"One of the most delightful things about a garden is the anticipation it brings."

Friday, June 12, 2009

Fertilizer Friday.

This is the first Fertilizer Friday I've participated in.  I'm not very good about fertilizing.   I try to remember to fertilize, but it's usually something I remember once I've come in from watering.  This year I used Miracle-Gro potting soil in my containers and it seems to be helping already.
I also put a couple of inches of compost around all of my plants in early spring.  I do this every year and I know that has really helped quite a bit with the plants in the beds.

Rose 'Honey Perfume' is a floribunda that stays about 2 1/2 feet to 3 1/2 feet tall.  Once it's blooms fully opened I noticed how fragrant it is and it's color changes to more of an apricot.

Coral Bells (unknown) is a great one to attract the hummingbirds.

Peony 'Festiva Maxima' is the best it's ever been.  I think adding the compost really has made a huge difference.  I can smell it from across the yard while I'm out watering.

Nemesia 'Sunsatia Raspberry' in a container that I just plopped down in front of this fern by the pond.  I think the green is the perfect backdrop for the bright pink flowers.

Salvia is blooming all over the yard.  I couldn't help but catch a bee in the photo since they were all over the flowers.

Clematis 'Ville de Lyon' is looking great.  It's got really big flowers this year.  I guess it likes all the new soil that got spread around it this spring.

One of the window boxes is just starting to fill in.  They always look so sparse when first planted.  Most of my containers are still just getting started, hopefully they'll start to fill in more soon.

The first Breadseed Poppy.  I've only tried these once before many years ago so I'm happy to see them blooming!

Visit Tootsie at Tootsie Time to find more gardeners flaunting their flowers or to add your own.  I'm going out to fertilize the fuchsia.
Pin It

31 comments:

  1. You've got some gorgeous blooms going on there...love that gorgeous poppy and the nemesia especially ...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Just beautiful Catherine...Did you see the last comment I put on your last post?

    ReplyDelete
  3. The breadseed poppy is particularly pretty Catherine! That was almost a tongue twister wasn't it? I'm not good about remembering the fertilizer either. Maybe participating in this Friday event will help? My containers haven't filled in much either ~ waiting for heat I think. You always have something beautiful in bloom there. Have a great weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  4. my containers are the only thing worth showing this season so far...I worry! Your gardens are looking great as usual! It is fun to see the difference weekly...and learn about gardens that are not mine! Thanks for joining me!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Everything looks awesome! I love the color of the rose, and of course, the peony is my favorite. You can tell the flowers love all that compost you put down. -Jackie

    ReplyDelete
  6. It looks beautiful! A paradise for your family and the critters (& neighbors), I think. Paula

    ReplyDelete
  7. Stunning Flowers and photos!
    Happy FF!

    -Cathy

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hey Thanks for the comment you left on my blog, I'm located in Klamath Falls,Oregon it is about 20 miles from the Oregon/California border.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ooooo love that Nemesia 'Sunsatia Raspberry' color - would look great by my purple Salvia - does it bloom very long?
    I've got to get the Clematis 'Ville de Lyon' next. I've seen it twice this morning already and think I saw it in town but not sure. Are the blooms very big? The color is mine!!!
    Your Breadseed Poppy looks the colors of mine but yours is a double. Very nice. I'm excited for my Peony Poppy the neighbor gave me last year to open. It's just about ready and sooooo gorgeous.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Your Honey Perfume and coral bells are outstanding. Just lovely flowers and I can imagine the scent from them all too!

    ReplyDelete
  11. I hear you on the "forget to fertilize" issue. I always do great at the onset in late winter with side dressings from the compost and my alfalfa pellets but the "weekly while you water" especially needed for the containers, man I have a brain block, mostly because I've always used the "mix two gallons in my water can" routine which can have me filling that can a zillion times for one treatment. But yesterday I finally got out my siphon mixer and man was that so much easier. I don't know why it took me so long to get it together since I bought it two months ago. I had even procrastinated (the root of my problems) having purchased it, it was only fourteen bucks at McLendon's (a local hardware store). I really have nothing that amounts to an excuse, not a good one anyway.

    Your place looks great as usual! Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I too am so lethargic when it comes to fertilizing. Or should I say forgetful? The moment I come down after watering my plants, looking at the can of Pachakavya (a traditional fertilizer that also helps fight few plant diseases) and vermiwash, but when I do so, my plants look so fresh and lively in a week and their blooms look slightly larger than usual.
    Love your Poppy and Rose.

