Although the sun is shining, there are no glimpses of green yet in the garden. The first few years I gardened, I would get quite annoyed with the fact that many plants died back to the ground. I fixed this by purchasing more evergreen-type shrubs and plants to fill in the landscape but I’ve started to enjoy seeing the bones of the garden. Now that I’m confident that most of these plants will be coming back each year, I like the anticipating what will be springing up over the next few weeks.
After embracing a hobby of gardening for a few years now, I’m still thrilled to receive anything flower or garden related as a gift. This year, Uncle Larry sent us some lovely paperwhites and Amaryllis for Christmas. He also sent us an orchid later in the spring.
We kick off each year in the garden with a Polar Bear Plunge. The flower beds are a little run down and not much more than dirt and brown leaves, but we spruce things up as much as possible. Here Chris puts together a bit of an arrangement to bring in the new year - not from our garden obviously, but still pretty!
We took a lovely trip in December to Hawaii. In the midst of all of our travels, I managed to sneak in a lovely tour of some flower farms. The colors were so bright and the orchids so bold. Here are a few photo highlights:
The vibrant colors in the garden this year are lovely. And even when petals fall to the floor in an area that is usually hidden behind a fence, there is a still a hint of prettiness to it all!
So as not to have to take out a second mortgage just to finance my obsession with pots and planters, I found some stones at the back of the shed and had a go at making my own planter. And in tandem with everything bursting into life and taking over most of the garden, a few items are going to seed and it's time to collect the seeds in preparation for next year!
Most of the time has been spent in the garden trying to manage the sudden burst of growth in so many different plants. Not much time for writing about it, but here are some pretty photos:
It was a low-key Easter on Cloverleaf this year but we still managed to hunt some eggs and enjoy some seasonal blooms with neighbours. Can you spot the hidden eggs? Before the egg hunters woke up, I enjoyed a cup of tea in Sylvia's robin mug and perused the back garden. Still so many jobs to do!
I have some luck with California poppies on Cloverleaf, but this year I scattered a load of poppy seeds from my friend, Satch's garden. They've gone crazy--popped up all over the place. Love them.
