How the Gardens Grow

Every year I seem to plant more flowers than the last and this year is no exception.  In fact this is the first year I've actually planted flowers in the ground in the front of the house (not counting tulip bulbs).

Here is what I've planted so far:

Next to the front door we have impatiens with colors in the coral family planted in an antique well bucket and torenia (wishbone flower) in clown rose planted in a cute pot we purchased in Cambridge, WI by G. Wolff Pottery.  Isn't it the sweetest thing?  Too bad I can't find a matching saucer for it.  These are my favorite containers.  Both of these flowers do well in shade and partial sun.  Since we have a covered porch, it gets more shade than sun, so I chose these flowers to go here.

Next to the walkway path leading to the front door is this pot that I used to hate.  It was one of two on either side of the front door when we moved in.  Except the other one was broken and we had to trash it.  So it just looked really out of place up on the porch alone and didn't seem to fit into any sort of arrangement with other pots.  But I think it looks nice here.  It is hidden king of, but a nice piece to look at as you walk to the door.  It is filled, just like it was last year, with begonias.  They did really well last year and I hope for the same for this year.

The final bunch of flowers I planted in front are snapdragons in whites, yellows, and red/corals and they are under a crab apple tree.  I went back today to get a few more plants to fill in and this is the final result.

In the back are the traditional petunias I've been planting for a few years now in two pots on either side of the rails for the stairs from the deck.  They normally take off and are very full in the pots by mid-June.  I always like an assortment of colors in these.

The final flower is a new choice for this year in this green pot that Jason picked up at a sale for a garden shop that was moving.  Last year I tried some kind of guinea impatiens or something.  They died off right away.  This year I'm trying pansies in an assortment of colors.  They look a little smooshed now.  Hope they perk up soon!

I have also planted some herbs. Clockwise from the left we have: sweet basil, cilantro, oregano, and chives.  These are always nice to have fresh for cooking.

I hope that we can have a vegetable garden, but the soil really needs to be worked and right now there is a bunch of stuff sitting on the spot where the veggies would go.  We need to get that worked on soon if we want to have one this year.