Gardening was so satisfying yesterday, but so exhausting. When Dave got home from church (I was exhausted from not feeling well the night before), we had a quick breakfast then headed off to the garden center to give them all our money. We had two cart-loads of plants. Well, you don't all need a play-by-play of the planting. We were at it for about 8 hours (Dave showering mid-way through to go to a student's recital about 30 minutes away...slacker), and I have the gardener's burn to prove it. I put sunblock everywhere...except my lower back. I hadn't anticipated my shirt rising up as I was bending over and kneeling all day. So I'm nursing that with some aloe vera today.
OK, skip this next part if you really don't care what's in our garden. I wanted to write it down somewhere so I could remember the names of all the plants and flowers.
At the front of our house, Dave planted a burning bush (bottom of the driveway) and made a scalloped brick border. It looks so little all by itself right now, but it can grow to be 6'x6'. Hopefully not so tall. We'll have to keep an eye on the height and try to keep it down a bit. We ripped out the dead growth around our mailbox and planted "ground cover" flowers ("Portulaca Sundial mix") for a nice little bed.
In the back, Dave and our neighbour transplanted a maple from their backyard to the area right behind our fence (they have lots of young trees that will soon crowd each other out).
I worked on our flower/vegetable garden all day. The two ends are flower garden, including butterfly bushes, marigolds, "Diadem/Sweet William Dianthus", lavender, snapdragons, celosias (Kimono and Geisha mix), lisianthus (forever blue), pansies, Easter bonnet violets, vincas, "Showmakers Grandiflora Delphi Purple", dianthus ('frosty fire'), Connecticut Yankee Delphinium, and "Sky Blue/White Bee" Delphinium. Hmmm. The reason why I wrote all this out was to remember what I planted. I hope I remember which is which in the garden. Maybe I should keep the tags afterall.
In the middle of the garden is our herb and veggie patch. I planted tomatoes, chives, green onions, zucchini, red bell peppers, yellow bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, cilantro, parsley and basil. I can make a stirfry or salsa! ...in 3 months. Although last year we planted late (only moving in at the end of May), and our garden was overflowing with veggies and herbs to eat at the beginning of August.
We have hanging baskets, and in some planters in the front, I planted geraniums. A planter in the back has some sweet pea seeds (Margaret's favourite), and I'm starting some rosemary in a pot inside, as our rosemary froze last year. We'll bring it in for the winter this year.
Phew! Now you know what kept us outside for 8 hours. It was hard work, especially since the soil here is mostly clay, so you have to dig that up, apply nice topsoil, rake, etc. before planting anything. Then you're still digging up clay as you go along. I really do need to go to the chiropractor today. But we have a lovely garden now, and I'll post pictures soon! For now, I'm going to go outside and enjoy my breakfast on our back deck. It's supposed to be 90F today! I'll escape by practicing later on--I have a rehearsal with Simpson's symphonic band this afternoon. Have a great day!!
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