Do you plant a garden? If so, what do you grow? I am so great at growing flowers and shrubs and decorative stuff, but I have no luck whatsoever with growing veggies and other things. I'm a little limited in what areas of my yard get lots of sunshine, so that makes it hard. I would love to be able to grow lots of different things, but I just haven't been able to figure out how to make it work. I'm thinking about trying some tomatoes and peppers on my front deck this year to see how it goes.
I sit in a lounge chair on the patio and admire all the gardening Captain Romance does. I used to put a few bright annuals in some patio pots, but frankly, I hate everything about gardening, so when CR was thinning out some perennials a few years back, I asked him to put them into my patio pots..."a great way to save money," I reasoned. He agreed! I love all manner of gardens, and the conservatories in Atlanta, Pittsburgh, and Seattle are places I feel very happy and content (anyone in Atlanta know if Jerry Lee Lewis is still alive?). And the Thanksgiving Point Gardens...WOW. The University of Washington Arboretum...I could go on. But you get the idea. It is raining here today, but I am enjoying the volunteer daffodils blooming outside my office window...and the neighbor's magnolia tree just popping out...and the hint of crab apple blossoms...the perky ferns.... Last year I had saved seeds from some heirloom tomatoes. Most summers it's too cold and wet to grow good tomatoes in western Washington, but we've had several warm dry summers in a row and decided to try it. Well, Dave said he would try it. They grew, and we were like proud parents when they got big and ripened. Then we harvested. What a huge disappointment. They tasted nothing at all like their "parents." Flavorless. I'm pretty sure that's the last time Dave will grow tomatoes. Everything else we've tried to grow has been harvested by the squirrels the day BEFORE we were going to harvest, or were infested with really icky pests. We're done with veggies. They don't ripen until the veggies at the market are at their lowest prices of the year anyway. Basil. Trader Joe's sells basil pots every spring, and I put one in one of the patio pots. They do great. I may try adding Italian parsley this year.
I am not a gardener. My dear mother used to send me home with plants and I would say this is not going to live and 99% of the the plants did not survive. I have a crazy memory as a teenager - my mother encouraged all us children to help her in the garden to which I said " I will probably put the digging fork through my foot" and sure enough.... I ended up with the digging fork in one of my toes so I could not wear school shoes for a few days because of the swelling. To present day.... my husband is the gardener in our home. He grows vegetables and looks after the flowers and shrubs. He started to build a pond in the backyard but that has become some what of a saga..... now it has turned into possibly just a small waterfall and pretend dry creek bed.
I planted carrots indoors with my kids a week ago. Fingers crossed they grow! If not, we'll try again with better dirt.
Cherry tomatoes do well in hanging baskets and you can keep them on the deck or a garden hook. It is one of the few things I actually have success with.
I do so great with flowers and have lots of gorgeous ones all summer, but the veggies and stuff, forget it. I have not tried herbs, but maybe I need to give that a go.
My mom has always had the most beautiful house plants, and I can't keep one alive for anything. I love them, but I usually just get them and then when they die I replace them lol. Outside I can grow beautiful stuff, but my thumbs turn brown when they head inside. I would love to try a pond, but I'm afraid it would become a saga at my house as well lol.
I did cherry tomatoes one year on my deck in pots and they did ok. I might try them again this year. Hanging baskets is a great idea!
Hubby does all the stuff outside. I used to give him direction about flower beds and such, but that was when we were early into our marriage. He's definitely grown in his skills and ideas. While I don't love that he disappears for 8-10 hours at a time on a weekend (sometimes more if I let him), I do so enjoy the fruits of his labor. It's usually just pretty gardening though, and not vegetable gardening. We tried to do a veggie garden but we lack enough sunshine to really succeed. My grandmother always had a garden with yummy tomatoes and cucumbers, turnips, corn, etc. I really miss her, and I'd love to have a tomato sandwich with one of her tomatoes right now.
We do! I am good at putting the seeds/seedlings in, and hubster makes them grow like crazy. This year we have a LOT of variety started. Would be great if he can finish his mini greenhouse this week. We have big 2 gallon buckets that we will transplant the starters into, so they can transport with us -whenever we move- (like everything else right now, the date it tentative). We had gobs of tomatoes, all kinds of chiles, and giant sunflowers last year. I'd love watermelon, but we haven't tried them here.
