Hello readers!
Today, I wanted to update you on what's going on here in the garden. It's been an interesting road figuring out how to grow new flowers and dealing with difficult soil, but in spite of the challenges, we've been able to have some success so far.
The Iris Bed
Per usual, I was genuinely nervous about the Irises and how slowly they were progressing. I don't know when it will click with me that flowers take their sweet time to grow. They're on their own timeline, not mine. I think it was hard to notice how far along they'd come because the bed was surrounded by weeds that I had been avoiding digging up for months. Luckily, my mom's friend's son agreed to dig them all up for me and once he did, I was able to see just how close they were to blooming!
First one popped up, then another, and another! And now we have an entire bed of beautiful Iris flowers. Last night, I decided to clip a few to put in an arrangement to place next to my late grandmother, Iris' photo, which sits in our family room.
I've never grown Irises before and what I noticed most is that when you leave them alone, they thrive. They don't seem to need too much water once they get going. After I stopped watering them every other day, and just let them sit there for a bit, they grew and grew and grew!
Irises are much sturdier than they look and I was surprised at how thick the stems and petals are. This flower looks dainty, but is so strong. Which reminds me so much of my grandmother. I'm honored to have an entire bed of Irises right outside of her old bedroom.
The Zinnia Bed
Since I grew Zinnias last year, I remember how easy they are to grow. So when my Zinnias stopped growing a few weeks ago, I knew something was wrong with my soil. We purchased some soil from our trusted gardener, but unfortunately, it was incredibly nutrient deficient. A few digs down into it, and I realized there was nothing living or thriving in the soil. I noticed that there were no spiders, no mushrooms, no worms...nothing.
Unfortunately, that means I have to dig everything up and start from scratch. I went to Sloat Garden Center and the men were incredibly helpful. They told me about something called "Loam Builder" which contains chicken manure, nutrients and other elements to help build the soil back up. They also gave me the right organic compost to use.
Now, all I have to do is dig everything up, mix it all together, put it back in the bed, and plant new seeds. Yay.
The Wildflower Bed
The wildflower bed is thriving and I'm glad because I truly expected to have Zinnias and Dahlias blooming by now. And since I don't, it's nice to at least have something I can use to make pretty arrangements.
The wildflower seed mix from this post did not disappoint, and has given me stunning cosmos, and other bright blooms.
Persian Cress & Bupleurum
Finally, our filler flowers are doing well! The Persian Cress is a beautiful filler flower and adds that touch of whimsy and airiness to an arrangement that I love so much. Interestingly, I noticed that they grew really well on the sides of my raised bed but not in the center. Odd but okay.
The Bupleurum is chugging along growing at it's own perfect pace. Once it's big enough, I will be using it as a filler as well. For now, I need more help getting rid of all these weeds so I can see more clearly!
Overall, there's still lots of work to do in the garden but I will not give up! We still have time to get the soil in order and finally get some of the beautiful blooms I was expecting.
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