Spring Gardening and Favorite Sunscreen

Hi there! Have y'all started gardening yet? We spent a recent weekend fertilizing the grass, putting down Preen to prevent garden weeds, and planting Zinnia seeds. 

I know I've mentioned Preen before, but since it's almost summertime, I thought it deserved a repeat mention. Here's a pic so you know what I'm talking about...

You just sprinkle it on the mulch around your flowers and it prevents any weeds from coming up for 4 months! Now, you do have to pull the existing weeds first, but other than that, you just sprinkle it on and lightly water it in and that's it!

Be sure to keep the Preen off the grass though. It'll kill grass. Also, try not to disturb the flower beds after you apply it. If the area gets disturbed frequently (from walking on the mulch, digging, etc.) it won't work as well. 

Anyway, I've been using it for years and I really don't have to pull weeds. Love this stuff! It's about $15 at Home Depot or Walmart. I'm sure you can get it on Amazon too. 

Like I said, we also planted some Zinnia seeds. I had three pouches of seeds in my cart before I noticed some of them had a little pic of a flower pot with a check mark on it. I assume that means they'll do well in pots and since I'm only planting them in pots, I had to switch a couple out for the checked kind. :) 

Are you ready for the pretty pic of what my flower pots look like right now???

Hee hee! I usually don't have the patience for seeds, but last year I had some Zinnias, and after the flowers bloomed, I sprinkled the dried, spent flowers (which contained the seeds) into a pot filled with soil and was really surprised at how quickly they grew. In just a couple of weeks I had pretty good sized plants. I'll try to keep you posted on these. 

I will say that I was really disappointed in the amount of seeds per packet. Most only contained about 6-7 seeds. What's up with that?

Here are a few more pics from around the backyard...

The bottle brush tree is beginning to bloom and the plumbago in front of it is going to be covered in little blue flowers soon. 

I always look forward to this Saint Joseph Amaryllis blooming. It's proven to be very hardy and comes back every year like clockwork... 

A closer look at some roses and the red bottle brush blooms in the back. 

Speaking of spending time outside, I recently got some new sunscreen I wanted to share with you. Big surprise, it's Neutrogena brand! I promise y'all I'm not getting paid to endorse their products, I just really love them. :) 

The one complaint my family has about sunscreen is how their skin feels sticky after applying it. So, I did some research and kept coming back to this stuff. The "ultra sheer" Neutrogena is non-greasy and very light weight. It doesn't really feel like you have sunscreen on and it absorbs into the skin quickly. We usually start with the cream and then follow up with the spray every couple of hours. 

Here's another really good one we like...

This one is by Kiehl's. It's oil free, lightweight, fast drying, non-greasy, paraben free, and non-comedogenic. What else could you ask for in a sunscreen? :) 

Do you have a favorite sunscreen to share? I'd love to hear about it! Hope everyone has a great day and thanks so much for stopping by!

~Lisa