Friday, May 4, 2018

My April Flower Bed and starting my Veggie and Herb Garden


I always love it when my friend C.J. shows her weekly "How does your garden grow?" post.   I am going to take you back and show the entire month of April.

After my first hibiscus was killed from a hard freeze, three more appeared.  EDIT: Valerie is correct.  These are hyacinths, and I alway seem to call them by the wrong name.

These tulips

were also casualties of the hard freeze.

The tips of the Surprise Lilies were damaged due to one of the three freezes, too.

Next came the wind, and with it, not snow, but those seeds from the one and only tree in my yard.

Note the area to the right of the walkway and all the leaves and vinca vines trying to work their way to the sunshine.

I assure you, all that "green" in the flower bed is a blanket of tree seeds.


Day Lily, Iris, and Tulip leaves live in harmony among the tree seeds.

My neighbor's yard has lots of dandelions and a visitor.

Make that two visitors.

Actually three, although one hopped out of sight just as I snapped the photo.  The bricks around my neighbor's tree are the one I still need to get from her.

Can you tell how windy it is?

My wind chimes, situated around all three sides of my front porch, get a constant workout.

A few days later, as I was heading out  and about, I was surprised and thrilled to see the first of my tulips that survived the hard freezes.

I'm sure you can see the tree seeds still dotting the ground.

If you know anything about tulips,


you can tell these froze before they could fully develop.

Fast forward to the end of April, and this is what I had to face in my herb garden.  Shame on me for allowing this to get out of hand.

The wind was so strong that once all the pots were out of the garden, the cardboard and papers became airplanes.

I did more chasing than anything else, although I was very happy with the way the blackberry bush turned out.  Note I still need to mow my back yard.

I removed the leaves and most of the vinca vines in this area, but still needed to remove the smaller bricks.  The wind knocked my wheel barrow over as I was taking photos.

One thing I found that made me so very happy was my lily of the valley.  I thought they were all chocked out by the vinca vines.  I transplanted one to the larger area and left two where they were growing (see photo above this one).

The next day I removed the potting soil from the pots and spread it on the veggie garden.


Then I mowed,

saw one of the robins that frequents my flower bed,

and finished cleaning out my new rock garden.

I also noticed one of my irises has bloomed and the wind swept someone's box into my yard.

Although it needs to be cleaned up better, I now realize I must plant veggies in pots for one final year.

Note the new board holding the lasagna garden in place, and the bricks that have been cleaned up.

After mowing the back yard, I brought my herbs

to the back patio.  Much clean-up is needed here, but for now, I'm going to wait until after the storms pass.  I got the idea to grow these here after seeing Divers and Sundry's beautiful patio, which mine will never look like.

Thanks for joining me on this latest venture that has taken so much computer time from me.  I appreciate your visit and will update the garden areas as soon as I have something to report.

17 thoughtful remarks:

Helen said...

that's a lot of hard work! hope you are rewarded with good things to eat later in the season/year.

Valerie-Jael said...

Gardens always need a lot of hard work. Your hibiscus flowers look more like hyacinths! Have a fun day, Valerie

kaybee said...

Thank you for the garden tour! Such a lot of work, but worth it!

Sami said...

There's always so much work to do in a garden Elizabeth!
I enjoyed seeing your tulips, I never grew any.
And the birds are very sweet, I also enjoy seeing the birds that visit our garden.

aussie aNNie said...

Great post and looks like you had a fun gardening day, fabulous when all the flowers are in bloom...x[aussie aNNie blog]

My name is Erika. said...

Your early April is my early May. My hyacinths are just blooming now. I love seeing everything green up and summer returning. Your gardens are coming along. I need to get out into mine. That is usually my April break chore but since I wasn't home I need to do it all now. It will get there though, eventually. Loved seeing your garden greening up. :) Happy Friday. Hugs-Erika

CJ Kennedy said...

I enjoyed the tour of your yard and garden. The robins seem to approve of all your hard work int he garden. I'm glad some of the tulips and other plants survived the deep freeze. I love when it gets windy, I love listening to the wind chimes.

kathyinozarks said...

Wow Elizabeth you have been really busy in your yard and garden.I am still way behind. after the same deep freezes you got too, we also had those super strong winds but then we were fortunate to have rain the last several days. I am needing to go to town to get more miracle grow soil for the different containers and work in my gardens too-I also need a big bag of oranges the orioles are staying this year-happy dance
I love robins but we rarely seen many here where I am-up in town though there are more.
Happy Friday

RO said...

Wow! You've sure been a busy beaver outside these days Elizabeth! A few of us were all set to plant some flowers and herbs until we got a new landlord, who doesn't want them in her back or front yard. We tried to hang some flowerpots up, and that was a no go as well. I'm forced to buy my herbs the old fashioned way at the grocery store.(lol) That bird sure makes for a Happy Friday! Hugs...RO

Jeanie said...

I love seeing that new growth! So many possibilities. And you have been busy -- lots busier than I have. Most of my garden ends up being in pots but there are bulbs in the ground and sweet peas, yet to emerge! I envy your earlier spring (but maybe not your summer heat!)

Divers and Sundry said...

I always love your gardening posts and enjoy seeing what you do with your space. So much room! Your beds are coming along so well, and your veggie garden is evolving beautifully! You'll enjoy having pots on your patio -thanks for the shout-out :) - especially the herbs. They'll attract butterflies, which is always a joy, and you'll have a good spot to take a break with something to drink while you watch them. Robins are one of our favorite birds, and there've been babies on our patio being fed from the suet feeder. Bird-watching is such a peaceful activity.

That wind! I'll bet that windchime was dancing :) Sometimes mine is so loud I have to take it down lol

Spring is welcome. I'm glad it's finally here :)

pearshapedcrafting said...

Oh Elizabeth! Your garden always seems to have something interesting going on! I can see the hard work you are doing! Patio plants sound like a great idea! In answer to your question about security there are a lot of folk around and Paper Artsy had their own -and, as Leandra said to me - was getting a bit jumpy at times when the stand was very crowded!I know they are going to be busy this year but the time spent that goes into attending shows will now be available for them.....and a lot of other companies will be selling their products at shows now! Hugs,Chrisx ps off to do some of our own gardening at the caravan now!x

Meggymay said...

Gardens are never easy to look after no matter where you live. If its not the weather changes, or the bugs etc that think its a free food source . What keeps us going, is the results the satisfaction that we do our best in our gardens and that it suits US. its what we want to grow there. I loved your photos and can see how busy you have been, your garden must be a happy place to be.
Yvonne xx

da tabbies o trout towne said...

Elizabeth...OMC...that WAS a lot of tree seeds !!!!! I hope you see new growth in your garden....mine is so hit and miss...some up, some fried already, two yews that look like they're 1000 years old :( de tabbies send ther best two bleu & squiggles ~~ ☺☺♥♥

Rita said...

That's a lot of work. Glad some tulips survived the frosts. :)

Sandra Cox said...

What a gorgeous tulip!
If you had a dime for every tree seed in the pictures you'd be rich.
Glad your Lily of the Valley survived. I haven't had that in years. Hmm, maybe I should rethink that and hyacinth since I'm on a sweet-scent quest.
Have a glorious weekend and enjoy your plants.

Rike said...

These are gorgeous gardening photos! I enjoyed so much scrolling through all of them! You were very busy and hard working!