Happy but Devastated.

My first Blanket Flower finally bloomed, and I felt a great sense of achievement.  After all, I waited nearly 7 months for this day!

 I love the colors.  What a cheerful flower :)

BUT...

Something devastating has happened in the last few days.  Five days ago, the plant looked like THIS, and today, it looks like the pictures below.

What is going on??  It's all wilted and looks like something stomped on the plant.  Same thing happened to the Blanket Flower I planted in the front yard and killed the first, very-much-anticipated flower.  I've been watering them well, and they looked happy.  Now what?  What did I do wrong?  I've got to do some research on this.  Does anyone know?

Almost, almost!

The Blanket Flower bud I wrote about last month was snapped off by the winds or something and eventually died :(  However, the giant (literally!) Blanket Flower planted in the backyard started to show some buds right after the 'casualty' in the front yard.  It's been over a month since I found this bud, but I haven't yet to see the first flower.  Talk about patience!

The giant Blanket Flower in the backyard is about 3-feet tall while the one in the front yard is about 10-inches tall.  I don't know if this is normal because the ones I see in my neighbors' yards aren't this big.

The bud.  Looks as though each petal is an individual bud, don't you agree?

3 days after the above picture was taken, and while I see a slight change, it doesn't seem like it's ready to open anytime soon.  I guess I will have to wait several more days. 

Patience, patience...

It has been almost 7 months since I seeded the seed.

Blanket Flower Has a Bud, Too!

Ah, finally.  Blanket Flower is one of the first plants I seeded back in September 2010.  Everyday, I didn't see much change; they looked the same but subtly growing new leaves, just getting bushy without showing any signs of flowers.  However, I have found one bud after all!

It's kind of hard to see in this picture, but I am sure this is a bud. Oh, please don't make me wait too long!

Backyard Transformation

In May 2010, I bought a house.  It was a Short Sale property that had been neglected over a year before I moved in.  The house definitely needed lots of work, and backyard was...a jungle.  Overgrown shrubs and weeds were taking over the property, and the soil was totally hardened.  It took me weeks even to make flower beds.  9 months later, my backyard looks so much better, but it still needs a whole lot more TLC. 


I want to show you some of the improvements I had made so far. (Click on the pictures to enlarge)

May 2010.  Overgrown shrubs (more like trees!) were covering the windows, and weeds were as tall as 4ft - as you can see it in front of this picture.

June 2010.  My boyfriend cut down the shrubs and weeds completely (Yes, he's wonderful <3).  Exposed are a bunch of junk!

July 2010.  I decided to make a flower bed under the window of my second bedroom (currently being used as an office).  I used a pick to break and tilled the hardened soil, then mixed soil amendment as my boyfriend taught me (he's got a green thumb, and he's a great teacher).  My boyfriend installed the drip irrigation system so the plants would be watered more efficiently.  I planted 2 Hibiscus I bought from Home Depot and a Pineapple Lily that I received as gift.

My first plants! (Left - peach Hibisucs, Center, Pineapple Lily, Right- Bicolor Hibiscus) - I used the pick in the background to till this area!

October 2010.  During the summer, I didn't work much in the yard mainly because it was not comfortable to work in the hot weather, and I had other rather urgent home improvement projects inside the house.  However, I managed to make the second flower bed (front side in this picture) and planted a few other plants (Dianthus, Egiptian Stars).  Oh,I got some nice solar outdoor lights for my birthday!  They look great, and I love them!

By October 2010,  I had added Yucca (left), Dianthus (Center, front) and Calla Lilly (at the center where the soil is darker) to the first flower bed. 

January 2011.  By this time, Dianthus expanded and kept blooming, Calla Lilies and Freesia emerged from the ground and started to show buds.  I also transplanted Blanket Flower, Texas Bluebonnet, Oriental Poppies, Cosmos, Lavenders, Platycodon and Sweet Williams that I grew from seeds.  The juice bottle you see on left is my 'instant greenhouse' for the poppies.  This helps to keep the moisture in the soil, keeps the plant away from cold air and snails/slugs.

My Dianthus.  In Japanese, it's called "Nadeshiko".  In Japan, "Nadeshiko" is often a synonym to "Idealized Japanese Ladies". 

 My beautiful Calla Lilies.

 Calla Lilies and Freesia buds.

Calla Lilies, Freesias, Dianthus and Blanket Flower.

The overall look of my 2 flower beds.  (Project is still in progress, and it will always be!)

A view from the center of my yard. (I received the water fountain for Christmas from my boyfriend - can you tell how he motivates me to improve my yard?)

Tha's it for now.  More improvement/transformation entries to follow...I hope!

Getting Bushy - Blanket Flower

Here's an update on Blanket Flower.  They seem to be happy in the ground; all three Blanket Flower plants are growing much faster than when they were in pots.  Look at the difference they made in a month!

It's hard to see, but there are 2 Blanket Flower plants in this picture.  The second one is right behind the one in front.

Look how bushy they got in one month!  I still don't see any sign of flower, though.  FYI, it's been about 150 days after seeding.

Leaf-Shape Changed?

It's time to update on Blanket Flower!  After a little over 3 months from seeding, slowly but surely, the plant is growing, but I have just realized that the shape of the new leaves is different?!

This picture was taken in November.

This is now. (40 days later) 

Is this normal, or is it because the weather has been wacky this year?  Hmmm... I will have to see how this turns out.  

About a month ago, I transplanted two plants in the ground.  They are still doing well and growing, despite the occasional 'attacks' of snails and slugs.  Oh, Chickweeds, too, give me headaches.  They keep sprouting as I pull them out!  Why snails/slugs don't eat the weeds instead?  Sigh. 



Blanket Flower Update!

It's been a month and half since the last entry on Blanket Flower.  That was when a few true leaves started to grow.  Let me show you how it looks now.

A few more leaves grew, and the plant is about 3-inches tall.  Not much progress in 45 days, but the plant is doing fine.  I am still hopeful that I will get to see the cheerful flowers by summer.

Blanket Flower Is Happy.

It's been about three weeks since I sowed Blanket Flower seeds.  Some never germinated, but thanks to the recent rain and the mild weather of San Diego, the ones that did are doing well.  It looks like plants love rain water much much more than city water.

It's about an inch tall and has 3 true leaves.  While other seedlings will eventually be transplanted in the ground, I want to keep this one in a pot so I can place it by my living room window. 

Blanket Flower and Forget Me Not

The seedlings of Blanket Flower and Forget Me Not look very happy, and they grew a little since the last entries.  I decided to give them more room to grow, so I transplanted to a bigger container.

In the 6-pack container, I separated and planted seedlings of Blanket flower and Forget Me Not.  I hope they survive the transplant!

 Blanket Flower seedling with 2 true leaves (about 3 weeks after the seed was sowed)

Forget Me Not looks happy.  Also 3 weeks after seed was sowed.

Blanket Flower

These are BLANKET FLOWER seedlings.  I can't remember exact date when I sowed the seeds, but it's been about a week.  I used JIFFY brand peat pallets, and they seem to work very well to help seeds germinate fast.

I sowed 18 seeds about a week ago, and 6 of them have germinated so far.

Two more seedlings in another peat pallet.  Can you see the true leaves?