Getting my Garden On

After the long dreary winter there is nothing I want to do more than sit my bum out in a chair and soak up the everlovin' sun and down pint after gallon of sweet tea. As all my DC Metro people know, this has been a little difficult as of late due to the spastic weather patterns, but do y'all remember that one week of pure delish 70 degree weather we had in the middle of April?

I do.

And boy have I been graving it because I want to sit outside on the porch and soak in my garden.

That's right...

I have a garden, and by I - I mean we. 

Boyfriend recently bought porch furniture for his porch, which has been sans furniture since he moved in 6 years ago.

Of course, as a good southern woman, I could not stand for that. If there's one thing southerner's love doing is sitting out on the porch in the early evening soaking up the cicadas' song and smelling the sweet scent of honeysuckle wafting from the backyard.

Granted I cannot grow honeysuckle on Boyfriend's porch, due to the fact that it's invasive and will take over the railing before you can say lickety-split. And his complex made verrrrry clear that NOTHING can hang on the railing. (Boo-Hiss).

So instead We've been growing a veritable menagerie of plants all over the floor of his porch. This will be QUITE the learning experience since the last time I tried to grow plants all I grew were weeds, and Boyfriend's plant experience is limited to the kind of plants that never need water or tending.

So needless to say we're learning as we go. And needless to say, I hope to share my growing experiences with all you loverly people.

What are we growing you ask?

Well let me tell you.

We have some plants that are full grown cause we bought them that way...

• Snap Dragons (that clearly did not like the cold - they're practically dead at this point)
• 2 kinds of Basil, Thai and cinnamon
• Hot and spice oregano (sooo good)
• Pineapple sage, (which goes great with chicken)
  and
• Dill... I dont really know what to do with the dill, since I'm not sure I even like the flavor. 

THEN

We bough lots of little seeds to grow things all by ourselves...

• Marigolds
• Poppies
• Mystery Flower (not a name, we actually can't remember what we bought)
• Chives
• Blue-belles (only the best flower ever, yeah Texas!)
• Amaranthus
• and I think Bachelor Buttons

The marigolds, poppies, and the mystery flower are all growing strong in a 24x6x8in pot.

This is what they looked like 3 weeks ago.  They're quite a bit larger now.

While all the other ones we put in a Jiffy "greenhouse," which means they're growing in 2x2x3in little pots that we can cut apart and plant into bigger vessels later.

They're all growing really well. I can't wait for the blue-belles. I just wish that I could buy Indian paint brush seeds somewhere, I remember those growing on the sides of highways as a kid. Absolutely gorgeous with the blue-bonnets poking through every so often.

 

When they rustled in the wind it was as if they were dancers, swaying to the sound of a symphony only they could hear. 

But I digress. 

I have learned quite a few things since starting the garden a few weeks ago. 

• Apparently Rosemary is a very hardy herb for our area, practically impossible to kill people have told me. (not that I'm growing any right now). 
• Marigolds in bloom will keep other pests away from your herbs, because they're toxic to bugs. 
• Sprinkle black pepper, LIBERALLY over all of the exposed soil, because birds and squirrels dont like the taste, so they'll stay out of your soil.  (who knew animals liked to steal soil)
• And lastly the new smaller leaves of the herbs seem to have the best flavor. This has been corroborated with constant searching of the internets.

Personally aside from all the cool benefits of growing herbs and being able to include them in our food, I'm most excited for the marigolds to start blooming because I love the look of marigolds.

 Do y'all have any porch gardening tips?