Posted in Gardening

A splash of color

A trio of small, colorful potted plants sitting on a windowsill

The weather, much like my mood, has been rather gray for most of this month. But every time I walk by the kitchen window and see this trio of small, colorful plants, I smile a little.

During the summer, we had coleus and celosia plants growing outside in the garden. The coleus plants ended up resembling small shrubs by August — much too big to bring inside, and too fragile to withstand New Jersey winters. (Celosia seems to have a five- to six-month lifecyle, regardless of temperature.)

But the larger plants scattered some seeds, and a few of them grew. I dug them up and put them in these small windowsill pots to have a bit of color to help get me through the winter, until it’s time for the spring daffodils and violets to start blooming again.

Does the winter grayness bother you? What are some of the things that you do to help fight it?

Posted in Odds & ends

So that happened… (Monday, Sept. 24, 2018)

Balloon-Flowers

Monday might be when you had to go back to work, but it ended up being my day off this week. Happily, the weather cooperated and let me work in our garden today. Mostly, that involved getting areas ready to put to bed for the winter in a few more weeks. But I also planted the balloon flowers I accidentally found and purchased on Saturday. I think they should have enough time to settle in before we get our first frost, and they should look really nice next summer.

* * *

Lord-of-the-PitElections are just a few weeks away… I got my mail-in ballot today. My other piece of non-junk mail? A Magic: the Gathering Lord of the Pit card that I’d purchased from UntappedGames.com last week. Coincidence?

But seriously, make sure you vote in this election. If you’re not happy with the way things are going, this is your chance to make your voice heard.

* * *

There were two passings of note to sci-fi film fans this weekend: Gary Kurtz, who produced Star Wars and The Dark Crystal, died Sunday at age 78 and Al Matthews, who played the cigar-chomping Sgt. Apone in Aliens, died Saturday at age 75.

* * *

I got to watch the new Bleach live-action movie today (thanks, Netflix!) and it is amazing! The film succeeds in bringing the major elements of the first arc of the anime to life. The actors playing Ichigo, Rukia, Renji and Byakuya are all perfect. If you’re familiar with the story from the anime series or the original manga, you should definitely check it out. And if you’re looking for something a little bit spooky for October (and don’t mind subtitles), keep Bleach in mind..

Posted in Gardening

Getting ready for a spring that waits to be

I spent a good part of my free time last week trying to get the yard ready to plant our garden, although I always insist that I keep more of a plant menagerie than a proper “garden.”

IMG_iu7z1i.jpg

This year’s big project is the construction of a raised flower bed, approximately 16 feet wide by two feet deep that will be home to eight Astilbe plants that we’ve been growing inside since late February. A couple of them are now around 15 inches tall and they’re more than ready to go outside, as soon as the weather cooperates.

While a love of baseball was something I could share with my father, I got into gardening to have something I could share with my mother. And by now, I need to see pretty, colorful signs of life to help get through winter just as much or more than she does.

Posted in Gardening, Odds & ends

A glass of spring…

Snow DSCN7127

The northeast has resembled Hoth for the past couple of weeks, with today bringing our first significant snowstorm of 2018. It’s supposed to get even colder this weekend.

But the two most recent additions to our plant menagerie will help remind me that spring is on the way, and that should make it a little bit easier to get through the winter.

January 6th update:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.