Pest Busters #3 - Slugs and Snails

So the weather is consistently warm now and the plants are really starting to put up their tender new growth. Now is the time to stop those slugs and snails in their tracks.

If you have a lot of birds, frogs, toads, snakes, ducks, possums, turtles and other critters in your yard, you may not notice a real problem with slugs or snails as they will eat them for you. If you have very few shady wet areas, slugs and snails are probably not a big problem for you either. But if your yard is anything like mine, there are hundreds of hiding places made up of moist shady areas where they can hide, just waiting to munch on my tender hosta leaves.

Slugs and snails are not real particular on what kind of plants they devour. Young tender plants are a favorite. You may notice small holes in the middle of a leaf or along the edges close to the ground. The best way to know if you have slugs or snails eating your plants is to look closely at dusk, at night or just after dawn before the sun starts to burn off the morning dew. Slugs and snails feed the most at these times, so you can usually catch them in the act. You can view some pictures of what their damage looks like here.

There are all types of slugs and they are pretty nasty looking, if you ask me. If you've never seen one, take a gander here. They come in all different colors and sizes, although the ones I normally see in New York are between 1"-3" long and are usually dark brown in color. Snails are a little easier on the eyes, and a little easier on the hands if you hand pick them off your plants, due to their hard shell.

So, you've determined that you do indeed have slugs and snails devouring your plants. If the damage is minimal, not to worry. Most plants can withstand a little nibbling and in fact it can cause some plants to grow even faster. Kind of like nature's way of pruning. Pruning generally stimulates growth, and that's not a bad thing. When we need to worry is if the plant is young, has few leaves to begin with, and does not have a strong enough root system to withstand a little munching.

The best way to stop slug and snail damage is to prevent it in the first place. Turning your mulch in the Spring, Autumn and several times during the growing season will disturb any eggs that are below the surface and expose them for the birds and other critters to eat.

If you see an occasional slug or snail, you can pick them off by hand and dispose of them in soapy water. Once they are dead, just dump the bucket on your compost pile.

If picking them off is out of the question for you (I completely understand, they are nasty creatures), then you can sprinkle them with salt. This will cause them to immediately shrivel up and die. You can also spritz them with equal parts distilled white vinegar and water, just be careful you don't get the vinegar on your plants, as it could damage the leaves or kill the plant entirely.

For the most part, I use a slug bait made from iron phosphate. This is safe for use around other wildlife and does not harm earthworms like other slug baits can. This type of bait can also withstand a few rain storms before turning to mush, so it needs to be applied less often. Diatomaceous earth is another product used to create a barrier around your plants that the slugs and snails will not cross. Just make sure it is a horticulture grade and not the kind used in swimming pools.

Some other organic methods that have been known to repel and/or kill slugs and snails are:

- spreading sand, lime or ashes in a circle around each plant (rough on their bodies, so they won't want to cross that area)
- using stale beer in a dish as bait (They are attracted to the smell and then they drown in the beer. I've heard Budweiser works the best).
- Use copper wire or copper tape around the plants affected (they will not cross copper).
- Lay boards on the edges of your garden and the slugs will congregate under them. In the morning, just pull up the boards and scrape the slugs into a bucket of soapy water.
- Place sandpaper or crushed egg shells around plants as they won't want to cross this rough surface either.

It's Been a Productive last Few Days!

This past weekend I started a new garden bed for the bird tree that I purchased at the Rochester Flower show back in March. I didn't really have a good place for it, and I needed a new garden bed anyway...LOL. I was smart and edged the bed with plastic edging, although I can't say as I am happy with this particular product that I used. But it was free, so I guess I can't complain.

The bed is round and will probably be connected to the two other adjacent beds in the future. I've planted three peonies, some daylilies I just got, a few asiatic lilies and some dahlia clumps. I have some irises coming in July I'd like to add as well.

