Just another day in the life.

Another beautiful day in Omaha...hot, humid, and it rained in the afternoon (so I didn't have to water, WOOT!). I worked all afternoon, came home and my house smelled like a peony bomb. Love it. Walked the pooch through the hood, had a beer with my dear neighbor Megan, and came home to relax. The pic is my fave shot of the week. It encompasses the perfect Wednesday night, Glee on Hulu (seriously, holy crap, the Gaga episode was awesome, I laughed, I cried!!), an incredible card (made into wall art; it reads...She went out on a limb, had it break off behind her, and discovered she could fly. (thanks, mom)), and the most perfect coral rose from the rose bush that refuses to die (for real, three people on three different occasions helped me "rid" myself of my cursed rose bushes, my neighbor Dick, who hacked them out with an ax, my mom, who helped me pull them out by the roots, and my dad who dug some out and poured round-up on the others (in my defense, they didn't bloom, they just stabbed me when I weeded, which is why they had to die)). But, alas and now thankfully, the rose bush lives...and I have a perfect specimen (and a thorn stab) to prove it.

I am headed to Arizona for a week with my siblings, hoping to see some good desert plants while I am there. Thank you for reading the Leap blog, please let me know what you think!!

P.S. I took before pics of the veggie garden for the next post, which probably won't be until next week (foreshadowing anyone??). The tomatoes grew a solid inch in the last two days. OOOOO, I love humidity and gardening. What a great combo. Kinda like red wine and...well, anything (see Matt, wine is always involved).

And so it begins...hopefully.

I am proud and excited to announce that I am officially the florist for Loft 610 restaurant. Now, to be honest, it's mostly because I am cheap and I work there, but it's still my first official flower job. I am doing the table bud vases once a week, bouquets at the host stand when needed, and other odd jobs as they come up. I have done 2 weeks of flowers, and need to get hooked up with a wholesaler quick, or else I may actually lose money on the deal (I may have under-estimated my costs, oops). Last week I used orange tulips and a really dark green leafy guy that I found at Whole Foods. This week it is orange and yellow gerbera daisies with this really cool limey/chartreuse green filler. I forgot to take a pic of the tulip, but I hope you agree that the daisy is pretty great. I also got to do flowers for a bridal shower, the host wanted a couple small lime green arrangements, and I happened to have these really great black vases, so I made three small bouquets using verbena and spider mums, it looked pretty swell. I start my horticulture classes in two weeks and am really excited. It's been 10 years since my last college class, but I think I'll enjoy going back.

Oh, and on the bunny war front, I bought some liquid fence at Lowes that seems to be working. It smells absoutely awful when you spray it, but I have had no additional damage and the smell goes away after it dries. Luigi seems to want to mark his territory everywhere I spray it, but as long as he is not trampling the flora and the fauna are staying away, I'll be happy.

Anybody want rabbit for dinner?

I have a beagle. A pure-bred and handsome beagle. I also have a yard full of bunnies. Does this compute? I woke this morning to find that during the night, the bunnies had eaten one of my lilies, 2 liatris, and pretty much an entire something that I can't remember the name of. The something that I can't remember is a real loss. It has these great artichoke looking leaves and when it blooms it's bright purple. I guess I can't complain too heartily though, I had really good luck for the first 3 years that I gardened, but last year...luck ended. Such is the life of a gardener.

Luigi is not a very good rabbit hunter. I actually think he would be willing to have a cross-species relationship with the momma bunny that has called my yard home for the past couple years if he were to be given the opportunity. Maybe I should encourage that, I wonder if Bun-gles would be a hit in the pet community. I digress, this is supposed to be about my garden.

Many rabbit proofing ideas can be found, the most popular ones are: cayenne pepper spray, blood meal, bone meal, fox pee, human hair, dogs and pellet guns. Blood meal may get the bunnies away from the plants, but dogs love it so I think Luigi would then probably eat it and the plants making the solve the same as the problem. Cayenne pepper spray would have an adverse effect on the beagle if he were to get into it (and I'd probably somehow get it in my eyes). Fox pee seems kind of gross, and I don't have a fox. I usually prefer my hair on my head, the beagle thing hasn't worked out in terms of bunnies, and I am not a shooter. So I am going to Lowes to get some ugly-ass chicken wire and am going to hope that once the plants get big enough, I can remove the wire and the plants will no longer be considered food.

Wish me luck.

Sniffing ants and other signs of spring...

As I mentioned in Wednesday's post, I love peonies. I think they are perhaps the most perfect flower (I will say this a lot, and about many different flowers...just wanted to warn you). Peonies are crazy colorful, have an amazing scent, and last well in just a bell jar full of water (they're thirsty, so make sure to refill regularly). But, the turn-off most people have about peonies is that they are what some consider "ant plants." Ants and peonies have a long and sordid history. The truth is, ants eat the small amounts of nectar that the buds put off, but most importantly, peonies do not attract ants, they are just a sweet treat for the ones already there. So, do not spray insecticides! Insecticides are evil. Yep, evil. Ants are good for your garden, therefore...let them eat peony. Once the bud blooms, the ants will disappear...(give the bloom a good shake, and dunk it in cold water for 30 seconds just to be sure). Trust me, I took a big inhale of a vase of peonies near my computer on Monday, and ended up sniffing an ant that just about brained me. Don't forget the shake and dunk.

