Adventures in Gardening

Now that Spring is here I've been enjoying our flowers, I mowed the lawn yesterday and today I got some lilies from Lowes to plant in the pots I got for the front door, and I think it looks pretty good... so I wanted to share :-)

I got a couple of unwelcome surprises, but overall, I've been enjoying being a rookie gardener :-)

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Ahora que ya llego la Primavera he estado disfrutando de nuestras flores he estado disfrutando nuestras flores, ayer corte el pasto y hoy compre lilis de Lowes para plantarlas en unas macetas que compre para la puerta de la casa, y se me hace que se ve bien, asi que queria compartir :-)

Recibi un par de sorpresas non-gratas, pero en general, he estado disfrutando ser una jardinera novata :-)

The front of the house, now that you can see the flower bed with flowers... although this is a less than perfect picture since it was early in the morning and the sun was behind my house :-S Oh yeah, I was afraid that my hydrangeas had died over the winter, but it looks like they're starting to turn green again (at least 2 out of the 3)... Keep your fingers crossed!!!

El frente de la casa, ahora que se ve la jardinera con flores... aunque esta foto es menos que ideal porque era temprano y el sol esta atras de mi casa :-S Ah si, temia que mis hortensias se habian muerto en el invierno pero parece que estan empezando a reverdecer (al menos 2 de las 3)... Asi que hagan changuitos!!!
Closeup. I bought the tulip "variety pack", so we have several different colors and mixes.
Closeup. Compre el paquete de tulipanes "surtido", asi que tenemos diferentes colores y mezclas.

I had some bulbs left so I made another flower bed in the backyard, right under one of the windows.

Me habian quedado algunos bulbos asi que arme otra jardinera en el patio de atras, debajo de una de las ventanas.

Flowers - Closeup

Flores - De cerquita

This are the new additions to our garden and our entrance :-)

Estas son las nuevas adiciones a nuestro jardin y a nuestra entrada :-)

Last but not least... The unpleasant surprises... WARNING: Don't keep scrolling if you get grossed out easily or if you're afraid of spiders!!!

I'm pretty sure these things were some kind of mushroom, but I had never seen anything like them... and they looked disgusting!!! I put my gardening gloves on and dug them out, putting them in a plastic bag immediately, as to not spread them or something (or so I think). Then, while digging out the one on the first picture, a HUGE spider came out, it was about 1" in diameter and pretty fat... I did scream, but killed it shortly after... and took a picture :-D

Por ultimo... Las desagradables sorpresas que encontre... ADVERTENCIA: No sigan dandole para abajo si se asquean facilmente o si le tienen miedo a las aranas!!!

Estoy casi segura de que estas cosas son algun tipo de hongo, pero yo nunca habia visto algo parecido... y se veian super asquerosos!!! Me puse mis guantes para jardineria y los escarbe, poniendolos en una bolsa de plastico inmediatamente, para que no se sigan extendiendo (o por lo menos eso creo yo). Y mientras estaba escarbando para sacar el de la primera foto, una arana SUPER grande salio, media como 1 pulgada de diametro y estaba muy gorda... Grite, pero la mate luego luego... y le tome una foto :-D

My flower bed

About 2 weeks ago I noticed that my plants were starting to come out!!! I was very excited and took some pictures, but never uploaded them...

Today we went to Walmart (yes, yes, I know :-S) and we bought some cute garden lights, that can be either turned on in a white light or a color changing setting.

We got 12 of them, I wanted to place some of them in the flower bed and John wants to put some around the driveway, I was unsure about that, and none of our neighbors have them around their driveway, so I'm thinking about where to put the rest of them, should it be on either side or the driveway or around the patio in the backyard (if we put them in the driveway, I think I'll buy some additional ones for the patio)??? What do you think???

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Hace como 2 semanas note que mis plantas estaban empezando a salir!!! Me dio mucho gusto y tome unas fotos, pero se me habia pasado subirlas...

Hoy fui a Walmart (si, si, ya se :-S) y compramos unas lamparas para jardin que nos gustaron, y que prenden en luz blanca o cambiando de colores.

Compramos 12, yo queria poner unas en la jardinera y John queria ponerlas alrededor del area de estacionamiento de los carros, yo no estaba muy segura de hacer eso, y ninguno de nuestros vecinos tiene lamparas alrededor de su estacionamiento, asi que estoy pensando en donde poner el resto de las lamparas, alrededor del estacionamiento, o en el patio de atras (si las ponemos en frente yo creo que de todas maneras voy a comprar mas para poner atras)??? Que les parece???

Ooops, I forgot to post this...

But I now have flowers in my flower bed!!! I planted them last Friday and they seem to be doing well.

