For the first time in a few years, I decided to get in the spirit of Spring and start a garden. The backyard has been neglected for far too long and I have a hankering to dig in the dirt! Two weeks ago, I started some seeds in preparation for a vegetable garden that will eventually fill a space off the back patio and a flower garden by the front door. So far, its been a soothing and joyful experience to watch my garden take its first breaths. It reminds of a Chinese proverb that hasn’t lost its truth despite several thousand years:
He who plants a garden plants happiness.
With it being so warm lately, it didn’t take long for my seedlings to poke through the surface and show off their little green leaves. I call them my “babies” and I’m so excited to watch them grow each day. And they are growing fast! Maybe its because I talk to them and put them under the wind chimes, (they say plants grow best with “music” and conversation!). Of course, it’s far more likely the beautiful weather in Arizona this time of year is the real reason. The sun is out all day and it’s a perfect 80 degrees.
I’ll be posting pictures as my little garden grows!
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My sunflower babies reach for the sun while a little “rabbit” watches. He better not nibble on these little guys!
Sunflower Seedlings
Little beans, cucumbers, chives, and zucchini, greet my little “squirrel.” There will be trouble if he eats anything but that acorn!
Vegetable Seedlings
To give my seedlings a little encouragement, I potted some flower plants and arranged them around the trays. There’s nothing like a little color liven the place up! Hibiscus and pansies are the perfect babysitters.
Red Hibiscus
Pansies are such a happy flower!
These little miracles are such wonderful reminders joy and optimism. When a new plant pushes its way towards the sun, I can help but smile and be thankful for the wonder that is life.
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c.b. 2012
C.B. Wentworth 
wow, that’s a lovely small garden 😉
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Thanks! It’s getting bigger every day. I went out there this morning and couldn’t believe how much its grown since yesterday! 🙂
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My flower garden is growing very well, too! Loved your pictures, especially of your little seedlings. They’re soo cute!
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I hope you’ll post pictures of your garden! 🙂 Its always fun to see what everyone is growing.
They are so cute! I forgot how much fun it is to see those little leaves pop out of the ground. Can’t wait for the beans to start vining. 🙂
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Nice garden you have started 🙂 I miss having a garden. I wanted to do one this year, but my work schedule didn’t permit it. I have thought about a belated trip to Home Depot to see what might be left over in pots, maybe a tomato plant, or a tiny rosemary bush. Hopefully we’ll have a nice long spring before you’ll have to cover your babies with shade cloth to keep them alive. I love flowers, too. Got a free seed packet of poppies from our FFA group at school, but keep forgetting to bring them home and spread them around the place. Maybe next year. Good luck with your little ones! I hope they produce well.
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We put it off for a few years because of travel plans, (it’s tough to water the lawn from Europe!). And boy did the yard go downhill! I couldn’t believe we let it get so bad. It feels great to get the place cleaned up and full of green.
Today I went out there and cleaned up the front section of the yard. Cut down the weed “trees” and raked up the pine needles. My husband is going to till the ground tomorrow to make way for our wildflower garden. 🙂
Be careful with rosemary – that stuff will take over! We have one and its still alive even after being neglected. I had to cut a huge chunk of it back today because it swallowed several pots and a plant box!
We already have a plan to keep them safe in the summer. Harbor Freight has great sun tarps that latch to poles. 🙂
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It does seem like herbs have a way of taking over a garden. Especially if they’re left alone for a while! Haven’t made it to Home Depot yet. Maybe this Friday, which will be a “mental health” day for me… nothing like a little green stuff to make me feel more sane 🙂
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Just remember to watch out for ninja frost attacks.
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Ninja frost steers clear of these parts! April is pretty much the beginning of summer in Arizona. I expect triple digits within two weeks. 🙂 Ninja sunburn is my big worry!
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you’re kidding! I still have to defrost my car some mornings! meh, It’s a good thing I prefer rain to sun, you sort of have to in England.
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I prefer rain to sun any day! I was in England las summer for an extended stay and I just loved the gray skies and pouring rain. I grew up in a place where there were more gray skies than blue and I still prefer it that way. One day I’ll get back to a place like that!
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This is going to be fun! Lookin’ good so far!
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Thanks! 🙂 I hope we can keep them going. We’re a little late in the season, but I’m determined to keep them alive!
