I cannot believe it. My little Einstein, the smallest and I'm pretty sure youngest of my group, just laid the first eggs this morning!! TWO perfectly shaped little eggs. I'm so proud of her I can barely stand it!! Of course I did know this was going to happen...I'm leaving for vacation tomorrow morning and now I'll miss their whole first week of egg laying...ah well. Anyhoo, I just happened to be catching and inspecting them this morning for a health check before I leave (they hate this and it can be quite hilarious watching me try to catch them...lol) and inspected Einstein's vent. It was dilated and wet....Phyllis's was not. So I got suspicious. Sure enough, looked in the coop and there were two perfect little eggs in the corner (not in the nesting boxes). I almost jumped up and down. I'm so glad I happened to be checking them over so I could know who they came from.

 

The three Ameraucanas will lay blue and green eggs, the two Polish smaller white eggs. One of my sales people at NHG, Jill, has a black and white Polish rooster that looks just like Einstein. And his name is....wait for it...Albert. LOL. So we've decided it's destiny that they have babies. I told her as soon as she started laying we could talk about breeding them. And here you go! So perhaps not too far off into the future I'll have some little Einstein babies. OH, I'm such a proud Mom. I guess the neighbors who are babysitting will get to enjoy some fresh eggs!!

This is my view out of our back windows every evening around dusk...the chickens go upstairs and each angle for a spot in the windows....lol. Their roosting boxes are right under the windows and they've taken to sleeping on top of them so they can look out the windows. What's funny is that we had the windows put in for us...to peek in on them. Didn't expect that they would be so interested in using them! You can see Phyllis in the window with her bright white mop (sorry the photo's a little blurry). Somehow she's managed to lay claim to that particular window spot every evening. Too funny....

I went up to the IGC (Independent Garden Center Show) about three weeks ago, but have been so busy I haven't had time to post some photos. Just thought I'd share some of the lovely plantings that always adorn the summer streets in Chicago as well as a few product shots from the show. Mostly for Cody...lol. I never managed to post any photos from last year...so here ya go. (click to enlarge photos)

 

The show is hosted down at Navy Pier. This was the 3rd year for the show and as usual, the weather was fabulous. All the Northerners were complaining about the heat. LOL...The 80 degree days were a wonderful welcome reprieve from Texas in August!

Some of the lovely street planters. Nice use of Sumac 'Tiger Eyes' with tropicals and grasses and an absolutely gorgeous huge swath of Gooseneck Loostrife.

Some pretty printed watering cans we just got in at NHG yesterday as well as some really cute printed tea pot watering cans, tools and wellie boots with all the same prints (super, super cute). Also some beautiful glassware I'm still contemplating...

Just some fun display using colored sand as root media...

Another lovely street planter with Angelonia 'Serena Purple', cannas and coleus. Another fun display with succulent containers...which were everywhere...

Nikki...my partner in crime...harassing Bob Newhart.

Some interesting new modular square foot gardening boxes...interesting concept but they still need to work on pricing etc. It's on my "list"...Also found a new pottery vendor with some really unique strawberry and herb pocket planters. The coolest ones, however, didn't make it on to my camera. Should have an order arriving at NHG in the next couple of weeks...

I have more photos to go through but many turned out a little blurry unfortunately. When you're trying to get through a big show in a short amount of time, you end up taking pictures while you're still kind of walking...lol. Action shots if you will. I'll keep digging for some cool stuff...

So, I stumbled upon a magazine that fascinates me. I was first handed a copy of Garden & Gun about a year and a half ago. Really??? I said...Garden& Gun?? It perplexed me. But I read through that first copy and thought the magazine was interesting. I brought it home to my husband and he had the same reaction. It sat around my house for a while and then I guess I forgot about it because I never saw another copy on a newstand. As I was walking through the grocery store today at lunch I spotted a magazine cover with a lovely pitcher plant photo on the cover. So of course I made a bee-line for it. Sure enough...Garden & Gun. LOL. It has interesting garden content with a mix of hunting and ranch-type info, architecture, food, fashion etc. Nikki and I have decided it's a "Man's" version of Southern Living. But we both love it. Not that it's still not perplexing..it is...but I think I'll keep buying it. Maybe even sell it at NHG.

Yes..that's what I said. lol. For those of you less familiar with the colorful common name for Lycoris radiata, otherwise known as surprise lilies or spider lilies, they are often referred to as such because the bloom stalks preceed the foliage. They are a fall blooming bulb (blooming right now as a matter of fact) but are usually not available in garden centers during spring.  You should find them in the garden center now. You'll find the classic red, Lycoris radiata as well as the less common yellow strain of the species. You'll also find the pink species, Lycoris squamigera. Plant them in the fall and you'll have blooms the following fall. Occasionally, bulbs you plant right now might shoot up a bloom this October, but no guarantees. Beeeeautiful.

I've gotten more requests lately to post more often about what to plant when. Planting alerts if you will. So I've created a new category on the blog called "Time to Plant". These posts will be short but timely and I'll do my best to post them more often.

Right now, you should be finding cole crop transplants in the garden center such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Swiss chard, salad greens and cool season herbs. Plant these now and keep in mind we'll still have some warm days, meaning you'll need to keep an eye on adequate watering. Direct seed snap and snow peas, lettuce greens and fava beans into the garden now.

Also, you can start seeds of all the cool season crops indoors to transplant outside in about 6-weeks. If you hurry, and do it this weekend, you can still squeeze in some warm season crops. Direct seed into the garden bush beans, black-eyed peas, scallop squashes, bush zucchini and pickling cucumbers.

So, we've got the green light from the city to continue with our hen sales at NHG. Whoohoo! That was a long but worthwhile struggle.

http://eastdallasblog.dallasnews.com/

We have a confirmed sale date of September 19th, when we will also be having a chicken program and Q&Q starting at 10am, but we're are also trying to get one scheduled for Sept 5th. See you at NHG for chicken days!

I'm not an Aggie, but I do love me some Aggie Cotton, Gossypium hirsutum. This great heirloom annual tends to come and go. Folks forget about it for a while and  you won't really see it in the nurseries for a few years, then it shows back up again in small quantities. Just like all that bad 80's fashion we're seeing right now! Well, except that's really really bad...Aggie cotton happens to be very, very pretty.

The flowers and foliage are reminiscent of a burgundy leafed hardy hibiscus with lovely pink and cream flowers. The flowers are followed by small cotton bolls that add interest and texture to the garden. The burgundy foliage gives you some really nice foliage contrast mixed with salvias, ornamental grasses and other annuals like angelonia and lantana. It's blooming in my garden now and through the fall will reach about three to four feet tall.