    ReplyDelete
  13. What lovely flowers you have posted for Fertilizer Friday. Your Festiva Maxima looks magnificent -- just covered in blooms.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Very impressive. Your flowers are really strutting their stuff. Your season is a lot earlier than mine but I don't even have some of those flowers so thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Always fun to see what blooms you will feature each day. The petunias are so pretty and I bet they smell heavenly.
    Hope you have a great weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Just beautiful. I am so impressed with your beautiful garden. I am still learning how to fertilize down here, which basically means lots and often because of the sand. In the north I never grew Nemesia, and the color of yours is just outstanding. Happy Fertilizer Friday!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Honey Perfume is a rose of such a lovely color . The Coral Bells plant is exceedingly attractive. So is the white peony (I really wish I could grow peony in Bermuda). I'm with you on the compost idea. Myself, I don't use any inorganic fertilizer.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Thoughtfully blended hearts - Thanks! They have some nice bright colors!

    Darla - Thanks! I did see your comment, I didn't realize they got that tall.

    Kathleen - You should participate, you have beautiful flowers.

    Tootsie - Thanks, it's fun to get to see more gardens and how everything looks. Hope your weather gets better.

    Jackie - This is the longest the flowers have lasted. I still would love to find some light pink ones like you have.

    Paula - Thanks, we've had lots of butterflies lately and I'm hoping as more blooms they'll stay long enough for a picture.

    Cathy - Thank you!

    Southern style in a northwest garden - I know where that is, it's beautiful there.

    Linda - 'Ville de Lyon' has big flowers, very showy. My poppy is just a single too. I think I'll have one peony poppy bloom. I sowed a lot but it looks like just one came up.

    Tina - The 'Honey Perfume' does have a really nice scent, the peonies smell the best though right now :)

    Lanny - I need to get my sprayer out, I do have one, but it's in the shed somewhere. Maybe if I just leave it on the hose I won't always forget.

    Chandramouli - Sometimes I'm so busy just watering is as far as I get. I know the plants do appreciate a little fertilizer though.

    Sweet bay - Thanks, I'm so glad I finally was able to remember the name of the peony. The blooms are huge on it.

    L.D. Burgus - Most are looking great, but some are really starting to droop from the lack of rain. I keep hoping we'll get a good rain and then the sun can come back out.

    Mildred - It's fun to look around for new flowers. I still have so many that won't bloom for awhile.

    Florida Sue - I guess getting used to a whole other climate would be difficult. Different soil and zones and all of that would be a lot to learn.

    Prospero - I think one reason I don't always fertilize is because my dog sometimes drinks the water that pools and I don't want her sick. I do try to fertilize the containers though so I get lots of flowers all summer.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Whatever your doing is working well - everything looks so pretty and healthy - I wish we could smell through the screen. I love your clematis variety. How long does it bloom? ~ Robyn

    ReplyDelete
  20. Beautiful blooms! I just switched to KGro and so far I love it. Its half the price of MiracleGro too. I have loved this FF thing because I never fertilized so much in my life. I always forgot! So now I am reminded each week and I love it!!!! My plants do too!!!!!
    Happy FF!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  21. WOH, that first rose is perfection!!

    I'm like you with the compost. Somehow I never kill or damage anything with compost like I have done with straight fertilizer.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Gosh that window box is so pretty! Looks like the MG is working nicely. Very healthy looking garden.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Everything is so pretty - thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete
  24. I am new to blogging and to Fertilizer Friday. I do compost and until now I've always fertilized with Miracle Gro once a month too. It seemed sufficient - I'm curious to what a weekly dose will do. I think the weekly reminder here will be a big help to me too.

    Your place must smell gorgeous. Such pretty flowers.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Oh, I was going to do a post on fertilizer (and my fear of it)... compost top-dressing seems like a better solution, ecologically. Flowers are looking amazing, I love that apricot rose and peony smell is the best!

    ReplyDelete
  26. Every spring I vow to do better in the ferilizing department. Your gorgeous coral bells remind of the one I had many years ago at our previous house. And your nemesia look just perfect up against the ferns. Pretty as a picture!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Hi Catherine, your garden colors are WOW!...I love that Nemesia, so delicate but packs a punch with that rich color. And the clematis!! I found a blue one blooming on a trellis I don't remember planting so it was a nice surprise! Have a wonderful Sunday.
    Lynn

    ReplyDelete
  28. I like this concept...to remember to feed our garden. I would think the top layer of compost would be enough, though. The fact you do that to everything makes me feel awe! :) Your Festiva Maxima is pure perfection. I love the white with the dab of red! Your flowers seem to love you...

    ReplyDelete
  29. Such pretty flowers. I have been debating using miracle grow, simply because I wonder if it's good, bad or indiferent to the environment. But if it helps with a pretty scene like you have here... a little must be well worth it. BTW is that a peach tree in your front yard? Yum!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Carole - It's actually a weeping cherry. It get teeny cherries that the birds love. I wish we could grow peaches here, but unfortunately they don't do well.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Darn! Now I wish I had ordered that Honey Perfume rose! I ended up picking out a different one, but saw one at a Rose Garden park I went to today, and fell in love. Now you have a pretty one too! Hopefully that Tahitian Sunset I ordered instead will be just as pretty.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit and leave a comment. I try my very best to answer any questions you may have, but usually don't have time to respond to each comment. Please leave a link to your blog so I can visit you in return.