I will place a few pictures here. Be patient, they will take a few moments.

Left to right, Impatiens, Chrysanthemums, Itea,Begonias, Iris, Day Lilies and Begonias in the large pots on the steps.

The hanging basket has a Vining Geranium.

Left to right: Asters, Ageratum, Chrysanthemums, Hosta, Impatiens and more Hosta. To rear of this bed are Iris, Hosta, and more Impatiens as well as Columbine.

Left to right: White,orange and red Impatiens, Iris,Impatiens, Coleus and to the rear is Old Fashion Nicotine Plant or Woodland Tobacco. To the right of this picture are more Iris and Cone Flower.

This will give some of you an idea of what you can plant in shade to semi-shade. The right side of this picture receives about 4 hours of sun per day and a little more in late summer. Impatiens do well if I keep them watered but I have also tried Petunias, Lantana, Marigolds, Tithonia and several others that I cannot remember at this time and they done real well also.

The soil in these beds has been upgraded each year. Our soil is hard clay and any amendment you can do for it is good usually. I rake stones out of the beds every spring after tilling and add about one half bale of Peat Moss plus several wheelbarrows of good top soil. Before I set my plants I spread about 10 to 15 pounds of 12-12-12 fertilizer on each section and till that in. I use plant starter in the water when setting my plants and I have the best luck with plants I grow from seed in our small green house. We use Preen in all our beds to keep weeds from sprouting and I doubt that I have more than a dozen weeds all summer, what a delight! When the plants become established I feed with Miracle Gro fertilize mixed in water at least once every two weeks. Frequency of fertilizing depends a lot on the amount of rainfall you have. I also mulch with about 1 1/2 to 2 inches of fine hardwood bark mulch. Don't use more than this in depth of mulch. Serves no purpose and quite often keeps the rain from getting to the soil underneath.

I space my Impatiens and most other annuals closer together than recommended, WHY? Because they grow taller. Impatiens that are suppose to be 6 to 8 inches in height I get to grow about 12 to 18 inches. I tell the neighbors that I talk to my plants and that is why they grow so big. I do talk to them but I doubt if that has any effect on them but it sure makes me feel good.

THE GREEN HOUSE

At a later date I will include a picture of our green house but for now we will simply talk about it.

Years ago when the kids were little we built a home on 6 acres and I built a very inexpensive green house from redwood and corrugated fiberglass. I attached the house to my barn that also included a wood shop and was heated with a furnace. In the winter and early spring months I diverted the heat and return air to the green house. Worked very well and we grew many plants.

January of 2002 I told my wife I simply had to have a green house along with our log home. We had been using hot beds the last few years and they weren't working very well, just too hard to control and keep sanitized.

The green house is just eight feet by twelve feet and eight feet high at the low side. I built it as a lean-to style against the wood shop, again! It is heated with a 20,000 btu heater made specifically for green houses. I have a small fan that runs all the time and an exhaust fan that is controlled by a thermostat. The door to enter is 36" wide and is a storm door so I can open the portion that has screen. There are also two ventilators down low that will open if the fan comes on in the summer.

Heat is controlled by an elecronic thermostat that is programmable. The heater requires no electricity as it manufactures a small voltage that is used by the thermostat and gas valve. This makes it possible to heat the house even though the electricity may get interrupted.

I built the house with redwood again but the covering is TwinWall plastic with UV protection.

I used plastic decking to build the sides and ends of the plant beds and they have corrugated fiber glass for their bottoms. This is all supported on galvinized steel slotted angle. We use commercial growing medium and sanitize all containers before planting.

This year I have 3,000 plants in the house and it would be most comfortable working in it with 2,000 but I always seem to get carried away when buying seed. I hung 1" steel pipe from chain that is fastened to the ceiling joist so I could hang baskets for flowers.

I am a flower and gardening junkie I guess. It certainly is total enjoyment to plant and watch things grow and a little added enjoyment comes when folks that don't have a clue as to our identity say nice things about that Log House on Maple Lane with those beautiful flowers.

If you like to talk gardening or anything pertaining to your landscape just E-MAIL me.