More Primroses

At the local garden center/grocery store, where I work, they offer coupons occasionally for free items. This month was a free Primrose. All customers who have the coupon (via the internet/email newsletter) will get a free Primrose.
Here is an up close picture of mine.

Yesterday felt like a heatwave with temps in the 40's F. The sun was shining brightly and I loved the shadows it casted on my greenhouse.

My Latest Bargain Aquisition...

You will see in this picture, there are 5 wrought iron trellis'. 2 are arched shaped and 3 are fan shaped. They each normally ran over $40plus ....but I got the arched ones for $5/pc. and the fan shaped ones for $3/pc. ( I think you can enlarge the pic by clicking on it. ) Now that's a bargain. They are heavy and very sturdy.

Notice the snow - we had several inches of snow and some ice on top of that today. Please ignore the mini rose bush...I had it sitting out there and forgot to bring it in. Maybe it will be ok?

I am using the arched shaped trellis' for my luffa and the fan shaped for tomatoes and wax beans.
The reason I got them so cheap is that they were damaged. The damage is mainly on the finials - some are missing on the tops. Big deal...they will be covered anyway and even if they aren't, it will just add more charm to the garden.
I can't wait until the ground is thawed to place these babies in the ground.

Indoor Garden Updates

Progress of the herbs. I finally have soil to transplant these gems into bigger pots and baskets. That will be a later post.
The Luffa is starting to get more leaves. I need to place them in bigger pots as well until I get them outdoors. I know, I know, I started them too early. I guess I will just have to wait and see. I have seeds left to plant more in case these get too leggy and viney...time will tell.

New plant! The greenhouse where I work, had some cute and very aromatic flowers for sale. I loved these fairy primroses or Primula Malacoides. Here is some information about these plants.

Aren't they just the cutest! The smell lovely and bring a lot of color to the house. Hopefully I can nurse these babies until spring and place them out in the front garden. I love the fuchsia and yellow together - my favorite spring colors.

Dreaming...

I long for the days of summer....
I can see the vibrant colors of nature

I can feel the warmth of the sun

I can hear the cooing of the birds and hum of the bees

I can smell the sweet aroma of all the beauty around me

Where I Purchased My Portable Greenhouse

I have had many questions on where I purchased my portable greenhouse. I got it at the garden center where I work. If you don't live in the Lancaster County area of Pennsylvania, that isn't gonna do you any good.
You can google Portable greenhouses and then click images (which I just did) and I see many of them at different places on the web. You may even try visiting your local garden center and see if they have any or can get one for you??
I only paid $39.99 for mine. It is well worth the investment as I can use it over and over again or even year round. I will take it outdoors in the spring and bring it back in over the winter to keep some of my tender plants until they can go back out the following spring.

It's a Cocoa and Toast Morning!

When the outdoor thermometer is reading 8 degrees F, it is the perfect morning to make some Hershey cocoa and toast for breakfast! The forecast today is for sunshine, but the temps will stay in the teens. I have to work today, so I guess I better bundle up. I am thankful though, that we are not seeing below 0 temps like other areas of the country and continent. BRRRRRR...

Update on My Seedlings

WOW! In just 2 days, the luffa almost tripled in size! They are on the left. The herbs grew as well, but not like the luffa. I am just amazed at this. Can ya tell I am a novice at seed starting? It doesn't take much, obviously, to get me excited. Maybe it is spring fever and I am just ready to get out there! Maybe it is looking at the blogs from Australia and seeing their summer gardens, that is getting me so worked up and wanting spring to come NOW. Maybe I am just an impatient person who can's sit back and enjoy winter...whatever it is, as soon as the weather is tolerable to be out in the garden, I will be there. Cleaning up and clearing out.

I promise not to bore you to much with my seedlings the next 4 months, so I will wait until I transplant these guys into bigger pots to post again about them. Maybe.....

A New Home For the Greenhouse

Well, I did it. I took down the Christmas decor and tree. The greenhouse is now standing where the tree was - in front of the window. It is amazing how in 24 hours - less than 24 hours - overnight, the seedlings grew and I mean grew!

Check out the Luffa seeds on the left! Here they were just yesterday! The herbs also shot up as well. I better hurry and collect more pots for transplanting next month. I am so excited to create the herb baskets and planters.

Seedlings

I scored another deal at work yesterday. First off, I got a self watering window planter that was regularly $9.99 for $2.50. This will be great to make one of my herb planters. I also asked in the greenhouse for old plastic pots from the plants that come in. (They just throw them out) One of my coworkers will be saving these for me since I threw all mine out over the years...Live and learn. I knew I should have kept them, and know better now. I need them to transplant some of the below. I will need to give them a bleach wash as suggested by the greenhouse girl, so I do not contaminate my new seedlings. Inside the planter above, are several colorful pot bottoms/protectors that I got for a quarter a piece.
Here are some of the Luffa seeds starting to sprout. In a couple weeks, I will transplant them into bigger pots.

Here are some of the herb sprouts. I will also be transplanting these as well into bigger pots and mixed containers.

I am asking hubby to hook up a light inside the greenhouse for all these new little friends to help with growth. When I move the greenhouse in front of the window here shortly ( I still need to take down my Christmas tree that is in that spot) I should have enough natural light and not need the grow light as much?

I know this is early to get seedlings started, but I am comfortable with the herbs starting now, as I want some fresh herbs for in the house and as far as the luffa, I want them to be nice and big when I plant them in the ground in early spring. (After fear of frost) The luffas are an experiment and I will see how this works. If it looks like in a couple months they are just too leggy in pots, I can plant more seeds since I have more. I am just concerned that the luffa has a long growing time before harvesting, and I want to see if this will work starting early inside to extend my time. (If that makes any sense)

Amaryllis

My mother in law gave us all an amaryllis for Christmas this year. Here is a pic of mine so far. I have never had one of these before, so I am excited to watch its progress.