Gardeners! Share your garden photos and garden chatter here.

[SquarePeg]

Now that my daughter is grown, I finally have time for more than just a few foundation plantings and flower boxes. I’ve stated a pollinator garden and am slowly converting our front and back yard lawns into native plant garden beds. Would love to see everyone’s gardens, flowers, plants and the wildlife it attracts.

 

[SquarePeg]

Here are some poppies that I started from seed and some zinnias that I bought at the garden center. I liked them so much I started a zinnia bed from seed as well. That’s still a work in progress!!


Signs of Summer by SharonCat..., on Flickr

Signs of Summer by SharonCat..., on Flickr

Signs of Summer by SharonCat..., on Flickr

 

[SquarePeg]

Had a visitor to the hummingbird feeder tonight!! First one that I have caught feeding. Birds are not my area of expertise and he was faaaaaast!! Did my best and used topaz sharpen to help these along.

Signs of Summer by SharonCat..., on Flickr

Signs of Summer by SharonCat..., on Flickr

Signs of Summer by SharonCat..., on Flickr

 

[SquarePeg]

Yesterday’s garden visitor. I believe this is a silver spotted skipper.

Signs of Summer by SharonCat..., on Flickr

Signs of Summer by SharonCat..., on Flickr

 

[SquarePeg]

No one else has the gardening bug?

 

[terri]

Oh, I do! I'm between gardens at the moment, but I can post some older stuff. I love gardening!

Your hummer visitor is a female ruby throat - they're super common in Eastern/central US. Amazing birds!

I love your purple coneflowers - it's one of my favorites. It has a great reputation for being friendly to pollinators - I want to plant some!!

 

[terri]

Some stuff from my older gardens, As my back pain got the better of me I used pots more and more. My former yards were enormous!

My butterfly bush in full bloom last year. In front of them are my black eyed Susans, which the local goldfinches would feast on in the fall. The butterfly bush brought out all kinds of pollinators in addition to butterflies - honeybees, bumblebees and hummingbirds loved that thing!

I had lots of butterflies and they were sweet. No idea who this little guy was! I'm better at birds than butterflies.

Last year's tomatoes. I gave up on planting them out in the garden since the birds were destroying them, the little monsters. These are a couple different varieties - one cherry size, the other larger (but the name escapes me atm).

And a bunch like this - flowers and a cat! That's a basil in the pot upper right - lots of potted herbs.

I'd love to find shots of my old sunflower garden - don't seem to have any on this computer though.

 

[SquarePeg]

@terri wow that butterfly bush is enormous!! They wildlife must love it. My butterfly garden is pretty sparse right now. I’m hoping next year to see some major growth.

Thanks for the heads up re the sex of the hummingbird. We’ve now changed its name from Marvin to Marla. I’m enjoying the ease of growing in containers also. Right now I have red dahlias in a container and another huge patio pot of with zinnias that are just seedlings. I bought two cheap tomato plants on impulse and then realized I had to get 5 gal pots, tomato cages and bags of raised bed soil. Not so cheap after all that 😊.

The cone flowers are scarce around here so far this year in the garden centers. I found two small plants and scooped them up.

 

[terri]

Thanks for the heads up re the sex of the hummingbird. We’ve now changed its name from Marvin to Marla.

Once you've spotted a male ruby-throat, you'll always be able to tell them apart. Those males have full black heads and that iridescent badge of red at the throat. Always amazing when they face the sun and it blazes up - watch for it!

 

[terri]

Oh, and your tomatoes will start feeling cheap again once they are producing, and all you have to do is step out and grab a few. I love going for weeks and weeks not having to buy herbs and tomatoes every summer! They usually pay for themslves - and next year, you won't have to lay out additional cash for the cages and pots.

 

[Ysarex]

No one else has the gardening bug?

Gardening is my life.

We had a rainy morning today and I got out with the camera for the first time in awhile. These are from the flower garden which is garden #1. Then there's the vegetable garden -- #2. Then there's the two mini orchards -- #3 and #4.

