7 happenings in an early Spring garden

Easter has come and gone AND April is in full stride AND our Spring garden is exploding around us.  Today I will share the 7 main things that are happening in our Spring garden this year so far.  

Keep in mind that as I am writing this there are more things happening and our list keeps getting longer and longer for all our garden to-do lists.  That’s the beauty of nature, ever changing, ever amazing, and ever surprising.  I will start with the backyard.

§ONE – Trailing yellow flower vine 

The vine around the arbor leading into the vegetable garden is grinning from ear to ear.  It’s a small and tight yellow rose bud and it’s a beautiful sight right now, which welcomes you into the vegetable garden.  It blooms every year around this time and this year it’s the fullest it has ever been in my recollection.  This will hopefully hold it’s blooms into the summertime.  The only maintenance this rose vine requires is a good fertilization in the winter time and a good pruning in mid to late summer when it has spent all it’s blooming life span for the season.  That is pretty low maintenance for this beautiful spring show.

§TWO – Vegetable Garden

Our biggest gardening accomplishment so far for the Spring has been planting our vegetable garden for the season.  The window to plant the veggie garden in our region runs from late March to early May depending on the climate any particular given year.  This year we hit the beginning of the planting window so we are feeling very accomplished!  We planted a variety of tomatoes, peppers, lettuces and herbs.  I have a future post planned with much more detailed information on the vegetable garden.

§THREE – Wisteria Vine

Although the blooming window for our Wisteria vine in the backyard is extremely short-lived I do enjoy it while the show is here.  We planted this vine over a decade ago and I was hoping by now it would have established itself more across the back fence and the color would have intensified.  I have research to do in this area on my to-do list to see if we can help it along for future seasons.  

§FOUR – Front Walkway

Our front yard is the newest project we started a little over a year ago.  We laid down the slate walkway which you can read all about here{as 2020 unraveled} and all the plantings are now established.  The walkway is flanked with Snow in Summer which is starting to bloom for the season and has filled in nicely.  At the top, at street level, the walkway is flanked by Alyssum.  Also we never sealed the gravel between the slate last year and the Winter rains has caused some displacement so we will have to back fill it and seal it this season as well.  I am so happy how the plantings have settled in and I am all about the white and gray color palette.  Where the two walkways cross we planted Snow Drops at each corner.  This is the second year they have bloomed and this year they were more than double the size than last year. {The picture below is from about a month ago so the Snow in Summer hadn’t started blooming yet.}

§FIVE – Front Sitting Area

We created a sitting area in our front yard design which we shared here{front yard sitting area} and the plantings have filled in nicely.  We used Dusty Miller and Artemisia to border the sitting area and it is full and lush in just one year’s time.  This is one of our favorite spots now and this is where you will find us in the late afternoon, enjoying a cocktail before dinner.  We live at the end of a court so it’s super tranquil and we have the Las Trampas ridge in the background which sets the mood.  We have some more fun plans for this area this season and will share in another post soon.

§SIX – Cutting Garden Design Plans

The only area I have not brought myself to tackle in the front yard remodel yet is the top area by the street where I would like to plant a cutting garden of sorts.  I have ideas but I am petrified I will select flowers that might not do well or might not look good.  I am in the process of drawing it out on paper so Mr. M can help me then mark the area and start adding some hardscape and eventually plantings.  We have styled the front yard with a very orderly design with a tight color palette so I want that to continue throughout the cutting garden area.  It’s the area closest to the street so we want it to continue the neat & orderly design with curb appeal.   I will be sharing the process here so stayed tuned.

§SEVEN – Front Yard Flower | Plant List

Along with the design plan for the cutting area we also need additional plantings not only for the cutting garden area but also for in front of the fence which you can read all about here{the hogwire fence project} and also in other areas of the front yard.  Last year we added Blue Fescue grass on the edges of both driveways and Dichondra Blue Falls cascading over the retaining wall.  I am keeping the silver and gray tones and I want the majority of the flowers to be in the white family.  I also want to add some light violets to bridge between the grays and the whites.  I hope I can pull off the look I am striving towards.  Here is some inspiration I shared last year; I love the mix of white flowers with silver foliage.

I love this time of year with new blooms and life sprouting all around us.  I can’t wait to start harvesting from our veggie garden.  We have had some sort of an edible garden for around two decades now and I love cooking with our home grown veggies and herbs.  I hope I can create the same type of enjoyment from a cutting garden, which I can harvest to decorate our home.

“In every gardener, there is a child who believes in the seed fairy.”

~Robert Brandt~