Flower Talk
17 Jun
My Grandma used to have the most glorious, massive, colorful elevated garden. It spanned the entire length of the backyard of their bungalow and was deep enough that there was even a rock path in the middle that you could walk through. Now that I think back, I have no idea how she was able to upkeep such a massive garden! I’ll have to dig up some photos of it because that garden is one of the things I will never forget about that house, which I miss dearly.
Both of my Grandma’s also kept abundant vegetable gardens. They grew the most delicious cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, etc. That’s definitely one thing I hope to have in the future, as well as grow my own herbs.
I’m drifting! The point of this post was to celebrate the appearance of a peony in the family garden. We’ve had the plant for years and this is the first time one of the blossoms have bloomed:
Nice, right? Well, it’s disappeared! It was there for maybe a week, and now it’s back to being a boring ol’ green shrub. What the heck? How do you get peonies to bloom and stay? Any tips?
I like the new look of the blog! Keep up the great work ladies!
Hey there. I’m not sure where you guys live, but we live in Juneau where people have the most BEAUTIFUL rhododendrons you’ve ever seen. The blooms last for an amazingly long time and they’re just beautiful. I know it sounds gross but the best way to feed a rhody is chicken manure, which is what we buy to keep our plants healthy. It might work for your peonies, too.
My grandmother had an amazing garden back in Anchorage, but her trick was she had a lot of plants that came back on their own year after year, like lillies and poppies, tulips, that kind of thing. If you plant some bulbs you can actually plant them super close together (ignore the instructions on the bag, 2″ apart is more space than they actually need) and they’ll all grow at the same pace and, best part, they know -when- to grow so you don’t have to worry about planting them too early for the frost and all that every year. Good luck!