Gardening, anyone?

A pot I've stated a couple of weeks ago, all coleus plants, in my front yard

welcome Lucy! It sure is different gardening in Oz. I love coleus too. The really big leaved lime green one is my fave!

Welcome Lucy! Of course you can join us! We tend to be quieter here in the US winter months, but spring is springing up all over here in the great American southwest and other areas so you should start seeing more posts here.

I love your coleus and gardens. I remember those plants were some of the first I ever had in pots when I was young. Brings back some great early memories of my plant interests from my youth!

Thank you ladies for your warm welcome.. :-) Im from Queensland.. an hour north of Brisbane.. It is sub -tropical.. A nice climate because you can grow virtually anything, any time of the year.. I love it.. but I also love how you have the definate seasons, and the excitement of what each season brings to your gardens.. :-)

I grew up further south, where we did have some winter frost, and the spring gardens were just magnificent, with everything coming to life.. People there seem go to so much more bother to plant annuals to make a beautiful spring display !

Some wonderful bco ladies who live some hours from me but in the same state came and helped my clean up my spring border- I have not returned to vigorous health and I was panicking. They stayed over, did a lot of work, and we had lots of nice chats, a tea party, some champagne and a nice dinner. Here are a few shots of my "helping hand"

a lot of work! And a little play. Sorry for being a space hog. I'm just so happy and grateful!

Helping hands

Lucy, such a pretty rose.

Jackie, your flower beds are shaping up nicely. What will you plant in that wooden planter? That is sooo lovely that you had help from bco friends!

The weather will be in the 60s here most of the week. Really lifts my spirits. I did a tiny bit of trimming on a few of my knockout roses today. I was very excited to see some leaf buds on a grandiflora I planted last year. It makes me so happy that it survived the winter. I never grew a grandiflora rose before. I had a hard time finding one for sale around here, and the one I bought didn't cost much and it didn't do much last summer. I'm hoping after a year of getting established it will take off this yea. We'll see!

Jazzy- Yes! Bring on the weeping cherry! Looking forward to seeing that!

MrsD- that vegetable plot needs some amendments and compost first. I moved into this house on August 1 last year. Already planted were cucumbers and yellow squash, and a few tomatoes. In the greenhouse was all tomatoes. It was nice to have it all already going, but I felt the cucumbers (which make me burp) and the squash take up way too much space. And in the greenhouse there were more tomatoes than I could keep up with. When my wonderful friends cleaned up those areas, they noted the soil didn't seem very well amended or cultivated.

So my plan is fewer tomatoes in the greenhouse, but add lots of basil, which I read last night is a natural pest deterrent, and other favorite culinary herbs, like tarragon, flat leaf parsley, cilantro, thyme, and others. And I'll try to keep the herbs growing all year in the greenhouse.

In the square raised planter box I will keep continuous leaf lettuces and arugula going. I seem to never have enough arugula. Great for salads and instead of lettuce on a sandwich for an interesting taste twist.

In the big bed I am thinking green beans (so easy and I love them!) maybe one yellow squash, and I might try some carrots. I need to try to go through a seed catalog and make a few sensible choices. I'm sure everyone understands here that shopping a seed catalog in early March is like strolling through Whole Foods when I'm hungry.

And my Farmers Market, which opens May 1, will have starts. Yum!

Katy definitely with you on the 'looking through seed catalogs in March' feeling. But wistful about the greenhouse.

Jazzy, spectacular weeping cherry

Unseasonably warm weather here prompted me to go out and wrangle my Rosa Kiteatericae (possibly a climbing Cecile Brunner, but with thorns like fish hooks. Big ones.) I'm raked stem to stern, and there's another half of the canes to go tomorrow....happiness.

Phew, lucky tarragon! I've wanted to do that for a while, but for me the poor things just turn toes up. Mints, on the other hand.....next time, I'm planting mint under the Rosa Kiteteatericae, right next to the catnip. Let them fight it out. But a happy hour grubbing around in the dirt and leaves; my nails are sad, my rose resentful, but I'm calm.

high winds left me with this mess this morning. I asked the handyman to look at it. It was all made with light (cheap) poles and connectors, and most of the connectors seem to be broken. He says it's not worth saving.

It was here, all planted with tomatoes when I moved in last year. So I didn't spend any money on it, even thought it a bit unsightly, but it delivered great fruit for 3 1/2 months. I might have to pay to have it taken away though.

Sniff.

Definitely having a spring fever attack! I love getting my hands and tootsies in the dirt.. have fun when it gets warmer!

Just put all our container plants back out after the winter we never had so hopefully our yard will be looking like this in aft months! This is one view including out sweet Coco, my painted shed and one of my favorite bells from an artist outside ofSanta Fe on the way to Taos. TGIF!