaves

 It has been a great week for Kai's garden! The Crocosmia has tons of new buds everywhere! The Begonia has one new bud I just noticed this morning and of course the Cyclamen is doing great as well.

We are having trouble with the Lobelia. It doesn't look very good. I don't think its going to make it but we will see. I had to work quickly to save the Lenten Rose this week too. The soil was so soggy. I usually put gravel or rocks at the bottom of all the plants and use Miracle Grow potting soil on top. Last weekend I ran out of gravel and in my rush to get Kai's garden started I just put the potting soil in alone. I think that was a mistake. So I let the Lenten Rose sit in sun to try and dry it out and replanted it with gravel at the bottom. It already looks much better and has much dryer soil. I was worried the roots were going to rot but I think it will be fine.

I planted a few herbs and a Wisteria plant this week. I just love Wisteria and my Uncle gave me some seeds a couple years ago so I planted them in the baby blue pot. I have no idea which kind of Wisteria it will be or how it will do in a pot but we will see. I also planted some herbs. I plan to keep and use them inside over the winter. Then next summer I can put them out in the garden and get some great aromas going. I started Lavender, Cilantro, Oregano, Basil and Parsley.

Starting out....

The plant on the stand in the corner is Ivory Prince Lenten Rose. It will have pink buds that turn into white flowers. It looked pretty drab when I bought it but it was on clearance and hopefully I can bring it back. It will bloom in early spring.

The plant in the large tan pot is Hosta "Blue Angel" Plantain Lily. Unfortunately I missed the bloom time which runs from July - August but I am sure it will look beautiful next year. I love the large leaves!

I planted lobelia "riviera sky blue", an annual, in the window sill planter.

Lavender and hen & chicks where planted in the round white planter. I just love the smell of lavender and hopefully it will fill in nicely.

At the bottom of the picture are Kai's footprints we placed in a garden stone.

On this side I planted Begonia with yellow/Green leafs. The leaves have jagged edges. It have one yellow flower on it which is surprising because they bloom spring-summer.

In the barrel I planted some Crocosmia "Carmine brilliant" with creeping myrtle around the edges. I just love this combo and I am getting tons of blooms from the Crocosmia.

The square planter has some of the Crocosmia in the back with Little Grapette Dwarf Daylily filled in. The daylily has long grass like leaves. This daylily probably won't bloom until next summer.

At the bottom of this picture is Kai's handprints we placed in another garden stone.

This one is Cyclamen persicum and will remain inside. This was donated to the hospital. I put it on Kai's bed for him to look at. It was very down and out when we received it but over the last couple of weeks it has just started blooming like crazy. Hopefully it will continue to do well over the winter. This plant blooms through winter and goes dormant during the summer. The leaves are heart shaped.

I picked these birds up from the local swap meet. I thought they would be a nice addition. Kai loved birds...