Our Garden

I’ve been working in my garden a lot.  Well, we lovingly call it our garden, but it is no masterpiece by a long shot.  I know it is not spectacular, but it is the result of my hard work and I love it.  I’m all about using what I have, buying as little as possible, and purchasing small plants and waiting for them to grow.

I’ve been weeding beds and raking (who says gardening isn’t good exercise?) a lot lately.  The yard really suffered a lot of neglect since it’s been nearly two years since I’ve done any real yard work.  It’s great because the kids and I head outside and play, and I do a little work here and there.   So far this spring I’ve planted the following: petunias, vincas, white butterfly nepthytis, periwinkes, aztec grass, button fern, rabbit’s foot fern, and tricolor ginger.

From seed we have: moonflower, rock soapwort, nasturtium, basil, morning glory, and a wildflower shade mix.

I spruced up the hanging baskets.  I got the idea to line the baskets with leaves from an old Martha Stewart Living article.  I’m curious to see how they hold up.  I think this is good for plants that like to keep their feet wet because the soil does not seems to drain as well as it does with the coconut liner.

The herb garden: thyme, mint, rosemary, and basil.  I’m still waiting for the tomatillo and sage seeds to sprout.  I would love more than anything to grow vegetables.  I’ve tried, but I just don’t get enough sun.

That spiky looking thing is a pineapple we planted from the discarded top of a pineapple we ate last year.  I thought for sure it was a goner from neglect, but when I weeded the bed a few weeks ago, I found it alive and kicking!

Ginger flowers.  This I did not plant, I was lucky that it crept under the fence from my neighbor’s yard!

Ferns and lots of them.  These also crept under the fence.  Since we have mostly shade in our backyard, we grow lots of ferns.

Lots of shade means that grass refuses to grow on half the yard.  We finally gave up and put down hay.  The kids love it.

Morning glory flower.  This is from those seeds we planted a while back.

My garden friend.

I’ve been thinking so much about gardening and reading so many books and magazines on the subject that I actually had a dream the other night that a plant was growing out of my armpit.  Not in my armpit, but out of it, as if my armpit were its soil.  Either I’m thinking too much about plants, or my subconscious is trying to tell me something about my personal hygeine.