My "Herb" Bed

Two years ago, I moved my herb bed frame out of a shaded area of the garden and into the sun.  I spent some time figuring out how to deter the dogs from walking on my plants, and how to pretty the whole thing up.  I blogged about that project in a serial extending over Part One and Part Two.

Since then, the bed has become nicely established.  It is surrounded by yarrow, which is threatening to take the whole thing over, but I do love my yarrow, so I'm not pulling it out (yet).  This year, for the first time ever (cue drum roll please!) two of my perennial herbs survived the winter.  I'm not sure what I did differently.  My Auntie Mary warned me about planting peppermint because she said it would be invasive, but I've had to replant all mints annually.  This year, though, my spearrmint and my oregano (!) both survived the winter.  The chives are also doing well in their converted canner planter.  I stuck a few more herbs in there (trailing rosemary, chocolate mint, and another oregano plant, which I bought before I realized last year's survived).  I always put some flowers in for colour too.

The view from my deck:

Quadrant 1 is mostly herbs.  Top row:  oregano, rosemary.  Middle row:  chocolate mint, petunia in shoe.  Bottom row: spearmint and another petunia.

Quadrant 2: snapdragons in the upper left; yarrow on the bottom left, chives on the right.

Quadrant 3 is mostly flowers, with daisies (which also survived the winter) in the basket on the left, yarrow in the bottom centre, and my new oregano plant on the right.  Snapdragons here and there for colour.

Quadrant 4:  the yarrow took over one of the herb containers, and scarlet runner beans are planted at the base of the trellis.

Look out! I'm flaunting my flowers! ~Fertilizer Friday~

It's Friday, and you know what that means! Tootsie Time is hosting her Fabulous Fertilizer Friday meme, so mosey on over to her blog to link up or to check out everyone's blooms.

I feel like I've been running around all week, but what I accomplished, who knows? I appreciate the fertilizing theme of this meme because my plants are all doing very well thanks to the weekly dose of MiracleGro; but even more so, I like taking pictures once a week. It's a nice way to track the progress of my garden and to see things that I might otherwise overlook in my rush to get things done.

So, without further ado, from the School of Yard Knocks:

I've never planted Royal Burgundy bush beans before and I am enchanted by their delicate purple and lavender blossoms.


A row of mini sunflowers and marigolds. The morning glories and sweet peas seem to be very slow this year as they should be going up the trellis. I know once they get started, they go like crazy, but when are they going to get started?



A mini sunflower unfurling.




This was labelled as Greek oregano when I bought it, but given the pink flowers, it is more likely wild marjoram. I should be trimming this back more vigorously so that it doesn't flower at all, but ... how much oregano does one girl need? ;-)




Begonias by my front gate.


Begonias in the back yard.


Pretty pink yarrow.


In other news, I posted a book review on my Gabe n Arch blog. The book's author found the review and posted an excerpt on his own site. The author is Patrick McDonnell, the well-known creator of the Mutts comic strip and animal rights activist. I admire his advocacy for homeless pets and enjoy his comics and books, so I was honoured that he posted my review on his site :-)

And that's what's going on at the School of Yard Knocks. How about at your place?

Herb Bed, Part 2

Okay, so when I went in for supper yesterday, I wasn't quite finished the herb bed. In the evening, I scouted around for more items to repurpose and decided that my cucumbers could live without the teepee trellis. Last night, I arranged the trellis in the bottom left corner of the bed - the two faux terra cotta pots were directly opposite each other across the birdbath. I even planted scarlet runner bean seeds all around the base of the trellis. This morning, I decided it looked good, but could look better. I basically switched positions of the trellis and the terra cotta pot in the bottom left quadrant of the bed. This meant digging up and sifting through the soil in search of the scarlet runner bean seeds! I found about half of them, which I replanted in the new position. If any others sprout, I will transplant.

I should have taken a picture from the deck, but with the trellis in the new spot, when you're looking at the herb bed from the deck, the trellis will be right behind the birdbath, which should be really pretty once the beans start going up.

I also transplanted some chives from the ground into the canner; sunk the two black plastic pots and put herbs in them; and put down a rose stepping stone that I can set my watering can on.

So, the bed now has dill (seeded); peppermint, spearmint, oregano, thyme, and chives (transplanted); snapdragons (transplanted); and scarlet runner beans (seeded). Can't wait to see it in August!