"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands........" 1 Thessalonians 4:11

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

My pity party is over......thanks to you , dear readers

your words  of encouragement.......I greatly appreciate! 
I now, once again, face the new days with enthusiasm and
I find joy in all that surrounds me. 

In  the mail, 12 young trees arrived  from the Arbor Day Foundation.
I love this organization because they send trees for my 
area, that I would never think to purchase or buy otherwise.
If you want a good start of trees, go give them a look!

In this group are 2 Sargent Crabapple, 3 American Redbud, 2 Washington Hawthorn,
3 White Flowering Dogwood, and 2 Crapemyrtle. 
Are any of you familiar with any of these types of trees or have raised any?
These trees were supposed to be placed in the ground  and kept for 1 to two years in a protected garden area and then transplanted to their permanent home.
However.......these are young twigs.......and if  left in the ground here at our home........
deer, rabbits and even rats will snap the twigs off .  I have had this happen to so many
trees I have tried to raise.  So this time.......I am going to experiment........
I have placed each one in a container with organic garden soil.........each is labeled.
I have them now in my shop to protect them from the outside......the shop is very cold at this time of year and the windows give just the right amount of light.......so the trees have a winter environment for now. 
When spring comes, I will move them to my greenhouse where they will
be out of reach from the critters and be able to grow in a nice environment. 
I do plan to plant them in larger containers as soon as the root systems get larger.
Hopefully I  will have little twigs with leaves soon to show you.


Also, before Christmas, my  daughter gave me a Bonsai
tree kit that has 3 different types of Bonsai trees to grow.


The first two weeks they are to stay in sealed bags in the window........
then they will move to the refrigerator for 4 to 6 weeks., then 
they are to be placed in a warm spot where they will hopefully
germinate. I  am unsure about these......but I do have hope.

I have also replaced my bent needle and am stitching the 
hours away when I am not in the garden.
I know a lot of you are facing terrible cold and 
even tragic mudslides and weather these days.
My hopes go out to you for warmer, brighter 
and  more peaceful days. 

11 comments:

Nancy J said...

Bonsai, lovely, stitchery, so beautiful. Dogwood, not sure but some down here have a lovely perfumed flower, and what we call crepe myrtle ( it can be crape myrtle too) have crinkly mauve or other coloured flowers, and are truly stunning. The ones I have seen here are deciduous. I think your plan to care for them is really worthwhile, and they will have a head start for a lifetime of beauty.

Connie said...

Beautiful sunset photo! I'm glad to hear things are looking brighter for you now. I look forward to seeing your little trees grow. I hope they thrive for you.

Sally said...

So glad you're feeling better; best news today! :)

We have flowering dogwood, and I see a lot of crepe myrtle in so many pretty colors. Unfortunately, lost the dogwood and now I see the huge camellia bush didn't bloom this year. Lots of buds, no blooms.

Take care! Good to see you.
xoxo

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Dear Kathleen, i was so happy to read this post and learn that you are feeling better. We all go through our own times of self-pity and there is nothing "wrong" with those feelings. So glad that your spirits have been lifted up a bit. I have heard about the Arbor Foundation and when we were in VA, there were also some tree giveaways, which is how we got some Leland Cypresses that we planted in the yard and they are very tall now and still in VA. I hope your trees will survive in your shop. I also never knew how complicated growing a bonsai plant could be and will be looking forward to seeing the results some time in the future. The needlework is as lovely as ever.

Granny Marigold said...

It's so nice to see you're posting again and feeling better about things. I hope all your treelets flourish. Your needlework is stunning! Love those colours!!

lil red hen said...

This was so interesting Kathleen! We have redbud, crepe myrtles, and a Japanese dogwood. It blooms later than wild dogwood trees and has a star-shaped bloom. Then in late summer there are red, marble-sized fruits on it. I hope you're successful with the little trees. And, I'm glad time has healed your spirits and you're embroidering again. Also, thanks so much for checking in on me and leaving your sweet comments; I'm o.k. and maybe will post again soon.

Carol- Beads and Birds said...

First, thank you for the marvelous picture. I have no where near to view a sunset/sunrise properly without driving to see it. I am so interested to see if your Bonsai trees survive and to see how you work with them. PLEASE report progress when it happens.

I love flowering trees and wish I lived where Camellia Bush and Crepe Myrtle could survive. I have to settle for Lilac, dogwood or Wisteria.
xx, Carol

Debra said...

I have quite a few bushes from that organization and they are doing well. I even have hazelnut bushes that had nuts last fall!!!!I had never seen those nuts before, right on the bush! I've grown redbuds. They are very pretty in the spring. You might want to have a cage around all your little babies until they get big. My redbuds are a little finiky, but I'll bet you won't have problems where you live.
I am so interested in your Bonsai trees! Hoping they will flourish!

happyone said...

The sky photo is gorgeous good luck with growing the trees.

Patty H. said...

Thank you for coming by my blog! Glad to hear that things are looking up for you. The promise of Spring helps!
Always love seeing your needlework!

Jean Tuthill said...

I love the photo of the sky with the beautiful trees. You and I have a lot in common. I would love to have a place such as yours so I could "spread out", but it doesn't look like that's possible for me. I do have a quarter acre and try to do the most I can with it. I can't have any farm-type animals but do have a cute Shih-tzu that loves me. I garden a lot, mostly flowers with some veggies. Glad to have found you. I am a follower now.