I'm not quite sure what else will go in the bed, but I think I will grow some morning glories up the tree and have started hanging some insulators on the tips. This is more of a safety thing rather than for looks. When I got the tree home, I realized that it would be easy to poke your eyes out on the ends of the branches. This tree would make a perfect bottle tree, but bottle trees just aren't my thing. This is in our side yard, for everyone to see, so not sure just how crazy I can get without the neighbors getting to weirded out by it all....LOL.

I've placed a birdbath in the bed along with three ceramic mushrooms that I had, but until the plants start growing, I'm not sure how I like this look. I don't want it to appear too busy with stuff rather than with plants. I guess time will tell.

In addition to removing the sod for this new bed, adding 8 bags of compost and humus, worm castings, fertilizer, and putting in plants, I also started straightening out my garden shed. It always gets so jumbled up and messy over the winter. I starting putting out some of my garden art and bowling balls so I could make room for the ton of packaging materials I had to get in order to ship the items from my Etsy store. They were starting to over run the house and I couldn't take the clutter anymore.

Now I must sift through the totes of leftover yard sale items, and holiday decorations and try to make room for finished merchandise. I'll probably just end up donating all that stuff to the rescue mission as I really need to make room now, and I really don't have time to put together a yard sale in May, although it might be a good idea to preview some of the stuff I will be having at the craft sale at the end of May. But, I can't do that to myself....I must focus on making stuff for the sale, and not adding anything more to our to do list.

Gary started working on some toolbox planters, a few more adirondack birdhouses, that are really popular right now, and a prototype for a cute little wren house. He could have gotten more done if I hadn't gotten him to help with removing the sod on the new bed. He ended up doing most of it. I just don't have the upper body strength that he does to get it done fast. I am very lucky to have a hubby who is so strong and willing to help when I need it.

Mallard Nest - Update

Momma duck seems to be doing great! We had a lot of "duck love" going on in the yard this past weekend. There were two other females in the yard besides this one and there were 3-4 different males chasing after each one. It was quite noisy at times with all the quacking going on. The corn feeder is pretty much empty every morning now, so I know all the males have been coming and feeding now too.

I went to Tractor Supply and picked up more cracked corn for the adults and found a bag of feed for baby ducks and other poultry, so I will be prepared to feed them also when the ducklings hatch. They had baby ducks at the store when I went to get the feed and it was hard not to want to bring a couple home with me.

Here are a couple of pictures of momma. She doesn't seem to mind me being in the gardens now. She just stays still and watches me. I don't get too close too her, but I've been within 6-7 feet and she doesn't budge. I hope she realizes that I won't hurt her. We hope to start seeing babies in about three weeks.

Finished Some New Birdbaths

You may remember seeing these a while back without grout. Well, guess what? I finally got them grouted and sealed and ready to sell. I decided to go ahead and list them in the Etsy shop, if you'd like to take a look.

I really like how this one came out with the copper grout. I used a paint wash technique and I love how some of the paint got into the cracks and crevices of the tiles. The tiles are iridescent so it's a nice addition to the piece.

This birdbath is a little larger at 12" in diameter. All the birdbaths are made from terracotta saucers so would have to be brought inside for the winter.

And the final one for today is pretty interesting, I think. I wasn't sure I liked the dry brush technique, but I think it works with the pale colors of the AfterGlow tiles. What do yo think?

Daffodils are in their PRIME!

The daffodils are just beautiful right now. Pretty much all the early daffies are open, with a few of the mid daffodils starting to put on a show. Here are a few pictures for you to enjoy.

Latest Totems

I've been working on some more totems for a craft sale I am having at the house at the end of May. I will probably have a few more finished this week and then I will be done and can move on to something else.

I'd like to make a couple of bowling ball gazing balls too. They are so time consuming since you have to let the adhesive dry a little before you can move on to a bigger area, but it's a good mindless project to do while watching American Idol. :)

Mallard Nest - Update

Momma duck seems to be doing well. If you missed my original post about finding a nest of mallard eggs, check it out here.

