A Walk Through the Garden

I thought I would show you how my garden is growing this year. This is what I have in my pots out front. I'm really pleased with the large purple foliage growing at the back. I think I'll choose that again next year!

My sage bushes all came back from last year. The common sage grew tall and bushy and produced beautiful purple flowers this spring. All the variegated sage stayed close to the ground and a number of the bushes only produced a tiny little show of leaves. Eventually, I will probably replace most of them with more common sage. I have zinnias planted behind the sage for color later in the summer and the black-eyed susan's are between the boxwood bushes.

I finally found something different for the front door and it looks bright and cheery:

The best, and most mature, garden is on the side of the house and contains all perennials. It is in its fourth year now and I'm really pleased with how it is growing. The lilies and daisies are quite tall this year.

My apple mint is spreading and growing. Its leaves are just huge!

Buried in the mix are four mini rose bushes. I need to transplant them elsewhere but am not sure where yet.

This corner houses my spearmint, chives, tansy, and ornamental grass.

Turning the corner, I have a bunch of sunflowers growing in my peony bed along with cosmos. Most of the sunflowers reseeded from last year!

The little gardens on the corners of the patio were new this year. My Dad planted the Rose of Sharon trees for me and then I started adding things in. It's helping the patio to feel much more welcoming and relaxing. As you can see, we live in a vinyl village and so I need the gardens to help me feel a bit more surrounded by nature.

And then there is the vegetable garden which is slowly coming along. I think it needs a lot more MiracleGro. I have marigolds planted around the perimeter but I think they have stopped growing at about 3 inches!

Around the corner is the zinnia garden with the rhubarb at one end and the pineapple mint going crazy at the other.

Lastly, there is the lilac bush at the corner by the garage. It is growing by leaps and bounds this summer. I plan to plant the blueberry bushes in that last space of grass along the side of the house.

There is always something to think about changing or adding in the garden. Although I garden more for the "end result" rather than for the fun of actually getting dirty, I'm still enjoying my garden work so far this year.