Strawberries, Roses, Daisies, and More

  These strawberries were one of my adventures this summer. I rode my power wheelchair over to a local greenhouse. Yes, I know it doesn't sound like an adventure but I had to cross about 3 blocks of very scary and uneven construction area to get there. Several times I had to rely on my husband to keep the wheelchair (and me) from tipping over.

I'm sure that sounds foolhardy to many of you but when you consider that I'm cooped up in a tiny house all winter you can see why I'm so determined.

This time I was well rewarded because what you see in that window box is just 2 plants that I got for half price that just happened to be surrounded by many runners and daughter plants. At last count it appears that I will get a full dozen plants out of this.

 I like this photo because it shows the roses, iris, daisies and wild geraniums all together.

My favorite thing about this photo is that the lattice you see at the bottom is the TOP of a five foot fence which gives you a hint on just how tall part of these rosebushes are.

These are just a couple of close ups of the container garden. I'm really loving having the herbs and the flowers together.

This is just beans and marigolds. I like the idea that when the veggies are gone there will be lots of flowers to fill the planter and make the garden pretty for entertaining.

The daisies are spreading slowly but seem to be overtaken by the creeping charlie. I'd do something about it but can't reach it from my wheelchair so it's on it's own.

I did get help one day moving some of them over to the edge of my driveway so I can tend to them. I'm hoping to have better luck there.

We built this path ourselves, it's the lifeline that gets me from the house to the garden, the driveway and the rest of the world. It's just gravel but I sometimes make it magical by adding agates, bits of rounded and iridescent glass and other bits that reflect the light and make it more interesting.

The Container Garden

As always I use the wagon for smaller plants so tht I can move it into the sun or shade as needed.

The smaller, round pots on the ground are 2 different types of sunflowers that will give me a bit of height and privacy at the end of the garden.

Iris in All Colors

I thought a drawing would be good for me because i need to rely on drawing the details instead if just blocking in color when I use plain ink.

These few remaining Iris were part of a trade with one of my neighbors when I moved here 17 years ago.

There are a lot more of these Iris which were a gift from my brother.

There is only one of these so I will be trying to add new Iris next year to start to build a nice collection of them.

There are only 2 yellow Iris plants so I'm always anxious for these to bloom each season because they make such nice bouquets with the rest of the flowers blooming at the same time.

In this last photo there is a photo at the top and a drawing in markers on the bottom.

Miniature Tomato Plants in the Living Room

Miniature Tomato Plants

At the top of the page is a photo of the miniature tomato plants I grew last year. I'm very excited to say that the seeds that I saved were viable and I am growing 3 new plants from the seed.

This year I'm growing them in an indoor hydroponic system and it does seem to have made a difference.

The biggest change is that these have lots more buds and blossoms on them than last years did.

I'm very pleased with the results so far. I'll keep you posted of the progress on the way to harvest.

Sunday June 23, 2019
I noticed the first tomato on one of the plants and was quite excited about that. I can't wait to see how well these bear compared to last years.

I don't remember what dates I shot the rest of these photos on but they follow the plants progress.

Because of the extra weight of the fruit I began pruning a lot of the leaves to lighten the load and distribute the weight better.

By the time the tomato plants got to this point they kept tipping over so I planted them in regular flower pots where I could add as much support as they needed.

Front Garden Photos

The wild geraniums have just started blooming.

So far I just have yellow and purple but am looking for at least one new color to add this year. They really brighten things up and fill in places until I find things that I like better.

Here are a few other views around the front yard where of course the hosta seems determined to take over the world no matter how much of it I give away every year.

Oh well, I love it and it was free so I just keep moving it.

What can I say? It's a shaggy mess but it's home.