Come in come in…….don’t worry about all the mess on the kitchen table, I’ll just move it over. Now…..what would you like to drink this morning? I have every flavor of coffee imaginable; Donut Shop, French Roast, Carmel Pie? I’m reading the labels from the coffees……..Mocha Java, New Orleans Blend. Oh, here’s a good one! Jamaican Me Crazy! Do you want to try that? I’ll just pop it in the coffee pot.
I have been working feverishly in the garden. Can you tell? Everything is planted and looking good. Yes, we tore out all the Mondo Grass from the side along the fence in the cottage garden. What a chore! I had left it unattended for a few years and it had spread, was ever so thick and about 8 inches high, overpowering all the flowers in that flower bed. Shameless rascal! So, we dug it all out. I say we, but it was hubby doing labor and me there to supervise………..
Now the cottage garden has taken on a new shape and look…..you can actually see the stepping stones again. It’s amazing how the new plants dug right in and look completely at home! So, here are some before and afters…….
a few days later…….
About a week later…………..The lavender has grown up to this!
And the Front Cottage Garden looked like this…………
and two weeks later………
and one of my favorite plants and my favorite color in the garden! Spiderwort, “Sweet Cate”!
The First Thing I always do in my garden each year, is pull the Creeping Fig off the Cottage. It wraps and clings and holds on for dear life, but I hack it all to the ground. It’s like a passage from Winter to Spring for me.
It grows back, no problem!
Then it turned cooler and the rain came……..so I decided to pull out all the tags from the flowers bags, (I just threw them in plastic bags and marked the year they were planted), which is now ten year’s worth! I found the original landscaping designs and marched out to the garden to see what was left and what was not, so I could make a proper Garden Journal. Then I went online and found this wonderful site for printable journals……. A journal that could document everything……..the plants, the layout, the bugs, the chores and to-do’s, the expense sheet……..(keep that one well hidden and deep into the planner to keep hubby from having a heart attack)… and on and on. It really covered everything and more that I wanted!
I looked every plant up that I had, all the old and the new ones, in the New Southern Living Garden Book. I made Plant Profiles of every one (I have 87 different plants, trees and shrubs in my garden) and I plopped a plant tag by each plant, so I don’t have to say thats a idont’trememberthenameaiirosa……or that’s apassalongplantafrommyfriendaiibegonia. Plants usually have that ii after their official names, why is that? Anyway, I profiled ’em and I tagged ’em and I created a big journal. And most of the tags are out of the bags now. There were some hostas I have to wait on to identify properly…..but I feel really good about all the work, inside and out. Then I started looking at the plant catalogs…….well that’s another story altogether.
That’s what I’ve been up to for that last couple of weeks, how about you? Do you have a garden? Do you document your garden in any way? Please let me know what you do! Here is the online site for the Plant Journal, if you would like to jump in. See you next week! I’m sure I will still be enjoying the plants!
ThatTravelLadyInHerShoes 
Lovely garden transformation. I can’t wait for the weather where I live to allow me to start tidying up my plants and flowers.
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What zone are you in? I’m 7b
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3, 4
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Oh, you can grow lots!
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Thank you for this most inspiring post! The coffee was delicious! Your garden is beautiful. I love gardening, especially edible gardens. I recently moved, and had to start all over again a couple weeks ago. I created a fenced in annual vegetable garden, these past two weeks. I wrote about it https://norcalzen.com/2018/04/27/weekend-coffee-share-11/. Our new place, around 1.5 acres was totally overgrown when we moved in (two weeks ago.) We’ve been working on getting it cleared. Earlier this morning I was standing in my backyard, that we just now are starting to see the shape of, looking at some leaves on one of the bigger trees in a distance, realizing that it actually is a fig tree. I love figs, so does my daughter. I walked up to the tree, and it already have lots of (immature) fruit on it. Lots!! I look around a little more, and discover another fig tree. I felt like I won the lottery. They are both around 10-12 ft high. Definitely going to propagate some more fig trees for my container garden this coming week. I really enjoyed having coffee with you!
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Oh my, you have a lovely spot in the world and horses too! I look forward to seeing how your garden progresses! I am way too old to add too much more in my garden. I tried vegetables in a local church plot and had so many, translated (It was a lot of work trudging up there everyday and bringing back the goodies in my wagon) that I gave up my spot. I like to go to our local Saturday Market and buy their vegetables now. Gardening in the Spring is such a joy here and then it is hot hot hot and humid here until September. So that is when I usually travel. I am glad you enjoyed the coffee, see you next week on the porch!
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Any type of gardening is a blessing. I love the Farmer’s market to 🙂 have a wonderful week!
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Your finished plan looks lovely. I took out a ‘lot’ of mondo grass a few years back and found myself at a pain clinic getting cortisone shots in my back. I’m a lot more careful now what I plant regardless of how good looking I think it may be. What is the plant running along the sidewalk?
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Are you talking about the bright green plants? The cascading one (there are 4 in my front garden) is the Sweet Cate Spiderwort, my all time favorite, it has to be in my garden plant. The bright green ground cover in front of the pot is a Stone Orpine Sedum called Angelina. I just planted that last year and it loves that spot on that end of my flower bed.The same plant at the other end looks like the step-brother in comparison. Plants have their own ways and I just go along with the flow. See you next weekend for coffee!
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I unfortunately do not have a garden – but yours looks lovely.
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Oh I would miss my morning garden walks although then I see all the weeds that sprung up overnight!
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Nothing like a bit of gardening to make you feel on top of things. It looks good to. Thanks for coffee and showing me around your garden. Have a good week.
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I love to garden in the Spring…, when it gets really hot, not so much.
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Your garden is looking really good. I love lavender and always like to have some for the bees. Our new garden is mainly full of green, so I am waiting to see if anything else pops up. A lot of it is overgrown with fern/bracken and I have taken a little out so that the sprinkler heads can do their job!
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Oh girl, I went out and bought more plants today! Can one ever have too many? I have decided to do succulents too. I have had trouble with lavender but not this year! I bought Spaghetti Lavender and planted them all in a new spot! Lime Green is my favorite color in the garden! I Also, need another book/journal now! Probs will do another follow up garden review this weekend!
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