If you, like me, love having peonies in the house, here are a couple tips to make them happy, and most importantly, make them last. Make sure to perform the shake and dunk technique mentioned above, (grasp the peony as close to the bloom as possible and give it a couple good shakes), then dunk in cold water for 20-30 seconds to make sure the ants have moved out. Now, be sure to replenish the water daily, and as with any fresh flower, snip a little off the stems every couple days. Make sure 2/3 of the stem is submerged and your peonies will last up to a week. Another tip: when your peony bushes are showing color but haven't fully bloomed yet, cut off 10-12 buds, rinse them, wrap them in tissue paper and put them in your fridge. They will last about 3 weeks, and you'll be able to periodically pull them out for fresh blooms. When you take the buds out, put them in room temp water, they will bloom in a day or two and last for about 5 days. Now you get to enjoy indoor peonies longer.

You're welcome, peony lovers.

Hey Nature, great job.

Spring is by far the loveliest season (maybe until fall, but bear with me). It never ceases to amaze me how well nature planned the blooming of spring flowers. At the very beginning, still actually winter, the crocus bloom. Tiny bursts of color coming out of snow covered soil. Then come the lilacs. Perhaps my favorite week of spring is when the lilacs are in bloom and the ENTIRE neighborhood smells sweet and beautiful. About this time the magnolia, dogwood and crabapple trees start to bloom, I am lucky enough to have a Tulip Magnolia in my backyard and it's really beautiful. After it sheds its pink petals, it's a complete mess, but I am more than happy to put up with it in order to see it in its glory. After the lilacs, the tulips and daffs start to peak. I recently ordered a boatload of bulbs to plant in the fall, I feel such tulip envy whenever I see the masses of them in neighboring yards (soooo much more on garden envy later) that I realized I needed to step up my spring bulb game. Another favorite that blooms shortly after the other spring bulbs is the allium (photographed above). Oh, how I love the allium. My mom has a dozen in her yard that are the gladiator variety. They stand at least 3 feet high and have a softball sized purple bloom on top. After the bloom dies, she cuts it off and then spray paints the dried bloom. She gave me a set of gold, but I think that red, white, and blue, would be great for 4th of July decorations. And then finally, the poppies and peonies come out. My love for the peony will have to be spouted in its own, personal entry.

I went all paparazzi on some poor unsuspecting flowers today so I could share the beauty with you all.

Veggies, veggies, everywhere

Here are a couple shots from the veggie garden of 2009. It was a stellar year for salsa! There were 6 kinds of tomatoes and 4 kinds of hot peppers, with 2 mild peppers thrown in for good measure. I also had a great year with both Golden Squash and Eggplant. I planted regular old eggplant, Listada di Gandia eggplant - which were not only beautiful, but delicious for eggplant parmesan, Rosa Bianca eggplant - great for stirfry and mixed in veggie pasta dishes, and Japanese eggplant, good for grilling, frying, everything...yum!

Also included, but not photographed were okra, cucumbers, asparagus, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, artichokes (more on that later), and various lettuce greens. As a carnivore with vegetarian tendencies, this was the perfect garden. I had tomatoes that could rival the thickness and flavor of beef (kind of), eggplant for grilling, lettuce for salads, I was able to pickle my okra (not well, but I tried), and as I mentioned before, I salsa'd my entire circle of friends and family.

I made four salsas:

* Multi-colored chunky tomato salsa - delicious tastes of summer

* Serrano salsa - crazy spicy, but beautifully green

* Salsa Verde - I used green zebra tomatoes mixed with tomatillos, (courtesy of my lovely neighbors the Hitchcocks)

AND * Habanero salsa (more of a sauce) - made with hab's and carrots.

The habanero hot sauce was insane. I tried to mimic Marie Sharps, it was pretty delish but I want to try again this year. The Salsa Verde won the most votes, with a close second being the chunky multi colored salsa.

FYI: I had Purple Cherokee, Yellow Pear, Green Zebra, Italian Heirloom, Brandywine and 2 x Cherry tomatoes last year. The pepper varieties were Serrano, Chili peppers (which I dried and crushed), Jalapeno, Habanero, Gypsy and deep purple bell's. I had problems with the bell peppers last year, they grew very slowly and didn't produce very much. But the rest gave off bumper crops!!

Last Years Garden

Here are a few shots of last year's flower garden. I'm a believer in putting whatever you like in the soil and seeing if it grows. My main challenge is figuring out where I planted so that I don't plant over it! I also believe, to quote Ralph Waldo Emerson, that "A weed is a plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered." Therefore, aside from the nasty dandelion, I am an allower of weeds too, until I'm not...the distinction is mine and mine alone. :)