Spring is in the air!

Well, it's been forever since I've blogged! Sorry about that! I am back with an update (and lots of pictures) about what's going on in our yard now that Spring has finally decided to stick around. We had a couple of late season hard freezes last week :( but most of my plants have made it through.

We planted our veggies in our raised garden bed a few weeks ago. We always get our plants from the local farmers' market, where they are usually great quality and inexpensive. I also supplemented with some more things from Home Depot after these pictures. Our raised garden bed is still in great shape after making it last year. Click here for the post on how to make your own DIY raised garden bed. 

We also planted herbs in our planter boxes on the deck. These are doing well and I've already used many of them in our recipes. I love having easy access to so many wonderful herbs. 

So, the list of all of the edible things we have growing this year are:

Roma tomatoes

Heirloom tomatoes

Zucchini

Straight neck yellow squash

Pickling cucumbers

Bibb lettuce

Rosemary

Sweet Basil

Kentucky Colonel Mint

Oregano (2 types)

Thyme (2 types)

Chives

Dill

I also have some seedlings that I started from seed using a technique called Winter Sowing. This didn't go so well this year, because they got too hot in their mini greenhouses on a day where it got above 80 back at the end of March!! The seedlings that did survive though are coming along, but still fairly small. There, I have planted mostly wildflowers, lavender, zinnia, dianthus, etc. I tried a few veggies from seed, but I have come to the conclusion that it's better to just wait and buy seedlings from the farmers' market than bother with seeds that don't grow strong enough. 

Winter Sowing containers aka mini green houses

Elsewhere in my garden, my roses are doing great. They are enjoying the weather recently and most of them have buds, ready to explode. I added a few more David Austin Roses this year, I love their fragrance and shape.  I also had a bunch of tulips planted with the roses this year. I love that the tulips come up right as the roses are taking off. A new perennial that I added was purple pincushion. This should bloom most of the season and I think it will be good contrast with the roses. 

First bloom of the season on April 23rd!

Roses and tulips in early April

Purple pincushion

The rest of my beds of tulips did awesome this year. I had planted a bunch more bulbs and started planting them in bunches for more effect. I had so many that I even had enough to give away to friends!

Red tulips in early April

I also have Lamb's Ear and Dusty Miller going this year. The Lamb's Ear is awesome, I have split these so many times and it still keeps producing. I love the velvety texture of the leaves and the purple flowers that they produce attract a lot of bees.

Well that's a lot and it wasn't even everything that I have growing right now! I am really enjoying my garden this year. We have a big party planned in a couple of weeks at our house and I am excited for everyone to see all of the plants and flowers blooming.