Thursday, May 12, 2011

Planting Sunflowers on Mother's Day

We continue to garden.

Every day when we come home from school, Bro jumps out of the car and asks, "Mom, can I go see my beautiful garden?"

Of course we take a moment to check it out.

Um... it still looks like this.


How do we water all of our stuff?  Right now we have hoses stretching across our yard that are hooked up to an automatic timer on the spicket.  However, we need to think of a better way to water this stuff.  I'll get to that in a moment.

For Mother's Day, Dear Husband and Bro prepped some land next to the house for my sunflowers.

I checked the stash of seeds I bought and found Mammoth sunflowers and Giant sunflowers.  I didn't read the package carefully.  Let's just say... Mammoth sunflowers could reach almost to the window.  Gulp!


Is this tiny little seed really going to be a mammoth sunflower?



Even Bri joined in on the fun.


Bro planted the seeds and gently covered them with soil.  Good boy!


Many gardeners have pointed out that it can sometimes be a challenge to get the teens to participate in the process.  As you can see, my teen is no different.  She cheered us on from the sidelines though.


It was a fabulous Mother's Day.  I never thought I would enjoy a day like this so much.

Now for the watering issue.

This is our current set up.  One main hose comes from the spicket in the back.  There is a splitter and it connects to two hoses.  One hose waters the grass we are growing in the front and one hose leads to the veggie garden. 

These hoses are run by an automated timer that turns them on and off.


However, now I need to also water the sunflowers on the side of the house as well as my new hydrangea bush along the back fence (a gift from my mom).

My question is this. 
How do you manage watering your plants and flowers? 

Right now I am manually (the old fashioned way -- standing there and holding the hose) watering the sunflowers and hydrangea bush.  However, this is not a long term solution for us... I don't think. Wait... hahaha.... my teen will be home for the summer soon.  Maybe I should put "water the plants" on her to-do list.  Perhaps my problem is solved.  Just kidding!

This post is part of the KinderGARDENS series.
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8 comments:

The author said...

I have soaker hoses hooked up for my garden right now, but they don't seem to do the trick either. I end up spending alot of time holding the hose too. I think my solution may be to use my son's "soggy doggy" sprinkler, I think it will cover half the garden in a 1/4 of the time. Good luck!

Kirsten said...

aha! you're back! how about all that blogger craziness?!

we can't help you with your watering question...we're stand-there-and-hold-the-hose people. :)

can't wait to see those crazy-tall sunflowers!

Kindra said...

We stand and hold the hose too :) Love the layered sunflowers. We bought some sunflower seeds as well that grow to 12ft and 5ft...can't wait to see them in bloom!

SusieQ said...

And guess who else stands there with a hose in her hand?? Why are you so against that? There are a lot of us commoners out there holding hoses... hahaha!!!

Mama Bean said...

I get really impatient during the garden-still-looks-like-dirt (with some weeds) phase, too!! Can't wait to see the sunflowers :)

The author said...

Well, I know I posted before Blogger went crazy, but I am having problems deciding the best way to water myself. So far my son's sprinkler is the best and worst!

Jess said...

Holy huge sunflowers! The seeds I have are supposed to grow 4 to 6 feet tall, but they never did come up last year so we'll plant them without much expectation. Can't wait to see what you end up with, how fun FUN for the kids if they really get that huge.

We just stand there and hold the hose too. You'll figure something out. :)

Shayne said...

I can't wait to see your Mammoth sunflowers. They will be a great project for your family & so beautiful!

We either water from the hose or from watering cans. Watering is the one job my kids really love, and I'm more than happy to let them help!