Cosmos!

I have and always will adore cosmos.  They are such a delight to grow.  The tall fern like plants, the delicate daisy like flowers and the bright colors make them such a wonderful addition to my garden.  They attract butterflies and honey bees and lots of different beetles.  They alaos distract grasshoppers from eating any nearby vegtables.  Grasshoppers love to eat cosmos, flower petal and all.  While some people might find that distressing, I don't mind.  I have several eggplant and tomatoe plants nearby that appreciate the bug distraction.

These cosmos reseeded themselves all over my lawn this year.  I had to literally dig up the small seedlings and place them inside the garden liner to save them form the lawn mower.  And while it took FOREVER for them to bud and blossom, now look at them. 

Flowers in my garden

I realize I haven't really shown any pictures of the flowers in my garden this season as of late.  And there really are some lovely ones.  I have a glorious hibiscus plant in a pot on my porch.  It is a new hybrid from Burpee called Cranberry crush and it is amazing.  This is it's second round of blossoms in the first year of growth.

I also planted some Scarlet O'Hara morning glories in the back yard alongside the vegtable garden.  They are a fushcia color which mimics red in the right light.  I adore them.

And the zinnias.... oh the zinnias.  I plant zinnias every year but this year they have been particularily lovely.  I have plans to plants more colors of zinnia next season and in more places.  The butterflies we have had because of them is astounding.









Garden season is upon us!

I have the spring fever bug bad.  I have been itching to get started on my garden work for almost 6 weeks now.  So much so that I had started many of my herb and veggie and even some of my flower plants inside.

Anyways, this past week the winds were too high to get a proper start on the garden.  However, this past weekend was the PERFECT time to start.  And with highs in the 60s-80s for the next week and a half, I am so ready.

I started with my 4'x8' garden box.  I have brocolli, cauliflower, tomatoe and pepper starters inside already, as well as some garlic starters.  Those went in the box.  Then I started lettuce, spinach, nasturtiums, and beets from seed.  Top it of with some marigold plants to help with pest control and voila!  My garden box is in and growing.

Lee and I had heard that planting potatoes in old tires worked realy well.  Since Lee knows the tire guys in town, he inquired about getting some old beat up tires for this purpose.  I planted two kinds of potatoes in tires as well as one tire of peas.  All are coming up like gang busters now.

I also dug out the old dead foliage from last season from one of my flower beds.  I put in some new dirt and peat moss and planted African daisies, black petunias and snapdragons.

And this is just the start of my gardens.  Wait till you see the new herb garden addition, the pumpkin patch and the veggie bed.  There's so much more to do yet.  I'll keep you all updated.  SQUEE!