The Growing Arbor

It seems like just overnight the arbor was filling in, the beans were blossoming and hanging everywhere, tucked under the leaves and hanging down through the wire above my head, it was like a dream. I couldn’t believe that little idea to attach 2 pieces of old fencing wire would turn out to be a work of art in the garden. Each time I went out to collect beans I felt like I was in a different world away from everything and nothing else mattered except being in that moment. The most amazing part was that I could walk through the arbor and reach up over my head to pick them. The next time I do this I would change a couple of things. I didn’t account for the fact that the weight of the cantaloupes on one side and the beans on the other would cause the arbor to lean a bit. At this stage I did find a post and hammered it in on one side taking care not to disturb the plants that were already rooted beneath. Another thing I might have done differently is to make the spacing between the two boxes wider, but since the arbor was really an afterthought in the design one day and never planned, it was not perfect. In order to make this space wider I would need to remove the dirt and move the boxes during the winter, but not sure Im feeling up to that. 

So what I learned from this was that I absolutely love the style and the overall feeling of the space that I created. This design also created a nice privacy screen from the front section of the yard which is where the cut flower garden begins. It also provided a sense of seclusion and privacy and sitting there in that area you could witness the hummingbirds that used the arbor as a shelter and was pure entertainment as they would fly overhead zipping all around, through the tunnel and rest on the vines of the beans then off to the other side in the cutting garden to feast on the zinnia flowers!

Providing shelter to the birds and the other critters in a garden is the most rewarding feeling in the world.

I will post a video clip of a hummingbird so you can hear how busy they were:)

 

 

These were the beginning stages of the arbor. I would sit here after working all day in the evening, put my feet up and would imagine the future garden 

Here is the hummingbird video clip

Beets & Carrots

This was my first time growing carrots and they were very slow to get started but like all the other things I was doing for the first time I just imagined it was going to take some patience. They were so tiny at first and as silly as it may sound, I really didn’t understand how they were suppose to look. That is where  began looking online for tips and found information on how to thin them and when to harvest etc. 

I harvested the first half of them on August 29 and decided to harvest the rest on Sept 16 and they were so beautiful. My favorites are the purple ones with the orange centers just because visually they look so pretty. I will defiantly grow them again and next time I will need to buy a large bag. I think that this time it was a variety pack and only a few purples ones were in the mix, along with a couple yellow and white.

So beautiful and delicious!! So many carrots it was fun and makes me happy.

I was really excited about growing beets as well. Just like the carrots I wondered how they were ever going to get big enough. But they did! And they were really good. I don’t think I needed as many as I grew though, I did give many of them away to friends as I am the only one who likes them around here.

   

 

Lisianthus Stole My Heart

This is a flower that I will always grow going forward forever. When I first saw this flower I was in love but once I read the reviews on it, many people stated how difficult it was to grow from seed, even with the most experienced growers. I didn’t let that comment discourage me. I wanted to try it regardless of what others said. I will say that it was very slow to germinate and also it stayed in the tiny seedling stage forever, I thought that I did something wrong. They are very hardy as far as the foliage goes. The texture is that of a succulent but thick almost like eucalyptus leaves are. They make every bouquet look beautiful and dreamy. I am no floral designer but this flower made me look like one. My favorite was this pink that is pictured below and I believe it’s apricot. I need to take another look at the seeds that I purchased and will write it here when I do. I did save some flower heads hoping that I might be able to get some seeds from it. Another cool thing with this flower is that once you cut the blooms back, there are more shoots and I tried this hoping to get more blooms and to my surprise it is working. I see buds on the second flush and its getting close to the first freeze in a couple weeks or less so I hope that it blooms in time. This flower definitely stole my heart!

 

 

  

Garden Explosion

I don’t know what happened in between July and August but there was this huge explosion of growth and it was like a garden paradise. I was picking flowers like crazy. I did a lot of deadheading so that I would see more blooms and tried to stay on top of the gardening chores. I was just amazed at what was unfolding before me. This was my first time creating a garden this size and really it was still small. I just packed everything so tightly into the space that I had so the flowers just amazed me how they grew. I am so thankful for all of this, makes my heart so happy. I wanted a cutting garden this year and I definitely got one!! And even the vegetables too, that is to come in another post! Very thankful for this!