Garden Creativity

Vegetable gardens do not need to stay just in the garden.  This year I have decided to plant bush beans as a hedge along a dirt bed I have in the front yard. They will grow to be about 12 inches high which is perfect for a hedge.  No one would notice from afar that they are beans unless they are a gardener themselves and to be honest my husband didnt even know.  I also have 3 ghost pumpkin plants, many echinacea and some sage that have made homes here.  I really am loving the mix of the flowers and edible plants. 

Sorry for the goofy angled picture but I wanted to get everything in the picture.  I used some large rocks I found to edge this garden bed.  In the front I have some small bok choy mixed in between my poppy plants. In the back I have my strawberry plants which stay green pretty much all year.  They are done for the year so I decided to throw some patti pans and a random bush bean I found.  As you can see I don't like wasted space. My husband is starting to like the mix of flowers and produce.  This gives me the green light to plant anywhere I want. Well he didn't say that but its a given right? lol.

This plant box was given to me by my neighbor so it was completely free. Sweet! I planted daffodil's and tulips which are beautiful during the spring time but that's it. The rest of the year it sits empty.  So this year I planted annuals on the top which will be beautiful till fall.  I usually don't plant any annuals because you have to replant them each year which is a waste to me. I also don't plant flowers in my garden but this year I decided to mix the two.  Boy am I glad I did. Just beautiful!

I planted some (what I thought were) bush beans which turned out to be runners.  Crap! Last year I kept some sticks from dead plants thinking I would do something one day.  Finally I can put them to use. I simply stuck them in the ground by the plant and wrapped the beans around them.  Now I'm happy I made a mistake because just look how beautiful and cool they turned out.  This area is all annuals except for my snowball bush which will be moved on the other side of the fence next year.  I plan on changing things in this area each year.  One side has raspberries which will thicken next year and the other side is for non permanent things such as sunflowers and random flowers I decide to plant. 

Speaking of raspberries....look how many it produced this year. Yep, you see 2 of the 3 they grew.  Whahoo! NOT! Next year I should get way more....

Anytime I have things I have to pull I immediately plant some starts of something different.  What you see are potatoes I planted because they started to grow in my pantry, bok choy starts, rainbow chard, bell peppers, cauliflower and bush beans.  Things are mixed up and frankly I like that.  The point of this is to show you that you need to take advantage of every space you have.  Something goes out then put something back in.  The growing season is not long so grow as much as you can. 

Last but not least look at this cauliflower.  I just love crazy colored produce because it gets my kids to want to try new stuff.  I'm in love.