Around the Garden

 

 

Hi Friends! It's Spring!  And while it's still pretty cold and cloudy in my area, I've been enjoying as much time outdoors as possible.
I've decided this is the year to beautify my garden.  Normally, I focus most of my efforts on growing food.  This year however, I'm trying my hand with more perennials, trees, bulbs and flowers.  Here's what my boys and I have been working on the past few weeks:

1.  Remember the old windows I've been collecting? I stripped the old paint, put down a fresh layer of non-VOC outdoor paint and built some simple cold frames. I didn't follow any instructions, just made a simple box out of lumber and attached the windows with some hinges.
2.  I'm rooting various plants from my garden and my mom's.  I have various lavender, viburnum, daphne and climbing roses trying to take root.  If this batch doesn't work out, I'll try again when things are warmer.
3.  I've been to a few perennial yard sales and picked up several varieties that are proven to grow successfully in my zone.  Some of the varieties I'm adding include: hosta, veronica, bell flower, butterfly gladiolus, navelwort, joe pye weed, kidney vetch, foxglove, hellebores, acanthus mollis, and several others.
4.  We've also made our yard more wild bird friendly.  We hung up feeders and made nesting lanterns.  I've seen similar ones online.  I used candle lanterns that are all over the thrift stores.  We took out the glass and stuffed them full of nesting supplies.

Things are buzzing around here these days.  What's going on in your garden lately?