Hardin ni Manang

A Mole

2009-07-13T08:34:00.003-05:00

We had an encounter with a bigger mole this year (I had a post about a smaller one that looked like a tiny mouse, no bigger than my pinkie.) It seemed like it was caught by Lucky, one of our 5 cats, and brought into the house. Good thing that it was still very much alive with no wounds that I could see.

I had to take photos and videos first then I released it back outdoors.

I planted Camote....but...what are these????

2009-06-30T21:12:00.002-05:00

I planted camote tubers (cut in half) in black plastic pots indoors during late spring, when nights were still too cold.

One day when it was like summer hot, (though still cold at night) I let them out on the porch to "harden" them prior to transplanting to my veggie garden.

That afternoon, when I was about to bring them back inside the house, I noted holes on the leaves...what the????

Found these golden specks on the underside of the leaves...wow...so beautiful...wish I could use them for jewelries...

A closer look...

I googled and found out they are tortoise beetles...specifically infesting the family of sweet potatoes...(Ipomea? if I remember it right)...apparently they do not last all summer...

Darn...I planted sweet potatoes mainly for the leaves...I miss blanched sweet potato leaves eaten with bagoong isda with some kalamansi juice (I have to sub with lemon), some ginger and onions, tomatoes, plus fried or grilled tilapia or bangus....

oh well.... :(

Clematis

2009-06-30T20:48:00.002-05:00

It looks so artificial with all the big blooms it has...but this is real...growing under the shade of an arbor...very eye-catching! It motivated me to buy two clematis plants...I hope they, too, will have blooms as prolific as these!

My Hanging Baskets

2009-06-26T23:41:00.002-05:00

I did not make them myself. Instead of planting seeds and transplanting them to baskets once bigger, I opted to save myself some times and effort and frustration (because I do not have the talent/greenthumb) by getting several pretty ones either from WalMart or a nearby greenhouse. The big flowery baskets are the ones I got from the greenhouse.

Fuschia (both the white and the purple) is my favorite. Then the orange begonia. The others are okay, but they do offer contrast in colors. Pretty to look at while sitting at the swing set on the porch. Combined with listening to the sound of water dropping from the fountain, it is so Zen-like at this time of the year.

My Gardening Summer Project for 2009

2009-06-26T23:37:00.002-05:00

I had two containers (medium size) that I placed on the porch (they had identical plants).

I had two window boxes that had different plants in it.

My MIL gave me her extra annuals to plant in my annual garden bed. Before I planted them, I had to re-condition the dirt by rototilling, adding compost, and fertilizing it.

Gardening can be a lot of work, but it definitely has its rewards.

Crocus

2009-04-24T19:05:00.000-05:00

This plant is one of the earliest blooms I have in my garden. As soon as snow melts, they are peaking out already. I have white and yellow, striped lavender and plain.

Spring is Almost Here!

2009-03-07T23:43:00.004-05:00

It is that time again when I receive a lot of catalogs for home garden.

I particularly like the Spring Hill Nursery for their selection, which includes hardy species of bamboo and banana. Yeah, aside from bringing a tropical theme into my immediate environment, having these two around will enable me to cook with bamboo shoots and banana leaves (if the fruits of the banana are good for eating or cooking, then that will be a welcome bonus).

I have just ordered some flowers from them with a promo they sent earlier. Now that they sent me a catalog as well, I will order those items and some more flowers. They do have a promo ("Put us to the test") to cut the total price in half after I make my choices from that catalog. Sweet!

Mulching my garden

2007-11-10T20:21:00.000-05:00

My SIL and MIL were very kind to volunteer to clean up and mulch my garden. Not only were my husband and I very lost as to how to approach it, I was also breaking out with rashes every time I would attempt to weed...They felt sorry for me.

So one day during a fall weekend, they, together with my FIL, husband, and kids, worked on my flower garden while I was at work. Here's their finished work...very neat!

Am I lucky or what???

A Mole

2006-10-06T22:35:00.000-05:00

Our favorite pet cat Midnight thinks she is a mighty hunter (a tiger?) and she always tries to impress us by hunting small mammals such as this vole (see its size relative to my pinkie). Mice, birds, and even butterflies are among the victims. We try to scold her every time, and if the poor victim is still alive by the time we see it, we set it free.

Forsythia

2006-07-22T18:57:00.000-05:00

These photos were taken last May, still spring. I do not know the name of this bush, but during this time, it was in bloom, and it actually had no leaves yet. At present (July), it has lno more flowers, only leaves and cherry-like fruits.

Second photo shows the flowers up close. This plant is one of the prettiest during spring because there are not a lot of plants with blooms.

I wonder what it is called?

UPDATE as of July 24, 2006.

Thanks to daisy for giving the name of this beautiful bush!

Around Our House on a Cloudy Day in Early Summer

2006-06-14T07:18:00.000-05:00

This is how it looks and sounds like around the house on a cloudy early summer morning...

From a different angle...

This is so unlike the noise and congestion of Metro Manila...To me, this is simply a paradise...

Transplanting Tomato Seedlings to Smaller Pots

2006-06-13T11:31:00.000-05:00

This is the sequela to the previous post on starting indoor tomato seedlings. Now it shows how to transplant the small seedlings into small pots. It also offers some tips on what to watch out for in the seedlings to properly take care of them.

Please note that these techniques (minus the tips on nutrient deficiencies) were the same things my in-laws have been teaching me. I am just so glad that I found videos to clearly show and share these things with whoever happened to stumble upon my site and is, like me, also in need of some coaching in gardening, especially in this type of environment where summer is not year-round.

How to Start Tomatoes Indoors

2006-06-08T18:24:00.000-05:00

Here is a video on how to start your tomatoes indoors (so the fruits will have enough time to ripen before it gets too cold).

My Indoor Seedlings ang Gardening

2006-05-05T05:41:00.000-05:00

It is spring time. Recently we have had a little bit of showers. That's what the soil and the plants need. The surroundings are starting to green up finally.

