When you’re planting a garden, how can you tell when you’ve got it right? The obvious sign is that the plants don’t die. But what about achieving a higher purpose?
The other morning I was overjoyed to see both a butterfly and a bee hovering at “Hot Lips”, one of my new flowering native sage plants.
This has been a summer of transition for our garden. We did the first stage of a landscaping plan. (Greg 80%, Marian 20%) It was a very rainy, cold and cloudy spring well into June and it didn’t dry out long enough to get a job done. Then it got too hot. It seemed to take a very long time to accomplish a few things. Looking back, it was 3 months and we did a lot, but it happened in small increments with many days between tasks.
Step 1: Moving Mountains
We moved our two very large raised beds from the back yard to the front to get more sun. After a late start planting, I am now harvesting string beans, chard, beets, cherry tomatoes and Persian cucumbers. The peppers are looking good and we’ll see if the eggplants make it to maturity.
Step 2: But the Rose Came Back the Very Next Day
We removed all the boring old hedges and sickly roses along the front of the house. We replaced them with drought tolerant plants: a variety of sages which ought to flower at different times of the year and artichokes which are green and leafy all year. But one stubborn rose bush came right back! Rather than fight it, I am allowing it to try again. This time I am providing it with companion plants - plants that grow right around it that will help it stay healthy. I put in chives. The strong onion scent is supposed to confuse predators that are attracted to the sweet scent of the rose. I am now adding chopped chives to everything we eat!
Step 3: Salad and Herbs
I planted several pineapple sages and Spanish lavenders near the “bath house” in the back by the rosemary. We sold the clawfoot tub so it’s not a bath house anymore. It makes a really nice seating and dining area, with its old brick floor and the partial shade.
There are a few stepping stones beside this herbal collection and on the other side there is lettuce and a colorful patch of nasturtiums. It was not intentional, but the area is nicely divided into salad on one side, herbs on the other. The strawberry patch is still there and thriving. I learned to buy a bundle of “uglies” - 25 bare root plants for $9 - and plant them in January.
Step 4 Where the Sidewalk Ends
We had a plumbing disaster in January. The 1946 main sewer line collapsed and the only way to replace the pipe was to jackhammer the concrete walkway that had been built on top of it. We were left with a very expensive bill, no walkway and a jagged edge of broken concrete near our entryway. We also had a huge pile of rubble which my hero Greg hauled away. Until we decide on the rest of the front yard, we are stuck with this jagged cement eyesore just by the front door. We moved some stepping stones from the back to create a new path for now and I planted alyssum which is almost like ground cover and creeps well over the edges where the sidewalk ends.
Step 5: Where the Wild Things Are
There is a very large empty space in the back yard where the raised beds were located. The soil didn't look great to me but during the first heat wave, volunteer tomatoes sprang up at this abandoned spot - from last year’s seeds. I didn’t bother with cages - the vines are sprawling everywhere. I added pumpkins, melons and zucchini to cover the bare spots. It was a late start but everything is growing nicely with very little water. My neighbors already have enormous zucchini. But summer is long. So we'll have melon and squash in October!
All of this was a lot of work. There has been a lot of digging, hauling, moving gravel and piles of cement, delivering and spreading compost and mulch, pruning, planting and watering. We don’t need to join a gym.
One can easily get caught up in the work and the fantastic salads and convenience of getting fresh food 5 feet from one’s doorstep.
But when the bees and butterflies start coming, you know you’ve contributed to the greater cause of nature.
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| Hot Lips - Butterfly and Bee Hangout |
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| Lavender and Salad by the Bath House |
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| Sungold |
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| Jagged Cement |
