It begins!

Ah, the power of goals and public opinion (in this case my New Yorker siblings'... they arrive tomorrow!).  It was just the kick in the booty I needed to get a move on with my garden.  I realized after I started that the main reason I had been delaying was that I hate cleaning, of any sort (dishes, house, unpacking... you name it).  And a big part of getting the garden back in shape was uprooting, trimming, sweeping, trashing dead things.  It was not pleasant, and I almost got attacked by two large shady-looking black spiders, but it set me up for the fun part -- planning this season's perfect garden, choosing flowers with promise, that fresh smell of new damp potting soil and little wet leaves, and that optimistic feeling you get when everything is planted and looking so great!

I literally spent the whole day gardening yesterday (thus the blog post delay to today!) and now in addition to a good sore feeling in my muscles, I have a garden again.  Here's where we're at:

Dug up the tulip bulbs which are now safely stowed away in my fridge for next year

And then began planting.

Of course, there's the tomato.  

This time, not heirloom.  Armstrong's had this handy sign up, so I chose accordingly:

I went with the Roma tomato, both for its alleged ease of growth in pots as well as its versatility in cooking.

A few of the tomato plants at the nursery already had tomatoes on them.  You never want to buy a plant that's too mature (like a tomato plant with tomatoes already on it), but mine has a few flowers already.  I am feeling good about my tomato prospects this year.

In the wine crate, I went with a flat of Alyssum.

If you pay attention, you'll see these everywhere, especially used as borders because they have a spreading tendency.  I have an inexplicable love for this little plant.  I think the tiny flowers are cute (you'll see right now, I have Alyssum flowers as my background) and they smell really nice.  My hope is that they will spread into a big box of white flowers.  I think perhaps last year, I chose plants that were too tall (like basil or lavender) with the result that the shallow box could not support the roots.  Little box, little flowers... perfect.

Next up, in place of the tulips, I've got Geraniums.

I was never a geranium fan until I went to Italy and they were literally everywhere... little window boxes, restaurant patios, fancy gardens in giant terracotta containers, rooftops, everywhere!  There, they seem to love red geraniums.  I've chosen dark burgundy because I liked the color, but I like to think it's my little Italian influenced corner.

They are supposed to be very hardy and I've chosen an ivy-type variety, so with any luck they will trail down a bit down the ledge I've got them on.

On our tabletop, we've got a new addition, the Euphoriba millii. 

Baby succulent farm at left, new Euphorbia milii at right

It is in fact in the same family as the poinsettia, you may remember, with little red bracts at the top.

I've cleaned up our kitchen window with a few new Succulent additions.

And last but not least, what I am most tentatively excited about, is the Vertical Succulent Garden.

All succulents except top left, Dipladenia aka superhero plant

I did not buy a single one of these succulents, but actually used what was formerly the kitchen window disaster area as well as propagated succulents to mix and match into pockets!  (More on this next week...)

Lots of gardening!  I realized yesterday at the end of the day that I hadn't looked at my phone once, I had gotten so into the flow.  That's happiness for me :)

This week will be a big test for my new plants with their first heat wave.  It will also be a big week for me as it is my birthday this week and as I mentioned before, both of my siblings will be in town which is GREAT -- I can't even remember the last time the three of us were in LA together.  Celebrate!

An aside, before there was Pharrell...  Destiny's Child "Happy Face"