 

[Ysarex]

Here's an old (2018) snapshot of garden #1 that the above flowers came from:

Garden #1 is a vacant lot owned by my neighbor a couple doors down. She bought it to stop a business across the street from turning it into a parking lot. For years she just kept it mowed (works full-time). A little over a decade ago she and my wife were out yacking and she said too bad I have to work -- this would make a nice garden or community garden or something. I got volunteered.

The vegetable garden #2 is our backyard.

Here's a snapshot of garden #3:

I take a photo every time I finish mowing (had a little trouble with the city once so need the document). St. Louis has a lot of vacant property and a program where you can rent a vacant lot for $5.00 and garden. We tried that picking a lot that we thought no one would ever buy and planted fruit trees. Unfortunately after we had fruit bearing trees for two years someone bought it.

So we decided to start over and this time purchase the lots. This is the small lot and has 13 trees (peaches, plums). This is their first year so not much to see but lots of work. The other lot #4 is twice as big and has 25 trees but I don't have a photo of that one. The trees there are also in their first year.

I said I live to garden -- what I should have said is I live to mow. Off to mow garden #1 as soon as it dries out from this mornings rain.

 

[SquarePeg]

Here's an old (2018) snapshot of garden #1 that the above flowers came from:

View attachment 258106

Garden #1 is a vacant lot owned by my neighbor a couple doors down. She bought it to stop a business across the street from turning it into a parking lot. For years she just kept it mowed (works full-time). A little over a decade ago she and my wife were out yacking and she said too bad I have to work -- this would make a nice garden or community garden or something. I got volunteered.

The vegetable garden #2 is our backyard.

Here's a snapshot of garden #3:

View attachment 258107

I take a photo every time I finish mowing (had a little trouble with the city once so need the document). St. Louis has a lot of vacant property and a program where you can rent a vacant lot for $5.00 and garden. We tried that picking a lot that we thought no one would ever buy and planted fruit trees. Unfortunately after we had fruit bearing trees for two years someone bought it.

So we decided to start over and this time purchase the lots. This is the small lot and has 13 trees (peaches, plums). This is their first year so not much to see but lots of work. The other lot #4 is twice as big and has 25 trees but I don't have a photo of that one. The trees there are also in their first year.

I said I live to garden -- what I should have said is I live to mow. Off to mow garden #1 as soon as it dries out from this mornings rain.

Beautiful gardens!!! That’s great that you can have a fruit orchard lot in such a big city! Our town had two empty lots that were donated to the city to be used as green space. They’re now community garden spots but there is a long waiting list which I’m not even on. Most people are using them to grow veggies which isn’t really it cup of tea. I like to sit in the garden in the early morning before work and enjoy the flowers and birds which I couldn’t do at a community plot.

 

[SquarePeg]

Today’s garden visitor…my first monarch! Lived here 21 years and never had anything other than the occasional little cabbage white butterfly flitting around.

 

[Ysarex]

Beautiful gardens!!! That’s great that you can have a fruit orchard lot in such a big city! Our town had two empty lots that were donated to the city to be used as green space. They’re now community garden spots but there is a long waiting list which I’m not even on. Most people are using them to grow veggies which isn’t really it cup of tea. I like to sit in the garden in the early morning before work and enjoy the flowers and birds which I couldn’t do at a community plot.

St Louis is a classic donut city with pushing 3 million people in the metro area and 300,000 inside the city boundary. 100 years ago St. Louis city's population was 700,000 with sufficient housing stock to support that. Needless to say we have a surplus of vacant lots now. We were able to find the two lots we have planted (38 trees total) both less than 7 miles from our home and about 3 miles apart -- poorer but stable neighborhoods. The neighbors at both sites are very happy to have us and are helping out with the project. One neighbor near the larger lot had a bee hive in her backyard as was looking to find a place to start another hive so now I've got a bee hive in with the trees.