Hello dear friends! Hope you are well and enjoying the first days of spring (or summer), whatever the weather and where ever you may be. It's been mostly sunshine and showers here. Perfect for pea sprouts and lettuces and other tender things coming up in the garden beds. Our new greenhouse was put to the test and passed, affording us a huge head start this year. We're already enjoying beets, broccoli and spinach.
The Mister surprised us and built potting tables for various locatons, including this one (below) that tucks neatly into a corner of the greenhouse. LOVE. Very convenient. And cute. Cute must always be factored in, right?
Most of the shrubs and trees survived the frost and snow that clung during winter, some did not. Both my rosemary bushes died. They were big and woody and well established, wonderfully fragrant and a ready resource for joyful cooking. However, they proved to be fair-weather friends. So on to Plan B: Plant again in large pot outside kitchen door in full sun. Easy access. Everybody's happy. But more importantly, the pot can be moved to safety later in the season when the weather turns cold.
So with a fresh hole in the ground, where another rosemary shrub was removed, we had an opportunity to plant something new. As luck would have it, I was given a bucket full of lily of the valley, from a fellow gardener who was thinning her flower beds and needed to find homes for the upstarts. This little spot (above) was the perfect place; morning sun, damp ground, and room to spread. The rock needed some cheering up too.
See? Perfect. The rock is even smiling a little now.
These delicate beauties are a bit tattered, a little worse for the wear, but will recover in time and multiply quickly as they are prone to do. They look happy in their new home. Of course, I'm thrilled to pieces to have them. Best of all...they are deer resistant!
Beautiful lily of the valley. I lost part of one rosemary bush, but about 1/3 of it seems fine. It's going to look odd when I finally cut off the dead branches. Two other bushes survived.
Posted by: Lorrie | May 05, 2014 at 01:51 PM
Enjoy your greenhouse! We built one a few years ago, and it is such fun to start seedlings and watch them grow! My favorite thing is to pot plants while it is raining...all is serene and dry in the greenhouse. Have fun!
Posted by: Debra Wortman | May 05, 2014 at 02:34 PM
I love Lily of the Valley, but right now I have to take a bunch of it out. It's taking over the path! We also put in a greenhouse a few years ago and I love it.
Posted by: Cindy | May 05, 2014 at 05:49 PM
I have always wanted to plant lily of the valley--so cheery and cute; good to know the deer don't like them!
Posted by: Wendy | May 05, 2014 at 09:23 PM
Your new clump of lily of the valley is pretty growing there Vicki. I just planted a small clump too. So funny, I just asked my uncle if I could hire him to make me an old fashioned tire planter for the center of what will be my new herb garden. I want it for rosemary. So far rosemary has stayed pretty hardy here, but maybe, I should plant an extra in a pot that can come inside, just in case.
I have always wanted a greenhouse. My sister has one, and she enjoys it very much.
Happy May to you.
xo
Posted by: Account Deleted | May 06, 2014 at 09:58 AM
I look forward to your posts and always enjoy them. Lovely lili of the valley. I hope to see more pictures when they fill in. So sweet of your hubby to make the gardening tables. I read somewhere that if you're going to make something, make it cute.
Posted by: Susan | May 07, 2014 at 09:35 AM
I love Lily of the Valley. Just beautiful!
Posted by: Laura | May 07, 2014 at 10:21 AM