Bricks ‘n Blooms Weekly 131
Hi there! Happy Mother’s Day to all of the incredible moms out there.
I hope you had a great week!
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Random Things Happening Behind the Scenes at Bricks ‘n Blooms
What a week it was!
Between gardening and dashing around, it was an incredibly busy week!
We spent the weekend in Pittsburgh celebrating my niece’s graduation from law school.
It was really a thrill to watch her graduate as I had accomplished this same goal when I was her age about 25 years ago.
The family and I had a wonderful time celebrating with her and the rest of our extended family and we are making our way back to New Jersey this morning.
I also went to a fun pre-graduation party with some old friends where we celebrated our kids’ last year in high school.
For several of us, this is the last one to graduate high school, so it is a milestone year as a parent.
Since that time we stayed home and moving, I hadn’t seen some of these ladies in a long time! And it was really nice catching up with them.
In other breaking news, I had an MRI done on my shoulder earlier in the week. Although it improved after receiving a steroid injection, I’m still in a lot of pain with limited motion.
So, off to get an MRI I went to narrow down any other issues that might be going on.
Turns out I have adhesive capsulitis, aka frozen shoulder. Which is pretty painful but I’ll get through it. It’s limited me a bit in the gardens, but I’m still doing what I can to keep my shoulder moving.
If you’ve experienced this before or have any tips as to what helped you through it, please let me know in the comments below cause I’d love to hear your experience.
Speaking of gardening, I finished planting all of my indoor seed starts this week. The dahlias have all sprouted now. And the lisianthus is still hanging on outdoors.
They still aren’t doing much and I’m tempted to toss them.
What I’m Shopping For This Week
This week I stocked up on a few more garden supplies that I’m running low plus a few other odds and ends.
This is what I bought this week!
- This trellis netting support for my raised garden beds to keep my dahlias, zinnias, snapdragons, cosmos, and other flowers upright.
- With the gardening season well underway, I needed a few more bags of potting soil.
- I bought this cute summer dress in a few colors! What a good deal and perfect for those crazy hot days.
- These organic chia seeds. I’ve tried a bunch of different brands and these are by far the best ones. I use them in everything from green juice, to smoothies, overnight oats and chia pudding. So we go through it!
- I also ordered more collagen as we needed to restock on that too. Do you use collagen? It’s been really great for joint pain, digestion, skin, and hair health. My family has been using it for years!
- These floral frogs to make flower arrangements. I have these for mason jars but want to use these in some large open vessels that I haven’t used yet.
- Thinking about getting this straw beach tote.
- Love this copper rain chain and bird bath.
- We needed more tiki torch fuel.
- I’m looking at this storage system for our pots and pans. I really need to figure out this kitchen. The storage is seriously lacking.
- I also want a better system for produce storage on the counter. One wood bowl is not cutting it. So I’m considering this one.
What’s Happening at Bricks ‘n Blooms
It was a fun week on the blog!
We kicked off the week with a chat about how gardening is therapeutic for the body, mind, and soul.
If you are just dabbling or considering doing more, it’s a great thing to do for both your physical health and mental well-being.
We also chatted about how to propagate hydrangeas to get more plants for free.
But there’s another way to get more hydrangeas for free. Did you know that you can divide them too?
And finally, I shared how to care for black-eyed susans. If you are not growing rudbeckia yet, you should! It’s one of the easiest perennials to grow and they look so pretty in the summer garden.
Inspiration from Around the Web
There were so many wonderful posts this week! Here’s what I found.
These tips for decorating with vintage kitchen decor.
These tips for upcycling graduation decorations.
I found some great vegetable gardening tips for New England here.
Love these cottage garden ideas.
These affordable and trending quilts are gorgeous.
Great tips on how to repurpose a magazine rack
This recipe for nicoise salad.
9 books you won’t be able to put down.
If you enjoy these posts, you can find past Bricks ‘n Blooms Weekly posts here.
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Garden Supplies I Use
I’m often asked about the garden supplies and tools that I use most. From pruners to deer repellents, here are some of my favorites in no particular order.
- I like to use good-quality garden soil, compost, and perlite when planting in the garden.
- I have used this deer repellent with great success. But now, I’m all about this deer repellent that is systemic instead of topical. This means the plant takes it in as opposed to it just smelling bad.
- This is my favorite hand-weeding tool. You can use it to get underneath roots, loosen soil, and it cuts down on the weeding time because you work much faster.
- But I also love this long, stand-up weeding tool to really get around roses and other plants from afar.
- I use THIS ORGANIC FERTILIZER for roses because the blooms are more prolific.
- You need a sharp set of pruners when working with plants and flowers. I buy a few so I can stash them around.
- Where pest and disease problems are concerned, I generally use this insecticidal soap or neem oil to help control infestations depending on the issue.
- This is my favorite set-and-forget slow-release fertilizer for houseplants, annuals, and container gardens.
- Whenever I stake my peonies or other plants, I generally use these grow through garden supports because they work really well and keep the blooms upright.
The Best Long Island Iced Tea Recipe
How to Grow Black Eyed Susan
Start a Garden for Mental Health Month Awareness
Bricks ‘n Blooms Weekly 130
How to Care for Dahlia Flowers
Bricks ‘n Blooms Weekly 129
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