I started gardening in the spring season of 2007, when my son turned a year old. It all began when I went online to visit the websites of The Butchart Gardens and Stanley Park, places I visited in Vancouver B.C. The memory of being surrounded and invigorated by the beauty of nature at these parks made me purchase seeds from The Butchart Garden's online store.I grew annuals from indoors and sowed hundreds of poppy seeds outdoors. I believe I made a mistake sowing the poppy seeds because i washed them away with my watering. Soon, my indoor seeds sprouted and seemed like they took forever to grow. Being impatient and wanting instant gratification, I planned my patio bed and purchased a few ground cover, grasses, and flowers on the internet.
Planning everything that would grow in my patio bed took a lot of research. I had to consider the foliage, bloom time and color, deer resistance, the plant's size at maturity, etc. Eventually when my seedlings were strong enough to resist tugging, i took them outdoors to harden them off in the weather. I then transferred them to larger containers. The bigger plants were planted directly in the ground. I mulched a bit and pulled out tons of weeds. At the end of summer, I added violas and an azalea bush purchased at a bargain.
Aside from getting information from online nurseries, visiting the gardening section of our local paper was quite helpful. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has videos that show how to start with seed, propagate plants, etc.
Somewhere, I read that there is no real green thumb. Plants just need to be watered and cared for well. That's what I've been doing all season long.
See my patio bed below. It all started with a memory, then came an idea, then my experiments and mistakes. Now I have something to care for, watch, and photograph every season of the year. After being a stay at home mom.