And I'm supposed to get the bulbs I ordered sometime next week!!! :-)

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Se me habia olvidado postear que ya tengo flores en mi jardinera!!! Las plante el viernes pasado y parece que estan agarrando bien.

Se supone que la semana que viene me llegan los bulbos que ordene!!! :-)

Sorry about the blurry/crappy picture :-S

Ahi disculpen la foto medio gacha y borrosa :-S

Speaking about gardens...

As you can probably tell, I get Grandin Road's catalog all the time (I think it's from when I bought an air bed from Sky Mall when I was moving to STL), and a few months ago we saw the fountain that appears on the first picture, which made me think about getting one for our back yard... We're not getting one any time soon (I don't think... and the reason is... we're putting in a fence soon, which is another post on it's own, by the way), but that doesn't mean I can post about it :-)

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Como se habran dado cuenta, me llega el catalogo de Grandin Road seguido (creo que empezo cuando compramos el colchon inflable de Sky Mall cuando me iba a cambiar a STL), y hace unos meses vimos la fuente que aparece en la primera foto, lo que me hizo pensar en poner una fuente en nuestro patio de atras... No vamos a comprar una fuente pronto (o por lo menos no creo... y la razon es... que estamos en el proceso de poner cerco, lo cual merece un post para ese tema unicamente), pero eso no quiere decir que no pueda postear al respecto :-)

This one's John favorite (or at least he likes it more than the one I like)

Esta es la favorita de John (o por lo menos le gusta mas que la que me gusta a mi)

This one's my favorite :-)

Esta es mi favorita :-)

Both of them can go into these 2 different "drip" modes (or what ever it's called), cost $200 (John's favorite is on sale and that's why it's also 200) and are solar powered, so don't require plumbing or electricity:

Ambas pueden ponerse en estos 2 estilos diferentes de "chorrito" (o como se llame), cuestan $200 (la que le gusta a John cuesta 200 porque esta en especial) y usan energia electrica, asi que no requieren plomeria ni electricidad:

I also found this other one, which I don't think we would get, but I thought it was nice that it's also $200 :-)

Tambien encontre esta otra, que no creo que nosotros comprariamos, pero se me hizo curada que tambien cuesta $200

Planters

This just comes to show you the domestic diva I'm becoming :-S Any way, I have been looking for some time at planters, and I think I've already decided on which ones to get, but just wanted to show you the top contenders and as your opinion about size:

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Este post viene a demostrarles que me he convertido en una diva domestica :-S Mmm, bueno, he estado buscando unas macetas, y creo que ya casi decidi cuales comprar, pero queria ensenarles a las contendientes y pedirles su opinion respecto a tamanos:

The first one is from Grandin Road ($60-$80 depending on the size)

La primera es de Grandin Road (cuesta entre $60-$80 dependiendo del tamano)

Another one from Grandin Road ($250), I don't love it, but for some reason I think it goes with our house's style.

Otra de Grandin Road ($250), no me encanta, pero por alguna razon se me hace que va con el estilo de nuestra casa.

This one is from Lowes and it's super affordable ($12), it's 17" height, but I think it actually looks cheap :-(

Esta la venden en Lowes y esta super barata ($12), y mide 17 pulgadas de alto, lo malo es que se me hace que se le nota lo chafa :-(

What about this one? Not too bad, is it? Lowes 22" ($50)

Que les parece esta? No esta mal, verdad? Lowes 22 pulgadas ($50)

This on are my favorites, they are from Ballard Designs, and come in 3 sizes: 20, 23 and 30" tall ($55, $65 and $120 respectively), but now I'm trying to decide which size to buy since they would be going on the deck. Should I buy something that's as tall as the deck's hand rail? Or would it look ok if it's shorter?

Estas son mis favoritas, de Ballard Desings, y viene en 3 tamanos: 20, 23 y 30 pulgadas de alto ($55, $65 and $120 respectivamente), pero ahora estoy tratando de decidir que tamano comprar porque irian en la terraza. Deberia comprar algo que este del mismo tamano que el pasamanos de la terraza? Y se veria bien si estan mas bajas?

And I just found this one, which is similar, at Lowes, it's 25" height and costs $75. Votes???

Y acabo de encontrar esta, que se parece, en Lowes, mide 25 pulgadas de alto y cuesta $75. Votos???

Garden - Flower bed

I ordered a bunch of flowers from a grower in Holland last night and I can't wait to see them!!!

Anoche ordene un monton de flores de un vendedor en Holanda y ya quiero que lleguen!!!

