Three generations of a cactus

20 years ago, my son gave me a Christmas cactus for my birthday. Over the years it deteriorated and I took one cutting. It's getting a little old and wilted and I've tried different things like feeding it sugar, fertilizing it repotting it several times to try and get it to perk up, but it doesn't really want to so I took some cuttings from it and when I was very successful with the first cutting, I did a second batch of cuttings.

update Nov 2024

What happens when you skip mowing the lawn for one week?

I am so excited! I didn't mow my lawn for one or two weeks in the backyard and this was for the benefit of the lightning bugs or fireflies. I gave in and started mowing today -I gave into social pressure. Anyway, what I noticed in my backyard was a sprouted oak tree. a white swamp oak?. I do get deer in my backyard so I will have to fence it in with some chicken wire. A good deed was rewarded afterall. I thank the squirrels for their contribution.

I stopped feeding the squirrels and they got spiteful and bit off the plants.

Mock Orange Cutting

While going for a bike ride, I noticed Mock Orange along the trail. I thought maybe I could take a little branch and root it and that's what I did. years ago, I had a mock orange bush outside my bedroom window. The fragrance would waft in through the window. I'm not sure where I'm gonna plant this bush I have rooted. I used root hormone and vermiculite. when this first one was successfull i went back to the trail and am rooting another.

White flowers in May

Narcissus

Amy's Garden in Mid-July

It is only July 10 and I am in the thick of harvesting from my garden! I have harvested onions, a raspberry, 6 potatoes, zucchinis, basil, elderflower, yellow summer squash and it is a delight to be are gardener once again.

Amy's Garden 2022

When i was in my twenties and thirties I always had a vegetable garden. I bought my first house alone in 2006 and tended the yard and attempted a garden in the lawn which failed. The past few five years I have had a fallow area in the middle of lawn with goldenrod for the bees. It was usually wasps that came by to feast on the flowers. That spot in the yard was cleaned up and meticuously exfolieated and derocked and roots of weeds removed by my friend Vern. He is German born and is an amazing worker. Very methodical and thorough. I dedicate this post to him becasue without his hard work i would not have such a garden as i do. He planted some of the potatoes and also the garlic. The garlic was planted in the fall

The garlic was from my son, the tomatoes, onions, shallots,zuchinni and some of the potatoes were from my daughter.My daughter starts seeds in greenhouse. The sunflowers self sowed. There are three lupines that also self sowed. Some of the potatoes sprouted initially in the kitchen, they were from the grocery store (Vern planted them early in the spring) I have never grown dahlias, this is a first for me, and I found a punky old treestump nicely rotted down to put them near and in. They came from my friend David. I put bone meal down and sprinkled them with flower fertilizer. Friends and family make a garden special!