I started my seedlings about two or three weeks ago. Here are they now.

These are:

first layer - tomatoes, Bellestar variety

second layer - tomatoes, Juliet variety (both were started at the same time with seeds sown in flats. I transplanted them into small pots when they were showing their first true leaves as big as the false (?)/initial leaves.

third layer - one row of pepper and one row of Marigold.

I ordered my seeds from Johnny's by end of January, and read the instructions at each of the packets to plan how I would time my approach to planting them.

I started them around the second half of March using flat trays and a heating pad. Quite late, but that was intended, because last year, I did it quite early, and my seedlings had no room to grow and did not have enough light before I could have a good chance to transplant them. A good chance means there will be no more possibilities of a frost, and it is warm enough outside to be favorable for growing (in other words, summer time). My ampalaya plants last year had nowhere to climb onto. This year, I would plant them outside as soon as the climate is suitable.

A good time indicator for such "chance" timing is Memorial Day. My MIL has made it a point to remember not to transplant seedlings nor sow seeds outside before that day.

My husband built me this grow shelves, and the fluorescent lights I used here, though they appear like the 40-watt kind that we so commonly use in the Philippine household, these are special grow lights, according to hubby. I turn them on at least 12 hours a day so the seedlings will not grow long, spindly and weak stems in search of light.

Gardening can eat up a lot of my time. Sometimes I wonder whether the effort is worth it. While it is true that I can find good-tasting tomato sauce and what-nots in the grocery store, gardening gives me an experience that re-connects me to Mother Earth - the realization that the Earth is what feeds me and sustains me and my family; the fact that I can observe the whole cycle of Earth giving to me and me giving back to Earth by recycling food wastes and turning them into compost; observing the web of life as earthworms thrive in the dirt in my gardens and butterflies swarm around my flower plants, and later on we get pure raw honey; the brief episode of knowing I feed my children, at least during summer, the freshest vegetables there are; and the chance to let my children experience all these at an early age (can you remember how excited you were when you first tried to plant and witnessed its growth up to the point that it gave you fruits?).

One shallow reason for gardening is, it gives my children something to do to keep them busy during summer, aside from sports activities and outdoor plays. It is a big help to me for them to weed the gardens while I work in my office. Boring it might be to them, but that is a time when their imagination can run wild instead of being stimulated by TV or computer. Then they can lie on the grass and stare at the sky, either to daydream or to imagine shapes and figures they perceive as they look at the clouds.

Tags: gardening, seedlings, Earth, nature, Johnny's, earthworms, pots, grow lights, fluorescent

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2005-02-25T20:00:00.000-05:00

Got a good shot of snowflakes this time...I caught them with my coat's sleeve. See the size relative to my fingertips...Before I saw one in actual, I thought snowflakes were only visible with the microscope (and would often wonder how those who have seen it could see the snowflakes without melting). How wrong I was! However, it's not always this prominent. MOst of the snowstorms give icey snow, or dust-like snow. This time, when the snow was falling they looked like cotton pieces dropping from the sky...

"Naked" Trees in the Forest

2005-01-31T10:14:00.000-05:00

During winter when the forests are naked, it's easy to see through the woods. From my garage I can see my in-law's house. It is actually nearer through the woods than on the road.

This Time of Winter is a Good Time to Plan for the Garden

2005-01-31T10:10:00.000-05:00

I have been browsing several catalogues of plants, hopefully to order seeds by 2nd or 3rd week of February, and start the seedlings indoors by the end of the month.

Here's a list of the catalogues that I have on hand:

Johnny's Selected Seeds - (1)(207)(861-3901)

Territorial Seed Company - 888-6573131

Indiana Berry Book & Plant Guide 2005 - 1-800-295-2226 - inberry@pscsi.net

White Flower Farm - 1-800-503 9624

Wayside Gardens - 1-800-845-1124

Parks Seeds - 1-800-845-3369

Burgess Seed & Plant Co.

Direct Gardening

Gurney's Seed & Nursery Co. - 513-354-1491

Miller Nurseries -1-800-836-9630

2005-01-19T11:41:00.000-05:00

This photo was taken last year, and that was the first ever snowman that we built...quite emaciated at the limbs, if this were a child it could have been diagnosed with Kwashiorkor! Haha!

Of course with practice one gets better and more imaginative....This is the second snowman we made last year for Christmas. It lasted just one day as the sun melted it away rapidly the next day! Cameras are a blessing to capture such fleeting moments...

Oh...and did we say we got better and better at making snowman? Check this snow boy!

2005-01-19T11:32:00.000-05:00

quite blurry, but this is one photo which clearly shows the 6 sides of a snowflake. There was once an American forumer who sounded so skeptical with my reply to his question about a Filipina's first experience of winter, to which I replied that I had fun seeing the individual snowflakes actually having those 6 sides! However, one has to catch them on a dark background during the initial downpour. Sometimes snow are not fluffy but clumped, so that such individual snowflakes are not evidently hexagonal in shape. Previous to experiencing snow I thought I had to use the microscope to see it, but I was wrong. Each snowflake was clearly visible to the naked eye, about 2-3 millimeters in size. However, sometimes the snow are just formed while the drizzle is falling and the air temperature exceeds freezing, converting the water droplets into ice crystals much like fine dust - no shape...

2005-01-19T11:18:00.000-05:00

This photo was taken during a snowstorm (it was like raining but I had not worry about getting my camera wet. I just had to brush the snowflakes off before they got melted).

2004-12-09T22:51:00.000-05:00

Date on the photo shows the first day of real snow in our area this year. (Last year we had it in November). Snow was not so bad this time, as we got barely an inch, then nothing the next day, although the temperature was below freezing. Then it snowed again, then the temperature warmed up such that the first layer of snow was melting, while another layer was being added.

Our warm roof was melting the first layer of ice, then the cold air freezes the dropping water....the result: icicles.

