Day in the Garden….

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I love school holidays….

I don’t have to get up early to get kids ready… 

I don’t have to worry about helping getting their homework done…

And the kids are happy!

Last Monday, while my wonderful husband was busy nailing wooden planks for our new vegetable garden fence, I spent the morning outside with my youngest daughter, Gracie in the garden.

dried sunflowers

First, we took down our regular bird feeder and hung dried sunflowers for the birds.

We grew sunflowers last summer and saved the flower heads for a winter treat for our birds.

vegetable garden

Then we turned our attention to our older vegetable garden.

Gracie planted some new sunflower seeds while I planted cucumber and basil seeds.

I have been working on a new project.  I am growing vegetables and flowers together in pots.

vegetable garden

All my pots are in the ‘in between’ stage.  This one has red and green leaf lettuce and dianthus.

I also just planted a small cucumber variety in front of the small trellises and there are also some newly germinated cosmos as well.

nasturtiums

The nasturtiums are beginning to bloom.  They make great companion plants in the vegetable garden and help to repel damaging insects.

sugar snap peas

My sugar snap peas are also beginning to bloom.

We had a great time in the garden, enjoying our warmer then usual February weather.

How about you?

Have you gone out in your garden lately?

Flowers From Abroad….

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I absolutely love to travel and one of my favorite destinations is Europe.  Unfortunately, I have not been able to visit in recent years, but my daughter and her husband were able to travel there this summer and visited three different countries – France, Germany and Italy.

Love to travel

Love to travel

When they returned, I couldn’t wait to hear about their adventures and view their photos.  I was particularly touched by the fact that my daughter took the time to take some pictures of some of the beautiful flowering plants they saw in Germany.

love window boxes

 I just love window boxes….don’t you?

The reason it meant a lot to me is that my oldest daughter is not particularly into gardening – but that could be because she lives in an apartment and has no space for gardening 😉  So, the fact that she took the time to take photos for me to share with me meant a lot.

I do not know what all of these flowering plants are and would love some help with identifying some of them 🙂

Geraniums

Geraniums, Verbena and Chamomile? Don’t you love the stone planter?

Germany has a special place in my heart because years ago, my grandparents were transferred there for work when I was young.  As a result, I spent two summers in Germany as a child along with my parents and siblings.  

Love to travel

We spent our time in Frankfurt where my grandparents lived.  I remember the large field of strawberries that were grown in the back garden and the struggle keeping the rabbits away.  But mostly, I remember how delicious the strawberries tasted.

Lobelia

 Lobelia I grow this beautiful annual in the winter months.

A couple of times a week, a local farmer would drive up our street and open up his van which contained a plentiful harvest of all sorts of fruit and vegetables.  Wouldn’t it be great if the farmer delivered produce straight from the farm nowadays?

little garden gnomes

Okay, I just love this photo of little garden gnomes.

I find it interesting how certain smells can bring a crystal clear memory to my mind.  To this day, the smell of bus exhaust reminds me of a cobblestone street in downtown Frankfurt.

my daughter's favorite flower

These were my daughter’s favorite flower that she saw. Any ideas what type of flower this is?

On my kitchen wall is the beautiful cuckoo clock that my grandparents brought back from Germany.  Growing up, we loved hearing it cuckoo on the hour and dancing to the music that played afterward as the tiny figurines twirled in a circle.

beautiful flower

Isn’t this a beautiful flower? Any ideas what it is? 

Our cuckoo clock has not worked for many years and I keep meaning to get it fixed so that my kids can enjoy it as I did as a child.

Beautiful red roses

Beautiful red roses.

Both my husband and I have some German ancestry and I hope to be able to visit there again and experience the beauty that Germany has to offer.

Love to travel

Are there any places that have a special place in your heart for, or that you yearn to visit someday?

My Garden Bouquet – March MGB

I am a little late in posting this morning because I had to venture out into my garden and cut flowers for today’s post.

“My Garden Bouquet” began last month rather unexpectedly.  I was preparing for my daughter’s birthday part and had forgotten to buy flowers.  So I rushed out into the garden with a pair of hand-pruners determined to cut some flowers from my flowering plants.  I was quite honestly surprised at how beautiful it was and it lasted for about 7 days.  You can see what it looked like in the photo below.

My Garden Bouquet

My February MGB  Globe Mallow, Desert Senna, and Purple Lilac Vine.

And so, the idea of have a monthly “My Garden Bouquet” (MGB) post really appealed to me as well as the fact that I have a beautiful bouquet to enjoy.  You can’t beat the price (free), how long the flowers last and how beautiful.

This morning, I wanted to concentrate on the cooler flower colors in my garden and so I picked flowers from both my Pink & White Globe Mallow (Sphaeralcea ambigua), and Goodding’s Verbena, (Glandularia gooddingii).

My Garden Bouquet

As you can see, it is not fancy, but that suits me just fine because I am not a very fancy person.  You do not even need a vase…..any container will do, just add water.  As you can see, I used a mason jar.

I would love to see what types of flowers from your garden that you  use to make into bouquets.  If you do not have much blooming, you can do as my friend Balisha of Never Enough Time did last month when she had no flowers in the garden.  You can view her February Bouquet here – it was very creative.

And so, on the third week of each month, I invite you to venture out into your garden and see what you can use to create a beautiful bouquet.  Please leave a comment and your link on my MGB posts so that others can visit you to see your bouquets.

I hope you take a walk outside in your garden today…I cannot wait to see what kinds of bouquets you create. 

**Please visit the following bloggers and see their beautiful bouquets:

Diana at Elephant’s Eye. 

Balisha at Never Enough Time. 

Heidi at Gippslandgardener. 

Catherine at A Gardener In Progress. 

Jan at Thanks For Today.