She seems to love the straw I put around the nest. She has moved it around to her liking and it camouflages her very well. It was so cute to see her moving the straw with her bill. She seems to fly off just about the time the sun completely sets and she moves the straw over the eggs before leaving. I checked the nest once after she left and you couldn't even tell it was a nest at all....just a pile of straw. I have not seen a male around her at all, but I believe that is typical since his brighter colors would draw attention to the nest.

So far, I have not seen any of the neighborhood cats bothering her and I hope it stays that way. I would be crushed if something happened to her or her ducklings.

The other night, there was a pair of ducks sleeping in the backyard, and I was trying to figure out why the female wasn't on the nest. They would take their sweet time getting water from the ditch and looking for bugs.

They weren't scared of me, so I figured this must have been the more tame pair that we have had in our yard for years. We've named them Lucy and Ricky and another pair (who I have not seen yet this year) is named Ralph and Alice. So as I am puttering around in the garden, I slowly walk over to the nest and realize that their is a different female sitting on the eggs. Now I feel better, as I was worried the eggs weren't being properly incubated. So far, she is pretty much on the nest when I leave for work in the morning and on it again when I get home, so I am hopeful we will have babies in about three weeks or so.

She's definitely keeping an eye on me, but she did not move an inch. The photo above was taken from the road in the morning and the photo below was taken later in the day from about 8' away from the nest.


In my last post, I talked briefly about hand feeding some of the more tame pairs. I went searching through my photos and found this picture. I definitely feel like a proud momma when they are in our yard. This picture was taken back in 2005. I guess it will be time to try and get a new one when the baby ducks hatch.

Please Vote for My Project

Please vote for my Tipsy Pot Project for the Epilog Challenge at Instructables. I believe you have to sign-up for a free membership to Instructables, but it's worth it. Instructables is an amazing site for all kinds of how to information from regular people like you and me. Maybe you have an idea that you'd like to share that has never been done before.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Tipsy-Pots-Tower-Planter/

Voting ends April 26, 2009. Thanks for your vote!


Tipsy Pots Tower Planter - More DIY How To Projects

Hometown Nursery of the Month - Watson's Greenhouse

I love visiting my local nurseries! I think it's important to support the little guy and to buy locally whenever possible. I've decided to feature a local nursery in my area about every 4-6 weeks in the hopes it might inspire others to visit their local nursery.

The first nursery I'd like to feature is Watson's Greenhouse in Lafayette, NY. I first heard about Watson's three years ago after attending the CNY Blooms Flower & Garden Show in Syracuse, NY. I live about 45 minutes north of this greenhouse, so never even knew it existed. This is also the greenhouse where I learned to make Hypertufa containers. Never heard of Hypertufa? I'm not surprised. It's basically a mixture of peat moos, portland cement, sand, and perlite to make a lightweight yet sturdy concrete looking container. You can also make other things with hypertufa. Check out my Hypertufa projects here.

Watson's specializes in alpines and miniature plants since they do so much with hypertufa containers. They also have an extensive tropical selection and their greenhouse is open all year round, so you can go and visit them when there is three feet of snow on the ground and you feel like there is no hope for Spring.

I hope you enjoy these pictures.

Here is what greets you as you come in the door.


Look at all that Coleus!


This Brugmansia is magnificent!

More Cool Projects from Instructables

So I was perusing all the cool projects over at the Instructables site and found some nifty ones to post today. By the way, my Bowling Ball Garden Art project won first place!

This one is called the poor man's automatic sprinkler system. Pretty thrifty and ingenious if you ask me.

Poor-mans automatic sprinkler. - More DIY How To Projects

I love how you don't need any fancy device to make these newspaper pots. There is no need to buy plastic pots for starting seeds, and I really need to do this more often. They are especially good for starting plants that don't like to be transplanted as you can plant the whole newspaper pot and all and never disturb the roots. Besides, this person has dirty finger nails in the photos....they must be a gardener!!

