Saturday, May 15, 2010

From Plant Sale to Garden

The sale was from 8-2.  We arrived at 8.  We were greeted with a line that went out the door, followed the sidewalk across the building, curved around, and trailed to the end of the parking lot. 

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We got inside and started checking out the plants.  It was a bit overwhelming- so many people, so many plants.  I started with veggies and then moved on to herbs.  I picked up some new gardening gloves.  Christy picked up a few things- including a really cool gardening knife.  I also picked up a birthday present for her; a potted edible flower garden. 

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There were Master gardeners everywhere you turned to answer questions and help you find plants and plan your garden. 

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But mostly- it was plants.

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And llamas.  It was the 4H Fairgrounds, afterall!

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There were also gorgeous displays of flowers outside and I had to snap a lot of pictures.  There is also a huge iris garden- with irises for sale, of course.  The flower pics look best on a black background so I’m adding those over at the Lizdom Pics blog.  Click the balloons to go see them!

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Christy came over and helped me plant most of the plants purchased today.  Jeff and I ran out and bought a few more veggie plants from our local garden center.  And I now have a fully planted garden!

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We have tomatoes (black cherry and mule team), chocolate bell pepper, leeks, some variety of winter squash, butternut squash, cabbage, spinach, cauliflower, jalapeno and some flowers.

I also planted a butterfly garden!

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In the background, we planted milkweed.  This is a host plant for Monarchs (and other butterflies)- a place for them to lay their eggs.  The nectar plant (where they feed) is Asters.  We also planted Bergamot.  The unplanted plant is sneeze weed- haven’t decided where that will go yet (it gets pretty big, apparently).

The garden is set in front of my stone wall flower bed in front of the house- lots of morning sun, the stone wall is a great place for butterflies to warm up (a basking site).  There is a small metal “bird bath” that will hold a small amount of water for the butterflies.

I also picked up a lovely pink peony- not sure where it will go yet so it hasn’t been planted.

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I also plan to plant these lovely herbs in a large pot that I will have on the deck, right outside my kitchen door!  Christy brought me over some lemon balm.  I purchased french thyme, rosemary, 2 types of basil, and cilantro.

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Hopefully I will soon be able to share stories of consuming the “fruits” of my labor!

5 comments:

Unknown said...

LOVE the photos of the iris. I have a section in my gardens that I have iris. Today I added yellow and white to the existing purple ones. I've gotten bulbs from friends and neighbors to add to what I have...it will be really pretty next year with all of them together. Enjoy your gardening fun!

mimbles said...

Your flower pics are just beautiful Liz!

I'm in awe of anyone who can muster the energy and commitment needed for a vegetable garden, it's so not my thing. Tom is wanting to replant his veggie patch, I should investigate what, if anything, he can grow over winter. (Yes, that means I'm in awe of my 8 year old - he kept me in tomatoes through the summer!)

The butterfly garden sounds lovely, what a great idea :-)

Amy said...

Looks awesome! Did you make your raised beds yourself? I thought milkweed was, well, as weed. You're going to have some deliciousness at the dinner table this summer!

Alison said...

That's wonderful that there are so many avid gardeners around you! Although, most of them looked to be close to retirement. Were there many kids or young-marrieds in the crowd?

Your veggie garden looks so exciting to me--all that potential in those little green spots. You'll have to post a picture of your chocolate bell peppers when you get some; I've never heard of those. You've really put a lot of thought into your butterfly garden!

I just came in from a little watering session in my own garden. I may seem like an old lady puttering about in my garden, but really I was making rivers, dams and lakes, just like a kid at the beach. :)

Thanks for sharing; enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Angie @ Just Like The Number said...

The plant sale looks like fun! I'll have to hit it up next year. Were the prices pretty good? I paid ~$3 per vegetable plant at Whole Foods for locally grown plants. Just got all mine planted today! You'll have to post another picture in August - you'll be amazed to see how different that little garden looks by the end of the summer! Hope you love your peony - mine look great on the south side of my home.