Growth!

Poppies on left, impatiens on right

I have finally got some growth from some of the seeds I planted! So this is just a little update, more for me to have a record of this years garden. The poppies have finally emerged. Its hard to tell from the pictures, but you can see a little green on the left. I am still waiting on the impatiens to make their appearance. They are a little bit more difficult to grow from seed and require a soil temperature of about 75*, a heating mat would come in handy for these. We have had some really nice weather the past couple of days, so I'm hoping that heated up the soil a bit.

I also added some other pictures of flowers just because :)

Flora Focus || Anemone & Ranunculus

Hi there! Today I am starting a new weekly feature! Although I kind of already started it last week with this post, I didn't realize I wanted it to be a weekly feature until this one! Flora Focus will highlight some of the flowers, shrubs and trees that are in bloom right now! At least in the PNW. I thought this would be a good way for me to get back in the swing of things and relearn about all these gorgeous plants we have here and thought you guys might want to learn the basics too! What do you think? Sound good? I hope so! :)

I thought I would start out with two of my favorite spring flowers. Anemones & Ranunculus.

Anemone
Botanical Name: Anemone spp.
Flower: can be red, pink, white, blue or purple. Some have a very dark, black, center while others of a yellow center. Grows on a long, thin stem above the rest of the plant. Paper like petals. Blooms in spring or summer, depending on the variety.
Leaf: Leaves have serrated edges and are mid to dark green in color.
Uses: Cut flower, these are gorgeous in arrangements. Simply by themselves or with other spring flowers.
Meaning: Forsaken

Ranunculus 
Botanical Name: Ranunculus spp.
Flower: Comes in pink, orange, white, yellow and purple. Whorls, upon whorls of petals create this sometimes large bloom.
Leaf: Serrated leaf with 3 lobes. Mid to dark green.
Uses: This is also often used as a cut flower and is a popular wedding flower.
Meaning: You are radiant with charms

Thanks for reading! I hope that by the end of some of these posts you can start to put names to flowers. Have a great day!

xo

The Waiting Game

I finally got some of my seeds planted! Its been one week since I planted them and still waiting on them to emerge. I think thats the best part. Finally seeing little green plants poke out from the dirt. Its so amazing. Have you planted any yet? I want to hear about your gardening adventures!

Outfit Details

Tank || Forever 21

Top || 11 Eureka

Pants || American Eagle

Boots ℅ Joules

Necklace ℅ Ali Oesch Jewelry

Growing Plants from Seed

Happy Spring! I thought that a post talking about growing seeds would be the perfect post for the first day of spring. What better way and day to get you REALLY thinking about your garden? Enough with the small talk, lets talk benefits and drawbacks.

Benefits

• I can't stress enough that growing your plants from seed is so much cheaper than buying starts from the nursery. A packet of seeds costs around $4, maybe. Depending on the type of plant you are buying, you can get at least 50 seeds in a packet that could potentially turn into 50 plants. $4 would buy you one start at the store. You do the math, seeds are cheaper. Much cheaper. 
• Nurseries often have a limited selection of plants and varieties to choose from. You can purchase seeds online from a much bigger assortment, getting hard to get varieties for cheap, cheap, cheap. 

Drawbacks 

• The major drawback to growing your own seeds is that it takes time and lots and lots of patience. Once you plant the seed you aren't going to see anything for a couple of days, and you won't get a bloom for a couple of weeks, if not a month. So if you do decide to grow your own plants this season, stick with it! It will be well worth it in the end. 

Where do you get seeds?

• This year I got my seeds from Territorial Seed Company online. You can visit the site and request a free seed catalog. Almost all online seed companies have a free catalog. I like to request them just to look at them, even if I have no intention of buying any. Also check out Burpee, and Harris Seeds. 
• You can also get them in stores at a Lowes or Walmart and some nurseries. 
• If you're really good, you can get them from the plant itself! I haven't done this yet, but maybe this year I will. 

Planting and Growing your Seeds

• Choose the container you want to grow in. This can be growing trays or even old milk jugs that you cut the top off of. Fill your container with loose textured soil to allow oxygen to the seed. Determine the depth you plant, by looking at the back of your seed packet, lightly water and place in a warm spot!
• When the seeds start to emerge (this is so exciting), move them to where they can get some light and keep the soil moist but not waterlogged. You don't want your little plant to start to rot. 
• When your little plant has developed two sets of leaves, it is time to transplant. Only do this if the tray it is in is to small for it to develop a healthy set of roots. 
• When it is time for the little guys to go outside, you're going to want to acclimate them first. This means setting the plants outside for a couple hours, increasing the time each day. 
• Now you plant, relax and admire the little plant you grew from seed!

I hope this helps you out a little. Growing plants from seed really isn't as hard as it may seem. You just need to give them a little time. Give it try this year, you will be so proud of yourself. Im planting mine next week and am so excited! If you do plant some, keep me updated on twitter with the progress! I would love to see!

Thanks for reading!

xo

Fall Garden Scenes

A couple of weeks ago I spent some time in the garden cleaning it up and getting it ready for the winter season. Some flowers were still blooming. I love the look of buds and bright blooms against an otherwise dark and dreary landscape. Enjoy these fall garden scenes.

Flower Pressing

So what do you do with old textbooks you ask? You press flowers of course! Last Monday I started a pressed flower or vegetation or whatever  I feel like pressing journal. I went out and got a hard cover Moleskine notebook with an elastic and some pretty tape and I was ready to go. So every day last week I picked something new, pressed it and put it in my journal. It's kind of fun! It really makes me want to go out in the woods and see what I can find and now I am just anticipating the arrival of fall even more. Hello orange, red and yellow leaves! As you can see from the pictures, some turned out and some didn't. Its all trial and error. The color in the purple flower was completely pressed out. Maybe Ill press it again but this time directly into my journal. A purple splotch might be kind of cool. Possibly. Maybe. Im excited for the ferns to be done pressing so I can add those!

Garden Flora

“And the secret garden bloomed and bloomed and every morning revealed new miracles.” 

― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

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