How to make organic planting pots using old newspapers - More DIY How To Projects

Hydroponics is something that really interests me, but something I have not had the time or space to try yet. I hope this fall and can make the time to figure it out and I think this Instructable is a good starting point.


Compact, Cheap, and Expandable Hydroponics System - More DIY How To Projects

Mallard Nest

Last night I stumbled upon a nest of 10 mallard eggs in my garden when I was finishing up my Spring clean-up. I was worried that momma wouldn't return because I had disturbed the area and cleared most of the dead foliage that was hiding her. I mounded some partially composted straw around the nest, careful not to touch it, to make a wall of sorts, partially around it. It must have worked, because she was sitting on the nest this morning.

I am really excited. We've had ducks coming to the yard since we moved here in 2001. Each year we get more and more. And most of the time I can tell the main pairs apart as they have slightly different markings on their feathers. There is one pair that has been with us from the beginning that are pretty tame around us as they know we won't hurt them. I've even been able to feed them from a close proximity. I will have to dig out those photos, so I can show you all.

I hope that I can report on their progress over the next 3-4 weeks. I believe incubation must have just started, so wish us luck!

And by the way, when I was gathering the straw for the nest, I found a nest of baby rabbits on the edge of the woods in a brush pile....too cute. The one bunny I saw was about 6"-7" long with tiny little ears. Hopefully I can get a picture of them later.

Cold Hardy Veggies

I am desperate to have a vegetable garden this year. It's funny because when I first started gardening, I wanted nothing to do with veggies. I thought they were a lot more work. But with the economy being the way it is and with vegetables becoming contaminated with all sorts of things, I want to grow as much as I can.

My old veggie beds are now going to be the greenhouse, so I need to prepare new beds, but can't do that until the greenhouse is finished, so I think I will try and sow some seeds in pots this weekend. I've grown gourds a few years and have had veggies for a couple of years, but I've never really sat down and researched how to do it successfully and to it's fullest potential. So I figured whatever info I find, would be good to post here, as a reminder to me, and also to help others. I recently read a book by Eliot Coleman called Four-Season Harvest and it was fascinating and very informative. I encourage anyone who is a vegetable grower and would like to extend their harvest, to read this book.

I'm a little behind, but the following vegetables can be planted about six weeks before your last Spring frost date:

- asparagus
- broccoli
- brussel sprouts
- cabbage
- horseradish
- leeks
- lettuce
- onions
- peas
- spinach
- turnip

The following vegetables can be planted two to four weeks before your last Spring frost date:

- beets
- carrots
- cauliflower
- celery
- chard
- mustard
- parsnip
- potato
- radish

I hope I can get these started. My plan is to do a pot of lettuce and spinach and then sow another pot two weeks from now. I also have peas, broccoli and brussel sprout seeds, but not sure just how well they will do in a pot. I guess more research is needed by tomorrow.

I will report next week what I am able to get planted.

Cute Pincushions

I've listed a few cute pincushions on Etsy over the past week. I really love this one with the tea cup and matching plate. I think it turned out really nice.

And I made several out of little clay pots.



You can take a look at the rest of them by visiting my Etsy store here. Thanks for looking!

Wintersowing Progress

Last month I finally got around to wintersowing some seeds. If you've never heard of this, you can check out my Wintersowing Diary and Instructions here. This is a PDF document, so you can print it and read it later, if you like.

Wintersowing is basically a way to sow your cold hardy seeds outdoors, in containers, in a more controlled environment. The containers have clear lids so they sort of creates little mini greenhouses.

We are still having some really cold nights, but I have three containers that have started to sprout already. Two are snapdragons and one is Calendula, which I have never grown before.

Here is a picture of the snapdragons....not much to see, I know, but I always get excited when I see new sprouts.


