About me: Hi, my name is Jennifer. I'm a 38 y.o. married mother of four, (two boys, two girls.) My youngest is in preschool leaving me time to garden...at last!! I've been growing annuals since 1988, (the year we bought our first house.) Just recently -- in the past two summers -- I've branched out to perennials and shrubs. My gardening turning-point happened last spring when I committed a big, major no-no. I planted my impatiens in the rain, in wet soil. Needless to say, they never thrived, and in fact, they were at death's door about a month later. I couldn't understand what went wrong, as I always had such beautiful impatiens year after year. I did some research and realized my mistake. Best of all, I was able to save my poor impatiens by pulling them up and replanting them in pure, homemade compost. I realized then and there that good soil is magic, and that there was a lot I didn't know about planting. This year I have concentrated on really improving my soil and the results have been incredible! I think I have the some of the biggest and best impatiens in all of Kansas City. Currently they are waist-high and beautiful. I'd like to move on to a wider variety of plants and to that end, I planted hydrangeas, hostas, a rose, butterfly bush, tall phlox, daylilies, iris, peonies, liatris, asiatic lilies, sedum, ostrich fern, lamium, caladium, clematis, salvia, boxwood, morning glory, petunias, lantana, gaura and more. Tomatoes and basil is the extent of the food gardening however. I have learned so much from my friends at Garden Web and I love to converse with others who love their plants as much as I do. In my spare time (i.e., time not spent in the garden) I like to quilt and read, (especially history -- mostly WWII history.) I'm an RN, but not currently practicing. Of course, I also spend a lot of time volunteering for my children's school and at my church.
My zone is: USDA zone 6/MO
My zone is: USDA zone 6/MO
GardenWeb Member: 2003-11-21