Tag Archives: elephant ear plants

June 19, 2024 · 9:40 am

Wednesday 6-19-2024

My “Birds of a Feather” series greeting cards. 5×7. Blank inside. Fun to use to reach out to friends and family.
ink drop – Adobe.com

Freedom is such a beautiful thing – to be cherished and celebrated every day. Today is Juneteenth, a celebration of the end of slavery in the U.S. The actual Federal holiday was declared in 2021.

My husband ordered this and it was delivered yesterday. He got it ready to put up and we got it up – all but the final wiring detail – yesterday. We finished it up this morning. It’s really bright neon. I think it looks great, and it’s the first thing he’s been really excited about in quite awhile. :0)

I’m going to try to get him to help me test and program our irrigation system this evening. I’ve been watering the tomatoes with a hose, and then taking watering cans around to the elephant ears, but we need to get serious now that the constant rains have stopped and the heat is pouring in.

I harvested a bunch of nice tomatoes yesterday. We’re now enjoying them for lunch AND dinner. They’re a bit difficult to eat because I tend to smile so much as I’m eating them. I love them so much! :0)

This is the planter in front of the garage. The elephant ear plant is doing really well so far.

This is the planter to one side of our front porch. I’m hoping that this plant gets really large, spilling out both sides of the planter.

I’m a bit worried about this one. This planter is on the east end of the house. It’s shaded, but we’ve had elephant ear plants here before and they did well. This one is really growing slowly.

Have a fun day!

Leave a comment

Filed under Thoughts on a ________

Tagged as , , , , ,

December 3, 2023 · 9:59 am

Productive Day

Tenor

I’m feeling a bit smug because I FINALLY had a thoroughly productive day yesterday after several sloth days.

Gardener’s Path

I dug out all of the iris from a planter in the back and redistributed them to planters in the front. I need to finish weeding the back planter today in preparation for using it in the spring for tomatoes. I’m moving my raised bed, square foot garden activities to the side yard planters this spring, limiting the garden to lettuce, spinach, and tomatoes. Besides weeding, I’ll do clean up from yesterday, plus work on the planter in the front that has our elephant ear plants.

I tried my new Dremel last night. It’s a rechargeable cordless model, so I had to charge it for over two hours before using it. It came with only one bit, but I was able to use one of my other diamond bits, putting it in myself with no problem! The design of the Dremel allows me to use it pretty comfortably. It’s also much quieter, so I don’t grate my teeth while using it. I think this one will work beautifully, allowing me to finish the glassware. I’m already thinking of other projects for the Dremel. :0)

My husband has been grousing because the turkey is gone. I cooked another turkey breast yesterday, and told my husband dinner tonight will be turkey sandwiches. He’s been smiling ever since.

I also finished the first round of totally revamping my Etsy site. This includes creating a banner, new logo, lowering prices, then renaming the items so they will supposedly show up better when people are putting in search terms as they shop. This is a work in progress, and I’m just getting a good start on things I see others are doing.

Since we’re having stellar weather and our high is supposed to be in the 60s this afternoon, I’m hoping to have another productive day. I hope that YOU do, too; OR that you do something FUN. After all, it’s Sunday!

Leave a comment

Filed under Thoughts on a ________

Tagged as , , , , ,

August 21, 2023 · 11:54 am

Home Again

It’s totally uncivilized outside. The heat simply smacks you in the face the minute you step outside and doesn’t release you until you’re lucky enough to find some air conditioning. I’m feeling really lucky, now that we’re home again from errands, that we have a good system and can stay cool. Our animals go out, stay a minute or two, and then want to come back inside.

We have our bug spray guy coming between 2 and 4 today, to spray for things known or unknown, large and small, dangerous or merely annoying, hosing out place down inside and out. He’s wonderful.

I’m amazed that we have anything living outside at this point. Our elephant ear plants that came up late seem to be doing fine, though.

We went to check on the bridge replacement project on the way home from errands. There were workers there, and they were moving the machinery around, but we couldn’t tell what they were doing. They are moving very slowly on this project. I’ll be grateful if the new bridge is open by the end of the year, judging by the speed now.

Child’s Apron – Hand-Painted – “Falling Leaves” – Size is 2-6 years. The apron is 19″ long and 12.5″ wide, not including neck loop or ties. $19.99 with FREE SHIPPING to the contiguous U.S.

HandmadeHavenByLindaonEtsy

Leave a comment

Filed under HandmadeHavenByLinda on Etsy, Thoughts on a ________

Tagged as , , , , , ,

July 10, 2022 · 9:52 am

Feeling Lazy Sunday 7-10-2022

Reddit.com

I slept well – in fact, we even slept late – but I’m feeling lazy this morning. I have no excuses. I’ll have to push myself to get something done today.

