My favorite topic, or one of them!

I really enjoy gardening - very relaxing, listening to the birds.

I have a small vegetable garden where I grow carrots, beets, green beans, garlic and tomatoes.  I've been growing tomatoes for years and make my own sauce since I don't like the ingredients in commercial sauces.  I make several batches and freeze in smaller containers for pastas.

My flower gardens are varied.  A huge rock garden that stretches for 30+ feet and is contoured to the slope.  Plants in it are mostly low-growing.  I love rock rose, and have different thymes.  A favourite plant is called rose campion - it's tall, small, deep red flower and is very showy.  It self seeds, so shows up everywhere, but I don't mind. Many plants in the rock garden are perennials but I mix in annuals each year.  My backyard has a continuous flower bed around the perimeter with mostly perennials.  Love to see the bleeding heart in the spring.  Have numerous lilies, irises, etc., and others too numerous to mention.  One section is my "butterfy bed" - plants to attract butterflies.

The flower bed next to the house is another long one, and is showy in the spring with the multi-colours of tulips. 

Another bed is mostly hostas - several different varieties.

Keeping the weeds out of everything is a lot of work....trying to enjoy it while I can and as long as my knees don't give out.

I love sunflowers!  I love daisies!  I also like and plant petunias and marigolds.

There are a lot of things that only need moderate amounts of sun to do well. Spinach for one. For decorative, some hostas are really lovely.

Really?  Spinach doesn't need full sun?  Didn't know that.   I might just have to toss in a few seeds or plants this year & give it a try!

I was thinking of giving up my vegetable garden this year. Last year, was a bad year for the I am busy and... then this thread....

Perhaps I will rethink my no-garden decision....

Kay

You might appreciate this link:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/NO-MORE-Lawns/228162947210252

Here is the most relevant link I could find.  Pepper seeds don't need a chilling period because in their natural state, in Central America, it doesn't happen. When  you see on the link the term or letters MG they mean Miracle Gro brand of seed starter. You don't need that particular brand but you DO need a soilless mix  for starting or you get a world of problems. A good place to put the pot or tray is somewhere warm, like the top of the fridge.  And a clear cover for the pot or tray is essential to keep moisture in.  Well I will let you read the link for yourself. It's addicting! Looks like a trip  to a garden center or Wal Mart is in order....or even a place like Home Depot can set you up for not a lot of $$ if you don't have certain items around already.

http://thepepperseed.com/growing-peppers/growing-peppers-from-seed/

Guess it's time to start some of my veggies.  I planted some cold weather crops (carrots, spinach, lettuce, peas) in November so they will be ready to go as soon as the soil is warm enough.  Started putting the tomatoes in pots last summer so I can put them in the sunniest part of the garden which is gravelled -- need to make a trough for them to sit in so they don;t need watering everyday.  Planted several fruit bushes and trees last year and hope to get some fruit off of them this year -- they are a poosible choice for someone who is not able to do a lot of work in the garden.

Rhubarb is an essential part of gardens for me -- one of the first edibles in the spring time and produce all summer.

A challenge is the presence of trees in the southeast corner of the back yard -- they shade a substantial part of the yard, but my wife likes them (a Schubert cherry and two edible crab apple trees).  We have three small raised beds with gravel aroujnd them (came with the house which we bought 4 years ago) and I am still experimenting with mixes of vegetables.  We have flowers in both front and back, and are adding to them.  Some wild snapdragons (toad flax--deemed a noxious weed in Alberta so I hope inspectors don't spot it and make me get rid of all of it) came from somewhere a couple of years ago and spread rapidly this past summer so I am restricting its growth.

Rabbits eat our day lilies down and cut off our tulip blossoms, along with munching on other plants and I think it may be the deer who eat our sunflowers in the front yard.  Suburban living in Calgary can come with some of the same challenges and perks as rural acreages including the occasional visit by a lynx.

Now I head off to do some preparing for the coming summer.