Wednesday, May 19, 2010

My Gardens

I love Spring when tiny green leaves poke up out the seemingly barren earth; leaves and flowers begin to unfurl, and heavenly scent fills the air.



emerging hostas



 
I love Summer best of all, when the days are hot and the glory of flowers abounds, insects buzz, herbs are gathered, and vegetables grace the table.

fairy roses and penstemon (above)


Fresh mint of several varieties grows in a garden in the front of my house, along with a serviceberry (yummy fruit), bluebeard bush, basil, lemon balm, thyme and other herbs, fairy roses, and various flowers.  Last year I planted a few tomatoes here as well.  This year I am growing snap peas here.
apple mint (above)

I have gardens all around my house, mostly with flowers and some herbs.  I grow tomatoes, lettuce, and peppers in pots on my deck.  Oh and basil, too!  One can never have enough basil!
I've lived in my current house for 10 years, so I've had some time to develop gardens.  However, so much work remains to be done.  So this year my short list is as follows:
1.  dig up and give away extra plants--black eyed susans, lemon balm, buttercups, daylilies, thyme
2.  move a few bushes around
3.  replace the sargent crab apple that died with something
4.  get rid of the mock orange that never bloomed and looks too scraggly most of the time
5.  work on the area on the West side of my house.
6.  The back of my yard is edged by woods.  It is also a bank.  I've let the weeds grow up to keep the bank from eroding.  (Some of the "weeds" are raspberry plants.)  I want to continue to work on this area building the soil higher and filling in with pretty garden plants.  I am also working on a path down the bank into the woods.  A few steps are needed here.
7.  re-do the small garden at the end of my driveway.
8.   plant vegetables, herbs, flowers
9.   finish mulching!
and relax and enjoy!


This post is for the etsy bloggers' team carnival which will be posted HERE on Monday, May 24.  The carnival is hosted by Sweet Sally Soaps (very  wonderful soap!).  Do go check out her blog now because she is running a contest and you just might win some of her luscious soaps! 
Sweet Sally blog
Sweet Sally shop
photos by me © 2009

21 comments:

  1. No matter how long we live somewhere the list never seems to get any shorter does it! :)

    Your garden is looking lovely!
    xo Catherine

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  2. Pretty gardens! I'm working on planting more flowers this year but I don't really have a clue what I'm doing. I'm so not a gardener!

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  3. I would love to see your garden. I've got black fingers (plants die when I LOOK at them) so I'm always horribly jealous of good gardeners.

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  4. It's true that your garden is very nice .. i wish I could have some of your potted plants!
    heehee

    Naqvee♥

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  5. Your photos are great! Then I got to your list ... oh, yeah. I hear ya! :)

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  6. I always love seeing all your photos! I should have known you'd have an amazing garden :) (Or gardennS rather)

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  7. Love it! I wish I lived closer to you, because I'd take all the plants you're giving away. :)

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  8. We seeded my garden on the weekend, and I hope to get the flowers into my pots on the deck this weekend. We still have to worry about frost coming at night until about the 2nd week of June. So most people don't plant flowers or gardens much before now.
    Yours looks wonderful :)

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  9. Ummmmmm we can smell the lovely variety of scent-sations coming from your little piece of earth...your mint is gorgeous. Every fall ours looks like death warmed over and I just know it will never return yet it does in full glory!!!
    Happy Thursday and good luck with your gardening list of things to do. Currently my wildflowers are popping up and thus far humans and flowers are winning the battle against some evening nibblers.
    I have a garden cat life size statue..I sat it right in the middle of the wildflowers. :-)
    Madi and Mom

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  10. I tried my hand at growing herbs from seeds, but I'm pretty sure it was a failure. I have sprouts coming up in my garden, but I think they are zinnia I planted and not the basil or oregano. Oh well! Your garden looks lovely.

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  11. lovely garden! I wish I have more time to tend to my garden...

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  12. Oh, how I wish I could visit your garden. It sounds so lovely!

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  13. You have a lovely garden and a huge to do list. Great photos too.

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  14. Wow, Margaret, that's a lengthy to-do list! I hope you have help. I planted a serviceberry last year. I had chosen it because birds like the fruit. I didn't know I could eat the berries, too. Thanks for the tip. :)

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  15. Great to see your garden photos! I haven't been able to do any in mine, so I'll enjoy yours instead!
    Vicki

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  16. The garden looks great....hope you get thru the list :)

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  17. Ah, so jealous!! They are beautiful!! We just moved into a house and this is our first spring here. So the gardens are definitely a work in progress!

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  18. What a list you have of to-do's! And I'm dying to know what a serviceberry looks and tastes like, and what is a bluebeard bush? And fairy roses--are they really roses?

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  19. I love the photos of your garden! Cheers to the never ending lists of to-dos :)

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Your comments make my day! Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts!