Welcome to my garden! It’s very much still a work in progress but I just have to document how beautiful she is in her first spring! I’ve been working my buns off to get this baby in shape. She’s a bit bare in some spots still but I am still so proud. My garden is off to one heck of a wonderful start. Let me tell you a little about it!

My dad and I built the arbor from reclaimed wood from the kitchen… and that kind of started the whole bed. I wanted to build an arbor for clematis to grow on. I figured after we finished it that’s when I’d decide on placement. My dad, on the other hand, had a different idea. We did a tiny bit of assembly before he wanted to get it placed in the ground which meant picking out a spot for it immediately. After we got that finished, I spent the next week or so digging out the massive circle-shaped bed.

My plan for this bed is all flowering perennials. I’m envisioning it packed to the brim with plants. I want this bed to be something that truly takes time to view. Each angle providing you with a peek at different showstoppers!

We met a woman working at a local garden center that recommended going a different garden center every week for a year and buying whatever was flowering at the time so that you’d never be without flowers. While I haven’t committed to the every week thing, I have definitely been inspired by that idea. I want flowers of all shapes and sizes blooming all the time.

Other than continuing to fill the bed up, my other big plan to place flat stones on the inside grassy area of the circle. I don’t want to have to worry about keeping the grass in there mowed. Right now, I still have a space large enough to sneak the lawnmower in but that probably won’t be for much longer. I’m sourcing the rocks from my parent’s creek which has the major positive of being free but it also means spending the time finding them and hauling them. I’d love to get it done before the end of this growing season but honestly, who knows. There are always five hundred other projects going on…

dianthus, iris

I have plans for many different kinds of beds on my property. Obviously, I’m growing veggies. I have my perennials. I’ve been dreaming of a cut-flower bed for literally years. I also really wanted a memorial garden for my mom. After she passed, we planted a tree for her at my parent’s house. I pictured myself doing the same here with maybe a little bench to sit on, some pretty flowers, etc.

Now that I’ve started this bed though? It doesn’t feel necessary. There’s no one tree that I feel represents my mom to me so buying something random for a memorial bed doesn’t feel special. What is special though is replanting flowers from her garden in mine.

My dad has given me free rein of all her flower beds. For the last month or so I’ve been working on digging up her plants and bringing them home. Things I thought weren’t so exciting or that maybe I wouldn’t really want – like iris – have brought me so much joy as they bloom. I didn’t expect flowers to feel so important but here we are!

lavender, clematis

I’m so excited to see how this bed is looking in another few months. Shoot, I’m excited to see it in another few weeks! It’s been so exciting to watch some of the plants I got in the bed first lose their nursery pot shape and start to spread a bit. This is truly the most satisfying hobby! xoxo