Bricks ‘n Blooms Weekly 139
Hi 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!
I’m heading out to Michigan today to visit Proven Winners and Walters Gardens. Since I’ve never been to Michigan before, I’m pretty excited about this trip.
We are going to do some garden tours and I can’t wait to meet some of my favorite gardening friends over the next few days.
Make sure you are following me on Instagram so you can see all the action in my stories.
In the Gardens
It was blazing saddles hot this week! But the gardens are really thriving.
I am IN LOVE with the potager garden right now. The raised garden beds are doing amazing. My flowers all started blooming and the vegetables are starting to grow too!
I can’t wait to start harvesting tomatoes. They are my favorite summer produce in the garden with cucumbers coming in a close second.
Because the flowers have been blooming like crazy in this garden, I’ve been out here every day cutting them to make flower arrangements.
Are you growing a cut flower garden this year too?
Let me know what’s blooming in your garden today. I’d love to hear about it in the comments below.
The Japanese beetles have started munching on my plants.
I’ve noticed a majority of them on my borage plants in the potager garden. So to me right now, they are like a trap plant to keep the pests away from my other flowers.
Something to consider when you are planting your garden next year if they are a problem for you.
The Scariest Thing Happened!
Last weekend we were in Vermont for the 4th of July weekend. We were planning to stay until the 5th but the weather wasn’t great AND something happened that you won’t believe!
As Chris and I were going to bed one night, I turned over to go to sleep but he was still reading.
All of a sudden he exclaimed, “A BAT!!!! A bat’s in here!!!”
He throws the covers over me and the dogs and as the bat flew out of our room, he slammed the door shut.
HOLY COW!!!! How did it get in?
Turns out one of the windows was open upstairs with no screen and it was storming so badly, it must’ve sought shelter indoors.
Chris left me in the room with the dogs to hunt for it so see if he could get it out, but he never found it.
We called a wildlife service to come out and he couldn’t find it either.
So let’s hope it left through the open window on it’s own!
What I’m Shopping For This Week
Amazon Prime Day is coming up on July 11 and 12th!
Are you familiar with what it is?
If not, here’s a quick rundown.
What is Amazon Prime Day?
Amazon Prime Day is an annual two-day event that offers discounts on a wide variety of products. It is exclusive to Amazon Prime members, who pay a monthly or annual fee for free two-day shipping, streaming video, and other benefits.
Amazon Prime Day 2023 will take place on July 11 and 12, 2023. The deals will start at 3:00 a.m. Eastern Time on both days.
The deals are really good during this time, so if you aren’t an Amazon Prime member yet, I highly recommend signing up stat! You can sign up here.
You can get deep discounts on a wide variety of products, including electronics, appliances, clothing, and home goods.
It’s also a great opportunity to stock up on items that you’ve been wanting to buy and affords an opportunity to try new products as you won’t have to pay full price.
We LOVE Amazon Prime Video. There are some great movies and shows to watch. If you haven’t seen Jury Duty yet with James Marsden I highly recommend it! The show is hilarious.
But I also love Amazon Prime Music Unlimited too! You can access millions of songs – and it’s so much easier to play from Amazon Echo Studio if you have that in your house too.
And when my daughters left for college, they each signed up for their own Amazon Prime Student so they could get what they needed when they needed it. It’s a really great deal for students.
If you have Amazon Prime, you can “Watch this Deal” to save it to your watchlists. Members will be notified once their chosen deal is live during Prime Day. Also new for Prime Day, members can filter searches to discover products from small businesses with the Small Business Search filter too!
What I’m Shopping for During Amazon Prime Day
So now that you’ve got the lowdown on Amazon Prime shopping days, this is what I’m shopping for:
- If you don’t have an Amazon Alexa device yet, start with an Echo Dot like this. They are super affordable and are great room additions around the house. We have them in a few rooms so we can listen to music whenever and wherever we want. I want to get another one for the sunroom.
- I’m stocking up on some items for the VT cabin and our NJ home because you can save up to 75% on select Amazon devices, including the Invite-only deal on 43” Fire TV Omni Series (need this for the VT house in the basement, Fire TV Stick (3rd Gen) (one of ours got lost so need to replace), Echo Show 8 (2nd Gen) (would love to get this one as a gift), Ring Indoor Cam (2nd Gen) (after the bat incident, we are getting few of these!), and Ring Battery Doorbell Plus (we are adding to additional doorways), Kindle Scribe (this one is for me!) and I’m interested in checking out the all-new Fire Max 11 tablet.
- As I was packing for my trip, I realized my luggage is a bit tattered and torn. So I think I’m going to order this luggage set for myself since I’m traveling more often.
- Fall decorating is just around the corner, so I am stocking up on more of these flameless taper candles. I use them all over my house! It’s cozy set and forget decorating on auto pilot.
- I’m considering investing in a really good Canon camera that I can use in conjunction with my cell phone. Yes, I take all of my photos and videos with my iPhone! But I’d really love a good camera to do more high-quality filming.
- I saw this under the desk treadmill and think it’s genius! I can move while reading emails and stuff at a standup desk. If you have one, please comment below I’d love to hear what you think!
Garden Supplies I’m Stocking Up On
- This garden soil.
- This deer repellent.
- And more of this deer repellent that is systemic instead of topical. This means the plant takes it in as opposed to it just smelling bad.
- I need my favorite hand-weeding tool for the cabin to do some serious weeding next time I go up there.
- THIS ORGANIC FERTILIZER for my roses as I’m starting to run low.
- I also need a sharp set of pruners for the VT cabin.
- Restocking on this insecticidal soap or neem oil to help control pest and disease problems on the fly.
- These grow-through garden supports are the best and I need more!
- This 100ft hose so I can reach plants more easily by the front pond. The heavier hose is driving me nuts!
- This slug and snail bait for my hostas and dahlias.
- And this potting soil. Gotta get ready for fall gardening!
What’s Happening at Bricks ‘n Blooms
It was a fun week on the blog!
We started the week off where I shared how to blend beauty and functionality for sustainable living. Learn how to design a potager garden with these simple tips.
I also shared 17 common flower gardening mistakes to avoid so you can grow a beautiful, bountiful, and healthy garden.
We’ve all been there making quick decisions while planting, maintaining and caring for our gardens.
But these are some things to keep in mind as you might regret them later!
And finally, I also shared some tips for how to get non-stop color in the garden using annuals. This is a great read in preparation for fall gardening which is just around the corner!
My Favorites From Around the Web
As you know, I love to share posts from other bloggers from around the web. Wait until you see these inspiring posts!
This tomato, avocado and corn salsa recipe.
These cottage garden plant favorites.
This drawer liner tip.
And this patriotic rag wreath DIY.
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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