A job worth doing

About two years ago a girlfriend of mine asked if I would help her with her landscape/garden/flower bed at her newly built home - the yard was devoid of any landscape. It was a dream come true for me, no demo to do, no digging up 50 year old roots, a blank canvas. I have never lived in a fresh built, brand new house, never chosen the flooring or cupboards, have never had to pick out colors or tile. I have also never had the option of starting a landscape totally from scratch.

 I did all the necessary 'digging' for info - what colors would you like, maintenance level and what do you absolutely not want. We planned out the tree types and locations, the play areas for the kids, and the screening from the neighbors. Mrs D was pretty easy to please, she likes all colors and a lot of color, throughout the season, with spaces to fill in a few annuals for that extra little pop. She pretty much let me do whatever I wanted to do. I also had the task of trying to find plants low in maintenance, little deadheading, no self seeders, no invasive rooters, but plants that enjoyed a little one on one time with the home owner for a quiet 'mommy alone time' watering session.

I chose a Rocket Ligularia for the main focus of the flower bed at the front of the house, I surrounded it with iris, delphinium, dianthus, gaillardia, ajuga, lillies, achillea, veronica and a few others with room for her annuals. The bed turned out very nice, her ligularia survived while my third has perished. Maybe I need to spend some one on one with my plants.

The post is being written because I have been recently asked to do two more flower beds for another two friends, so here I go again.

I stopped by Mrs G's today and took a couple photos, walked out some general measurements and asked the same questions - color, maintenance level, any favorite flowers and what do you really dislike - I've been given the 'go ahead and do whatever'. It's a fairly straight forward flower bed job almost triangular in shape along the front wall of the house with a sweeping curve to it that wraps around to the corner gate. The plan is pretty much ready, shrubs, perennials, spots for annuals, varying heights, a range of seasons, shapes and colors - I may do some final tweaking yet but feel pretty good that it will be all she is looking for, and I can be there to help shop and/or plant.

The second garden is taking a little more resourcefulness on my behalf. I am not what you call a formal style gardener - none of my flower beds have straight lines - I kind of hate them, I love curves and soothing shapes. I also have some restrictions to work around - heights and keep the view through the windows. A split level house, beds on either side of the front door, the upper floor overhangs the basement level and there are low windows on the basements walls. I know which plants I want to choose the trouble is trying to find the full season of color range and the best sizes for the new cultivars available. I am also not sure if I can be present during shopping or planting of this garden - which means the list has to include substitutions if necessary. (The garden I did for Mrs D included plants from my own yard and plants I purchased very cheap at a plant sale/swap). It's not quite as easy as the first garden but the plan is beginning to take shape.

I am an El-Cheapo at heart, I will always do my best to get the best deal or lowest price for everything and anything I can. I absolutely love plant sales/swaps at schools or churches and I grow a lot of plants from seed. I do check the local newspaper for the want ads displaying 'free perennials' - some plants should be divided or they just don't grow properly.

So the quest continues to find the best garden plans for my friends so they can proudly claim 'my friend did it for me'

The rant has ended - or has it?

After all my rantings about the Thompson and Morgan seed company my order has finally arrived. The lady at the post office said she figures it took so long because they shipped by regular letter post - apparently that means delivered by snail. We then look for the date stamp and notice we can't find one but that the package says 'if undelivered return to .... are you ready? .... Belgium' - well no duh it takes a month and a half to get here the poor snail had to swim an ocean. I am happy to receive the cool plant seeds I ordered but disappointed that there are still two packets missing - one for me one for sis in law. We are in debate as to whether or not cancel the last two items - who knows when they would arrive. If this company would've been up front with me in the first place - that timing is not one of their priorities I would've understood, but telling me my order was on 'rush' status and then it doesn't arrive for another three weeks really cooks my bird. I definately will not order from them again via internet - you can buy their seeds almost anywhere although the selection isn't as good for unique or rare items, which is really my interest. I don't want to be the same as everyone else, or have all the same plants, I like to be different and enjoy a challenge when it comes to growing stuff that shouldn't survive here. I have had a zone six wisteria in my yard for 5 years now (I live in zone 3b), it's never produced flowers but it hasn't died, so I am ahead of the game. I will be planting some of these seeds tomorrow I think, I am going to have to do some serious rearranging of what I already have planted, and figuring out how many more lights I should (but don't) have. I also have to figure where to put all these trays of seeds/seedlings - I need a greenhouse heater - bad. The days are perfect for growing right now but the nights are too cool to not have a heater going - I learned that lesson last year, the hard way. I am a little more cautious this year and will wait until it is time to move outside.

I'm off to dream of the garden that will be.

Can you count?

I am still completely disgusted with Thompson and Morgan.

I have received all my seeds from Lindenberg and nothing from T&M. I tried to email my thoughts about their company but the email won't go through. I called last week to find out 'what's the deal' and spoke to a curt woman that claims I shouldn't be bothered by the wait "it has to come from the US which is 10-14 business days. If you don't receive anything by the first of April, calls us back and we'll look into it" she still didn't have any explaination for the missing items, but "they'll probably come later".

