Some people might think it’s a little early, but I planted the veggie bed today.

First I emptied and sieved my compost, and dug it in to the bed. Then, I constructed new bean poles to replace my beauties that were smashed in the winter’s wind storms. They kind of look like this:

We planted beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, chives and parsley. I’ll probably start popping a bit of lettuce in every week or so too. Cailey helped me plant the sunflowers and sweet peas … so I’m sure we’ll have a few surprises there!

Since we’re turning the upper bed into a play area this year my plot is significantly smaller, so I’m going to plant a few more things in containers in the next few weeks.

Any suggestions as to what kind of veggies do well in pots (other than tomatoes and beans)?

Look what we just bought on craigslist:

Something else I can cross off my To Do List!

The last spring bloom of my little Magnolia tree:

Polygonum bistora ‘Superbum” - Snakeweed and Saint Francis:

And in honour of my daughter’s third birthday, a few of her little projects:

What’s blooming in your garden this week?

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

Why are husbands like lawn mowers?

They are difficult to get started, emit foul smells and don’t work half the time ~ Author unknown

I didn’t get nearly as much accomplished today as I had planned due to a partially absent husband / heavy item mover / child entertainer.

Our next door neighbours have their house for sale, and I excitedly accepted their kind offer of two peony plants from the garden bed adjacent to our yard. So I dug them up, split them and transplanted them. After doing some reading, I realize that spring is not the best time to do this, but I had to get it done before the open house tomorrow. Am I right not to expect any miracles with the blooms this year?

I also planted some poppy seeds, or rather, my three year old daughter did. It will be interesting to see where in the garden the poppies decide to sprout!

The Crafty Gardener has inspired me to make my own tipsy pot. Click on her link to see what I mean. It’s pouring rain but I’m excited to see how it turns out, so the raingear is going on!

And here it is … turned out better than I had imagined:

Is this the one that you bought in memory of Maria, mom? I want one too!

“Helleborus is native to much of Europe, from western Britain, Spain and Portugal, eastward across the Mediterranean region and central Europe into Romania and Ukraine, and along the north coast of Turkey into the Caucasus. The greatest concentration of species occurs in the Balkans. One atypical species (H. thibetanus) comes from western China; another atypical species (H. vesicarius) inhabits a small area on the border between Turkey and Syria. Read the rest of this entry »

Gardening is a matter of your enthusiasm holding up until your back gets used to it ~ Authour unknown

Timely, as this week I can barely move.

Spring 2003 - SW corner as it was when we moved in:

Spring 2004 - After some backbreaking work to dig in and supplement the crappy clay soil we planted some perennials:

Summer 2004 - a few months later:

Spring 2007 - Fence had just been replaced and moved back 8.5 feet, more than doubling the depth of this bed. In attempts to make it look uncontrived, we planted three trees, split many existing perennials and shoved a few new plants in:

It looks a bit odd right now, but I’m hoping everything takes and this time next year it should look a lot better.

I have three identical Hebes. That is one of them. I don’t know what species they are as I seem not to have added the tags to my dairy but they are lovely. Last year they were covered in white flowers.

“Hebe is a genus of plants native to New Zealand, Rapa in French Polynesia, the Falkland Islands, and South America. It includes about 90 species and is the largest plant genus in New Zealand. Read the rest of this entry »

My 90 year old Nonna and her hundreds of sweet smelling red geraniums growing out of whatever containers she could get her hands on.

My Mum - turned her blah back yard into a garden paradise and taught me everything I know.

Alan Tischmarsh - dumbed gardening down to my level and made it look easy.