2004-11-26T19:53:00.000-05:00

This is a photo on the morning after the first frost that we had (which incidentally was also freezing at 20 deg F temp!).

Some plants still had the ice crystals that morning. Not long after that, the plants started browning and dying...

Most of the trees now are devoid of leaves, making it harder now to conceal our house from others. Good thing it is quite far from the road for us to still enjoy our privacy.

For Pancake

2004-11-11T10:33:00.000-05:00

I recently sent a package of seeds to another Filipina in Georgia, who is married to an American also. I collected those seeds from my plants. So this post is for Pancake, so that she will know how those seeds will look like in the future,and how she ought to plan about where to plant them.

As early as now you may want to prepare (while it is not yet snowing out) a place in your land/field a garden for your flowers. You might want to consider having two separate gardens: one for perennials and another for annuals. The space should be rotatilled. Remove big rocks. Pull out all weeds and grass. Apply fertilizers (just check with gardening books and websites what sort of fetilizers are good for this purpose). Use compost if you have them. You might also want to get plant boxes for windows to display some annuals, which are usually short, or some pots for hanging or simply to be placed on the porch.

Sometime in spring you will have to plant the seeds. So get some tools: mainly potting soil, trays, fish emulsion fertilizer, waterer, heating pads, shelves and fluorescent lights. See how you will start your seedlings here:

http://www.geocities.com/lrg1212/gardening.html

I am sorry I can't give you an accurate time from planting the seeds to developing them into seedlings ready for transplanting into small pots as shown below.

These were the seedlings which we transplanted from the seedtrays...The trays this time were composed of 6 small pots per tray, which we placed side by side to fit into the trays. Prepare the soil by moistening again and placing them in each square box (be sure to make it compact enough so as not to shrink significantly when watered). When transplanting the seedlings, scoop out from the bottom of the soil to get a bunch of seedlings, then carefully separate the roots (don't wait too long as the roots might get so entangled that separating them might be difficult without severing, thus ending up with dead seedlings). Make sure that the square pots are ready with moist soil before you uproot the seedlings from the trays. So, one by one, poke a hole through the soil in the small square pots, uproot a seedling from the tray, shoot into the hole deep enough, arrange the soil. Do this quickly and when done with a tray, water gently the soil so that it will seal around the roots. If this important step is not done, the roots will have no direct access to nutrients and moisture in the soil and will immediately die. Transplant as many seedlings as you would want to plant in your garden, making enough allowance for those which might not survive the trauma of transplanting.

Keep them inside the house with plenty of light and heat (I am not sure what temperature is most appropriate, but I am guessing that simulating the heat of soil in the PHilippines, which is around 70-80 deg F, will be the optimum heat for the roots to grow). Keep them moist by watering daily. Prepare fish emulsion as directed and use this to water twice a week. Then during the latter part of spring wean the seedlings by slowly exposing them to the outside. If you have a greenhouse, it is better. Then finally transplant (lift our the whole plant with the potting soil) into the garden. As usual, water right after transplanting the whole square of soil into a whole in the garden soil. Water right away, everyday until you see that the plant has overcome the initial shock of transplanting (they look wilted initially. Don't lose hope. Keep watering them daily.) Remember to plant the tallest ones at the middle, the short ones nearer the border. Some types of grasses are also good as ground cover.

(Sorry that second and third part of gardening I forgot to document about because I had been busy too with my vegetable garden)

The following are photos of those plants the seeds of which I sent to you. (P) means perennial; (A) mean annual.

Asters - (P) MIL said they are wild. I liked them so I did not pull them out. Their seeds are like those of dandelions, and I guess they propagate the same way. Just try to scatter those seeds on a moist potting soil and keep them watered. Let's see if seedlings will come out. They grow to about 3 feet in height. Needs about 2-ft diameter space.

A purple-colored Aster

Astilbe -(P) probably nice to plant them in clusters like so...about 1-2 ft high. Need about 2 ft diameter space for the cluster.

(P) I don't know the name of this plant, but they look like california blue bells. Look nice in clusters especially when all the flowers have bloomed. Bees like them so much (see the bee here flying towards the flower). Easy to propagate by dividing the cluster (just use a shovel to divide and reach a certain depth before separating the cluster in two). I tried collecting seeds (very few because the pods pop. It's hard to catch them becaause one day the pods are still quite green and not ready and the next day they have popped, all seeds scattered quite far away from the cluster. They grow to about one foot. Need planty of space if there are several plants in a cluster (about 3 ft diameter).

Columbines (P) are probably one of the prettiest flowers I have ever seen. Usually it is a combination of two colors like this (I had one that had a white and light yellow combination of colors).

Or just one color like this purple one (I also saw a pure light pink plant, the seeds of which I also collected. They were growing wild at the side of the road, so I am not sure what color you will have. Those seeds are a combination of all the colors I saw here). They have the characteristic spikes pointing backwards, some are straight like the one above, or curved like the ones below.

These columbines grow to about 2-3 ft high, and may require 1-2 ft diameter of space.

Echineacea (coneflowers) (P) are prolific. Plant once and they easily scatter their seeds and propagate easily. Your problem will be how to control them from dominating your garden. They grow to about 3-4 ft high and you need about 1-2 ft space for them. You may plant them in clusters.

Foxgloves - (P) the seeds of which are so tiny and a pod contains about a million! Each cluster of flowers as you can see will give you many pods. Don't harvest all of the pods as birds love to eat the seeds during the cold weather. I had a foxglove which was there on the garden to start with and it bloomed during early summer or late spring, then this photo was taken of the foxgloves which I planted in early spring and bloomed late summer to fall. There are other interesting colors. The leaves reach about less than a foot high, but the flowers are about 1 ft additional.

Impatiens (A) will bloom even in shade and is perfect for borders of a garden or a walkway or around a tree or shrub. Less than a feet high. One plant will need less than a foot distance to the next. You may want to consider planting them in a box for windows or porch.

