My plots of plants are their own community. Each is its own star, and sometimes its own diva. They make their own music and sing their own song. I love ’em, with their weird little quirks. Sometimes they’re in harmony, sometimes off key. They feed me and please me every time.
My tribute to them is to introduce them to you.
The front yard has the hostas & day lilies, surrounded by impatiens, my native plant garden which features some happy black-eyed susans in bloom right now (they always remind me of a photographic negative of daisies – and I may pair these in the yard next year), a couple container vegetables, a few herbs (growth spurt prone mountain mint, rollicking rosemary, and cheerful chives), some lovely jasmine circled by flowers, my container rose bush and the three potted zinnias.
The back has a potted Meyer lemon tree, several struggling beets in various containers for comparison purposes, some cautious carrots that once seemed on the fast path to success but have all but given up in this heat. There are a few potted begonias who are delighted to live with me. Along one side I have (yes, in this order) a pretty parsley, beyond robust sage, a sad little bit of rosemary, some thyme that doesn’t know where to end, and then a little cilantro book-ending the row, for diversity. Then of course also out back are my prized tomato plants. I usually have a bunch of potted peppers too but this year I just have one small container with a puny (but improving) cayenne and a mysterious chili pepper plant I bought from a small food market on Church Avenue. The guy I bought it from doesn’t speak much English and all he could tell me (in English anyway) was that it was a chili pepper plant (that leaves it pretty wide open for type) and that it comes from the DR. He, I believe, is from Bangladesh. Nice guy. They always invite me in whenever they have food there after fasting. Further out back are the peach and cherry trees and the flowering dogwood/elderberries (whose leaves are turning a little brown at the top after a recent clipping to prevent my clothes on the line from landing in the bush, which every summer gets to be pretty ginormous).
The upstairs terrace is having its own little party. I’m starting to think it might have something to do with the sun — like getting just the right amount now with only a touch of shade from the London Plane that sits in my neighbor’s yard, but shades mine. The petunias are quite happy. The peppers are in their element: cayenne, jalapeno and habanero have been having fun. There’s an ivy put there at the beginning of the summer but she’s kind of off to herself in the corner, not quite sure what to do. I’ll let her be for a bit, and move her at the end of the summer if she still hasn’t joined the party.
Some are stars, some are struggling. I think they’ll all get it together in time, with more or less help from me.
QUESTION: What’s in your garden? Go ahead .. gimme the dirt!
revelgardener 
A garden inventory, let’s start with containers. Scattered basil, mint, string beans, scallions, sweet Spanish onions, arugula, parsley, catnip, wormwood, swiss chard, miniature strawberries, red clover- and the latest discovery of a large leafed catnip plant where I didn’t intentionally put it (probably due to moving soil around). Indoor containers are a few herbs, same as outside, plus my 6 giant cacti (giant is in their name, not descriptive of their size). For the most part the banana family lives inside.
In the back yard the largest, most productive group of plants are my weeds- and fine specimens they are! They are mixed with red clover which I planted last year to help condition my rock/ clay soil. I have a fair collection of wild common violets (thanks for the ID Wildman), and the smaller leaves make it into a salad from time to time. As for things I planted, there’s corn, broccoli, swiss chard, onions, scallions, tomatoes, borage, one quick weed plant from the Wildman tour, basil, borage, a surprise wormwood and catnip plant, lettuce, and sunflowers. It sounds more impressive than what it is. To the untrained eye it looks like mostly weeds, however to the trained eye it still looks like mostly weeds. Although I do pick out a few weeds from the planted area that are in the way, I started this year with the intention of letting the weeds pretty much do their own thing. If nothing else my weeds are an outstanding success. I take advantage of the edible weeds I’ve been able to identify to add into salads. The fact that most weeds have more vitamins and minerals than the food we buy says something about processed food.
It’s not all bad, tonight I had some fresh picked string beans mixed with store stuff because I didn’t have enough fresh ones. If you need another reason to grow your own stuff, do an A/ B taste test with something you grew and something from the store.
Speaking of ‘music gardens’, did you ever put those old CDs to use in the garden? I am curious if they work for you too.
Love our song with those images. Fan-flippin-tastica. Me gusto muchisimo!
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