Garden Budget: Plants and Supplies for March 2013

I have decided to start spending a certain budget each month on improving the garden (~$100) and then blogging about it here on A Gardener’s Notebook. March starts the first month in the series and I am beginning by trying to “re-green” the back garden, which has suffered with over planting and too much shade since we first moved in 16 years ago. I didn’t get pictures of everything this time, but I’ll make sure to do better in future installments, including labels and such.

Garden budget 2013023a

It is a little hard to tell from the receipt (and I think the checker might have missed some items), but here is what I picked up this month.

  • False Aralia: 5 gallon
  • Schefflera: 5 gallon
  • Aucuba: 1 gallon (2)
  • Worm Castings (2)
  • Watering Can
  • Basil (2)
  • Nasturtium Seeds

Here are some photos of the plants installed in the garden. Click for larger images.

AraliaAraliaScheffleraScheffleraAucubaAucubaAucuba

You can see installing these plants in the video below:

Garden Alphabet: Freesia

Freesia

Garden Alphabet: Freesia

We have two types of Freesia that arrive in the garden each Spring. They don’t get quite enough sun and so they are quite “floppy”, but they return every year like clockwork

“Freesia is a genus of around 16 species of flowering plants in the family Iridaceae, native to the eastern side of southern Africa, from Kenya down to South Africa,[1] most species being found in Cape Province.[citation needed] Species of the former genus Anomatheca are now included in Freesia.[1] The plants commonly known as “freesias”, with fragrant funnel-shaped flowers, are cultivated hybrids of a number of Freesia species. Some other species are also grown as ornamental plants.” — Wikipedia.org

 
More information on the Freesia:

Previously in Garden Alphabet: