Aching Back (and Butt) Part 2... and Other Fun Stuff

Let's start today's post with this week's Letters of Intent, brought to us by Julie of FourSons blog.









Dear Little Blooms,


You looked so pretty in your little cell packs at the garden centers and now that you are planted lovingly in the ground, please grow!  You went from this...

to this...

My summer garden hopes are in you and I hope that you thrive in that new sunny place Hubby and I have made for you in our front yard.  I promise I will try and take care of you, even though my gardening prowess is slightly on the "black thumb" side of things.  Prove me wrong Little flowers.  I want you to grow big and tall (and fragrant) and prove that I have a green thumb after all!

With greatest anticipation,
Your Caretaker


So... as you can see, I have been a busy little beaver in my front garden and I have the aches and pains to prove it!  Being the first year for this little plot of earth, I wasn't exactly sure how things would grow so I decided to plant some of my favorite flowers this year and see how we go.  I tried as best I could to plant them according to their expected height, but we'll see how that goes as the months go by.

First I planted snapdragons at the back.  The little tag on them said they could grow up to 36" so I thought for sure I'd want them at the back.  Next I planted my favorite fragrant flower, Stock.  Have you ever smelled this?  It has a mild spicy floral scent.  I often find it at a local grocery store's floral shop to put in the guest room when we have overnight guests.  It really is delicious smelling!  Here's a picture of what Stock looks like:

In front of the Stock I put 4 gerber daisy plants.  These are some of my favorite, non-fragrant flowers.

I interlaced in front of the Gerbs some "mini" Stock plants.   I found those at one of the nurseries I went to yesterday that grow their own flowers.  In front of the mini-Stock I planted Sweet Alyssum which should spread out nicely along the front to "edge" the garden (I hope).

Here's a picture of the front pathway garden I planted yesterday with impatiens and begonias (at least I think that's what they are).  I also got some mini hostas for that row of plants too.

I'll get to the back garden on the weekend.  Probably need to give my back a rest, not to mention I'm going to help babysit the triplets this afternoon/evening with my sister-in-law (AKA Grandma!).   I'm hoping I haven't overdone it, both in terms of the plants (not having enough room to grow) and physically (I may need my chiropractor on speed dial).  I'm hoping that my garden is full enough that I can actually go out and cut flowers to make arrangements so I can enjoy my favorite flowers indoors as well as in my garden.  Time will tell!

And... that leaves us to end today with this week's Friday Fill-ins:

And...here we go!

1. Thinking of the triplets sweet faces never fails to make me smile.
2. I'm looking forward to watching my garden grow over the summer.
3. Sounds of traffic out my open patio door is what I'm listening to right now.  Ah the joys of living in a big, busy city :-S
4. Potato salad must have green onions and miracle whip in it! Although I must confess... I have only made it once or twice in my life.
5. Half a ruby red grapefruit was the best thing I ate today...it's also the only thing I've eaten today so far, which reminds me... I need to eat!
6. Today was a perfect day for planting flowers, not too hot, not too cool.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to babysitting & cuddling the triplets, tomorrow my plans include laundry, maybe planting the back garden (weather permitting) and a movie with friends in the evening and Sunday, I want to celebrate my god-daughter's 3rd birthday and then watch Celebrity Apprentice finale in the evening!

So there you have it... my Friday in a nutshell.  What are you up to this weekend?  In Canada it is Victoria Day weekend so Monday is a holiday.  Woohoo!!