I did go out a minute ago to get a pic of our elephant ear plants and to see if any tomatoes were ready to harvest. It’s warm, but cooler than yesterday.

The poor elephant ears have had a tough time this season. The main problem was that we needed to have our well house set up modified so we could have TWO irrigation systems, one for the back and the 2nd for the front. The one in the back was working, thank goodness, because the two tomato planters are on that one. We just got the 2nd one – the one for the front – Friday morning. The elephant ears are starting to perk up, and they look better since I cut off the dead stuff and cleaned up the planter. Hopefully, they’ll have an easier time now.

We had two tomatoes ready to come in this morning, and they’re beautiful. We’re becoming totally spoiled, enjoying ripe tomatoes for lunch and dinner each day. :0)
YouTube – Suda the painting elephant – uploaded by F. Schleyhahn

I spent a good amount of time in my art room playing yesterday. The presents I’m making are starting to come together now. I really get into the zone when I’m up there, listening to wonderful music, playing in my paint, enjoying when our dog or cat come up to visit. Having some ‘alone’ time is what my soul needs sometimes. I’m lucky I have a place I can get it.

MyRecipes

I don’t have to cook this evening! We’re having “Main Meal Salad” tonight with leftover chicken from the Lunch Bunch. We both enjoy this every once in awhile. I’m even able to sneak in a couple of extra veggies without my husband complaining…

We’re looking at what I hope will be a quiet day. I hope yours is enjoyable, too.

2 Comments

Filed under Gardening, playing in my art room, Thoughts on a ________

Tagged as , , , ,

July 9, 2022 · 9:48 am

Thoughts on Saturday, July 9, 2022

Free Spirited-Kathy Richard

I’m feeling more hopeful this morning.

The Monticello News

Yesterday our plumber came and put in the 2nd line for irrigation in the well house. My husband helped him figure out the ‘plan’ on all the pvc pipe in the well house, and they finished the job in just under the hour we had before we needed to leave for Lunch Bunch. We thanked him profusely for working us into his over-busy schedule.

When we got home, my husband got the timer programmed and ran the system manually. The poor plants in the front yard have only had the rain, and not any of THAT lately, for far too long. I’ve been dumping water into the elephant ear planter, but that’s all. Today I got out and cut the dead stuff out of that planter. I’m hoping we can save the plants we have in the front yard. I’ll try to work on things early in the morning or just before dark, trying to get things taken care of again.

I also harvested 2 more ripe tomatoes today – with 4 more probably ready tomorrow! My husband said he noticed some ripening when he was outside yesterday. I’m back inside now. It’s too hot to stay outside very long, but I can get what I need to accomplished if I just get off my duff and get out there at a reasonable time.

I finished listing some new products on my Etsy website late yesterday afternoon. Things are in good shape there now, I think, and I’m hoping to get some sales.

Today I’m planning to play in my art room. The website took all my time yesterday, and I didn’t go up to my art room at all. I look forward to making some progress today. (I was painting in my dreams last night. :0) )

Chef Dennis

Yesterday I made the tuna casserole we’ve loved for years, but haven’t eaten, due to the carbs. Now that we’re on the Mediterranean eating plan, I updated it to include a BUNCH of veggies. The casserole included tuna, macaroni, cream of chicken-mushroom soup, onions, mushrooms, carrots, green beans, broccoli, some fresh Parmesan cheese and some Mozzarella cheese. My husband said, “This is GOOD!” He didn’t mention the veggies, so neither did I. :0)

We got a big boom of thunder right before we went to bed, but I didn’t see any rain when I looked. Later, when my husband took Amber out for the last time of the night, he said he could see it rained, but it wasn’t when they were out. We must have gotten 3 drops of rain. I’m reminding myself it’s better than none.

I hope your Saturday is a fun one.

5 Comments

Filed under Gardening, Housekeeping - Maintenance, Mediterranean Eating Plan + Recipes, Thoughts on a ________

Tagged as , , , ,

May 29, 2022 · 9:20 am

Thoughts on Sunday 5-29-2022

cali7-4GIFs.com

This puppy is a genius – eating AND getting in exercise at the same time! I’m not sure what that yoga position is called, but I’m impressed :0) I’m going to make beef stew for our dinner tonight. Less stew beef, many more veggies. I’ll freeze the leftovers into individual serving containers and put them in the freezer.

I finished cleaning out and weeding the square foot garden yesterday. It took a total of three sessions and about 4 hours to get things cleaned out the way they should be, but I feel good that it looks like someone cares again. I’ll research summer crops and then see what is available locally. The tomatoes are doing fine so far, too.

