Have I mentioned how much I’m loving my garden at the moment? All the flowers, colors, and smells…

I did something crazy this year. There’s a patch in my backyard that nothing seems to want to grow. Grass wouldn’t even germinate there and believe me, I tried to grow grass there, twice. The soil is absolutely horrible even after I spread a layer on top last fall. The soil is impossible to dig when dry and becomes super muddy when it’s wet. In the spring, I decided to take a chance and scattered alyssum and poppy seeds across the area.

Now, it’s one of my favorite areas. Though I am a little disappointed only a few pastel-color alyssums germinated, I love the purple alyssums as purple is my favorite color. This is much better than grass.

Planting poppies was something I learned one of mom’s former tenants. She scattered California poppies all over the front and back yard of mom’s former house and for 2 years, the poppies came back despite little to no water was supplied. Since there’s no sprinklers in my backyard and the only way to water these is by hand, that’s the kind of plants I need.

My lavender is finally blooming! Of all the plants I’ve grown so far, lavender and rosemary are by far the most difficult plants to grow. The fact that I talk to them, pet them, and comfort them and they still die tells you just how difficult they are despite everyone says these plants thrive on neglect. I think that’s after they’ve been established, not before.

Despite not liking the color pink, I feel the blue and pink combination works in this instance. These are volunteer Bachelor’s Buttons though I’m pretty sure I only planted blue ones last year and they performed terribly.

I visited my garden center yesterday, hoping to find some ground cover but instead, I found trays and trays of blooming petunias. As tempting as they were, I walked past them without a second glance. I like the petunias I started from seeds despite the flowers being in just a few colors.

Last but not least, this plant tops my list for 2023 favorite plant. It’s a Holy Basil plant. I planted several this year and this just so happens to be located in my berry bed.

I love the smell of the plant. The smell keeps me in the garden. I would describe the aroma to be minty bubblegum and by bubblegum, I mean those gigantic colorful pieces of gum you probably chewed as a teenager to see how big of a bubble you can blow, not the kind you buy at the checkout counter to freshen your breath.

You know the plant is good when Mr. Dragonfly lands on it and sticks around.

#SundayStills