The Gardening Has Begun

I was beginning to get worried that I would not be able to start the garden. We had such a warm early spring, and then it turned cool and rainy. We just pasted our last chance of frost last week. So, now I'm free to get started.

The addition to the garden was tilled up yesterday. Bill's cousin was great to come over and work up the new section with his tiller. Chuck ran into a great deal of clay - which is why I am changing the entire garden over to raised bed...not to mention...when it's done it will look nice too. Now, I need to get the new section raked and ready for the raised bed. Bill has another cousin who will make me a garden gate so this summer I do not have to try to climb over the fence any more. It was just a pain on my legs.

I invested yesterday in plants for the herb garden. I bought - thyme, sage, dill, rosemary, cilantro, parsley and chives. I do have some herbs that made it through the winter from last year - wide leaf chives, oregano, bee balm and a ton of mint. In fact, I am having trouble with all the mint. I read over the winter you should not plant mint directly into your garden because it is very invasive (don't you just love it when you learn these things after the fact...lol). I think my best plan of action is that I should remove all the mint from the garden, transplanting a little into a container calling it good.

I added to my perennial flower bed - this year I added Aquilegia and Speedwell. I still need to fill in with a few annuals, but soon within a few years it should all be perennials. My plan is to add some each year, since these plants are more expensive then annuals.

Containers are also part of my garden plan. I put one together yesterday. This year I decided to play a little with the one for the back deck (see picture). I planted Tickseed, Candytuft, Meadow Sage and lantana. I am expecting a full color of purples and yellows.

Well, this is my last day of vacation this week - back to work tomorrow - so I should get busy with my gardening before the day has pasted me by.

Happy Gardening!