My Secret Garden

Sigh. We are now in the waning days of summer. Soon it will be time to start cleaning up the yard, put the swing away, toss out my tired flowers and veggies from their containers and sweep up the deck. As much as I like Fall, it's always so sad to me to have to say good -bye to my pride and joy.

My Secret Garden.

The front of the house shields a secret full of vivid color, glorious blooms and an abundance of produce that lies behind the house. A private oasis created solely from container gardening, hope and a prayer.



The ironic thing is, I really don't know much about gardening. All I know to do is to make sure they get sun, water, the occasional feeding and to pluck dead blooms and yellowed leaves. Oh. And I also talk to them. Every morning I peer out the windows and greet them. Out loud. "Hi, flowers!" I chirp. Steve thinks I'm nuts but I don't care. When I am puffing and fluffing and plucking at them I murmur sweet nothings and tell them how they are making Mommy so happy.

I ignore Steve's mutterings about "crazy lady pantyhose."


Such beautiful color basking in the sunlight.


Hi, flowers!


I fuss over my strawberries, encouraging them to make big, sweet tasting berries. At least I think they're sweet and tasty. The squirrels seem to like them judging from the chewed up remains on the stems.


I marvel over my tomato plant producing juicy, meaty tomatoes. I love the tomato-y smell of the leaves. Is that weird?


Who knew that letting lettuce go to seed would produce happy little blue flowers?


Don't ever let anybody tell you that you can't grow full sized cucumbers in a container!



My prized swing.


A place to sit and swing in the summer breeze, sip iced tea and read a favorite book.
I like to tilt my face up to the warm sun and listen to the birds and laugh at my fat cat as he rolls around in the grass after eating some catnip.

I am not ready for summer to end.