Gardening is Hard Work

I have been absent from the blogging world for several weeks. The reason is I have been busy outside in both the yard and the garden. Once the April showers subsided long enough for the ground to dry out I got busy. Need some proof? Here it is!

First up an overview of the back deck.

These are two free geraniums from my mother and a jasmine plant from last year.

DH and I fell in love with a sweet potato vine we saw on the Peaches to Beaches yard sale route. The $30-$40 price tag quickly snapped the fantasy of bringing one home with us. We found small pots of it at Lowe's last week. We got two each of the green and purple and added the coleus in the center.

Next are the front porch flowers and plants. My pride and joy is this calla lily. Calla lilies are my favorite flower so I am thrilled to be growing my own.

Here is a sprouting ostrich plume fern that I got from the Spring Hill Nursery deal several weeks ago. It came with five other ferns for the $6 shipping cost.

This ivy came from my mother's house. It puts on lovely purple flowers and will take over the world if allowed. I should know as it took dh and me months to clear it out of our own yard. I thought it was safe to grow in contained in these window boxes.

This dusty miller was left from last year. Thanks to the protection of the porch it survived the winter. After a trimming last week it looks lovely and full.

Now let's walk over to the side yard. This petunia plant just came up and was a surprise to me. It looks lovely at the base of the mailbox.

This flower bed looks a little drab and dull now but it will fill out as the season progresses.

Now for the best part of the garden -- the part we can eat -- the vegetables! Here are the cats checking out the herb garden and more specifically the catnip.

The lettuce and spinach look great. I see a fresh homegrown salad or two in our future this week. That will go great with all the Kraft salad dressing I stocked up on last month.

Here are the eggplant, tomato and pepper plants in five gallon buckets.

Here is the main garden. It is two weeks old today. We are growing popcorn, watermelons, yellow squash, zucchini, cucumbers, onions, and bunches of tomatoes. It is not much to behold yet but give it a few more weeks.

Thanks for hanging in to the end of my long gardening post. I told you I had been busy. Now I am looking forward to sitting back and watching everything grow. If only it were that easy. I have already started on the weeding. Dreams of fresh, free produce keep me motivated!