happy spring!

Other than remembering to prune and feed my roses back in January, I've totally neglected my gardens the last few months and as a result, all my herbs and many of my potted plants died :( 

So today I got up bright and early (for a Sunday) at 8:30 and spent four hours pruning, re-planting and laying down mulch to pretty-up my backyard. Yay! I cleaned up the rose garden (where the kumquats have begun to fall), planted a bunch of annuals and updated my herb and pepper garden with things I will actually use for cooking. Now all that's left to do is clean the patio furniture and the grill (ick!).

My first fully blooming rose bush of the season!

Rosemary for seasoning (and keeping mosquitos away), Basil for pizza and Cilantro for guacamole :)

Jalepenos for guac and a Bell Pepper because I'm
curious to see if it will actually grow to size...
Oh, and a lavender plant because I don't have enough
bees in the front yard swarming around my giant
lavender plant there :p

Spearmint for mojitos :)

My shelves of impatiens that were wiped out
when someone got too busy to go out and
water them this winter. Oops

New gerber daisies (my faves!) and geraniums
galore because they are hearty (ie: can survive
a week when I forget to water them)

happy spring!

Okay, I'll admit it. I've inherited my mom's gardening gene. And now that it's springtime, I've dug in (literally) and attacked the backyard where I now have four gardens. (That fourth one just kind of sprung up last weekend... I guess that's what happens when you have a giant pile of bricks sitting in a corner looking lonely.) I find digging in the dirt and trimming my roses and hedges strangely therapeutic, and based on how the last six weeks have been at work, I've really needed that therapy (plus some vodka... although not at the same time).

So here's what I've spent the last two weekends working on. Just a little more mulching and flower planting here and in the front garden next weekend, and then I'll be done and can sit back and enjoy ... at least for a week or so before I have to start weeding again ;)

The rose garden -- weeded, trimmed and fed, with weed blocker and mulch laid down.
Now if I could only keep the kumquats from falling in it...

And a giant yellow rose... cuz I'm from Texas ;)

Pink roses blooming

My giant flower bed... just waiting on the four transplanted roses on the right to bloom

Pink & purple bouganvillas, gardenias and roses on the right side of new garden #5
(aka where "the pony shed" used to be). Hopefully by the end of this summer, the pink and purple flowers will cover the ugly gray cinderblock wall that was rebuilt last summer.

More bouganvillas and agapanthus on the left of new garden #5.
The agapanthus have always been there and -- other than the Mexican lime tree in the middle --
are all that remain the same about the very back of my backyard since I moved in.

Close-up on pretty purple bouganvillas

When someone leaves a hollow tree stump
in the corner of your yard, turn it into a planter :)

My replanted herb garden -- the 2012 edition. Hopefully the cilantro lives through the summer so I can make guacamole whenever I want. The basil is there to smell good (and go on pizza if I ever get around to making any). And the rosemary is just there to repel bugs from the patio. (It's a very sad plant compared to my GIANT rosemary bush on the side of the house.) 

Potted plant-landia on the back steps -- home of geraniums, pansies, begonias and Mrs. Froggie :)