Lupine (P) are so grand-looking. Some have combination of pink-red or white red, some plain pink. Gives you many pods. Soak the seeds overnight or nick them somewhere at the ends of the seed. Grow to a height of 3-4 ft, one of the tallest plants in my garden. Need about 3 ft space.

Marigold (A). Will bloom all thr0ughout summer to fall up to the first frost. NIcer to plant them close together in cluster in a plant box or pot, Nice to use to decorate your mailbox (put on top), very short (about 6 inches high).

Maroon daylilies (P) are also tall like the Lupines. Plant in clusters. Allow 2-3 ft space. I am not sure if this is a bulb plant, but I collected seeds from the pods. Just research some more.

Pansies (P) are cute and small (there's a variety that a flower only measures about 1 inch diameter, but these are larger). The whole plant grows less than a feet tall. Nice on borders and in plant boxes or to surround your mailbox.

Petunia (A) looks like impatiens but with smaller and gentler flowers and stems, taller too. About 1 feet. Nice to plant close together (major stem of one plant about 5 inches from the other).

Purple passion (indoor plant). I am guessing that all indoor plants are actually tropical. I like them for their feathery maroon leaves. I took a cutting from my bilas' plant, removed several lowermost leaves, soaked it in plain water which I changed weekly until roots grew at the lower end of the stem. Then I planted on a pot. Then I noticed the flowers which were initially yellow, then turned to white, which I pulled to investigate, and saw that it was like the seeds of dandelions, so I sent you those. You can try planting them by scattering on moist soil and keeping them moist (you may use spray to keep them moist). See if they will grow.

Salvia red hot (A) are small but with such striking flowers. About 1 ft tall. Can be planted in a plant box, about 5 inches distance from one another.

Sedum (P) (late bloomer). Leaves look like roses themselves during spring. About one foot tall, with clusters of small pink flowers. I got pods from the dried flowers. Not sure though if they were fertilized and are actually ready to be planted. It might be that the frost killed the plant which thereafter wilted and dried up.

Snapdragon (A) are clusters of lovely flowers, the lower lip of the flower you can pull down and release then it will create a snapping sound, hence the name. Less than a feet tall. 1 plant can have so many stems. Put in nicely sunlit area.

This is a spiderplant. Strictly indoor. Easily propagated by the small plants that develop at those "galamays", but I got some seeds from fertilized flowers, which I sent to you in the hope that they can be propagated too using seeds.

Sweet William Indian carpet...nice for borders. Less than a foot high. I am not sure whether this is an annual or perennial. I just got some seeds from my friend Ana's garden (we were not actually sure if there were seeds in the flowers. We were just guessing. Just try to scatter them lightly on moist soil or make a shallow groove and cover with just a little bit of soil.)

This indoor plant is unknown to me. It is peculiar in that it develops seedlings at its leaves! I forgot to mention (yata) in my package that you should try planting them right away by putting the seedlings on a moist soil and keep them watered (gently so as not to flood the seedlings or just spray generously) until the roots are established in the soil.

Another unknown annual to me (unk #2 in the package). I would guess that they love sunshine. Nice in a plant box or border or around a tree or next to a shrub or ferns. I vaguely remember having seen this kind of flower (also impatiens) in the Philippines when I was a child. Grows up to a height of about 1 foot.

Other unknown flowers there in the package I have no picture of. (I forgot.)

Also the BES stand for Black-eyed Susan. There are actually varieties of it, some tall with smaller flowers, but the ones I sent to you have larger feathery leaves and larger flowers but the plant itself is smaller, 1-2 ft high only. Easily propagates itself.

Unk#1 are like tinier version of roses (the flowers) but with nice foliage a bit shaped like those of maple trees and without thorns. However, my cluster had very few flowers, and I am hoping that if I plant some of these seeds next spring I might have a new set of plants that might give me more flowers next year/s.

When you have a garden to look at during summer afternoons you will enjoy the busy buzzing of birds and butterflies and bees, ladybugs, and even grasshoppers! You have a pond so definitely you will have frogs there, who will feast on the insects visiting your flowers.

Better get a hold of some gardening book. You garden should have a variety of flowers that will give you different blooms all throughout spring to fall. Look for books which list those flowers (they differ from place to place). Then plan what you want to plant, putting flowers of different colors side by side. Order a catalog of seeds from one nearest you (we have here johnnyseeds) so you can order some more. You might also want to plant some trees like peaches, some shrubs like strawberry, raspberry and blueberry. I love making jams from them! But hubby said that with strawberries I will spend most of my time pulling out weeds, and that anyway, my in-laws already have patches of them and my bilas and sis-in-law are also planning to plant more. I can look forward to picking from their patches. These berries usually won't give you fruits for the first year or so.

Goodluck in your gardening endeavor! If you get some plants which I don't have, please save some seeds for me too. Just wait til the flowers are wilted, and keep watch of the pods of seeds. Get some before the birds eat them. (I collect mine into envelopes. You know those envelopes that usually come in promo mails, I don't throw them away. Don't keep collected seeds in plastic because they might perspire and then the moisture will encourage growth of molds.)

2004-10-23T18:31:00.000-05:00

I got a cutting of this purple passion from my bilas, putting it in a glass of water when I got home. It started to sprout roots after about 1 week, then I planted in in a small pot with soil. When I noticed that the roots had grown extensively as to show under the pot, I trnasplanted it in a bigger pot. It is very much an indoor plant. At first I thought the white thing was the flower, then after several days, the yellow one appeared! Probably the white pom-pom like thing there is already at the seeding stage.

2004-10-23T18:25:00.000-05:00

We stopped on top of a hill, though quite out of the way, to get a glimpse of the big Moosehead Lake, the same lake showcased in Greenville (in previous post). The mountains show a spectacular display of colors, making it appear golden from afar, despite the fogginess of the day.

2004-10-23T18:23:00.000-05:00

This was taken in Greenville. I love the contrasting colors of the trees' foliage ranging from yellow to red to maroon against the green... And in this area, the water is so serene. The view was breathtaking despite the gloomy grey skies.

