I call this our “Fairy Garden”. I purchased the pink lilies as well as some daisies (which are not pictured but are a recent birthday purchase) for this garden. Beyond that are Black Eyed Susans, Orange Lilies, Peonies, Phlox and a Butterfly Bush all of which I either divided out from other areas of the yard as I thinned or else I saved from a section where we ripped everything out to put in vegetables instead. In fact, the Phlox sat in a hole in the ground just to keep them alive for about a week and a half waiting for me to get a new garden shovel after my husband cracked our old one in half. They survived and now are getting ready to bloom. All of these plants will bloom throughout the year at different times and aside from my two birthday acquisitions, cost me nothing. I dug a random and irregular hole in the ground, placed my plants, then mulched and edged it in Rocks collected from around the yard that my kids have dragged home from various locations. Nathan got in on the act with this as he pushed his dump truck around the yard collecting the rocks for me. This fairy garden is next to several lilacs and roses with a sandbox on the other side of it. The decorative watering can was a birthday gift this year from a friend. The decorative barn was a gift for my daughter from her Great Aunt last year.
Not only are we cozy inside of the house but our yard is pretty small too. We really try to make the most of what space we do have and so we have plants growing every place we can possibly think of in our 110 x 50 lot. Peach trees grow next to our sunny driveway, berries, and this year tomatoes and cucumbers grow outside of the backyard as well. My husband suggested we rip out the front bushes and plant some more vegetables but so far I’ve refused that one. I’m still thinking on it. We do have trouble with our garden outside of the fenced yard however. Probably a few birds may be involved, occasionally some bugs but the biggest problem outside of the fenced section are deer. Now I live in what I would describe as a fairly urban area but there are enough woods around that deer still share space with us. Perhaps living in such an urban area makes deer that much more desperate. They take whatever they can get and in fact my tomato plants are recovering right now from having their tops munched off. My blackberries, among other things, are outside of the backyard as well and frequently get taken by deer before I get to them. Is it really deer? Yes, once in a while I catch them. I like deer; they’re elegant and interesting. I want them to find food… but not my food. What to do???
This was my fun and creative solution and we’ll see if it helps. My kids saw some painted flower pots hanging in a park from a kids craft day. They wanted to do that too and I liked the idea as a decoration for the outdoors. They look unique… and fun. What a great project to do with my kids. But could they be useful?
Nathan and Kaitlyn really got into this pot painting project. Nathan used washable paints (check out the paint on his temple). I let Kaitlyn use some of my acrylics with supervision and a warning.
Tristan decided to join us as well and so I gave him another pot. Then the painted pots were left to dry in the sun.
The following week we brought the pots in and got an assortment of glue, scissors, wire and beads from my “junk” bin. Yup! The “junk” bin is actually labeled as such. It isn’t very big but is actually quite useful for a variety of purposes in a household with children.
Boy did we make a big mess and have a whole lot of fun assembling bells, stars, beads and pots to hang off of an old colander that I rarely use.
We found a shepherds hook without a plant hanging from it and moved it over to the side of the house and placed it between the berries and the tomatoes. Voila! Doesn’t it look terrific? Now I think it would take an awfully brave deer to go near this thing. Our garden hanger looks like it could beam Scotty up or at least make noise and get tangled in your antlers! So far the remainder of the berries have been left alone since putting this up and only the farthest tomato plant from this contraption has been nibbled on. Nathan and Kaitlyn did an awesome job, as well as Tristan, and they were all quite proud of their work.
This particular zucchini flower is from a plant that sprang up this spring on the side of the house from nowhere. Rick threw it in the trash. I retrieved it (of course) and shoved it back into the ground where it stayed alive at least. Then when we planted our zucchini garden elsewhere I dug this plant back out from where I’d plopped it and placed it in the center of the garden in the midst of the seeds. It languished for a few days and just when I thought it was about time to give up on it, it took off and looks like it could help tell the story of Jack and the Bean Stalk. This thing has a trunk, it is so big and strong. Its leaves are ENORMOUS! What a will to live! On the right is Samantha’s and Cindi’s garden. After my spring bulbs were done blooming the spot didn’t look too good underneath the Lilac and so I fixed it up in their honor. It’s a beautiful little spot now with many rocks collected from Samantha’s birth place over many years. I took the rocks out of their scattered state in my usual flower garden figuring those plants usually bush out so I can’t appreciate the rocks anyway. The rocks make a nice border which this garden needed. And Kaitlyn has somewhere special to sit and ponder in solitude when she wants to think of two of her earliest friends. Tears still come to her eyes; she remembers, loves and misses them. We all do.
This is the best blackberry year we’ve had yet. The bush is laden with fruit which I hope to keep.
Butterfly bush flowers are beautiful and popular for many types of butterflies through the summer months. This honeysuckle vine randomly grew along our fence near the side of the house this year, I can only guess as the result of some animal. I don’t like pulling things until I know for sure what they are and often I’m pretty happy to have an addition made like this to my yard… that’s how I got Phlox!!! The only thing is I have to be careful to keep this honeysuckle away from the house. It keeps wanting to grow into my siding. I keep guiding it back to its fence.
Cucumbers I grew from seed will grow upright when I put them into a tomato cage as they grow. That technique saves space and works wonderfully I discovered a five years ago. My pink lemonade honeysuckle which I purposefully planted grows over an arbor at the back gate and hosts happy hour to several hummingbirds. It creates a “secret garden” feel to the entrance of the back yard.
This is a favorite stone of mine given to me from my Mom 11 years ago. I get it out every spring and put it in the garden near the peonies or the honeysuckle arbor. I love the shade of pink on these new lilies. And this cute little horse barn is hopefully an attraction for the fairies that may be out in the yard needing a home. It was sort of big for sitting on a shared dresser top and outdoors it is appreciated by everybody. Out in the yard at dusk, when the fireflies come out and it looks as though Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother could cast a magic spell at any moment, imaginations are captured and you can be practically sure that this barn and horse in the garden are home to a garden fairy or two. Maybe the fairies help the gardens of this busy Mom to grow. Who knows?
And that’s how my garden grows!
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