Dreaming of my garden from afar...

Jer (my fiancée) & I are visiting his mom in Florida this weekend. Just before we left I snapped a few photos of the front flower bed and the raised garden beds in the backyard.

Above and to the left is a general view of the flower bed off the front porch (I planted the variegated wallflower too close to the French lavender, so my project on Monday is to move it - right now I'm thinking that I'll put it and my apricot twist wallflower where I had the purple asters that the drought killed. Along those lines, I had three asters so I need another plant, but I haven't decided whether I want to get an additional apricot twist or another variegated (suggestions are welcome). Above and to the right is a detail view showing our tulips and the Spanish lavender that I put between two of our holly bushes. Right now I'm feeling that the bulbs are unevenly spaced (probably because some of the bulbs didn't come up), so I'm either going to fill in the empty spots or lift all of them in the fall and then and replant them so that the overall look is more uniform. Finally, in the picture below you can see that I'm still trying to decide where to put my Grace Ward Lithodora! The label said to put them in an area that gets morning sun only, so I might put them off to the side of the front porch. However, I'm not sure if they'll be visible behind the holly bushes and the wallflowers that I'm thinking of putting in, so I may just get some hanging baskets and put them in over the porch.

I should have a little time on Monday to work on my gardening, and luckily the weather forecast is showing "mostly sunny". I want to clean up and finish planting the front bed so that I can concentrate on the raised garden beds in the backyard. I can't wait to get to work!

Lily or not?

While I was combing through my numerous photographs of flowers tonight, I spotted this gem; I shot this photograph last summer while visiting my friend Gabrielle's family farm. Apparently her grandmother planted a bunch of these bulbs and the family has enjoyed them ever since! I think that they're some sort of lily, but I've had a difficult time tracking them down. Since the perfume of the flowers is to die for, I'd really love to figure out what this plant is so that I can purchase some and plant them in my yard, so any help would be appreciated! But yes folks, I do plan on planting what I already have before I buy anything else! If you read my previous post, it should be pretty clear that it may take me awhile to get everything done!

The saga begins...

We bought our house last year in April, but it's taken us awhile to get things going in terms of the landscaping. Since our house is in a brand new subdivision, the builder had done some basic things - for instance, prior to the sale landscapers were hired to put down sod in the front yard and plant hollies, a hawthorne bush (we think), a crepe myrtle & some stella d'oro daylilies in a bed located off the front porch, but the overall look and feel wasn't quite the vibrant, bird and butterfly-friendly approach that I'm looking to cultivate (pun intended).

The picture to the left is an image of the house just after we bought it in April. As you can see the landscaping is pretty ho-hum. So far, to liven things up mom, dad and I planted bulbs (crocuses, daffodils & tulips) in the fall, and then added French lavender, purple asters & red snapdragons (just a few). Since northern Georgia is experiencing a severe drought and watering was restricted and then prohibited during the summer, I fear the asters did not make it (we still have to pull them up and look at the root ball to make sure that they really have gone off to the great garden in the sky). However, the lavender did great (below and to your left is a picture of a butterfly enjoying the lavender last summer), and the snapdragons seemed to have bounced back nicely.

Meanwhile, the bulbs that we planted in the fall started to come up in February; amazingly, they were actually blooming by the end of February, but the others took a little while longer to make an appearance. The crocuses flowered after the daffodils and the tulips have just recently started blooming. However, since the bed still looks a little bare mom and I went a bit crazy on one of our trips to Lowes while she and dad were visiting at the beginning of March. We picked up some gorgeous Grace Ward lithodora, which has absolutely stunning true blue flowers and pretty green foliage for those that aren't familiar with it, a variegated and an apricot twist wallflower & a violet lace lavender. During the course of other trips to Home Depot and Lowes, we also acquired callas, Asiatic lilies (Cancun), & pastel mixed freesias to go with the mixed gladioli that I bought in February and have yet to plant. Add to that the lily of the valley, buddelia (commonly known as butterfly bush) & the various and sundry other items that I purchased from Michigan Bulb & Gurneys, and I've got a heck of a lot of planting to do! With a little luck, it should all turn out quite nicely. I'll post photos and updates as they become available... keep your fingers crossed for me in the meantime!

Librarian turned mad gardener...

There's something about the change of the seasons that has always inspired me. Perhaps it's that I'm originally from New England (where the weather is markedly different depending on the time of year), or maybe it's just the urge that I have to watch something as seemly insignificant as a small seed grow into a luscious, life-giving plant that will provide physical or spiritual nourishment. Either way, in late winter/early spring I always find myself just itching to plant veggies, fruits and flowers (although my fiancée argues that my madness is year-round). Finally, after years of apartment living, I'm free to indulge my instincts and plant whatever I please on our .25 acre lot. Well, within reason...

So, without further ado, I introduce this blog as my homage to vegetable, fruit and flower alike! Along those lines, I hope to post information about my own gardening exploits for my friends, family and other gardening enthusiasts to enjoy and I invite others to share their adventures!