I HATE THIS COMPANY

I WILL NEVER SHOP WITH THEM AGAIN

If anyone reads this and thinks they would like to order from the same company I suggest you order now for next season because they take their time filling and shipping your order - spring lasts all year there I guess. So much for having some of these plants ready for the school tea in mid May - that ain't gonna happen.

I am just so ripped about the whole ordeal.

And the S*%t list continues....

So this post is finding me even more peeved than the last. I have received all but the live plants from Lindenberg and still nothing from T&M. I am not a happy camper - to say the least. They have one more day before they get another phone call from me - and this time my niceness factor will be very limited. The day I complained (last time) the progress of my order page had eventually changed to this week delivery. Last Friday they sent me an email to let me know my order has been shipped - except for two items which seem to have been deleted from my list - who knows what is happening with them. The bulk of the items I ordered should be arriving tomorrow - I checked Can Post and they state from the Ontario address to mine should take six business days on regular shipping - so much for the "rush" on my order. (the order form attached to the catalog states that they use UPS or FedEx - not the cheapest possible snail mail - no offence Can Post) The progress of my order page also doesn't state how my items were shipped - 'unknown shipping method'. What the heck does that mean? They have no idea who is moving my order - how do they not know that? I am more and more annoyed with this company every day that goes by. They will be getting an email from me regarding their dispatching policy - "your order will be shipped within 3 business days (Monday thru Friday). transit times vary from 3-10 business days after dispatch." and their 100% customer satisfaction guarantee - "we strive to provide the best products and level of service possible and generally all our customers are delighted first time. however, we're not perfect and occasionally we get things wrong, but we'll always do our best to put them right to your total satisfaction".

My sis-in-law and I put in an order with these people thinking they were a reputable company. I will not be using them again, I will look elsewhere for the plants or seeds I want. The lesson here - customer beware, check business ratings and keep looking around.

Someone is on my S*%t list

So as you can see by the title this post will be a ranting and raving post - mostly ranting. For the first time ever this year I decided to order flower seeds via catalogs. I found two companies I wanted to order from - Thompson and Morgan - they have such a beautiful and interesting selection including stuff that no one else carries, and Lindenberg seeds - they have the best prices, a limited selection but eBren friendly prices - I'm a major cheap-o.
So here is my rant

Warning...foul language has been slightly edited...

I ordered February 19 from both companies - online at T&M and by phone to Lindenberg. The lady I spoke to at Lindenberg told me the seeds would come fairly soon and the plants would come weather permitting - I understand. I get an email from T&M so I can track my orders progress - shipment and delivery dates - these dates keep changing almost everyday....hmmm...weird.

Last week I received a package from Lindenberg, some things are back ordered but I am happy to get something. Today was the expected date (this date has been on my tracking page for over a week now) of delivery for my T&M stuff so I check the status again to see if the stuff has been shipped (an hour later.....)  for S*%t sakes the dates have changed again - now the dates are from next week to April first!!!!!!!

I am so Pi$$ed at this point I call customer service and complain.

Where is my order?

Am I getting it this year?

What is taking so long?

At this point I am so frustrated that I do not want to be ordering from them again, and I tell him so - recorded call - gotta like that, I will also tell my friends that they are not shipping 3-10 business days as their website claims. The guy on the other end of the phone was very polite and apologetic to the point where I can almost feel his nose up my butt, but I'm still fuming. He asks me if I ordered via web page and says "I guess no one started your order" so he has put a "rush" on it and expected delivery is from the 15-23 of this month. Unless I get some seeds soon I will not order from them again. I have purchased their seeds before through my local garden center/hardware store and I was happy with their product - I AM NOT happy with their customer service. So a fair warning goes out to all who read this post that if you have an itchy garden thumb like mine I wouldn't waste my time ordering from Thompson and Morgan, go directly to your local seed supplier and buy there - or don't buy anything from them the choice I leave up to you.

A very disgruntled T&M customer. eBren

The Greenhouse

I have to track back a bit to last year. My birthday is in Spring and I am a garden nut. Last year I finally decided to get what I have desired for so many years - a greenhouse.

My visions of how a greenhouse works and what I could grow were phenominal - fantasy like.

I purchased a small greenhouse from a local hardware store - it was on sale and in the 'Bren range' (I hate spending money on myself - it almost makes me feel selfish). I got the boxes home and set out to read the instructions. Hhhmmmmm - these intsructions SUCK!!! Mostly pictures, not very informative pictures either, with a little swearing and help from my Dear Hubby (DH) we got the unit together - on the driveway between my truck and the garage door. It's early April, the weather is warming up nicely (sort of) and I am so anxious to start using the greenhouse, but where do I put it? I think north of the house - fairly sheltered from the winds in my area but it will receive sun all day. DH has a different idea - put it over by the horse pen close to the tack shed - protected on all sides except the south. (oh yeah I live on a farm) I need a day or so to think about it's final placement and getting a cup of coffee I hear a weird 'crash/bang' noise outside. From my garden door in the kitchen I can usually see the greenhouse on the driveway - but - IT'S GONE!!!