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I’ve always loved the cheerful faces of pansies and your Hibiscus is beautiful! I used to play in the garden, but now I get such rashes on my hands from working in the dirt and wearing gloves doesn’t help. When I turned 41, it seemed like I suddenly became allergic to everything – dust, pollen, mould, grass (although I always suspected the grass allergy because even as a kid it would make me itchy when I’d sit on it in shorts). Also, the scent of strong-smelling flowers, like hyasinths or lilacs, now gives me an asthma attack. 😦
I also realized, I did not inherit the green thumb that my mother and grandmothers had. Only desert-dwelling plants survive around here! Good luck with your garden! 🙂
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My allergies go haywire when I dig in the dirt, so I can only do it for short periods of time. This morning, I made it a whole hour! LOL! However, I can be outside to water and prune for as long as I want, as long as I don’t have strong-scented flowers. Like you, they really bother me.
I have an okay green thumb, but my husband and I make a great garden team. Whenever we decide to have one its always beautiful. 🙂
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Your little seedlings look great. Love the flowers, too. (I’m partial to pansies and hibiscus.) I hope you post some pics of the harvest later this summer. = )
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As soon as the first bean pod sprouts, I’ll be posting pics like a proud parent. 🙂
Pansies are among my favorite – they bring back so many wonderful memories of my grandma. She always had them on her porch.
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What wonderful little plants and I love the “guardians.” The flowers are beautiful.
I’m enjoying all my little “babies” too. Although some of our garden has a group of teens parading around.
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I think my zucchini babies are racing towards adolescence – they are getting so big they are blocking the sun from the onions!
I can’t wait to see how your garden does this year. Last year was an incredible success and I have no doubt you’ll see just as much green!
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So pretty! Pansies are my favorite flower. So joyfully resilient.
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They look like they have little smiling faces, which gives them so much personality. I still have a few pots to fill, so I’m going to see if I can find some purple ones. 🙂
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Can’t wait to see the sunflowers!!
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I can’t wait, either! 🙂 They are so bright and beautiful!!
We are planning to put in an entire row of them along the side fence. That should really brighten up the yard!
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Very nice. We can’t plant until May 20th approx or the frost will get us up here. I live in BC. We still have a chill in the air the but sky is blue. 🙂
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I love a blue sky with a little chill in the air – that’s the kind of spring I grew up with! Desert springs just aren’t the same. Instead of frost, we’re trying to beat the heat!
Thanks so much for stopping by! 🙂
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Nice garden!!
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Thank you! We added more starters today and the babies in these pictures have already doubled in size! I can’t believe how fast they are growing! 🙂
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Very nice! My husband is the gardener, and I think that’s the part he misses the most from the house. He’s thought about getting a little lot in one of those community gardens … we’ll see.
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Someone just started a community garden here, too. I think its such a great idea! In part, the story on the news inspired us to start our garden again. There’s nothing quite like freshly picked vegetables right out of the backyard!
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Welcome to the madness that is gardening! I was ready to put my tomato plants out, but now we are having night-time frost, (Could it be cold in the winter months? Of course not, it has to wait until April!) so the seedling tray goes back and forth from the front steps to the foyer for nighttime protection. I hope you have a wonderful harvest and beautiful flowers – I’m looking forward to the pictures.
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I’ve never been able to get tomatoes to take! I hope you post pics of your crop! 🙂 Good luck with your garden – may we both have a bountiful harvest!
It’s already getting so hot, we’re having to move plants out of the sun so they don’t get burned. If it isn’t one thing, its something else!
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there’s something magical about planting a tiny seed in the ground and watching it grow and grow. And then produce beauty for the eye and soul or food for the body.
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I put more seeds in today, along the side fence. All sunflowers and black-eye susans. I can’t wait for them to sprout.
You’re so right – its magical. For the first time in a long time our yard is something more than a space outside the back door. Its a place of life and miracles. 🙂
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sunflowers and black eye susans are two of my all time favourite flowers. You’ll love that spot this summer.
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“Hankering” I thought I was the only one who said that. 🙂 Not quite a British say’n, but it does lend itself quite well to lovely Arizona. Love your garden!
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I knew someone was going to say something about that word! It’s one of my favorite and I use it all the time. 🙂
The garden is bigger! The babies have grown larger and there is now a second row of starters – herbs, this time!
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