And here is the Calendula. Calendula's are often referred to as "Pot Marigolds", but they are not marigolds at all. They are in the Daisy family Asteraceae. They are a host plant for several moths, so I am hoping that the moth larvae will feed on these and not any of my precious veggies in the garden.

If you missed my original Wintersowing post from last month, you can view it here and see a picture of what the containers look like that I am using.

Pest Busters #2 - Aphids

In the first issue of Pest Busters, we talked about how you can solve a lot of problems by improving your soil with organic matter and by proper watering and fertilizer techniques. If you missed it, check it out here.

So, you've done all that and now you think you have aphids. First, make sure you identify them as definitely being aphids. Don't know what they look like? Check out this page full of aphid pictures. Some aphids can be light green or yellow and others can be brown, black or even red. They are so tiny that it is sometimes hard to tell you even have them until you see a whole stream of them lined up on the stems of the plant. Aphids basically suck the juices out of a plant or they can even inject toxins into the plant which cause distorted growths and other problems. Aphids rarely kill a healthy plant, but their numbers do need to be monitored so that they don't get out of control. They will leave a sticky substance called "honeydew" on the plant which can attract ants, so if you see a lot of ants attracted to one particular area of your garden, you may want to look for aphids.

Once you have correctly identified the critters as aphids, you can then begin your attack on them. The best control is to use natural predators to control them. Lady beetles, parasitic wasps, lacewings, and syrphid flies are your best bet. If you have stopped using chemical pesticides and fertilizers on your gardens, you should have a good supply of these good guys in your yard and you will need to do nothing, but in case you don't lady beetles can be purchased online or at a good nursery.

Aphids are susceptible to fungal diseases when it is hot and humid, so take comfort in the fact that aphid season is mainly in the spring and early summer in most areas. Start checking your plants once or twice a week in early spring when growth is rapid. If you only see a few on a stem or two, blast them with a sharp spray of water from your garden hose. I like to wear a rubber glove and wipe down the stems as I am spraying them with water. Check under leaves as they love to hide. You want to pay special attention if you see aphids on young seedlings as the plants are not strong enough to withstand the aphids.

High levels of nitrogen fertilizer seem to help the aphids to breed, so that is all the more reason to only fertilize with organic slow release fertilizers or compost.

If you feel you must you a pesticide, use the least offensive method first and try not to use it near any beneficial bugs, such as wasps or bees (our most prized pollinators). Without the beneficial insects, the bad insects would destroy all our plants.

The least offensive (besides spraying with water), would be a homemade insecticidal soap. The recipe is simple.

1 tablespoons of soap
1 quart of warm water

Make sure that you are using a soap and not a detergent. Some good choices would be Dr. Bronner's Pure-Castile Soap, Fels Naptha or Ivory Bar Soap. If you have very hard water, you could benefit by using a distilled water or water that has been filtered as this will allow the soap to stick to the surface better. If you are using one of the bar soaps listed, shave off what you need and dissolve in warm water. The soap mixture must come in contact with the insects in order to work, so don't spray the whole plant down. Some plants can be sensitive to this mixture, so test it on a leaf first, wait 24 hours and then apply it to the problem areas if your plant doesn't seem to be adversely affected by the spray. It is also best applied on a cloudy day or very early morning when the plant surface will not be "burnt" by the sun. Apply once a week, as needed, no more. And again, I cannot stress this enough, only apply it to the aphids themselves as the soap will not work otherwise.

Neem Oil is also a good alternative if for some reason the insecticidal soap is not working. But to be honest, the soap mixture works the best for me on most pests. I mix Dr. Bronner's with water as that is what I have on hand and it seems to work the best anyway.

If you have any suggestions on pest problems you would like me to write about in the future, please e-mail me or reply to this post. Thank you.

Today's the Day for the HGTV Protest

If you want to see more gardening shows on HGTV, then e-mail the advertisers and tell them so. See all the details on how to do this at Tina's Blog. Only send the e-mails today so that it will have a bigger impact.

