It had rained every day for 8 or 9 days in a row which really helped our gardens come up nicely. We decided not to go to the Landis Valley Plant Faire this year since our front gardens were doing so well, and I want to let them fill in some more before I put more plants into it. I like the English Garden concept, groupings of plants that are right up against other plants too. I have a good assortment of different time of the growing season flowering plants so that I'll have some color most of the season. The gardens are on the north side of the house and under trees so it's always a challenge to find shade or part shade plants that can handle the hot afternoon temperatures as well.
The azaleas are in full bloom and some of the earlier blooming Iris are waiting to open. I have buds on most of the Iris plants already, with a few that were added last spring not yet flowering. I decided not to add anymore this year, I want what I have to flower and spread a bit before I think about putting in another one or two. I can always go up to Stoney Creek Iris's farm and get a couple directly. They're fantastic for having different and beautiful varieties.
Here's a view of the entire front yard, we do have room to expand the gardens but I think this year we're going to focus more on growing veggies in the back and filling in. After I took these shots, we got going to downtown Baltimore to the farmer's market.
This farmer's market is held under the highway right where the highway ends into the downtown area. There are food vendors, coffee, homemade doughnuts, crepes, breakfast burritos, plants, herbs, milk (glass bottles!) eggs, pickles and olives, and we love going there. It's open May-December on Sunday mornings and we had a shopping list in mind. First we stopped and got herbs and lettuce plants, I got a nice large assortment of herbs that I enjoy cooking with fresh. I also got 2 salvia plants for the garden, I'm going to put them in between the iris plants for some greenery and color as the Iris's aren't too pretty come the summer after they've bloomed.
Then it was off to the coffee line and to get freshly made mini-doughnuts which are absolutely to die for. I got fresh asparagus and spring onions, yams, and lettuce for tonight and some for the week, and then we went to the fish guys for a nice piece of Wild King Salmon. It was less expensive than Whole Foods (we call it Whole Paycheck!) and I like supporting local farmers and businesses. It's already marinating in the fridge and we're going to grill it outside this afternoon. Now we're getting ready to go to the local plant mart for some tomato and pepper plants, as well as one fuschia phlox to match the one on the other side of the front garden. We'll be planting this afternoon and enjoying the sunshine and warm weather. :)
It had rained every day for 8 or 9 days in a row which really helped our gardens come up nicely. We decided not to go to the Landis Valley Plant Faire this year since our front gardens were doing so well, and I want to let them fill in some more before I put more plants into it. I like the English Garden concept, groupings of plants that are right up against other plants too. I have a good assortment of different time of the growing season flowering plants so that I'll have some color most of the season. The gardens are on the north side of the house and under trees so it's always a challenge to find shade or part shade plants that can handle the hot afternoon temperatures as well.
The azaleas are in full bloom and some of the earlier blooming Iris are waiting to open. I have buds on most of the Iris plants already, with a few that were added last spring not yet flowering. I decided not to add anymore this year, I want what I have to flower and spread a bit before I think about putting in another one or two. I can always go up to Stoney Creek Iris's farm and get a couple directly. They're fantastic for having different and beautiful varieties.
Here's a view of the entire front yard, we do have room to expand the gardens but I think this year we're going to focus more on growing veggies in the back and filling in. After I took these shots, we got going to downtown Baltimore to the farmer's market.
This farmer's market is held under the highway right where the highway ends into the downtown area. There are food vendors, coffee, homemade doughnuts, crepes, breakfast burritos, plants, herbs, milk (glass bottles!) eggs, pickles and olives, and we love going there. It's open May-December on Sunday mornings and we had a shopping list in mind. First we stopped and got herbs and lettuce plants, I got a nice large assortment of herbs that I enjoy cooking with fresh. I also got 2 salvia plants for the garden, I'm going to put them in between the iris plants for some greenery and color as the Iris's aren't too pretty come the summer after they've bloomed.
Then it was off to the coffee line and to get freshly made mini-doughnuts which are absolutely to die for. I got fresh asparagus and spring onions, yams, and lettuce for tonight and some for the week, and then we went to the fish guys for a nice piece of Wild King Salmon. It was less expensive than Whole Foods (we call it Whole Paycheck!) and I like supporting local farmers and businesses. It's already marinating in the fridge and we're going to grill it outside this afternoon. Now we're getting ready to go to the local plant mart for some tomato and pepper plants, as well as one fuschia phlox to match the one on the other side of the front garden. We'll be planting this afternoon and enjoying the sunshine and warm weather. :) 
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