Apartment Therapy: The Kitchn Garden

Our garden is featured on AT: The Kitchn today.

Peony!

The peonies opened yesterday! I am glad they waited until after the rain.

New Plants!

We got a Home Depot gift certificate as a reward from the bank and we had coupons (one for buy one get one free shrubs, another for $5 off) so we picked up some plants yesterday. Unfortunately, we couldn't find 2 shrubs we liked (we were hoping to buy one $25 shrub with our gift certificate and then get a free one and pay nothing out of pocket) so we ended up getting another hydrangea for the backyard and some Spanish lavender. I don't like the fussy smell of English or French lavender, but I found this one to be pleasant and I think it will attract bees and butterflies.

Our pretty butterfly bush that was in front of our house was uprooted last week during one of the storms and is dying so I think we will put the lavender there, even thought it isn't going to get as big as the butterfly bush would have. We do have a spirea and a hydrangea out there now, and a few other plants (Mexican roses, I think? Maybe not.) that are doing well. It is a small space and I don't think we actually need another large plant there. The hydrangea will probably go in the backyard somewhere. It is already quite large and blooming so that's fun. It's called blushing bride and has white flowers with light pink streaks. It's also one of the "endless summer" varieties so it should have a long bloom time since it blooms on both old and new growth.

One cool plant I saw and liked but didn't get was a Pink Lemonade honeysuckle. It was really pretty but it needs a trellis or something to grow on and we just got rid off all those grapes and climbing vines and are in the process of getting rid of the shed, so I am not sure where we would put a trellis. Plus we'd have to buy a trellis and we've already spent way more than I wanted to on plants this year. So, we ended up getting a new hydrangea, the lavender, fill dirt and a tomato cage for only about $7 using the coupon and our gift certificate. Not bad! I'll post pictures once they are in the ground.

Just in bloom: Blackberries!

blackberry bush


I am excited for the harvest this year.

Rain!

Well, I should have gotten right on the rain barrel purchase because it has done nothing but rain. I worry that my tomato plants are drowning! One of them already has some yellow leaves from overwatering and I haven't had to water them once.

The blackberry bush is flowering, but a lot of the flowers are falling off because of the weight of the rain. I am so looking forward to some more seasonable weather soon!

Roll out the barrel

I really want to get a rain barrel this year. Our water bills are crazy high (so high I think they are a mistake as we rarely do laundry, shower together, have only water saving fixtures and are only 2 people) so anything to help is a good thing. Anyone have good luck making their own? Have a good source for buying one? The ones I see online are on the pricy side.