More Spring Blooms

Tete-e-Tete are the first daffodils to open. They are so sweet with their faces facing downward as if they were too bashful to look up to the sun.

This daffodil will be open any time now. What pretty buds this one has. So strong...reminds me of Symore from Little Shop of Horrors for some reason...LOL.

The first of the tulips are starting to open. These tulips are the brightest red I've seen, and the foliage has a pretty red tinge to it too when they first start to sprout. I had to spray them with Ropel as the bunnies were starting to nibble on them a couple of weeks ago. This particular tulip is called Show winner and it spreads pretty well also. I just love it.

The crocuses have braved the cold nights we've had recently and have managed to come out of it looking as good as ever despite the below freezing temperatures.

10 ways to find more time for gardening and crafting

I am the queen of multi-tasking, and I think that is very important to getting more things done in a short amount of time so that I can goof off in the garden or concentrate on making art. I shouldn't say goofing off, I mean it's hard work coming up with new and exciting craft ideas and pulling weeds and digging in the dirt.

I work a Monday - Friday job, so I want the weekends to myself, but it's hard to always find the time to get all the chores done at home, work 40 hours a week and still have time for the fun and creative stuff I love. But you have to find the time, because sometimes, that is all that is keeping me sane. I think some of you know what I mean. So here is a short list of tips and tricks I use to find more time.

1. If you have favorite TV shows you like to watch, invest in a DVR or TiVo so you can record them and watch them at a more convenient time. Honestly, I don't think I could live without my DVR...LOL. You can fast forward through all those annoying commercials, which is a huge time saver (about 15-18 minutes for the average hour long show). You may also check to see if your favorite shows are viewable online....again less commercials, but not as large of a selection. When watching TV, I always have something else I am doing at the same time, whether it be folding laundry, exercising, painting, clipping coupons, whatever. There is no reason why you can't use this time to do something else that doesn't require a lot of thought.

2. Turn your household chores into exercise. Over-exaggerating your movements while raking the leaves or vacuuming can reduce your regular workout later on. Stretch more when dusting or reaching for that cobweb, just be careful you don't pull a muscle. Run up and down those stairs when doing the laundry or run across the yard to get to the storage shed instead of walking. Who cares what the neighbors might think. Short bursts of activity help to raise the metabolism and therefor burn more calories when at rest.

3. When cooking dinner, I always clean up the dishes as I go along. We don't have a dishwasher, so this small step is important in making clean-up much easier after dinner is over. I rarely spend more than 10 minutes after dinner cleaning up because I've done the bulk of it while I was waiting for the dinner to cook.

4. I do my housework, little by little, throughout the week, so that it is all finished by Saturday morning. Who wants to be doing housework on a weekend?!? Not me. Examples, I throw in a load of laundry before I go to work, throw it in the dryer when I get home and fold it during my favorite TV show that night. I dust during commercials, one room a day until all rooms are done, then I start over the next week.

5. I try and get up a half an hour early in the morning and get small chores done before I go to work. It's amazing what you can get done in that short amount of time.

6. Pick up after yourself everyday. If you keep things neat on a daily basis, there is no big mess to clean up at the end of the week.

7. Squeegee your shower walls after ever use. This keeps them cleaner longer. I find that the bathroom takes the most time to clean, so I might clean the toilets and wipe down the counters one morning before work and then clean the shower at a later time.

8. There is no reason why you must clean a whole house top to bottom at one time. I dust when I have time, tidy up when I have time and vacuum whenever.

9. Prioritize your to do list. Think about what is really important to you on that particular day or week and do the most important things first. I find lists to be very helpful and I always seem to get more done because of them.