If you look really carefully, above the lowermost leaves on the bottom left of the plant, you can see a small green tomato!

And finally, this has nothing whatsoever with my ‘garden,’ but I’m delighted to see that all three elephant ear plants are now coming up. You have to look carefully at the center of the planter, but you can see the first sprout of a leaf breaking through now.

Today’s project will be attacking things with my loppers. I’ll be clearing up areas that are giving my husband trouble on the riding mower, and then trying to cut down weed trees around our burn barrel between the house and the shop. It’s supposed to get to the 90s today (50s two days ago) with strong sun, so I’ll have to be careful.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Leave a comment

Filed under Gardening, Square Foot Gardening - Raised Beds, Thoughts on a ________

Tagged as , , , , , ,

May 18, 2022 · 11:36 am

Elephant Ears!

There are still some little bitty weeds in the planter, but I’ll take care of those. I didn’t know whether they would winter-over in the planter or not. I’m SO happy to see that I’ll have some plants this season!!!!!

Leave a comment

Filed under Gardening

Tagged as ,

October 24, 2021 · 9:39 am

Before the Storm

We are due for some possibly severe storms this afternoon and evening, so I got out yesterday to take more pictures of my elephant ear plants, just in case the storm is ugly and mean, and batters and breaks my plants.

I feel lucky to have be able to enjoy these all summer long and into the fall. I hope they last until we have a hard freeze. Every time I go out in the yard they lift my spirits. :0)

Leave a comment

Filed under Gardening

Tagged as ,

October 11, 2021 · 11:18 am

After the Storm

Last night we went to bed about 12:30 am and the wind was gusty and there was lightning. I didn’t hear it rain, but severe weather was possible overnight into this morning.

We awoke to 60 degrees F. and bright sunshine.

I took a walk around the yard to see if there was damage. We lost a couple of leaves on my elephant ear plants and there were leaves all over the civilized part of the yard around the house and our driveway, but I didn’t find any damage yet.

I did find several things that brought my spirits up –

There’s a bird’s nest in the tulip tree!

Leave a comment

Filed under Gardening, Mother Nature

Tagged as , , , ,

August 25, 2021 · 9:18 am

Elephant Ears

These are from the bulbs I gave up on when nothing happened in the spring when I re-planted them after over-wintering them in peat moss in the garage. Even though our heat index is still around 105 degrees F., these continue to bloom. I threw them off “the edge of the world” in the front yard. There is no irrigation there. Amazing.

These are in the planter to the east in our yard. This planter has a lot of shade – I think TOO MUCH shade for the plants to be happy.

These are much happier. They are in a planter beside the front porch.

And these make my heart sing. I don’t know whether they will get taller than the windows behind them or not. They are way over my head now and seem to be smiling.

2 Comments

Filed under Gardening

Tagged as ,

August 4, 2021 · 12:40 pm

Happy Elephant Ears

If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you remember that I was devastated when I tried to winter-over elephant ear plants my friend, Laufrain, had given me, but failed. I re-planted them and nothing at all happened. I finally bought some ‘bulbs’ (is that what you call them?) from an online nursery. I got six and spaced them around the yard a bit. As you can see, they seem to be happy, and I’m thrilled.

I’m especially happy because my square foot garden is over, except for harvesting onions, and our tomato plants are looking very sad. Many of our flowers have just given up in the heat, even though we have an irrigation system.

These are to the left side of our front porch. They seem to be smiling, too. They have good protection from gusty winds and blowing rain here, too.

These are on the far side of the house. They seem to be doing fine, but aren’t as large as the others.

I just love these huge leaves!

And the surprise of the day is here. We have an area around the house we have dubbed “civilized,” keeping it mowed, etc. The edge of this drops off into woods we just let grow wild. A lot of yard waste we throw “off the edge of the world” here. If you look really carefully, you can see – two batches of elephant ears! I threw the failed bulbs here and some of them have NOW made leaves! Wonders will never cease. :0)

Leave a comment

Filed under Gardening, Square Foot Gardening - Raised Beds

Tagged as , ,

July 30, 2021 · 9:47 am

Garden Update 7-30-2021

The sum total of my ‘harvest’ today. With the over 100 degree F. heat, even with our irrigation system, the tomatoes are boiling right on the vines. I’m afraid we’re almost finished for the year.

I do have some tomatoes from the last harvest in the fridge. They are getting soft, though, so I’ll cut them up and freeze them for stews later on.

