Bricks ‘n Blooms Weekly 136
Hi there!
I hope you had a great week!
And Happy Father’s Day to all of you amazing dads out there!
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Random Things Happening Behind the Scenes at Bricks ‘n Blooms
What a week it was!
After an insanely busy week with my daughter’s graduation and prom, we slowed things down a bit this week.
I spent a few days in the garden cutting back spring bulb foliage and planting about 65 perennials.
That’s right, I planted 65 perennials.
And let me tell you the new garden looks good!!!
It’s a new pollinator garden on the side of the house where the formal garden is and it looks so pretty!
In addition to planting a new garden, I also tucked a few shade-tolerant plants into some of the existing beds.
I planted lots of newbies from Proven Winners that include:
- Amsonia ‘Storm Cloud’
- Achillea ‘Firefly Peach Sky’
- Lavender ‘Sweet Romance’
- Gypsophila ‘Festival Star’
- Echinacea ‘Raspberry Beret’
- Astilbe ‘Dark Side of the Moon’
- Astilbe ‘Chantilly Lace’
- Brunnera ‘Queen of Hearts’
- Lungwort ‘Pink-a-Blue’
- Hosta Shadowland ‘Hudson Bay’
- Hosta ‘Wheee!’
- And a few others
I can’t wait to show you how they look!
Do you guys remember when I planted those 40 bare-root roses? Well, they are starting to bloom now too!
‘At Last’ is so pretty! It’s got a beautiful peachy color that looks so good with the green garden fence in the potager garden.
I can’t wait to see these get a little bigger so they fill in more. It’s a really gorgeous rose!
The sweet peas started blooming about a week ago. While I didn’t want to do it, I forced my self to cut them and make a small bouquet.
Because the more you cut sweet peas, the more flowers you will get. So I am cutting!
Speaking of the potager garden, it’s really filling in now.
Some of the lettuce has started to bolt. But the herbs and snap peas are still going strong. The tomatoes, peppers, onions, zucchini, cucumbers and potatoes look really good so far too. I can’t wait to start harvesting them.
I’m thrilled that the sweet peas are all starting to climb the fence and bloom. Last year, a rabbit mowed down every single one.
A few of the dahlias, larkspur, strawflowers, and zinnias are almost ready to bloom.
So far, the garden fails in this bed is a chipmunk or bird got to my sunflower seed starts. So that’s a bummer.
Oh, and the last Lisianthus seedling died too – so there’s that.
We were supposed to head up to Vermont this weekend but we saw a lot of rain in the forecast and decided to stay here.
Chris and I went to Fitz Fish to pick up more shubunkin goldfish. All 10 of ours survived last year, so we decided to add some more to the school.
We also dropped by a garden statue shop as we are looking for a birdbath or fountain for the potager garden.
And guess what? I bought a fountain!
What I’m Shopping For This Week
Looking back at what I was shopping for, it was definitely a little of this and a little of that. Here’s what I bought this week:
- this bathrobe for Chris. He is a little jelly of mine that I’ve been sporting out to the hot tub, so he wants one for himself now. hahaha.
- This maxi dress for me.
- I bought this maxi dress last year and LOVE IT. So I bought it in a few more colors.
- I needed to restock my favorite primer. I’ve been using this for a long time now and really can’t say enough good things about it.
- Reordered more of these organic chia seeds. I use them in lots of different dishes and they are the best ones by far.
- I restocked my deer repellents too: this deer repellent and this deer repellent that is systemic instead of topical.
- I also restocked this insecticidal soap or neem oil to help control infestations – we are heading into summer and things will start to crop up.
What’s Happening at Bricks ‘n Blooms
It was a fun week on the blog!
With temperatures soaring, don’t let your garden or houseplants burn up and dry out while you are away.
It does not take much to kill plants that are neglected for even a day or two in the extreme heat.
And some plants may not recover.
If you’ll be out of town, here are some tips to keep your plants happy, healthy, and most importantly, ALIVE while you are traveling.
Looking for a simple dish to serve as an appetizer or part of a main course?
I got you.
I shared a tasty summer recipe with a step-by-step process to create a crispy and delicious dish that will impress your family and friends.
Wait until you see how easy and delicious this recipe is to make!
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 tips for decorating with thrifted decor in the kitchen.
These cottage garden tips.
This DIY accent table.
This 4th of July table decor idea.
These grilling tools are the perfect gift for Father’s Day.
These tips for setting a red white and blue table.
And these tips for decorating a summer mantel.
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. While I make my own compost, you can easily buy it ready-made for use.
- 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 use THIS ORGANIC FERTILIZER for roses because the blooms are more prolific and it’s organic.
- And I use this organic fertilizer for my vegetables and herbs in the potager garden.
- 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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