Planting My Garden 2024

I got dirt under my fingernails yesterday because I began planting my garden for 2024. So I finally got to dig in the dirt and that makes me so happy.

My daughters put my walker in Kendra’s SUV and we went to a nearby restaurant to eat Mexican food. Then we went to the outdoor nursery just a few blocks down the road.

I do like that stores and restaurants and such is so close to where I live. That is so handy.

At The Outdoor Nursery:

They had a plant I wasn’t able to find at the bigger nurseries in the past few years. Guess what it was? Lamb’s Ear!

I brought home two small containers of Lamb’s Ear.

At my old apartment I would at first buy small containers of Lamb’s Ear. But they did not come back the following year. So finally I bought the bigger containers and they thrived and came back every year.

I realize that these two small pots might not make it through the winter. But I’m so thrilled that I found Lamb’s Ear to plant in my garden for 2024.

At least I can enjoy them this year even if they don’t come back next year.

What I Purchased For Planting My Garden 2024:

I bought mostly petunias and million bells for my garden. (Also known as Calibrachoa or mini petunias)

My colors this year are yellow, purple, and white. There is a little bit of red geranium in the containers that were already put together.

I wanted another Boston fern because last year’s bit the dust. But I knew it would be very hard to dig out the giant roots of last year’s dead plant.

So Marley, my granddaughter, cut all the dead spikes at the surface of the dead plant and set the fern container right on top. You can’t really tell that it isn’t planted in the container if you don’t look closely.

They did the same with the bigger plant pots I purchased. It’s just easier to dig down a bit and fit the plastic container in the hole. I’m not sure if I’ll leave the pots this way or remove the plants and plant them in the soil.

The plants aren’t all the way level with the container soil. I may dig down a little more. But the soil around it will help the plant stay cooler when the sun becomes intolerable.

Some of the containers came with a variety of different plants mixed in. There are geraniums, pentas, and petunias. As well as million bells, purple sweet potato vine, and salvia.

And of course I purchased herbs. Pineapple sage and lemon verbena; the herbs I always have every year.

Every time I look at or think about pineapple sage, I think of my dear departed Charlie. He would go out on the patio and chomp on pineapple sage when he had an upset tummy. I miss him so much!

Then there’s lamb’s Ear, lemon balm and various mints. I might be forgetting something…

Lynn’s Garden:

I came up with a way for the galvanized container garden to be utilized. Yesterday while I was planting my 2024 garden, Lynn asked what I was going to do with the remaining pots. Those galvanized containers out by the light pole.

Lynn lives above Ron and Pat, so she doesn’t have a yard space; just a balcony.

I told her that space could be her garden. She could put up a sign that says Lynn’s garden if she wants.

Lynn wanted to plant hollyhocks, so I said go for it. There’s more sun in that area. So that’s what she did.

I had packets of seeds I wasn’t going to use, so I gave her some of them for that space. I’m not sure what all she planted yesterday. I know she planted hollyhocks and I haven’t ever planted those. So I can enjoy hers.

She also was the recipient of the blue bird bath I no longer use. It was just too heavy for me to turn the top over to clean the bird bath or add new water. So she moved it out there to her new galvanized garden space.

Now she and Ron and Pat can see the birds swoop in to the bird bath from their apartments.

She can now view her garden as well as mine from her rocking chair on her balcony. So I thought this new arrangement worked out well.

I spent about an hour on my garden scooter rolling around planting the smaller plants and herbs I purchased Sunday.

Then when I was finished with that, I pushed aside gravel in the yard and planted lemon balm and spearmint in two areas. Maybe those two plants will take off (fingers crossed), and grow around surrounding my containers.

That would be nice. So far I have weeds growing up in the areas I had landscaped last year.

They put landscaping fabric underneath the gravel and mulch. But weeds made their way through the fabric anyway.

Fresh Eggs:

Later, Lynn came over to where I was sitting on my rolling garden cart deadheading petunias. She asked me if I liked eggs. I said yes, I do. I often eat them for supper with toast.

She handed me a dozen of her daughter’s eggs from Missouri. Lynn often visits her daughter’s farm and comes back with eggs and vegetables that are in season. Actually, she gave me a dozen eggs just after I moved here.

So that’s a wonderful trade off. Eggs for garden space.

It’s exciting that I’ve begun planting my garden for 2024. And that I’ve put my fingers in the dirt to begin this yearly task.

It made me so happy to see flowers in my yard again.