Blogs

[#1]

When I was a kid, my dad always planted a garden for our family. Gardening makes me feel closer to Dad…my gardens are a tribute to him!

I enjoy being outdoors, and nurturing plants and seeds always brings me great joy. For me, gardening is definitely trial and error. I try to do something new every garden season...and this year I had a chance to own a tiller!

I’m pretty sure that Dad would have said that my eyes were bigger than my stomach, which is what he would say when we couldn't finish our dinners. I created more raised garden beds than ever using the tiller!

In my new raised beds, I am holding this summer’s main gardening experiment, inspired by a Native American tradition called a Three Sisters Garden. It’s based on an Iroquois legend and involves planting corn, beans, and squash in the same mounds...I will keep you updated on its progress in a later post.

I also used my favorite gardening bags to plant potatoes, lettuce, butternut squash, and pumpkins...

I planted lots of sunflowers, which I am afraid the birds may have already discovered...but my grapevines have pretty flowers so hopefully I’ll have lots of grapes soon! My acura berry plant is coming along nicely, too.

I planted different kinds of tomatoes in my garden box: the Ketchup and Fries tomato plant from Cottage Farms, a pineapple tomato from Roberta's, and Roma tomatoes as well...I am also trying herbs in a small box this year…dill, basil, parsley, and some peppermint. Here’s a tip—plant marigolds around your garden to hopefully keep hungry creatures away from your edibles!

I love to plant flowers in pots, boxes, and my memorial garden for Misty....the memorial garden came together with willow planters, benches, and stepping stones and globes from Valerie Parr Hill...

I planted lots of flowers from Cottage Farms, plus potato vines, vinca, and more...in my largest pot I employed the thriller, filler, and spiller technique...I used perennial plants and in the fall I will transplant them into my yard. 

I added flowers as underplantings for my butterfly bushes and lime tree... 

I always love to create window boxes for my shed, using a variety of fun flowers..

My peonies seem to be waiting for warmer weather…but soon!

My succulent wreath is looking good…that came from a fun class I took at a local nursery, and wrote about in a previous post. 

I have a lot going on, but I am not done yet! It’s a lot to keep track of in the garden, so I always store my garden tags and planting guides in a box so I can refer to them throughout the season. Thanks for letting me share my garden fun with you all! I have to admit that this has been an interesting spring season as it hailed on me once and has rained every day...so here’s to some warm nights for my tomatoes and yours! I would love to hear about your flowers and veggies…feel free to keep me updated on your own garden progress!

Happy Gardening!

Pat

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