Fun with the herb garden

For the last couple of years I have had a few herbs, including thyme, various mints, oregano and rosemary. I also have some lavender, which looks very similar to rosemary. (Do you have an idea where this is going?) I had one rosemary bush just out the back door, and one in the front yard. The one in the back had gotten very woody and worn-out looking, so last week I pulled it up.

A couple of days ago my husband made us a pot roast. It was ready when I got home from work. Wonderful! The next day, we were in the yard, and he pointed to the lavender, and asked me what it was. I told him. He then said, 'how did you like that pot roast?" The long and short of it: he walked out the back door to cut some rosemary, and saw it gone. He remembered that I said I had some in the front, so he walked out front and saw a plant next to the sidewalk. He cut some, noticing that it smelled good. He then saw another plant that looked more like rosemary, so he cut some of that as well. Both went in the roast. We have laughed over this for days. And the roast really was great!

We have been doing some great plant trading and bartering. We acquired seven azalea bushes. They are old, and had to be dug up. So far they are doing well. Five are pink and two white. We also got two knock out rose bushes, one red and one pink, and some Russian sage. I traded some crocosmia for the rose bushes.

One important lesson learned. Last spring I carefully labeled many plants. I used plastic labels and Sharpie permanent marker. I thought that would last. Wrong! All of them have faded within the year. This certainly makes for surprises this time of year, since I can't remember what/where everything is! So, I am now putting out copper markers, in which I etch the plant name. We will see how this goes.

Beautiful spring so far. The redbud and dogwood will be in full bloom this week; tulips are up and the azalea will soon follow.

Spring at last!

What a long, cold winter we have had. Last Friday I picked my first daffodils, a full month later than last year. My daphne bush is just now in full bloom, along with the star magnolia, crocuses, and forsythia. An odd combination.

But now that gardening season has begun, I will be trying to make regular posts here again, and will be adding photos of new blooms. It is always exciting to see what will come up each year.

A new kitten joined our family this winter. So, here is Grendel, in her first snow.