10. Plan your meals ahead of time. This saves time in a lot of ways. Planning your meals for the week will allow you to better organize your day and also shorten your shopping trips to the grocery store. And it's a money saver too. Don't believe me? Try it for a week or two and see for yourself. For example, saute a couple of pounds of ground beef on Saturday. Use half for that meal and then have another meal with it later in the week (spaghetti one night and taco salad another night). Roast a chicken on Sunday and have leftover chicken pot pie on Tuesday.

Great Tutorials I Found on Instructables

I found a few tutorials on Instructables that I just had to share with you all. What a great site! I'll probably add new ones on a weekly basis.


Greenhouse From Old Windows - More DIY How To Projects


Urban Homestead Garden (squarefoot gardening abridged) - More DIY How To Projects


Grow organic food without spending $ - More DIY How To Projects

I'm now on Instructables

Tipsy Pots Tower Planter - More DIY How To Projects

I just discovered this great site a week ago. It's a bunch of how to information written by everyday people. I've added my Tipsy Pot project to their site just today. If you have a chance, please visit their site. It's really amazing.

Update - Just found out they made it a Featured Project....cool!


Leaf Castings - More DIY How To Projects

Decided to go ahead and add my leaf castings also.

Splitting up the Blog into two blogs

So, I've decided to go ahead and split up the blog into two blogs, one for the gardening and crafts part of our life and one for the weight loss part of our life. I hope this hasn't inconvenienced anyone, but I know that this will serve us all better in the future.

If you have been following our weight loss journey, I invite you to visit that blog here and sign up for the newsletter that will alert you to any new posts. I plan on updating that blog at least twice a week. There will also be links to that blog in the sidebar.

If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to let me know.

Thanks!

Please vote in our poll

I am thinking about splitting the blog into two blogs. One for the gardening and craft projects and one for the weight loss and recipes. What do you think? You can vote by leaving a comment here or using the poll to the right of the screen. Thanks

Thanks Birds & Blooms

This weekend I got a nice surprise when not only my complimentary issue of Birds and Blooms was in the mail, but also included was a cute little cloth tote bag thanking me for being a contributor of their magazine. I can never have enough tote bags these days as I try to use them when I go shopping so that I am not using plastic bags that are so harmful to the environment. It's also more economical as businesses will be buying less bags as we all start reusing the plastic bags we do get or converting to cloth bags instead.

Don't forget to pick up the latest issue of Birds and Blooms so you can see my Tipsy Pot project in print.

Gardening & Deck Design Magazine

The Woman's Day Special Publication Gardening & Deck Design is finally out. They have featured my Glass Totem projects as well as my Leaf Casting projects. After the issue leaves newsstands, I can post a PDF of the article, but until then, you can either pick up a copy yourself (it's pages 26-29) or you can visit our website. The Glass Totems can be found here and the Leaf Castings can be found here. I'd love to hear what you think of the article.

Join us for Trivia

Do you like trivia games? Think you know a little bit about everything and like to show off your knowledge? Well then come join us. I have created a new Trivia Tournament just for the readers of this blog and our website. Go to this website and play once daily. Hope to see you there!

Trivia game is sponsored by FunTrivia.com.

Early Royal Iris

These iris are so beautiful. The digital camera does not really capture how pretty they are in person. The color is so rich and the detail of their coloring on their pedals is striking.

I had several buttercup miniature iris as well, but I only see two of those so far this year. I couldn't get a good picture of it, but you can see a better one from a few years ago on our website.

We've got Crocuses!

Happy April Fool's Day Everybody!

Well, I didn't notice too many more winter aconites, so I can only assume they did not make it through our winter this time, but I am happy to say that the crocuses all seem to be alive and well. A few have been nibbled on by the rabbits, but the majority seem to be budding and blooming with a vengeance.

It's also really nice to see the bees enjoying the crocuses too. These snow crocuses are supposed to come up even before the others, but they always seem to come up at about the same time.

With the recent rains we've received and the daytime temps in the 50s for the next week or so, we should start to see some more grass greening up and some miniature irises starting to open as well.