Stephanie's Garden Blog

Have you ever watched your neighbors in their garden and wondered what are they doing? And why are they doing that!? You might not be my literal neighbor, but I invite you to peek into my garden and see what I’m doing. In my blog I will answer those questions!

I consider myself a plant collector. My son calls me a “plant hoarder” but I think that’s a bit extreme! He might be right when I consider these symptoms:

  1. I sometimes sneak plants home from the nursery and hide them in my work area until I have time to plant them.
  2. I’ve been known to put a stem trimming from a public garden in my pocket and then try to root it myself at home. (You should keep an eye on me if I’m visiting your garden!)
  3. I’ve never passed up a packet of free seeds.
  4. When my perennials need dividing, I have a very hard time parting with any of the divisions. I usually find someone who will take them (Iris rhizomes, Daffodil bulbs, pieces of Salvia or Catmint) but I’m not sure I trust they’ll take care of my plants.
  5. I have literally cried and cursed when a plant died.
  6. Each year in mid- to late-summer, I realize that I have more yard work than my aching back can handle and that some of my plants are truly neglected.

Whether I’m collecting plants or hoarding them, I spend a lot of time in my yard and garden. Follow my blog and decide for yourself! I’ll tell you what I’m doing and why and I’ll also honestly tell you what I should be doing and try to come up with good excuses for not getting those tasks done!

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Seed Germination

Spring is here and it’s time to start seeds for the vegetable garden. I find seeds to be amazing little things. The seed is a dormant embryo of a plant, with everything it needs to grow packed inside a small package – a sometimes VERY small package. The first stage of germination is water absorption,…
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The Effects of Pruning

When pruning, we remove the growing tips, changing the ratio of auxins to cytokinins. The cytokinins then cause the buds lower on the branch to open, so the plant is fuller or bushier than it would be without pruning. Over the course of the year, auxins again concentrate in the shoot tip and again suppress lower bud break the following spring.

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Agastache Plant

Garden Self-Evaluation: September

♥Love this!♥ My Hyssop (Agastache cana) has already been blooming for a couple of weeks and is still going strong. I love it because it feeds the bees and butterflies and hummingbirds, too. I believe this plant is the straight species, not a named cultivar. It’s a little floppy, but for scale, it is only…
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