Marie Niemann is showing us her courtyard garden fitted with raised garden beds she and her husband built. Each year, she plants a garden and this year, it’s all from seed. Here she tells her easy secrets.
“I’m having coffee on a cool Sunday morning with my honey on the upper deck overlooking the Happy Gardens! I haven’t been able to do as much this year, but hey, this will do for sure! The Sunflower’s are as tall as my old bell.”
“There’s lots of ‘maters, peppers, squash and a salad and root garden. I start them in a cold frame, early in March, Marie tells us. They’re thriving really well, all but the peppers, so I may have to cut down a few of these tall sunflowers that are giving them too much shade. These sunflowers are all volunteers on each end of the gardens with veggies in the centers.”
Here’s a pretty mix of self seeders coming up again to join the carrots, allysum, violas, nasturtiums and sunflowers!
The tomatoes seem to be doing really well this year. I think they’ll all come on at once! I’m growing a few new varieties of Heirlooms this year.
My First Happy Alien volunteer in bloom! I didn’t plant any this year, no need. I had to pull up hundreds! That hurt! But left some on the ends of the raised gardens to enjoy.
I’ll call this one Survivor! The wind blew the plant over and busted it in half. Because it had a bud on it ready to open I let it be. Well it opened and look how pretty, a really sweet one, can’t help but smile!
Named because of their “Out of this world” appearance, Alien SunFlowers are bred by cross pollinating selected varieties of sunflowers.
When my 4 year old granddaughter went outside she was in awe and squealed WOW! I can imagine a little person looking up at them. Impressive to me too! I had to thin them down yesterday, so took a bouquet in an old Mason jar to my neighbor. All from seed except for the Red White and Blue chair.
The red white and blue on Marie’s chair is filling in the only exception here and planted from seedlings. . Marie says, “I had to cut down some sunflowers today, too much shade.
Marie says, “Isn’t this pretty? I could see them from the street they are so tall. If you can believe it, that’s ONE plant! It’s very unusual to have such large heads grouped together.
Many don’t know that petunias will sometimes over winter so don’t pull ’em, just trim them.
Notice above the rusty mailbox and the metal mail crate, used as a bike basket planted with lobelia. The dogs give it ‘paws Up!’
I love my old bell too… Hubby hooked up that rope so it can be rung from the upper deck. Kewl beans!”
Marie had forgotten the name of these unless friends reminded her that they are Coreopsis. She laughs, “I remember planting yellow and gold something that could grow in partial shade. Nothing else grows back there, not veggies anyway! I love anything that comes back!”
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Wow ... those sunflowers are impressive! They always make ya' smile, don't they! Beautiful gardens, Marie ... thanks for sharing ...your raised garden beds & brick paths are a dream!
*sigh*
Just enjoyed so much the virtual tour.
Thanks for the list!