How Does Your Garden Grow?

The best part about the warmer weather is that we're spending more time out in the garden.  I love being in our yard.  To sit with a cup of coffee and watch the butterflies and bees collecting nectar, not to mention, watching my two sons play, is the best.

Conor &  Poppy (Summer 2011)

I've always dreamed of having an English style garden, with wild flowers, roses, hedges etc.  My in-laws have the most amazing garden at their home in Cornwall and my neighbor's is filled to the brim with gorgeous flowers, honeysuckle and wonderful vegetables!  As many of you know, Luke and I don't have green thumbs, but we're trying...

When we first moved into our home (nearly five years ago), the back yard was barren.

Our backyard, 2007

And now.  Now our yard is filled with a swing set (a gift from a neighbor which our kids never tire of), the raised beds we made last month and many, many flowers.

The radishes in our raised beds are thriving:

Radishes

Our deck is filled with the seedlings we started earlier in the spring and new tomato and basil plants we picked up at Holly Hill Farm.

Container Gardens

For some reason we always have good luck with tomatoes and mixed greens on the deck.  We have that Trex decking and I think the tomatoes really love that high heat!

How does your garden grow?  We don't have silver bells, or cockle shell or pretty maids all in a row.  I found that growing a garden takes: lots of time, water and organic fertilizer (we don't like to use chemicals with the kids and dog).  It takes time and I think that is what I didn't realize when we first moved in.  I wanted it all done yesterday, but each plant has special meaning.

This clematis was a Mother's Day gift:

Clematis

I love watching it twist around the railings.  The flowers are absolutely beautiful, too, a deep purple.  

There are many rose bushes. We love how they smell.  We have a few blue hydrangea, many day lilies and some alliums actually survived Poppy's digging.

This bearded iris is a new addition this year:

Bearded Iris

Isn't that beautiful?  It just opened the other day.  One of my favorites is the peony.  I love their buttery fragrance.  I'm hoping to get a few more of these.  Maybe some white.

Peony

Finally, we love our honeysuckle and so do the humming birds.  Oh, and Poppy loves to lay there too!

Poppy in the Honeysuckle

If your local and looking for some more plants for your garden, the Scituate Garden Club is having its anual plant sale tomorrow.  For more details go here.