Divine Design

Saturday's neighborhood plant swap was great! Well, it was a bunch of "clucking hens" trying to get people to join the neighborhood association but, aside from that, it was great. I was surprised by the variety of plants and happy that there was one other young adult there (actually a guy who knows a crap ton about plants). My neighbor D and I managed not to use our last names so that we couldn't be tracked down (haha).

I took some of my many daffodils to share and came home with:

Yarrow (It's either pink or red.)

Pink Bee Balm

Devils Phlox (purple)
Circle Flower

Daisies (Look like Shasta Daisies but according to the woman that brought them they aren't.)
No picture of the daisies; you all know what daisies look like, right?


Cosmo Seeds which I planted along will all my other seeds from Wintersown.org to form an annual cutting garden. I'm hoping these will grow and I want to learn about seed saving in the process! Are you an expert seed saver? Share your knowledge here!

Roma tomato, Bell pepper, and sweet basil plants that someone started from seed. These will eventually end up in the veggie garden but are getting plenty of soil and sun in this pot for now.

This weekend I edged the sidewalks out front (there was a solid 4-6 inches of grass over the sidewalk in some spots! According to my neighbor D it hadn't been done in several years.), planted all the stuff from the swap and yesterday I mulched the bed along the back of the house (roses and ornamental grass). The roses are starting to get buds. I love that they are right under Mike and I's bedroom window! The grasses are starting to take off and will soon do their job of hiding wires, hoses, and meters on the back of the house.

The veggie garden is getting closer to being ready for seeds/plants. I had hoped to have it planted by Ray's birthday party (not for the party that's just the rough date I put in my head) but that's this weekend so, I don't foresee that happening. Anyone want to come pull weeds?! I can (hopefully) pay you in tomatoes and zucchini later this summer.

What's the point of pictures of the plants that haven't flowered yet? Well, maybe next year I will be able to identify them as they start popping up rather than just thinking they are weeds. (rant... My neighbor, P, is amazing and can identify weeds through a combination of vision and smell. It's crazy. She looks at it and says well that could be a wildflower or horse weed. Then she smells it and says, "oh honey, that's just horse weed you need to pull that". She's awesome and you should meet her just so you can hear her sweet old lady voice. Now don't go getting a picture of a little old lady in your head. She has gray hair but I'm pretty sure her biceps are bigger than Mike's and I have heard stories about how she kills snakes by chopping off their heads with a shovel. She knows to come with her shovel if I start screaming...end rant) And, it is fun to monitor progress and growth.

Today I trimmed the honeysuckle bushes along the back fence (next to the cutting garden) and am trying to figure out what to plant between and in front of them. I still have some lavender and German chamomile seeds... I found another wild rose bush in with the honeysuckles. How are they getting there?

If you still believe in evolution over divine design check out these two flowers that I am adding to my wish list: Checkered Lily and Egret Flower. Amazing!