I told you before that I still need to harvest our sweet onions from our raised bed, square foot garden so they can start drying. “I” tend to “boil right on the vine” in this heat, too, so I’ve been putting the task off.

We’re supposed to have a cold front moving through this Sunday, so hopefully I can do this, plus start to clean up the garden for the season. Right now it looks like no one cares. :0(

On a happier note, here are the some of the elephant ear plants –

Leave a comment

Filed under Gardening, Square Foot Gardening - Raised Beds

Tagged as , , ,

June 20, 2021 · 9:58 am

Hooray for the Elephant Ears!

Last year I had a truly beautiful display of elephant years – two plants given to me by my good friend, Laufrain. I tried to over winter them in the garage in a trash can of peat moss, but nothing came up when I replanted them. :0( I ordered a set of three bulbs online and planted them. Nothing was happening. I planted some Impatiens so the planter wouldn’t be completely empty. Suddenly, the plant on each end of the planter sprouted. Nothing in the middle. Two days ago I noted something different. The plant in the middle had sprouted!

HOOOOOOORAAAAAAY!

AND – to put icing on the cake – our irrigation system worked as it should have last night, coming on just when it should – proving that my last reprogramming effort was correct! My husband is a bit miffed that “I” figured it out, but I’m just ignoring that. He’s so smart, fixing everything in the house and yard and making me feel stupid most of the time, so it feels REALLY GOOD to have figured something out. :0)

Leave a comment

Filed under Gardening

Tagged as , ,

November 29, 2020 · 9:43 am

Winter Approaches

DeMilked

Mother Nature is bringing winter closer in Arkansas in the coming days. I’m not ready.

I’ve really been enjoying the fall. I’m not a hot-weather person. I’m not really a cold-weather person, either. The temperature range at which I feel comfortable has lowered and then narrowed as I age.

Right now it’s around 42 degrees F. and very cloudy, wet, and raw outside. A good day to express thanks for a warm, dry house.

We got our irrigation system turned off, hoses unhooked and drained, vents closed, and outside faucets covered this past week. We’re supposed to have freezing temperatures each morning for at least the next 10 days, starting tomorrow morning.

We have had a wonderful season of veggie garden, flowers, and elephant ear plants, so I’m trying very hard to be thankful for that without being too greedy for more. I love to see things thriving and blooming all over the yard and in the garden, so it’s hard to see that come to an end.

I’m setting up in the garage to have a small place where I can try to get seeds started for my spring garden. If I’m successful, I can get an early start to good veggies for the spring!

I hope you are somewhere warm and dry this morning where you can dream of veggies and flowers in the future.

2 Comments

Filed under Gardening, Mother Nature, Square Foot Gardening - Raised Beds

Tagged as , , , , , ,

November 24, 2020 · 3:17 pm

Last Hurrah?

Gif Abyss-Alph aCoders

The cold front seems to be coming through now. It’s cold and rainy – a GREAT time to have a warm, dry house.

When we got home from errands, we went back outside and shut down the irrigation system. This involves turning off a control, disconnecting a hose and rerouting a water system in the well house, and then disconnecting a main hose that runs across the front of the yard just off the civilized part we mow. We then gathered outside faucet covers and installed those all around the house, closing the vents. The forecast is calling for a light freeze overnight, so we’re just in time.

I then came back outside again and gathered what will probably be the last of the tomatoes.

We have had a really good run of tomatoes this year, despite a lot of weird weather. These are mostly cherry tomato size – perfect for salads and snacks.

This is probably the last of the roses and one twice-blooming iris I found.

And finally is my elephant ear plants. They are tall enough to almost cover the window in the garage. The research I did said that after the first freeze, I should cut the leaves off and store the bulbs in a combination of peat moss and potting soil in the garage until the spring. Fingers crossed that will work.

So, a last hurrah for a good year of growing. I lost my green house in a bad storm, but I will try to start seeds on the counter in my garage for the spring. I’ll need to clear things off a bit again, but I have a grow light set up, Mel’s Mix in a small trash cans, and my trays, so I should be in good shape to start up again, probably in February.

Leave a comment

Filed under Gardening, Mother Nature, Square Foot Gardening - Raised Beds

Tagged as , , , , , ,

November 15, 2020 · 10:30 am

Hope Comes Through Flowers

Twice-Blooming Purple Iris
Rio Samba Roses

Even though it’s 44 degrees F. with a slight wind, it was really wonderful to wander around the yard this morning, seeing what is still healthy and blooming.

As you can see from the pics on the blog this morning, I delighted in the elephant ear plants, our Rio Samba roses, and our Twice-Blooming Purple Iris.

Leave a comment

Filed under Gardening, Mother Nature

Tagged as , , , ,