GROWING the GARDEN

I am amazed every year, late June to mid July, when the garden EXPLODES with color and everything really takes off.  The scrawny tomato plants of a few weeks ago, are now taller than I am.  Everyday the garden changes and everyday new things flower and bloom.

When I was a child, we had neighbors that had enormous (or at least my memory of it was enormous) gardens full of vegetables and oodles of beautiful flowers. Our neighbors were always working in their gardens, from early spring through the fall. Growing up, my family was always the happy recipient of their good gardening efforts. Now that I have my very own garden, I like growing the same flowers as our neighbor, Mr.Wegert grew.   There's nothing like smelling the familiar fragrances from childhood (the good ones) that take you right back to being eight years old in an instant.

The garden is a great lesson for my own children.  They see how much care and work it takes to grow plants form seed.

These tomatoes are the promise of a delicious dinner in the not so distant future!  Nothing beats a homegrown tomato.

Currently I'm on a "propagating" kick.  Propagating plants in case you are unfamiliar, is the act of making new plants from the cuttings of old plants. It's a whole lot like photocopying or cloning a plant.  Not all plants can be propagated...so I'm starting out with the most hardy and fool-proof varieties.  I don't know if it will work or not, but I am giving it my best shot.

I have a whole tray of lilac, Annabelle hydrangea, viburnum and boxwood... I have to be patient, which is especially hard for me since I am not a patient person.  It will take at least 4-6 weeks to see if roots are forming...  If it works, I will do a post about how I went about it...  Until then, please enjoy the views of my garden... I wish you could smell it too...trust me, it's fantastic!