In the Garden || April Showers Bring May Flowers

{ flowering chives }

I've dug up some of the grass and made a small shade bed along part of the fence to accommodate my little collection of plants I shared with you during my last In the Garden post. I've come home with just a few more plants that were too pretty to leave behind and now I'm really happy with the shape it's in! It's just outside the window that my desk looks on and it makes me smile every morning when I sit down to work. 

Here are a few of the new additions that just had to come home with me. 

{ Primula : Gold Lace }

{ Saxifraga : Triumph } 

I've been so consumed with growing food I had no idea there were so many beautiful flowers that grow in the shade. I'm really adoring the Primula, the different varieties are so varied!

I've also tidied up the herb planters and purchased a few new plants to fill in the gaps where annuals had been growing. I can't believe how lively they've become since just a few weeks ago when I posted this picture. 

Top planter: dill, Italian parsley, curly leaf parsley, peppermint, tarragon, cilantro

Bottom planter: English thyme, spearmint, sage, alpine strawberry, chives, oregano 

I've also purchased one more planter and have dedicated it to sowing seeds. I've sown a selection of my faves from our veggie garden, we'll see how well they like it atop the fence where the sun shines longer. So far the herbs are incredibly happy up there so I'm hopeful.

 { Spinach : Corvair }

I am having a problem with aphids on some of the herbs and strawberries. I've sprayed with a solution of dish soap and water which has been effective. I've also noticed ladybugs move in which should help control their numbers as well. 

{ Fig Cutting -- Summer 2013 }

...and let's not forget this guy. The little fig tree I'd rooted from a cutting taken from the old house. The one I so lovingly cared for over winter that surprised me last spring by coming to life. Well I decided to give him a permanent home and planted him in the ground in a sunny spot where he could thrive. He immediately responded and just days after the transplant two new leaves had shot out of the dormant stems. Then a few days later the lawn guy mowed over him, cut him right to the ground, and I nearly cried real tears. I decided to pull him up and put him back in his pot where I knew he would be safe. After weeks of checking on him daily I am SO happy to report that just today I discovered new signs of life, if you look closely you can see new green leaves forming at each node... 

This little guy has nine lives indeed.

I hope all of you lovely gardening friends are having fun in the soil like me!