Pieris, herbs and blueberries!

Gardening is not a hobby, it's an obsession...I find myself doing daily laps around the yard, checking for growth. Remembering bulbs I'd forgotten I planted. Panicking if anything isn't growing as quickly as I think it should. But it's also as satisfying a thing as I have ever done. Every new bud is a tiny triumph. Every fragile leaf a victory. Yeah me! Yeah yardwork!

New stuff!

Im not really a yellow person, but felt my living room needed some freshness for spring. I found a yellow throw from Crate & Barrel, a kantha pillow from West Elm and a darling mid-century yellow planter from a local flea market. Just adding 3 inexpensive items really brightened up an otherwise dreary corner.

Easter Sunday

A weed is a plant thay has mastered every survival skill except learning how to grow in rows.
-Doug Larson

Out like a lamb

Ok everyone, despite all your kvetching spring has arrived, now get out there and do something about it! Mulch, till, weed, plant! Go get your hands dirty!

St Paddy's Planting!..and soil PH

In honor of St Patrick's Day-and because Spring is tiptoeing into my neighborhood-I bought a flowering heather. Now I only have the vaguest notion of heather being an Irish plant....something about moors and heaths and the wind that shakes the barley...who knows. But softly undulating fields of heather under rainwashed skies seems to me about as romantic as it gets.



Image courtesy of www.discoverirelandtours.com
(See, I told you it's romantic.)

Anyway here is an image of the plant that I purchased.

I have a perfect spot for it: damp but sunny and room for it to spread, but Heather needs acidic soil and I have no idea what the soil type is for my selected spot so I went searching for ways-other than buying a PH tester-to determine soil PH.
And, lo and behold, there's a totally easy-and free way to test!
Soil PH Test:
You will need 2 soil samples, 1/2 cup of vinegar, water-preferably spring water, and 1/2 cup baking soda.
Add vinegar to soil. if the soil fizzes it is alkaline.

If soil does not fizz, take second sample, add water to make...mud...and then add baking soda. If it fizzes or bubbles your soil is acidic.

If nothing happens in either case your soil has a neutral PH.

Wood ash or lime can decrease alkalinity.
Sulfur or pine needles can decrease acidity.
*Most plants grown in home gardens prefer soil that is PH neutral (7) or slightly acidic (6).
(Oh and apparently there's another way to test it, by tasting the soil, but I'm just not that committed a gardener.)