Grape Hyacinth Mixture

Mid Spring

Jacinto Uva

Florece a mediados de a Primavera

Darwinhybrid Tulip Mix

Early to Mid Spring

Tulipanes Hibridos de Darwin

Florea de principios a mediados de la Primavera

Triumph Tullip Mixutre

Mid to late Spring

Tulipanes Triunfo (ey, yo no les puse el nombre)

Mediados a finales de la Primavera Parrot Tulip Mixture

Late Spring

Tulipanes Perico

Finales de Primavera

Drumstick Allium

Early Summer

Esta no se como se llama pero son flores de plantas de cebolla creo

Florea a principios del Verano

Raffles Daffodil

Blooms Mid-Spring

Narcisos

Da flores a mediados de la Primavera

I had already placed my order when I saw these Irises (Beauty Dutch Iris Mixture), but I think I'm going to get them next year :-)

Ya habia terminado de ordernar cuando mire estos iris (Iris Belleza Holandesa), pero creo que los voy a comprar el anio que viene :-)

Now I only need my hydrengeas and a few pots of gardenias for the deck to be completely happy :-).

Ahora ya nada mas necesito mis hortensias y unas gardenias en maceta para la terraza para ser completamente feliz :-)

Garden

I wanted to get something to hold our garden hose, since we bought a super long one so we can reach around the house when we need to.

I had found 2 that I REALLY liked from Frontgate, I originally wanted one similar to the one that sits on the floor but nailed to the wall, but when John and I were talking he said he didn't want to nail anything to our siding, which makes sense, so I found the second one, also from Frontgate... BUT, I couldn't justify spending a lot of money on it (the first one is $330, on "sale" right now for $300, and the second one is $200, on sale for $180)... So the other day we went to Lowes and saw the last one (last 2 photos), which might not be as pretty, but it only cost $32 :-)

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Queria algo para poner la manguera del patio, porque compramos una super larga para que alcanzara a darle la vuelta a la casa si necesitamos.

Encontre 2 que me gustaron MUCHO de Frontgate, yo originalmente queria una similar al de la primera foto pero para ponerlo en la pared, pero cuando hable con John el dijo que no queria clavar nada en el material que recubre la casa, y tiene razon, asi que encontre el segundo, tambien de Frontgate... PERO, no podia justificar gastar mucho dinero en esto (la primera cuesta $330, y ahorita esta en "especial" a $300, y la segunda cuesta $200, en especial a $180)... Asi que el otro dia que fuimos a Lowes vimos esta (en las ultimas 2 fotos), que no estara tan bonita, pero solo costo $32 :-)

I was not able to master the add hose staging on my picture, the freaking hose kept getting tangled!!! Grrr!!! :-D

Nunca pude acomodar la manguera como para que se viera de revista porque se me hacia bolas y se enredaba!!! Grrr!!! :-D

And Speaking Of...

Now that we're talking about the garden... I've been thinking about what type of flowers and trees we'll have at our house.

Based on the computer image of our house (Photo 1), I would like to do something similar in the front with the hydrangeas (Photo 3) and maybe one of the other 2 plants (Photos 4 and 5)... But I think that overall I want resistant plants because I know I'm not 100% reliable to keep my plants alive... although, besides the fact that I like hydrangeas I used to have a plant in my house in TJ that proved to be VERY resistant, even when I didn't water it for weeks!!!

Then I would like to line the back of our lot, next to the fence with pines, I'm not sure if we should get fat ones (like on Photo 6) or skinny ones (like Photo 7).

Last but not least, I LOVE gardenias (I even used Estee Lauder's Beyond Paradaise, a gardenia based perfum as my wedding day perfum)!!! I was thinking about planting some in the back yard... But while writing this I thought that maybe I can plant some pots and put them on the deck, maybe I can get to enjoy them more right there by the kitchen.

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Y hablando del jardin... He estado pensando en que tipo de flores y arboles voy a plantar en la casa.

En base a la imagen por computadora de nuestra casa (Foto 1), me gustaria hacer algo similar en el frente de la casa con hortensias (Foto 3) y tal vez con las otras 2 plantas (Fotos 4 y 5)... Pero creo que sobre todo, quiero plantas resistentes porque se que no son 100% confiable para mantener mis plantas vivas... aunque, ademas de que me gustan las hortensia tambien debo decir que tuve una planta en mi casa en Tijuana que demostro ser muy resistente a pesar de que yo no la regara durante semanas!!!

Luego me gustaria poner una hilera de pinos en la parte de atras de nuestro lote, no se si deba poner los pinos gorditos (como en la Foto 6) o los flacos (Foto 7).

Por ultimo, me ENCANTAN las gardenias (hasta use el perfume Beyond Paradaise de Estee Lauder el dia de mi boda)!!! Y estaba pensando en plantar unas en el patio trasero, pero mientras escribia esto se me ocurrio plantar algunas en macetas y ponerlas en la terraza, y tal vez asi pueda disfrutarlas mas si estan cerca de la cocina.

Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

Photo 4

Photo 5

Photo 6

Photo 7
Photo 8