2004-10-23T18:12:00.000-05:00

This tiny adult frog was stiking on our French doors at the master's bedroom one rainy night during fall. I took a photo along with my thumb for size comparison. It was the littlest frog I have ever seen.

2004-10-23T18:11:00.000-05:00

This is how the trees look like at the first few weeks of fall. We are lucky to have had an Indian summer in that after the hard frost, we had very nice days that followed, almost as if summer has not yet ended.

2004-10-23T18:08:00.000-05:00

This is now my vegetable garden, the morning just after the first (and hard) frost hit us. The field is still covered with a sheet of ice crystals. Temperature went down to 20 deg F that night.

Fall Starts (False Start????)

2004-09-21T14:34:00.000-05:00

As my flowers are bidding their final goodbyes for this year, the trees are starting their grand show....See how some of the trees surrounding our house have started changing colors from freen to yellow to orange to red, and some to maroon...

The forest at the back of our house still provides a sharp contrast of green and yellow against our house's red roof. 'Tis the best season to walk the streets, enjoying the sight of lively colors of these trees...truly one of the best delights offered by nature!

Late bloomers

2004-09-21T14:28:00.000-05:00

These are some of the late-bloomers as fall starts...Small white-petaled asters,

bigger pink-petaled asters (both are growing wild)...

and very pretty purple-petaled asters.

2004-09-16T20:20:00.000-05:00

We saw a very big caterpillar (we suspect it is one of the kinds of the Luna moth.This one is as big as my middle finger and even longer.

2004-09-06T21:30:00.000-05:00

These are foxgloves that I planted just this spring. I was not expecting them to bloom this year (my other cluster of foxgloves which bloomed earlier were from previous years.)

2004-09-06T21:29:00.000-05:00

These photos are long overdue...Can anyone provide me the name of this flower?

These pansies were those that I planted last spring and bloomed last July...

Small deep-red flowers that looked like tiny roses...

This plant is like hosta (or is it hosta?), the flowers of which grow in clusters

and this is a close up of those clusters of flowers on a tall stem (as tall as me)

The next photos are the different lilies I have near my vegetable garden.

2004-09-06T20:29:00.000-05:00

One thing I love about my new surroundings is that it is full of life, albeit not of human, but of the other species that long have been missing in the cities of Metro Manila, coupled with the cool breeze of clean air, not to mention the different colors in my gardens...

I captured in my camera this butterfly as it sucked the nectar of the coneflower...

A bumblebee doing the same thing with this unknown-to-me flower...

A grass spider I found amongst the wild raspberries...

and I don't know what this caterpillar-like thing held in place by a single thread of silk(?) on an onion leaf. I have never seen these much in the Philippines during my adult life.

2004-09-06T20:15:00.000-05:00

Here's a zoomed-in photo of a squirrel in the public park near the ocean when we went to the Boothbay Harbor. He was getting ready to sneak in to the garbage and get some chips.

2004-09-06T20:07:00.000-05:00

I recently dug out potatoes and carrots (though they were not quite ready yet) for use in my seafood chowder (leftover lobsters and clams from our Lobster Dinner affair.

2004-09-06T20:04:00.000-05:00

Peaches from Mom and Dad. We ate them as is. Loved them! I reserved the small one plus one large to be used for muffins. It tasted good, too!

2004-09-01T10:54:00.000-05:00

On our way to the Boothbay Harbor for the traditional Lobster Dinner, we had to meet Stacey where this monument stood:

This were the signs below the old monument.

2004-08-23T07:47:00.000-05:00

These were my most recent harvest from my vegetable garden. I am drying up all the onions. I have started harvesting tomatillos (the green ones) sitting beside the cucumbers here. I have probably harvested a total of 50 or so cucumbers up to the present time. I started picking jalapeño peppers as well. And the ripe tomatoes I am stocking on my countertop to further ripen. I use them for dips and sauteeing.

Posted by Hello

2004-08-13T14:22:00.000-05:00

My corns started flowering...

And I have been enjoying cucumbers freshly picked from my garden. I eat them with vinegar diluted in water, plus onions, black and red pepper powder, and salt...

I also get onions, as needed for my cooking, from the garden. However, I am not yet harvesting them at this time...

I have also been getting not-so-red tomatoes. Combined with patis, they are the perfect appetizers for fried fish, nilagang baka, etc.

2004-08-13T14:11:00.000-05:00

I was picking wild raspberries in my garden, and I saw this spider...

2004-08-10T08:03:00.000-05:00

Mom said these are coneflowers.

This are nasturtiums, the seeds sof which I sowed last spring when I was quite sure (upon my in-laws' advice) that there would be no danger of frost. My readings said these are edible.

2004-08-10T07:55:00.000-05:00

These were the bales of hay on our field. The red thing at the far right is the roof of our house. We had to store these bales of hay at Dad's barn for winter grass feeding of the cows.

2004-08-09T21:55:00.000-05:00

My cucumbers are growing fast...

corns were almost blown down by the recent thunderstorm, but I managed to restore them to upright position...

my tomatoes have lots of small green fruits already

Potatoes are so bushy now...pretty soon they will wilt and I will have tons of potatoes for salad.

My carrots have also grown bigger after I have thinned them...

My peppers and onions...

My beet greens which I left behind to experiment whether they will have those bid red tubers which are nice to include in potato salad for color variation.

2004-08-09T20:40:00.000-05:00

What could this be? Is this a kind of mushroom that is more advanced than the usual in that they have flower-like growths? I could only surmise it is a kind of mushroom because of the lack of chlorophyll that gives the plants its green appearance...

2004-07-26T21:38:00.000-05:00

This is a tedder, for fluffing up hay so it will dry faster...

Gary baled the cut hay (which Dad did earlier)...Had to finish that before it rains again (tomorrow).

These tractors are the big boys' toys...Men are always looking for an excuse to use them...and haying and baling are "play" to them.