Where the hell did it go??

A lovely gust of wind sucked it out of it's spot tipped it into the driveway beside the garage and chucked it down the driveway north of the house. I grabbed my coat and went out to rescue my poor mangled greenhouse. DH, seeing me dash outside, came to see what the commotion was about and helped take apart the last few pieces that were still hanging together. We took all the pieces into the garage and I began to straighten out the bent bits.

What a disaster!!! I was heart broken.

My poor greenhouse that I spent so much money on is now garbage. Over the next few days I go out to the garage on a regular basis to visit the pieces scattered all over the garage floor and dream of what could have been. We usually have friends visit for the Easter break so I plan to rebuild the greenhouse with a strong base this time. With a little help from DH and our buddy Bob they built me a base out of old railway ties. As DH is busy with other things, Bob and I get to work rebuilding the greenhouse on it's new sturdy base.

SUCCESS!!

The greenhouse is now bolted to the base, sturdy and set in it's new place - let's get plants in it. I actually held back for a few weeks, which I thought was a sufficient amount of time - yeah think again. Two days go by with my plants in the greenhouse and everything is good, I am out there checking two or three times a day - I am sure if I could live out there I would. Then mother nature craps in my cornflakes. FROST - hard frost - kills off more than half of the seedlings I started back in February. I am beginning to think this greenhouse thing wasn't such a good idea. Crushed from all the disasters lately I suck it up and try again, reseed all the things I lost, have a small funeral for all the plants and seedlings I tenderly grew that saw their demise at the hand of the cold. I spend a lot of time searching for cheap ways to heat the greenhouse at night - solutions for cheap heating are very few. Eventually I do get all the plants out to the greenhouse and they grow without any more problems - except I guess for the spidermites that travelled in on a white Liatris spicata I purchased - the little buggers were very well hidden when I bought the plant - I am usually very good about checking purchased plants for bugs/disease, but I missed these guys and they spread like wildfire throughout the greenhouse.

My Dad, a very talented woodworker, built a pine adjustable shelving unit for my birthday. It fits perfectly, four slatted shelves - lots of room for all the plant trays.

Although I have already started seeds for this season I am going to be practising my patience this year. Don't get too over zealous with getting the plants outside to the greenhouse - or find that cheap heat solution soon. There is still two feet of snow around the greenhouse and the temperatures during the day are just above freezing. I keep myself preoccupied with my plant binder, my blog pages and scouring the net for cheap DIY projects. It seems to be helping but I've still got an itchy garden thumb - I'll be starting more seeds by the end of the week. A few photos of the greenhouse with plants and seedlings from last year - post hard frost funeral. A drizzly, cloudy day was perfect for taking the pictures in late May. The first photo - the south wall, top shelf, holds tomatoes (I bought), hot peppers, pansies (I bought) various flowers I seeded (reseeded). The lower shelf holds osteospermum (I bought), cypress vine, moonflowers, white shockwave petunias and purple wave petunias (all from seed).

The north wall holds a coffee table my Dad built when he was in high school - I think welding class, anyway it's old, not very pretty but it is sturdy and useful. It is holding a Canna lily 'Wyoming' (purchased), Artemesia and creeping speedwell (both purchased), a perennial geranium and a variegated Jacob's ladder (both from my sis in law). Under the coffee table you can barely see the water hyacinth that I bought from a local nursery/greenhouse, they were huge and very much worth the money ($5) but since the pond isn't ready they will stay here for a few more days. The floor of my greenhouse is covered in a black tarp that used to be used for covering bales.

Seeds seeds and more seeds

As of last night the new planting season has begun. I seeded thirteen different varieties of flowers, some perennials for my area and a few annuals. As I am still waiting on my orders from Thompson & Morgan and Lindenberg my green fingers were beginning to itch - I couldn't wait any longer. The seeds I planted are those of flowers that will take a little longer to grow anyway - either they have a long germination period or they grow so slow you have to start them early. My youngest daughters school has a plant/bake sale in mid May and previous experience tells me that if I don't start things early enough, people will not buy mini-seedlings even if they are $0.25. The year before last I purchased 18 plants from that sale and spent about $12 - the best way to increase your perennial list is to buy from a local school/church/organization and they benefit as well. I have bought some pretty cool plants from the schools sale. Last year the 'kangaroo apple' (solanum laciniatum) from Australia, was a huge seller - I bought three, two of which stayed at about three feet tall or so, the last one (closer to the deck) stretched to about 5 and a half feet tall. Very pretty blue/purple flowers and interesting seed pods - egg shaped 'berries'. I actually got a call yesterday to see if this plant was on my list of things to grow this year, it is, and they are planted.

Now I wait some more for the new seeds to arrive.