Starting my Deck Garden

First, don't you wish you could just fill in the Mood spot? I mean I wanted to just have it say "pooped!" There are some moods not represented here! AOL needs to add a bunch!

Well I finally headed to the nursery for some plants! I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do this year, especially with my physical health not 100%. Most summers I can't wait & I really have an idea of what I want to do. Each year I usually do something a bit different. One year orange & yellow, one year all pink, and I think last year was soft purple (a soothing, relaxing look!)

This year I literally just looked & came up with it along the way.  I decided to make it mostly a vegetable & herb garden with a bit of color. Now mind you this is on my patio deck! :-) Can't do as much unfortunately. I love to garden & usually have at my folks. They have 1 1/3 acres of land & so quite a big garden. This year they are selling their home to retire so I can't garden there anymore. I'm very sad about this! If I can find my old pictures of my garden there I'll post them in a future journal. I'll also take some pictures of this years along the summer & post them.

I headed to Woldhuis Sunrise Greenhouse which usually has a huge and awesome selection of plants. This year I was very disappointed! I didn't get very much. Everyone must have gone this past weekend. The girl at the register said they ran out of a lot. No kidding! Man! So I also stopped at a greenhouse just down the road & picked up a few more items and then just before I was home I noticed a temporary nursery set up in a parking lot and they had some new variety of petunias and I thought they would go well with what I had in mind. I may go back tomorrow to that last one for some hanging baskets.

There is something about getting my hands in the dirt, nope can't wear gloves! I don't know why! I laughed today as I thought about it & then just couldn't. My foot that I had surgery on last Fall was acting up, along with my back a bit, so I had to work slow & carefully. I had to just plant one & then bring it to the deck, watching that Dusty & Country would not escape...Country was the worst! Usually I get a wheel barrel and haul my supplies out by the outside of the deck & plant, but just couldn't this time. I had found a terra cotta strawberry pot (or herb) that I liked finally and one pot shaped in a heart (which is HEAVY!) for 50% off the other day and a turtle one 75%! Yep...Sam & Ella would love it! Ha! The turtle was chipped a bit but you won't be able to tell with the plant hanging over. I love getting bargains! I got about 3/4 planted & ran out of soil. I'll finish tomorrow morning. We are suppose to get rain from tomorrow afternoon to like Thurs! Ugh!

Lets see what did I get.... (Pictures are linked to all but a few!)

Herbs:

* Curly Parsley
* Sage
* Rosemary
* Thyme....Ok, I just started humming it after last night & had to get the othe two! :-)
* Greek Oregano
* Hidcote Lavender
* Cat Mint
* Sweet Green Basil
* Purple Ruffled Basil
* Cilantro (I love!)

Vegetables:

* Grape Tomato
* Limmony Tomato
* SunSugar Tomato 
* Green Pepper (Sweet)
* Purple Beauty Pepper (Sweet) 
* Yolo Wonder Green Pepper (Sweet)
* Early Red Pepper (Sweet)

Flowers:

* Petunia: Dolce Flambe (New Variety this year!)
* Petunia: Dolce Fragnolia (New Variety this year!)
* Impatiens: Double Pink
* Daisy: Osteospermum Sparkler
* Daisy: Osteospermum Lemon Symphony (Saved it! 50% off!)
* Red Latana
* Bacopa Sutera Cordata
* Dwarf Pink Mallow
* White Cascading Petunia 2 Hanging Baskets (Mine are as big as the picture!)

Other Foliage:

* Coleus: Stain Class "Tilt A Whirl"
* Coleus: Pink (I'll get name!)
* Rustic Orange Coleus
* Chicks & Hens (Given to me a few years ago by a friend!)

Ok, I have a few peppers to plant yet, I want to see if I can find some more herbs & I need to get my sister to take some tomato & pepper plants! Ha! I ran out of clay pots. I have no clue why! My mom calls me "Miss Pots", "Miss Baskets" & Miss Hats" since I seem to have quite a few! Ha! Perhaps they cracked last fall and someone threw them out for me? I had my foot surgery last fall so there are many things that I just don't know what happened to! People love to help but...

Remember how I talked about all the rain & cold on my "About Me" section? Well today the banks registered 91 degrees! Ugh! Suppose to be 80s all next week but RAIN!!! Just some dark clouds & booms so far. Up north I hear it poured but so far not here. T-Storms until Thurs, unless they change it by then, you know how that happens all the time! One can only hope!

The birds were squawking at me as I arranged my pots on my deck. Apparently, I was in the middle of rush hour for dinner! Ha! A beautiful bright red cardinal had a reservation at the new hanging basket I filled with bird food.  I bought two yesterday which match but one has a hanger that comes through the center & the other is meant to go against a wall. They are made of tiny twigs. I figured it would much more decorative for seed than typical bird seed holders...though I didn't get rid of the ones I already had! Ha! I love birds! In the hanging one I made a "buffet" of different seed! :-) Maybe that is why the Cardinal came!

I have a slight headache (trying not to say migraine!) I think from the stuffy heat in the garage planting. Have to go take a shower...I'm full of dirt! Ha! I love it when my dad or someone has been out planting & they don't realize how their face is dirty from wiping sweat! Ha! I was like that yesterday...oh & then there is the dry dirt that goes up the nose...ick!...but to gardeners it is a part of the fun! Nothing like a man who gardens! ;-) Sorry I'm digressing here! Or rather fantasizing! Ha! I think I need a cold shower for more than one reason!

You know I remember gardening with my dad & mom when we were kids...the 4 of us kids walking behind my dad, as he made a little ditch we were to drop the seed - pumpkin, watermellon, corn etc. It was so much fun to watch them grow! I'm sure that is where I get my love for gardening! My grandpa also loved to garden since he grew up on the farms. At his house in Chicago, he'd have tomatos on the side of the garage which I swear he fed "bad kids" to them! They were monsters! You couldn't walk on the sidewalk even! And my grandma would have the most beautiful roses along the fence.

Well I'll try to get some pictures up soon! Then we can check again around 4th of July!

So what are you growing in your garden? Love to see!