it's a jungle in there

The greenhouse. By request.

The greenhouse is bursting at the seams.

Bursting, I say.

You have to see it to believe it, so let's take a stroll around.


I know you're all wondering how the zinnias are doing. They are doing well, thank you very much. A few of them even have flower buds on them, but I'm pinching them all back so they'll bush out a bit. It's painful to pinch off a zinnia bud before it's bloomed. It's an ugly job, but somebody's got to do it. They'll be heading out to the garden shortly, and if we actually get some weather that even remotely resembles summer, they should really start to take off.

Next on the tour...geraniums.

This is the third year we've overwintered our geraniums. After the first year, I got smart and instead of planting each geranium in its summertime oak barrel home, I simply left the geranium in its pot and sunk it, pot and all, right into the dirt. That way when the first cold snap is upon us, I just pop the pot out of the barrel and whisk it away to the safety of the greenhouse. Much easier than having to dig up and then re-pot the plants before they are moved inside.


We ran out of room in the greenhouse approximately thirty seconds after it was built, so the geraniums spent the winter on a makeshift table. The size of the makeshift table required to hold all the geraniums means things are pretty cramped in the greenhouse.

Side note:
It would seem that a person's intake of Reese's Peanut Butter cups, Oreos and Snickers has a direct effect on the ease with which a person is able to navigate their way around the cramped greenhouse these days.

Just sayin.


We overwintered quite a few of our petunias last year, so we were able to take cuttings this spring. Cuttings are so fun. You take a tiny stem, dip it in rooting hormone, place it in the dirt and before you know it, you've got a whole new plant.


Once they're well rooted, we transfer them to four inch pots and then they really take off.
When I say take off, I really mean that they pretty much turn into a wild and crazy tangled petunia mess. Petunias need a lot of room, and as previously mentioned, space is a bit lacking this time of year.


Eventually, we place the petunias in two gallon pots and sink those right into the ground, just like we do with the geraniums. Knowing we'd be taking fresh cuttings, we didn't need to overwinter all the petunias, just enough to get cuttings from each color. Since they're in such big pots, my hubby built a shelf so they wouldn't ramble all over our other plants once they kick into high growing gear.

(Please ignore the ugly yellow sticky bug catcher.)


In the background of this next shot, you can see our tomatoes in their cedar baskets. This is the second year we've planted them upside down and it seems to work very well. The tomatoes are the only thing that will stay in the greenhouse all summer. We'll keep all the windows open and they are on an automatic watering system, so other than a weekly fertilizing, they are pretty much care free.

Deliciously carefree. And delicious.


June first is the earliest we're comfortable moving things outside, so come next Wednesday, we'll be in a planting and moving frenzy.

Then it's Mother Nature's turn to take over.

Dear Mother Nature,
Please, please, please send Summer to Montana this year. She gave us the cold shoulder last year, so I'm thinking maybe we've somehow offended her?
Whatever we did, we're sorry. Very sorry. Very, very, very sorry. If there's anyway you can put in a good word for us and talk her into an extended stay, I'll be forever grateful.
Forever.
Sunshiny Love,
Teresa


Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!