Friday, April 17, 2009

The First Flower Planting - Pansies



Bachmans of Apple Valley started selling their Pansies this week so I picked up a few, as they were Buy-One-Get-One-Free. How can I resist buying some blue and purple pansies for my garden? Since Spring is later this year, none of my bulbs are blooming yet, and I just need to see some color in my garden. I picked up some yellow pansies as well and planted them near the tulips.

Behind the pansies, in this photo, are some Allium bulbs I planted last fall. We'll see how they do later.

3 comments:

karlene said...

hello,

I have stumbled upon your blog and I think I might be super grateful. We have just purchased a new home in Minnesota that apparently has gorgeous landscaping (I am told) but the house has been empty for a couple of years and I am not a gardener. They look like they need quite a lot of work and I have no idea where to begin or really what most of it is. What would you do in a situation like this?

Jennifer Kirby said...

Hi Karlene,

Well, the first thing I would do is try and identify as many plants and shrubs as possible. Also, with Spring finally upon us, identify any Perennials that might be coming up.

The key is to be patient getting to know your garden, which will be an entire growing season. Some plants don't start to come up until summer time, and you may not know what they are until they bloom.

One thing I did last fall was to buy a notebook, map out my beds and note where each plant/shrub is (and whay type it is as well). This spring I have thus been making notes in my notebook, next to each bed, when new growth appears. I actually have found some daffodils I planted last fall and forgot to mark down, so they were a surprise to me when they poked out of the ground.

After you figure out what the plants are, you can research them and find what their needs are. There are some good books out there about Minnesota plants and shrubs. One of my favorite gardening stores is Bachmans because they have a good book section, as well as a "How To" section where you can take the care sheets with you. You can even call them and ask questions to one of the gardeners there.

If you are really stumped, send me a photo of any plants you have questions about and I will see if I can identify them. Hope this helps!

karlene said...

Thank you so much. I was grateful when I started cleaning yesterday, I found that they had planted some of the tags, so that was a blessing.

thank you for your wisdom. I will check it all out and I think a journal is a great idea.