Skip to main content

Gardening

So I have had this vision for a few years now ... it's been my dream to have a cottage garden in our backyard--for several reasons:



  • first, we have a tiny backyard and a tiny house, so cottage style fits our small space.

  • secondly, I have always LOVED the wild, out-of-control, natural look of a cottage garden (maybe we can attribute that to growing up in rural Southern Illinois?!).

  • Also, our entire backyard is visible from our living room and dining room, so I want to look at something beautiful this summer instead of the horrendous view you see here:


  • and, I want to teach Carlos about the process and the benefits of growing herbs and vegetables (I know--I'm such a teacher. I just can't help it).


  • lastly, I want to enjoy cut flowers in our house this summer, but I'm waaaaay too cheap to buy them on a regular basis.

I have already made several mistakes and am learning. Here are some pics:


Notice any mistakes?! The extreme "legginess" was an issue and almost all of them have died. Well, we live and we learn.


So I'm on my second go-round now. I'll post those (much more promising) pics when there's a break in the rain.


So I'm really excited!!! What am I going to be enjoying this summer? {fingers crossed!}



  • corn (supposedly really sweet, Sugarpearl variety)




  • bell peppers (California Wonder)




  • beefsteak tomatoes and cherry tomatoes



  • green beans (Garden Bean Provider variety)




  • carrots (these are supposed to be extremely sweet and tender)




  • and a ton of herbs

I'm considering planting Roma tomatoes as well, because they make excellent sauce.


In the way of flowers, I should be enjoying:




  • zinnias




  • delphinium




  • lavendar




  • sunflowers





  • poppies




  • ranunculus {LOVE these!!--it's my feeble attempt at enjoying peonies in this climate! ;) }



  • and some more annuals that I haven't figured out yet

I'm also planting some perennials and biennials so I can enjoy a garden in full bloom all next spring and summer:


  • coneflowers


  • shasta daisies


  • foxgloves


  • hollyhocks


  • canterbury bells, and


  • black-eyed susans.

I also want to plant a raspberry bush and a blackberry bush, but I might not plant them till next year because I want to do a lot of research and get the sweetest varieties.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Feb Year In Review Layouts

Just a quick post tonight. It dawned on me a few days ago that I'm already behind in my "Year . In . Review" layouts, so I put February's together. Believe it or not, for such a simple concept, these layouts took about three hours combined. I couldn't believe it! Anyway, these photos depict the highlights of February. Maybe tomorrow I'll do March :) (I wonder how many hours that will take?!) Just in case you're wondering, Carlos is still sick--no fever, just a sore throat now. Hopefully he'll go back to school on Tuesday ('cause I need some "me" time before I turn into a monster, lol!). 'Cause as you all know, life is all about me, right ;) Happy Monday, y'all!

Nehemiah: Sheep Gate (Symbolism)

hubpages.com http://www.prayfordetroit.com/ As I mentioned in my Nehemiah  post, God has nudged me this summer to study Nehemiah in depth because He has some things He wants to show me.  I am just starting Chapter 5, and I must say it is so exciting and interesting. I have to admit, though, that when I got to Chapter 3, it just looked like one of those boring chapters: it gave all the boring details about each section of the wall of Jerusalem that was being rebuilt, and gave countless names of the people who rebuilt each section.  I was going to skip it and move on to Chapter 4 when I felt the Lord nudge me to look deeper--that there was something here that He wanted to show me.   So I dutifully sought the Lord (and a research book, and the internet!) , and was ASTOUNDED at the incredible layers of symbolism in the names of the gates!  It has turned out to be my favorite chapter so far.  :)  God is incredibly amazing, huh?   The big pi...
Wow! I am so bugged that I never post anymore. Facebook is just so much easier. I'll just keep it simple-- random data: today I had Pho (Vietnamese soup) for the first time and LOVED it!! Seriously, you haven't lived till you've tried it :) I created two and a half sketches of future layouts, and halfway finished two more layouts. really on a paper-scrapping frenzy! This is one sketch: I joined the Facebook group "I grew up in Fairfield, IL, and thought I would die of boredom (but I didn't)" :D ... you have to have grown up in a dinky town to "get it" had a "day off from life" hanging out at my in-laws house all day ... ahhh! gotta love days like that I can't believe it's almost June already