Posted by Hello

2004-07-26T21:29:00.000-05:00

More daylilies (of a different color than the first I posted)...these are those next to my veggie garden.

Posted by Hello

2004-07-26T21:23:00.000-05:00

Can anyone help me identify these flowers? Hummingbirds like them.

Posted by Hello

2004-07-26T21:21:00.000-05:00

A frog and a toad now reside in our fountain.

Posted by Hello

2004-07-26T21:18:00.000-05:00

These are irises that I transplanted. I read in a magazine that irises usually bloom in late spring or early summer, and that the best time to transplant them is during mid-July! And I had been waiting for it to bloom...So what I did was I pulled out some daisies from this spot and transplanted the irises. Hopefully they will bloom next year...

Posted by Hello

2004-07-23T17:48:00.000-05:00

A forumer in asawa.org wanted some insight from Filipinas about their first winter experience. One suggestion I gave was to have a dark surface on which to catch snowflakes when the snow falls. He said it was new to him...so I am posting here some quite blurry yet clear enough to see such snowflakes. Best to catch them at a time when snow falls thinly (if they fall in clumps, they'll melt before you even get to see the individual flakes).

(CLICK on the photos to see larger images)
These are snowflakes caught the moment it starts snowing, with the surrounding air cold enough to not melt them while they descend. The snowmobile seat is still not fully covered with snow so it makes the individual flakes distinct enough to see the hexagonal pattern.

2004-07-23T15:15:00.000-05:00

Baby racoons scavenging for food...they were attacking our garbage cans. No matter how angry one might be because of scattering of trash all over the place, how can he/she be when she sees these cute faces?

2004-07-23T11:16:00.000-05:00

My first harvest of green peppers...

Posted by Hello

2004-07-23T11:13:00.000-05:00

Additional new blooms (they're annuals from my Mom, but I don't know what they are)

Posted by Hello

2004-07-18T19:28:00.000-05:00

Found this small nest (the hollow middle just about the size of a regular egg) on the lawn.

2004-07-18T19:26:00.000-05:00

Tomatillas (husk tomatoes) are used for salsa, according to Mom.

2004-07-18T19:23:00.000-05:00

The lilies along the driveway near the vegetable garden also have started to bloom.

False Sunflowers

2004-07-18T19:17:00.000-05:00

As the name implies, these are like miniature sunflowers.

I gathered some and arranged them in a vase -- beautiful...

2004-07-18T17:15:00.000-05:00

Zinnias...small yet lovely and dainty.

Delphinium

2004-07-18T17:09:00.000-05:00

very striking cluster of purple flowers (Thanks to Bingbing for identifying the flowers!)

Bee Balm

2004-07-18T16:47:00.000-05:00

Feathery soft layer of petals upon another layer underneath. Bees love them.

2004-07-18T16:34:00.000-05:00

This is milkweed. We have 3 patches of them along our driveway and several patches more surrounding the fields. They smell so good I wanted to transplant them but Gary said they attract all sorts of insects.

Daylilies

2004-07-16T14:33:00.000-05:00

This is another unidentified new bloom in my flower garden...Each flower is big, yet the stem is so short (if I cut a part of the stem with the leaves to make it longer, I cut a whole bunch of them!)...

So I cut them short, 5 of them, arranged them in a dome-like appearance, using a short vase which was a scented candle jar...(I did the same with the other still-unidentified flower on the left, which I surmise to be a California bluebell.)

Daylilies

2004-07-14T09:05:00.000-05:00

These are daylilies (thanks for identifying, bingbing!)I picked from the roadside...

They close during nighttime.

So this morning I got out very early to go to the site (about 2 houses away from ours) and dig out some of them and transplant them into my flower garden. Taraaaa!

UPDATE as of Jul 16: I noticed that the flowers did not open the next day; instead, it continued to wilt, while the other flowers in the bunch slowly opened and bloomed on the 2nd day after the first set. Maybe that was the reason for its name.

2004-07-12T18:24:00.000-05:00

Can't wait for these tomatoes to be ready for eating...

2004-07-12T18:21:00.000-05:00

The veggies in my garden now are getting big...These are 3 rows of potatoes...

A row of tomatoes (see some green fruits?)

10 plants of brocolli (I already harvested the heads and some lateral florets. Patrick likes them very much.)

A short row of cucumbers (on the right) and 3 rows of sweet corn...The kids helped me weed the garden this morning!

These are 4 tomatillo plants with lots of flowers already (tomatillos are a variety of tomatoes used in making salsa).

2 rows of onions. (I use some leaves for flavoring dips and dressings, esp. patis and vinegar, also in soups and arroz caldo.)

Andy peppers (already with BIG fruits -- good for pickling). I also have some jalapeño ones.

Beets (green leaves will be ready for harvesting probably by next week). I will have to leave some widely spaced apart for the tuber to grow some more.

I have two half-rows of carrots. I just thinned them hence you ca see the excess plants lying around (kakahinayang! but I had to do that to help the carrots have enough space for growth.

And this is a bunch of wild grapes at a corner of the vegetable garden. Dad said these grapes are not good for eating, but very very good for jams.

2004-07-12T17:40:00.000-05:00

Just recently Gary dug a trench to place the powerline (the old line was so far from the house now that he suspected it was consuming more energy just because of additional length; this new one is a shorter course). The trench now covered with dirt, he planned to sow grass seeds because it just looked -- well, plain. I had a different idea. I turned the path into a walkway. I placed slates which I dug up from under the gravel near the house (the previous garden reached the house; got burned during the fire). Still halfway through the project...

So this pathway leads to the vegetable garden (where currently we have our cheap pool).

HOSTA

2004-07-12T17:26:00.001-05:00

My friend bingbing helped me identify this. Thanks, bingbing!

Transplanted Flower Plants

2004-07-12T17:26:00.000-05:00

These are 3 plants that were growing outside of my flower garden (i.e., with the other wild plants around). Gary said they might have been sowed from last year's flowerplants (which were destroyed by the fire). The left most smaller plants had striking fuschia-colored flowers. The tall rightmost plant according to my friend Bingbing said it is a tobacco kind of plant. She gave this tip: transplant flower plants AFTER they are done blooming. (Actually that is what my husband and in-laws say too, but I am quite impatient I just wanted to try to transplant them now. If they die, then I will try to watch out for the young shoots in next year's spring. If they live, well and good. AT least I tried...hehehe...)

2004-07-11T20:53:00.000-05:00

These are some flowers growing wildly in the field.

2004-07-08T14:28:00.000-05:00

New flowers that bloomed...

2004-07-08T13:57:00.000-05:00

A small (sleepy-looking) frog that leapt out of a big boulder which I attempted to move...

2004-07-08T13:09:00.000-05:00

Bees in copulation...

2004-07-05T21:19:00.000-05:00

Sunset view from Tony and Stacey's lawn...

2004-07-05T21:13:00.000-05:00

A beatle among the leaves of a potato plant...

2004-06-29T10:33:00.000-05:00

I captured the following photos of two birds fighting over something (a mate perhaps?). Notice one perching on top of one below, struggling with its wings wildly flapping...

Winning bird pecking on the losing one...

And another peck...

And then he saw (?) me...(I was standing behind my kitchen door leading to the flower garden. I used the zoom feature of my cam to capture the photos. I did not want to distract the birds.)
They immediately flew away...

My Vegetable Garden

2004-06-26T13:55:00.000-05:00

Corns

Potatoes

Spinach

Onions

Peppers

Tomatoes...
I also have beet greens and carrots which are still small for picture-taking at this point. These photos show lots of weeds! (I weeded the next day, okay?)

2004-06-25T15:13:00.000-05:00

Strawberries...

waiting to be harvested...from Mom's garden.

2004-06-25T15:09:00.000-05:00

Pansy common name for any of a family of plants having large showy flowers composed of five leafy sepals, five to ten petals, numerous stamens, and two to five carpels, each with numerous round, black, shiny seeds. The leaves are compound, the leaflets variously and irregularly divided. The fibers of the root are often thickened and tuberous. Peony species are large herbaceous perennials or, rarely, half-shrubby plants, native to Europe, Asia, and the northwestern United States. Because of the beauty of their flowers, some species are cultivated, particularly the common peony, a native of the mountain woods of southern Europe. This species has carmine or blood-red flowers. A variety with double flowers is common. The white peony is another favorite garden species. The mountain peony in favorable circumstances may attain large size and a height of about 4 m (about 12 ft). It is propagated by cuttings and also by grafting.

Scientific classification: Peonies make up the family Paeoniaceae. The common peony is classified as Paeonia officinalis, the white peony as Paeonia lactiflora, and the mountain peony as Paeonia moutan.

Microsoft� Encarta� Reference Library 2003. � 1993-2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

2004-06-25T15:05:00.000-05:00

Peone

...is a common name for any of a family of plants having large showy flowers composed of five leafy sepals, five to ten petals, numerous stamens, and two to five carpels, each with numerous round, black, shiny seeds. The leaves are compound, the leaflets variously and irregularly divided. The fibers of the root are often thickened and tuberous. Peony species are large herbaceous perennials or, rarely, half-shrubby plants, native to Europe, Asia, and the northwestern United States. Because of the beauty of their flowers, some species are cultivated, particularly the common peony, a native of the mountain woods of southern Europe. This species has carmine or blood-red flowers. A variety with double flowers is common. The white peony is another favorite garden species. The mountain peony in favorable circumstances may attain large size and a height of about 4 m (about 12 ft). It is propagated by cuttings and also by grafting.

Scientific classification: Peonies make up the family Paeoniaceae. The common peony is classified as Paeonia officinalis, the white peony as Paeonia lactiflora, and the mountain peony as Paeonia moutan.

Microsoft� Encarta� Reference Library 2003. � 1993-2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

2004-06-19T08:12:00.000-05:00

Bees found haven in my garden and find delight in the nectar of these flowers...It is so heartwarming for me to see life at its full, after having been through winter for 5 months, a cold and seemingly lifeless stillness...

2004-06-18T10:19:00.000-05:00

Salvia hotlike (?) red (Salvia coccinea), an annual, with brilliant striking scarlet trumpet-shaped flowers.

2004-06-18T10:16:00.000-05:00

Snapdragon ((Antirrhinum magus), whot taken from above, deceivingly looking like a multilayer of petals here,

But seen from the side is actually a cluster of flowers...

Each individual floret has a unique shape.

2004-06-18T10:11:00.000-05:00

Columbines (A. caerulea) up close

and a light yellow variety only starting to bloom...

and the purple variety with gently curved spikes (A> vulgaris) up-close.

2004-06-18T10:06:00.000-05:00

One side of my garden...

The other side of my garden.
It is so good to see the fruits of my labor...The sound of water in the fountain gently falling, plus the sight of my multi-colored plants, plus the chirping of birds all around me is the perfect therapy for someone who is under stress (but I am not) or the perfect and very cheap yet deeply satisfying recreational activity. Nothing beats the feeling of oneness with God's creation.

2004-06-18T10:00:00.000-05:00

Strawberries from Mom....big and sweet-tart and juicy...

Yummy!

2004-06-18T09:57:00.000-05:00

Columbine (Aquilegia caerulea) taken at dusk...Notice the gentle curving of its spikes.

Buttercups are wild flowers with petals that are shiny they seem to have been laminated, and with small and sparse foliage on tall slender stems. They abound everywhere, even on the field, but I let them thrive on my flower garden because of their beauty. I pick them up almost everyday to put in my flower vase.

Lupine at the early days of blooming...the clusters of florets that are crabclaw-shaped start blooming from the bottom upward. The foliage show stellate formation. I think they re-sow themselves. I have seen several isolated plants in other parts of my garden.

