Bricks ‘n Blooms Weekly 132

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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!

I was crazy busy in the gardens. From potting up containers to planting sunflower, cosmos, and tithonia seeds, supporting my dahlias, and general care, I was doing stuff from morning until the evenings.

I received a HUGE shipment of annual flowers from my favorite grower Proven Winners.

Eight boxes of heaven were delivered the other day and I spent about two hours just unboxing and organizing them so I could plant them.

I cannot wait to show you these blooms!

My jaw dropped with a few as I was opening up each plant.

But here’s a little sneak peek at one of the plant combinations!

This container garden recipe is made of:

🌸 1 Angelface Cascade Blue Angelonia
🌼 2 Superbells Prism Pink Lemonade
🌸 2 Supertunia Mini Vista Indigo

But the gardens are looking sooooo good right now. And the potager garden is really starting to come together.

It’s fun watching the plants fill in.

The clematis ‘Gisele’ that I planted last year is blooming like crazy. And the recently planted bearded irises took off and are all blooming just outside the potager garden.

This one is called ‘Angel’s Rest’ with ‘Dream of You’ just behind it.

I was not expecting them to bloom this much this year, so I’m really happy about it.

Speaking of the potager, I had to pull one dahlia tuber from the planter. It was wilting quite a bit and I was concerned it may have verticillium wilt.

And I question whether the tuber had it because it was planted in completely new raised garden bed soil.

Since I didn’t want to take a chance, I pulled it carefully and disposed of it. And now I’m going to pray that it did not affect the rest of the bed!

I’d rather pull one questionable plant than leave it there to cause a much bigger problem over the next month.

Oh and if you are wondering about the lisianthus? I let them go all together and I’m not looking back. BUT…

One somehow managed to survive, so I planted it in one of the raised garden beds. Let’s see what happens.

In other breaking news and I’m not sure if I mentioned this yet, Chris and his buddy Mark have been repairing the bridge over the front pond.

The boards were starting to rot and we enjoy viewing the pond from above, so he is replacing all the deck boards.

And then, he’ll repair all the cedar branch railings that we sourced from my sister-in-law’s tree farm.

We also enjoyed a fun evening with our neighbors for dinner. And my eldest daughter had some college friends come to stay with us for the weekend.

What I’m Shopping For This Week

I didn’t shop around for new things as much as I did restocking on supplies that I am running low on already.

Here’s what I snagged this week!

For the Garden:

• As my dahlias are growing, I’m noticing some chewed foliage and holes. I needed to get more slug and snail bait. It works really well on hostas too.
• Some of the roses are showing signs of black spot from the cool evenings we’ve had. So I’ve been using neem oil on them and the lonicera that also has issues with a fungal disease.
• I’ve also decided to try Proven Winners slow-release fertilizer. It doesn’t last as long as Osmocote but I want to see if the blooms do better during the summer since it’s applied more often.
• To help protect myself from a poison ivy outbreak, I stocked up on this scrub for the shower. It works extremely well to get the oils off.
• I love this 15″ copper planter for my houseplants.

For Me:

• This everyday facial moisturizer.
• This matte nude eye shadow. I love the no-makeup makeup look.
• Love this overnight moisturizer and needed to get another one.
• This is seriously the best liquid eyeliner. Stays put, comes off with ease, and I wear it all the time.
• These eye patches help reduce morning puffiness. Needed to restock!
• This makeup primer is the best. I use it every day.

What’s Happening at Bricks ‘n Blooms

It was a fun week on the blog!

This week, we chatted about how to keep your gardens protected from deer damage.

With the gardens bursting from the ground, deer are coming out in full force ready to eat garden plants.

Are they a problem where you live too?

I’m often asked how to maintain curb appeal and keep deer from eating plants and flowers in the garden. While no method is foolproof, there are a few precautions to take to minimize the damage.

I implement a few strategies that work well for me and have given the same advice to family, friends, and clients who have had similar success.

And if you are a gardener who believes Irish Spring or coffee grounds will keep them at bay, we chatted about the effectiveness of these strategies too.

We also talked about how to identify, remove, and treat yourself for poison ivy. I had a really really bad case one year, so a little prevention can go a long way.

And finally, I shared a great way to use your fresh garden mint with a summer drink recipe that is certain to knock your socks off!

Whether you are hosting a summer BBQ or enjoying a lazy day on the porch, this is refreshing but packs a punch.

Amazing Inspiration from Around the Web

I love finding cool inspiration from around the web and wanted to share some of what I’m loving right now.

These patriotic decorating ideas.

These affordable gardening tips.

This is a great post about pinching plants.

You’ve got to check out my good friend’s shop.

These cute votives.

And these tips for restoring wood adirondack chairs.

If you enjoy these posts, you can find past Bricks ‘n Blooms Weekly posts here.

And… If you’re catching up on blog posts you may have missed, be sure to sign-up to get my newest posts via email to stay up to date with everything that’s happening here on the blog and more.

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 a good-quality, potting soil, garden soil, compost, and perlite when planting.
• 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.
• Hands down this is my favorite hand-weeding tool. You can use it to get underneath roots, and 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 from afar.
• I like to use THIS ORGANIC FERTILIZER for roses because the blooms are more prolific and it’s organic.
• You’ll need a sharp set of pruners when working with plants and flowers. I buy a few so I can stash them around.
• I use these garden snips to deadhead and cut flowers from my gardens.
• Where pest and disease problems are concerned, if I need to, I generally use this insecticidal soap or neem oil to help control infestations depending on the issue. When using, only apply when pollinators are less active.
• 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.

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