Welcome to my garden! I wanted to share with you what my gardens look like in the Spring, and what plants I'm planning to add this year.
Hello Spring! While I do LOVE the increase in daylight, the warmth, and the sunshine; Spring always feels like it arrives with a huge to-do list. I love gardening, but in Spring I often feel overwhelmed by the amount of work to be done. My Spring garden is ugly, despite the beautiful bulbs that have popped up.
Switching Focus
In the past, we have focused our gardens on culinary herbs and several common vegetables, with just a few flowers in the ground, and a few hanging flower baskets. However, we have struggled over the last couple of years with too much shade creeping into our backyard. Neighboring trees have sprung up and now provide a little too much shade in the back garden to successfully grow many veggies.
As an herbalist, I would also like to grow more medicinal herbs in my own garden, rather than rely on my favorite (and expensive) herb supplier.
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Culinary Herbs
We have chives, sage, dill, cilantro, peppermint, spearmint, and thyme that come back every year. We then add basil and parley because we use those almost daily! I love using fresh herbs in my cooking, but it can be expensive to constantly purchase them from the grocery store. I love having all these fresh herbs right outside my door to harvest whenever I need them!
Medicinal Herbs
Currently, I only have a few medicinal herbs in my garden (although culinary herbs are also medicinal herbs). I have echinacea, chamomile, and lemon balm. I just ordered a few new ones to add and I am so excited about them.
Skullcap - promotes emotional well-being and relaxation.
Calendula - soothing to skin irritations such as dermatitis, scratches, minor cuts, and burns as well as soothing to the digestive tract.
Lemon Verbena - soothing to the digestive tract, for skin conditions, and can help induce sleep.
Holy Basil - an overall tonic herb that helps with stress and sleep issues, boosts immunity and enhances overall wellness.
Ashwagandha - another tonic herb that helps the body deal with stress, boosts immunity, and enhances overall wellness.
I ordered these from a company I have never used before. Fingers crossed that they send good quality plants.
Vegetables
We do love growing our own veggies, but since it is getting more and more difficult to do this in our yard, we are cutting back, even more, this year. We will grow a few of our favorites and rely on local farmer's markets for the rest.
What veggies will find a place in our gardens this year? A couple of tomato plants and a handful of hot pepper plants, for sure! I also want to grow some peas in a pot (I love picking and eating peas right off the vine) and I definitely need some chard and lettuces on hand for quick side salads. The last thing I will add is simply a handful of scallions that I can just pop into any empty places among the other plants.
Flowers
I ordered a few perennial flowers from our local garden club (however I can't remember what they were! LOL) and will likely just grab a few annuals from our local nurseries as the mood strikes me. These all have to thrive in partial shade in order to come into our yard. I do love having some flowers to cut and bring into the house. It makes our home so cheery.
I would love to know what you are planting in your garden this year. Let me know in the comment section!
Happy planting!
Tracy