Garden Trends

As a beginning gardener I find the tags that are on the plants I buy to be extremely useful so I am careful to keep them. If I don’t want to keep them by the plant itself I staple them to a paper and put it in a file or binder. This way I can always refer back to instructions as well as find a name of a plant I have forgotten (oooops!). I also really like doing this for annuals as I can pull it out next spring and see which plants I really liked and hope to find again. If you have a large garden you could categorize your pages into the parts of your garden and put the tags for that area on the same page. You could also leave space underneath the tag to write notes about the plant. I have been surprised at the number of times I have pulled out my folder. If anyone has any other tips to share please do so by adding a comment!

I figured as I am just starting out and learning about many varieties of plants I would start a “Plant of the Week”. Please feel free to reply with any ideas, questions or comments you have regarding a plant. I would love for this to be a forum where beginner and experienced gardeners alike can share their experiences, knowledge and mistakes.

This week’s plant is the Fuchsia. I really like this plant as it does so well in the shade and it likes cooler temperatures. There are many varieties that have varying shades of pink and purple. It is great for the gardener that would like some color in a shady spot of their garden. I have this hanging basket full of two varieties of Fuchsia’s (which I will admit I did not plant up myself… at $10 it was cheaper just to buy it). I also have another hanging basket and a container that I have put a few fuchsia plants in amongst others. They trail over baskets quite nicely as well. They do need to be fertilized–approximately every two weeks should do. So if you are looking to add some color to a shady spot you might want to look at acquiring a few fuchsia plants.

I will be including a garden trend here and there as I learn about them so I thought I should mention that 2008’s herb of the year is calendula. According to The Herb Companion it is known as the pot marigold. To find out more about this herb and it’s culinary uses visit The Herb Companion.

We just took a look tonight at the hanging basket as the mom was away from the nest. There are four birds in a very squished little area. We will be keeping a close but distant eye on how things are going and will post with any further developments! Here is a picture (unfortunately it isn’t as clear as we had hoped).

These past few days have been the perfect time to enjoy your garden. The hard work and effort put into your garden will never be worth it if you don’t take the time to savor it. It has been almost too hot to garden, but if you have a covered area it has been quite pleasant to sit outside and enjoy. We took the opportunity, which is not always common here on the “wet coast” to eat outside on our deck and just relax. For those that have much work to do it can be much more pleasant to take it outside with a cold cup of Ice tea, sunscreen and shades (laptops can come in very handy).