Sleepy Saturday Afternoon

It is 103 degrees out there~a good time to stay indoors and take a nap or watch a movie. Or blog!

Last year I started a small flower garden just outside our living room windows. My idea was to have lots of bright, pretty flowers to look at. Turns out, it is a little bit too shady a spot for petunias and daises, etc. So, I turned it into a shade garden, using rose campion, impatiens, lemon balm, mint, lavendar. The lavendar was part of the original 'sunny' flower garden, I wasn't so sure that it would work in the shade, but this is its second year and it's doing great. I hope to add more shade loving plants next year.

I've had the old sink for over 20 years. I had hoped to have it in my house, but hubby thought it was too impractical, so now it is a yard ornament. I'd love to make it a little birdbath/fountain, but our big Lab/Airedale mix would just jump up there to take a drink and topple the whole thing. Instead, I planted lemon balm in it. I love the smell of lemon balm! It is finally starting to spread out in the sink and I'm going to divide it later and 'spread it around' to some other pots.

I hope you're all having a 'cool' Saturday!!

Monday

My herb garden that I've been working on is slowly coming along. It probably won't look good until next year, but I'm enjoying the planning. I'm also keeping a list of the herbs that I still want to plant, as well as other flowers. Right now, I have some black-eyed Susan and Rose Campion added to the garden.



Above is my pineapple sage. I've never grown it before and I'm not sure what I'll be using it for, but it certainly smells great. It is supposed to have red blooms in the fall. Sadly, it is only an annual.

I'm still trying to get some basil to come up in a few pots. If it's not up by early next week~I guess I'll start over.



This little angel is in a cage to shield her from all the hail we seem to be getting this year. Those storms may be over for this season, but it's been a little bit freaky this year, so I'm not letting her take any chances!
Hope your gardening is going well!

Summer

I think that summer has settled in to stay. We've had several hot and humid days, along with some rain. I'm loving the sunshine when we do have it. April and May were months of mostly rain. Rain that we needed for the water table, but it became a little depressing after a while. I'm sure we'll be wanting more of it by mid-summer!

I had a nice gardening/herb surprise this year. My chicory is blooming!

I planted it last year and it never came up~at least not for months and then I assumed that it was nothing but weeds. We probably mowed it down a time or two. I figured that the rain had washed away the seeds that I planted and had given up. What a happy surprise to see it this year. I love the color of the flowers.

Did you know that you can eat the chicory leaves either raw or cooked? I knew that the flowers were beautiful and the roots could be used for a coffee substitute, but I've never known anyone to eat the leaves. I read that you can also eat the flowers in salads. Well, I think they are too pretty to eat!

Our garden is growing well. Our tomatoes are getting tall and have several tomatoes on them. We will have them much earlier this year than last! Our pepper plants look good, as do the squash and pumpkins, but no blooms on them, yet. I'll try to get some pictures posted soon.

The strawberries are loving their raised bed and I think they are doing well for their first year.

We want to add some more raised beds in time for a fall garden.

How are your gardens doing? Are you doing any special projects this summer?