If I want to be honest, right now I’m filthy dirty and I stink! I spent most of the day playing in my gardens trying to catch up on weeding and planting. I wanted to get this post written before I take a shower and lose motivation.
Although I didn’t get everything done – who can in only one day – two of my front gardens are complete. (Or complete for now. Being an avid gardener, I always find more to do!) I planted a bunch of annuals and spruced up the beds. I’m usually not a big annual person (because I’m frugal and prefer perennials), but my mom gave me four flats of stuff she wasn’t going to use. I have to admit annuals bring life to a flower bed when you’re waiting for the perennials to bloom.
These two pictures are of my front garden, or at least part of it. As you can see, there’s not a lot of color yet. However, rest assured in a few more weeks, you’ll see splashes of reds, blues, and pinks. You can’t tell, but my iris and pinks are blooming.
The next picture is of my shade garden. This space is actually shared with my next door neighbors. In fact, they provided most of the funds for this space. I just do the planting and the labor. That works for me because that’s the part I like the best. Well, maybe not the weeding so much!
You might be able to see the hosta, astilbe, and bleeding heart. These are great shade loving plants. Today, I also planted columbine and cinnamon fern. These plants are shade loving as well. For annuals, I filled in with some coleus, caladium, and impatiens.
The next few pictures are from my veggie and fruit gardens. The fruit garden actually has herbs and flowers in it as well, but predominately it’s fruit. I had a big area in my yard that used to be where an above ground pool used to sit. (It was gone when we bought the house.) Rather than trying to turn in into grass, I decided to create another garden. (Actually, if I had my way, the whole yard would be very little grass and mostly flowers, veggies, and fruit.) In this picture, you can see my strawberries (I ate two today!), rhubarb, and blackberries. I also have blueberries and raspberries.
To the left are snap peas. I hadn’t planted this variety before. They have fuschia flowers which I think is really neat. On the right is garlic. This needs to be planted in the fall for a summer harvest. You also have to snip the bulb that grows in the middle of the greens in order to get a good garlic head. It -forgive me- looks like the top of the male sexual part when it matures. Be sure to clip it as close to the ground as possible. These are good in salads and stir fries.
Most of my veggie garden is done in raised beds. I find this is the best way for me. I have a variety of different kinds. Some are bought and some my hubby made for me. The bought ones (black) are from Gardeners Supply. The red tomato cages and the pea fences are from Gardeners Supply as well. I highly recommend this company. (There’s a link on the right side bar of my blog. It will get you 10% off!)
This last picture of my garden shows off my two newest raised beds. One has my new asparagus plants I’m very excited about. The other is empty and waiting for the basil plants. Hubby made these from UNTREATED wood and decking supports. The total cost of both beds including the soil was about $100.
I hope you enjoyed the little tour around my gardens. I will probably do this again mid summer when everything is blooming like crazy. Happy Gardening!
