#HowGoodismyGarden2016

This is a new addition to my patio this year. I found this amazing flowering shrub at Flower World. It’s called a Maple because it has similar leaves but it is of no relation to the Maple tree. They say it can be a houseplant, so I look forward to bringing it inside this fall.

I love Dahlia’s, my Grandmother was a Master Gardner and she had two giant gardens with rows of Dahlias every year. I don’t have the space to have large Dahlia’s so I only buy the small varieties and include them in my pots around my patio each summer. This year I found this great red and yellow one, it almost looks like it was painted!

For years now I have made sure to always have an Angel Trumpet. They can easily be over wintered inside the garage, but this past year I forgot to bring mine in, so it died. Well not to worry they aren’t that expensive to replace! The flower is a showstopper and the fragrance in the evening is out of this world.

I love Sedums, just like everyone else. They are very trendy since they don’t need much water! I put these together in this pot for a very sunny table on our patio, alongside my favorite retro frog candle holders!

The lavender is blooming and you can see some of the garden beds in the distance. At the left there is rhubarb and strawberries, and then the bed with beans, corn, red cabbage, garlic etc. I have been weeding the patio and removing all the moss and weeds that have taken up residence between the pavers, as you can see I have more to do.

This amazing Geranium is actually about 5 plants, which were just small plants from the garden center last year. This pot is located in a very protected spot and so they wintered over amazingly and have been blooming since February!

In the corner of my Tomato beds I planted a few flowers including Marigolds to keep the bugs away (bugs don’t like the scent of Marigolds) but I also included a few of these beautiful yellow Zinnias!

When I was growing up we always had Foxglove. My first summer at our current house I planted some foxglove seeds in this back area. Well our old Chocolate Lab Skylos loved to pee here, and so every year he would kill any new foxglove that came up. Since he is no longer with us they have finally taken root and are thriving in this space.

I have owned this Olive tree for probably 12 or so years. It out grew it’s old pot and so I replanted it in this giant terra-cotta pot that I have had. I moved it to a prominent place on the front patio and it’s covered in buds!

Again you can see how awesome the Angel Trumpet flower is. You can also see in this picture how yellow has really become my accent color throughout the yard.

I only planted 13 Tomato plants this year and many are new interesting varieties, I can’t wait for fresh Tomatoes daily!

New varieties are always fun but so are the classics like Early Girl!

The peas are starting to climb the strings, and they are starting to flower which means pea pods aren’t far off!

I always plant my spinach from seed, most the other vegetables I buy as starts. The spinach is a little slow this year because my neighbors trees have grown and my garden is not getting nearly as much sun as it once did.

Broccoli seems to be a very easy vegetable to grow. I always get great harvests from just a few broccoli plants. You have to keep an eye on it daily though because the heads of broccoli can turn to yellow blossoms very fast.

Every few years i try a couple new vegetables, this year it’s red cabbage, we shall see how it does.

The corn is doing good, hopefully it will get enough sun!

Down my side garden I have these Artichoke plants that I have had for a few years now, sadly I don’t see any baby artichokes on the plants yet.

If you want the plant that keeps on giving plant Potatoes! I planted potatoes my first year at this house. Well 5 years later and I still get potatoes! Every fall it seems when I harvest the potatoes I miss one or two and the next spring voila more potatoes!

I love fresh Green Beans, and so I always plant probably to many but I always find ways to cook them!

4 Tomatillo plants will hopefully give me enough Tomatillos for in my Green Tomato Salsa. My green salsa is 4 parts Green Tomatoes and 1 part Tomatillos with other ingredients as well.

Here are two of three Zucchini plants, and in the bottom right corner is an eggplant. Also you can see a Marigold to the left, to help keep bugs away!

Under my little greenhouse I planted 12 or so different varieties of sweet and spicy Peppers. I love to have a huge harvest of peppers in the fall and then make my Sweet Pepper Jam, which is used in my Artisan Bacon and Sweet Pepper Grilled Cheese Sandwiches.

I cheated and bought a Jalapeño plant that already has some good size jalapeños formed.

I like to have few flowers that I can pick and use as hostess gifts or just in small vases in our house, so I always plant Sweet Peas!

On either side of my fountain I did matching pots with sweet potato vine and a two tone pink geranium. This is right outside my kitchen window, a lovely view while doing dishes!

The Herbs are doing great too this year. A great tip is always plant Mint in a pot, never in the ground unless you want it to take over!

The bees really have been enjoying the Thyme flowers.

Freshly planted Chives.

With the mild winters we have had this Lemon Verbena is I think now 4 years old! Love lemon verbena in tea or desserts!

The Rosemary has tons of new growth, fresh delicate new growth rosemary is a delicious addition to many dishes.

This is another Mint in a pot, this one is an Orange Mint, so it has a bit of an orange flavor as well as a mint flavor.

I bought this mint last year I believe mainly because I liked the two tone leaf. But it’s also very tasty, it’s Apple mint, and it’s really good minced up in a fruit salad.

A variegated sage plant. Sage is another of my favorite herbs.

Lastly, yes I already have a baby tomato!!