Spring Gardens

Hello.

My fingernails are looking pretty rough right now...
covered in dirt rather than paint.

It is so nice to work outside though.

I rearranged the front garden a little.
I tore out the bricks and made a more defined circle in the center with them.
I used the rest to create walking squares.
Once the bricks were used up, I moved around some of  the other walking area stones,
trying to place similar ones together.

I think this helped make the garden look more cohesive without our having to spend money on new ones.

• The bricks I got for free off of Craigslist from someone who just wanted them hauled away.
• The flat stones were from my sister's property up in the mountain.
• The thicker "flat" rock were from our farm.
• My husband picked up the square pieces when they were not needed at one of his jobs.

(We will be getting some mulch and spreading it later this week; I am hoping that will make the thicker stones blend a little more.)

Plants are starting to pop up and make everything green.

The gardens will look so much better when they have some flowers blooming.

For now though, after such a long winter, the colors of spring are more than welcome.

The stairway by the porch had these circular toppers which came loose.

I moved them over to a low stone wall where they could still be useful without risk of them falling on the kids.

I have been doing a lot of digging up of plants that show themselves enough to identify where and what they are.

Most plants can be easily divided in the spring.

See all the little baby plants in this clump?

My husband made a dirt pile for me: he often adds rotted manure to keep it a beautiful soil for potting up plants.

I get recycled pots from an Amish farm and pot up the babies, label them, and then sell them at a plant sale type yard sale and along the road on a cart.

It helps to keep my gardens manageable and provides some spending money for the kids' school curriculum as well as the fun yard sales of summer.

It also gives an allowance to invest in new plant varieties for my plant addiction...

is there a name for such a problem? :)

Friends know how much I love my flower gardens and give sweet gifts like this little bird bath.

I love walking through the gardens and seeing which plant variety is coming up.
This tree peony has the most beautiful peach flowers in a few weeks.
The hosta beside it is a common variety that grows well in sun or shade as this is a very sunny spot.
(Most hosta prefer shade).

However, by the time the hottest days of summer come,
the plants around it have filled in and offer some shade.

I recently got the little birdbath with the stork at a local mud sale (auction).

There were a wide assortment being sold and this one was hard to resist at the $12 it sold to me for.

I told my husband I would sell it at the plant sale,

but I think it has decided to stay.

Perhaps it could be a sweet mother's day gift from one of my children who is financially impaired?

Well, I better get to sleep so I can head back outside in the morning.
I thought I would just drop by and give a few pictures of what I am doing while I have put away the pencils and paint for these days.

The plant sale is in a couple of weekends, so there are plants everywhere.





It is a busy time of year for us on our farm,
and I do get a little overwhelmed at times,
but I love it and am thankful for a way I can work from my home,
and in one of my favorite places to be: the flower gardens,
and that my children can help and learn from it as well..


How about you?  Have you been outside much yet?



Thanks so much for stopping by.
(To see the gardens a month later, click >HERE<)


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