May 02, 2012

Spring Gardening




I LOVE planting flowers and herbs in the spring. One of my favorite activities to do when I was growing up was going to the nursery with my mom to pick out flowers...and then going home to help my mom plant the flowers. I thought she was so good at deciding what flowers to plant where...and it was so neat to see them bloom and prospo throughout the summer.


Not having an actual garden and only having a small patio to place pots, I still wanted to take advantage of the space we had for flowers and herbs. With all of the sunlight we receive in Anchorage during the summer months, flowers and herbs tend to grow very rapidly. However, with limited space, Matt and I had to be resourceful and decide which herbs we would actually use on a regular basis. We also made sure only a few pots were dedicated for flowers.


I was so ready to transform our dead looking pots...



...and planters that had been sitting outside all winter.


We headed to Bell's Nursery and Gifts to find our herbs and flowers....




...and the task was slightly overwhelming. However, we headed for the annuals and began to think about what flowers were appropriate for a hanging basket...




...and what flowers were more appropriate for the planter. Then, we headed for the greens and herbs...




...and decided on the following:
  • Green lettuce
  • Spinach
  • Oregano
  • Cilantro
  • Basil
  • Mint



We had two boxes full of flowers, greens and herbs by the time we were done shopping for our garden...




...and after picking up some dirt, headed home to replant our pots and planters. I focused on the flowers and Matt planted the greens and herbs.



The deck is now ready for Spring (however, due to the freezing temperatures at night and because the plants have not been "hardened off" yet, the plants are brought in at night and only exposed to outdoor temps in two hour time periods. Over the next week and a half, if temperatures continue to rise, the plants should be ready to be outdoors for a full day.




I'm thrilled with the result and look forward to sharing an update later in the summer.


Cheers to Spring!
Karen