California bluebells is my guess for these lovely dainty flowers in groups of two at every stem, with stellate-shaped foliage as well. I saw an isolated plant also in the flowering stage interspersed with daisies, so I figure it is also self-sowing. Next time I won't pull any weedlooking plants off my garden until 2nd week of June.

Another variety of Columbine (Aquilegia caerulea) with striking contrast of red orange-yellow petals, this time the spikes are not curved but straight, the blooms slightly larger and more open than in the previously-shown purple variety (A. vulgaris). Foliage is clearly shown here, but I can't think of a way to describe it (seeing is better anyway.)

Daisies are everywhere...very wild, with scarce small pointed leaves in a sturdy single stalk. They grow in clusters. The petals are so delicate.

Petunias (P. drummondii) from my generous mother-in-law...clusters of small flowers either in solid or combination of colors, with stiff stems and simple foliage...

I don't know what this is...The plant is just about 6-8 inches high (it is an annual) with uninteresting foliage, but the flower has several layers of petals in red-white combination...so striking...

Another unkown flower clusters of delicate pink, the individual florets about 1-2 inches big/long, unscented, grows in a bush (perennial).

My Flower Garden

2004-06-15T18:22:00.000-05:00

Some of the flowers around the house...
This is Lupine...

wild daisies (plenty in the field as well as in my flower garden).

From Mom...(I don't know the name)...

Another (bush) flower I don't know the name of...

Another unknown to me...

and another unknown...

and another quite extraordinary...

this one reminds me of cluster-type gumamela...

A columbine variety just about to bloom...

2004-06-07T12:19:00.000-05:00

This is Mom's greenhouse containing all the seedlings of her flowerplants. Yesterday I went over to her house to get some of her excess,

and transplanted some of them into my own garden

Marigold...

2004-06-07T12:09:00.000-05:00

This is Ana's garden, which her mom started for her. Her mom says Ana has no interest in gardening. I could empathize with Ana in that she has her hands full already with two daughters aged less than 2 years and a month-old.

A closer look at some of the other flower plants there...

2004-06-07T12:04:00.000-05:00

This lilac bush is partly hidden by a tree situated near the beginning of our driveway at the periphery of our lawn. I only noticed it when we were working at the vegetable garden!

The white lilac...

And the purple lilac.

I cut some bunches of these heavenly-scented flowers to put on our dining table.

We have plenty more lilac plants at the back of our house but they seem to have stunted growth and at the moment have not flowered yet...

2004-06-07T11:59:00.000-05:00

Almost resembling grass, this unknown-to-me plant has tiny white flowers. It occupies a small space in my flower garden. Yesterday on my way to Mom's, I saw the same plant wildly growing in the field...

2004-06-07T11:57:00.000-05:00

Gary has fixed the fountain despite a missing hose. It is quite relaxing to hear the sound of water dripping from it, as if one were beside a brook with running water. Coupled with the bird sounds that abound in my surrounding, one will readily feel peace in my garden especially when seated in the swing on the lawn.

2004-06-07T11:54:00.000-05:00

When Ana's mom came to meet me, we discovered something in common: the liking for plants and gardening. Though I am quite a newbie in this field, we enjoyed taking a short walk the second meeting we had, to dig up some more plants from the roadside. This is a columbine already with flowers that I have transplanted into my flower garden...

Taken from the ant's perspective, the unique feature of this flower is the spiked petals, the purpose of which I will never guess. Ana's mom said that the hummingbirds are particularly attracted to them. Maybe the spiked petals serve as water reservoir (and probably the flowers have a chemical added to it that makes it sugary) which the hummingbirds drink.

More veggies in the garden

2004-06-07T11:41:00.000-05:00

It's Saturday, and the day is sunny...perfect for transplanting the seedlings!

These are tomato seedlings. Note the yellowish leaves. Coupled with roots extending way far beyond the pots, Mom said it signifies insufficient nutrients from the soil, and that the plant needed badly to be transplanted from their tiny pots to a garden bed.|

Aside from tomatoes we also transplanted bell peppers. Then we sowed the seeds of cucumbers (which needed a lot of space because they creep over the whole area!), beet greens, and carrots. Later that day, Ann came and gave us their excess corn seedlings.

2004-06-01T11:31:00.001-05:00

These are the plants that I dug up from the roadside near our house.

2004-06-01T11:31:00.000-05:00

This is a mildly,heavenly-scented flower (a kind of lily) that I also dug up.

Planting Potatoes

2004-05-31T16:39:00.000-05:00

Today we worked on the vegetable garden. I called Mom early this morning to ask her how to do it (should I plant it the same way I did with the onions?). She said it would be easier to show than to tell the instructions on the phone, but that she just had to attend to her laundry. During that time, I went out to start with my flower garden. The kids helped me.

Finally Mom came and instead of just showing me how to plant potatoes, she started tilling the land with the backhoe, touching the areas nearest the planted onions and spinach. She said I should deter the weeds from establishing their roots at least every two weeks.

Later Dad also came and rotatilled the aread where we would plant the potatoes becauce the soild had gotten so hard (Mom said it was like granite!). The kids all helped in picking up rocks. Mom and I picked up lossened grass and weeds to throw them away into the field.

Mom saw a big nightcrawler and asked Juliana to pick it up and set it at a corner of the garden to avoid crushing it with the rotatiller.

Then we planted the potatoes. The seeds should be planted deep (about 5 inches from topsoil) and about 1 foot apart from one another (Dad said so they would produce big tubers). Patrick also tried to do it. It's nice to have my in-laws teaching me about their ways AND teaching my kids as well...Adult models are critical in a child's formation of his/her values, and I certainly can't be the lone model especially for the boys. Like what Mom said, it takes at least two to do the parenting, a female and a male, to be the role models in the normal development of an individual. And I agree...

2004-05-29T16:41:00.000-05:00

Gary mowed the lawn today...After that we decided to go for a walk with the kids down the street to enjoy the sunny day...