My Yard...

[dreamflower]

I realized I hadn't posted any pictures of my yard and garden this year!

Here's a springtime pic-spam. Lots of pics behind the cut.


In the back yard--

My garden-- I have radishes, onions and green beans coming up.

I'm hoping to plant more containers with cucumbers and some more of the bush beans.


The next two pics, my upside down tomatoes this year. Because of the late cool weather and extra rain this year, they are still a bit on the small side. I probably will not see any tomatoes before July or August, I'm afraid…




My herbs--

Sage and mint. Both of these were planted in the first year we moved here, and have come back.


My chives were planted that year as well. I use them a lot…


My mint and rosemary. The rosemary is new.


The peony growing by our back door. This is the first year it's bloomed. We weren't sure what kind of plant it was until it bloomed. The flowers have a marvelous scent.


The side yard--
Red roses


and yellow…


Front yard--

This, I really am pleased with. I have growing there Lobelia, Violas, Marigold, Primula and Petunia, as well as a painted rock. The DH bought me the concrete unicorn the first year we moved here, and we found the flexible fencing this year, so that I could make this bed that I've wanted to make ever since I got it.


I'm hoping to get a dwarf cherry or pear tree to plant right behind it, so that it will look like this rather famous tapestry:


Here is the garden bed the DH made on the south side of the front porch/deck. See the roses in the arbor? Last year, the contractors putting on our new roof squashed them flat. I was pleased to see them coming back,


This is what they looked like in the spring of 2007, after we first moved in. I hope that they will get that lush again one day!


I forgot to take a pic of my leaf lettuce. I planted mesclun in a tub on the front deck. Last year it came out too bitter to eat, but I'm hoping that with the cooler spring we've had this year, to get at least *one* salad out of it...

Comments

[lindahoyland.livejournal.com]

You certainly have green fingers! You must be descended from Sam!

[dreamflower]

I don't know about that! *blushes* But thanks!

[addie71.livejournal.com]

That climbing rose has the most beautiful shades of green and red. Gorgeous.

[dreamflower]

We were so relieved when it started coming back! We were so sure that they had killed it completely!

It really does have gorgeous color!

[shirebound]

Oh, your garden is just bursting with good things! I hope you get lots of tomatoes and radishes and everything else. Will the beans need a pole or lattice to grow on?

What a wonderful unicorn! He looks so content in his lovely home.

[dreamflower]

No, I'm planting bush beans, which don't climb. They are very suitable for container gardening, and bear prolifically. Now I didn't take a pic of the DH's little side garden, because nothing's come up there yet, but he's planted what they call "yard long beans" (because they get *very* long) or "asparagus beans" (for their mild asparagus-like flavor). He's put up a string trellis for them to grow on.

He does look much happier there than in his previous home on the side porch!

[topaztook.livejournal.com]

Beautiful pictures. You don't see yellow roses that often, even though I think they're lovely.

[dreamflower]

All of our roses were already established here when we moved in. But they have bloomed best this year (except for the one that's coming back from being squished).

[claudia603.livejournal.com]

wow, wonderful!! You have some gorgeous flowers, veggies, etc. It looks so rich and colorful and neat!

[dreamflower]

Thanks! I do hope we have good results this year!

[elendiari22.livejournal.com]

You have a lovely garden! I love the roses and the herbs.

[dreamflower]

Thanks! I still need to get some basil and some thyme and a few other herbs that I frequently use.

[elandulin.livejournal.com]

I love peonies--yours is very beautiful. I quite like the tubs you've planted your edibles in, too. And I look forward to seeing your little 'tapestry garden' with its tree--what a neat idea!

[dreamflower]

We had no idea what the plant by our back door was. There were no blooms last year, and my husband thought it might be a weed, so he cut it back aggressively. Perhaps that's why it came back and bloomed this year!

As soon as he got me that little unicorn, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. I've been a unicorn collector since college.

(Oh, and by the way-- the tub I use for my garden bed? That's a metal cattle trough from a farm supply store that I painted!)

[poppymuddyfoot.livejournal.com]

As a unicorn lover, I especially liked your idea to recreate the tapestry. But what really got me was your choice of flowers for that bed. Hmmm, I wonder why you chose those particular varieties...

[dreamflower]

*grin* I've collected unicorns since 1972, but this was the first "outdoor" unicorn in my collection. (So far you are the only one to have noticed the er, hobbity nature of the flowers!)

[ansostuff.livejournal.com]

Oooh, pretty! :D I wanted roses this year but I don't have the room.

[dreamflower]

Our roses were already planted when we moved in, so that was a good thing! Have you looked into the miniature roses? When we lived in Mississippi, we had a beautiful mini-rose bush that grew in a tub by our front porch. It lived for many years. And it was very inexpensive to begin with.

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

Lovely flowers! And I've seen those advertisements for growing tomatoes upside down but have never tried it myself. I didn't get any tomatoes this year... life's a little to frantic with other things for tending them this year, unfortunately. I do love a homegrown tomato.

[dreamflower]

We didn't bother with the kits that they sell. Those are common paint buckets with a hole cut in the bottom! ($4 bucks apiece as opposed to $19.99+shipping for the kits!) They are virtually trouble-free once they are hung up-- just need watering and then picking when they start to bear!

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

I figured there was surely a way to do the home-made version of the fancy made-for-TV offer. If I had a sunny spot to hang them, I'd try it.

[dreamflower]

Here is where I found the directions for doing it without the kit:
http://oldfashionedliving.com/tomato2.html

[surgicalsteel.livejournal.com]

Lovely flowers!

[dreamflower]

Thanks!

[lily-the-hobbit.livejournal.com]

You have such a beautiful garden!

[dreamflower]

Thank you, dear! ((hugs))

[gamgeefest.livejournal.com]

Your garden is beautiful, dear! You're very gifted. I agree with lyndahoyland. You must be descended from Sam!

I love plants too much to try to grow them. It will only end in badness.

[dreamflower]

Thank you!

You'd be surprised. Now I do pretty well for plants growing outdoors, but I have almost no luck at all with houseplants! So it all depends on what you try to grow!

[rhapsody11.livejournal.com]

Oh your roses are just awesome, so rich of colour!

[dreamflower]

Thank you! They are just gorgeous, and were already growing beautifully here before we ever moved in!

[grey-wonderer.livejournal.com]

It's lovely! You really have done a great job with it. Pretty, pretty, everywhere!