The BIC Plant and Gardening Thread

[sister13]

Hello BIC friends and fellow gardeners! Whether you have a container on your balcony, some indoor plants, a whole garden, or even if you just happen to visit a botanical garden or see a lovely space or plant in your neighborhood you want to share, this is the place! Please share pics, tips, plans and tricks about all things gardening!  

For many years I had a container balcony garden with mostly flowers and herbs (when travel allowed), and I am now embarking on my first backyard landscaping and gardening journey. 

I am often taking inspiration from the natural world around me and have recently had some spring inspiration for the Makeup Challenge of the Week and have loved chatting about gardening in our other threads, so I thought a new thread would be nice. 

It’s always so interesting to me to see plants and gardens from different regions and countries, so I hope you’ll join the conversation!  

PS: if you create a makeup look based on some plant or garden inspiration, please feel free to post your look or flat-lay here, too! 

Here are a few pics of my spring bulbs to start and I’ll share more soon (kindly ignore the weeds)! 

 

 

My old balcony (from the outside) - I’ll try to find an internal pic too:

[Mellmars1185]

@Aliece98 Beautiful plants! I like your avacodo pot. It is so rewarding to watch the plants thrive 🪴. My cat eats my plants though 😂

[Titian06]

Nice plants, @Aliece98 !  Love the avocado pot! 🥑

Feel free to share pics of your cat on the Pet Paradise thread!  We'd love to have you and your cat join us! 💖🐾💖

[makeitup305]

Awesome thread @sister13 ! I can’t wait to see everyone’s gardens 🍃

[sister13]

Thanks @makeitup305 ! Me too! 

[Mellmars1185]

This year our gardens are looking slightly different. My front garden in the first picture has a total new bush in the middle. I think it is called a **EDIT** boxwood. We used to have a lilac tree but it did not bloom the last 2 seasons.

***Edit*** Boxwood with marigolds and solar lights

My little herb garden. We are going to replant the herbs in the planter outside. 

Perennials in the front of the house

Backyard was redone last summer. We planted a bush and more marigolds. To the left is my garden. Right now we have peppers, dill and basil in it. More to come as everything grows. I hope everyone has a lovely weekend!

 

 

[jaaayp]

@Mellmars1185 your babies are adorable!!! I love it when they're small and cute 😍 

[Mellmars1185]

@jaaayp Thank you! I should take an updated picture soon. They are starting to fill out. I also got a new hanging basket!

[jaaayp]

@Mellmars1185 YES!!! Share share share! ❤️

[JoSometimes]

Nice choice with the boxwood @Mellmars1185. It’s not the prettiest but they’re really hardy and will continue to grow even if you forget to water them…

[Mellmars1185]

@JoSometimes Thank you! Hehe you are right. I figure while it is small I can plant pretty flowers around it ☺️

[sister13]

Oooh @Mellmars1185 ! Thanks for sharing your garden areas! Everything looks so nice! I especially like the perennial bed out front. I can’t wait til more of my plants and shrubs get more established! 

[Mellmars1185]

@sister13 Thank you! It is so rewarding to watch everything grow 🙌🌞🌿🥰

[CynthieLu]

I love your gardens @Mellmars1185, having  fresh herbs is a treat 😄

[Mellmars1185]

@CynthieLu Thank you! Next on my to do list is meal plan around the herbs! 🌿

[CynthieLu]

Yummy 🙂 @Mellmars1185 

[Titian06]

This is all so pretty, @Mellmars1185 !  Pictures like this make me wish I had a house instead of a condo...almost! 🤣

[Mellmars1185]

@Titian06 Aw thank you! I guess there are pros and cons to both. I always wish I had a condo or an apartment in between moving out of my parents and on my own ❤️.

[sister13]

Some updates on the yard! I planted these two beds. One has the herbs that like drier conditions: lavender, rosemary, thyme, sage and pineapple sage.

The other has the tomatoes, a jalapeño, and herbs that like wetter conditions, I.e basil, and eventually some chives and maybe chamomile. I also have some marigolds to go in for critter control. 

Im also experimenting with the bricks/blocks for edging, I think I like the first (around the lavender/rosemary beds). Eventually I may raise these beds and I will set the edges better but just wanted to get a sense of the space and how it looks for now.

Some of the plants, especially the sage, got a little torn up by out hail storm the other day! 

I got the peony planted yesterday, this is Scarlet O’Hara and she starts off red but turns quite pink. She also got a bit bashed up with the hail. @Saradestin 

Planted the mock orange, you can see the utility box behind the fence that I hope to block, though maybe I should have planted an evergreen? I planted the mock orange right in front of the Siberian iris, which may shade it, so I’ll probably move the iris in the fall. The mock orange is SO pretty and fragrant! This one’s the Snow White, and I have another one, the Blizzard, but that one looks more scraggly and different, so I’m not sure if I should go ahead and Plant it or get another Snow White. Ugh, so many choices and decisions! 

[Titian06]

Your poor peony!  It looks so sad, @sister13 !  It will be looking lovely in no time when that bud pops open.  I like the bricks around your two small beds.  They bring a cohesive look with your patio behind it.  The mock orange is probably more in scale with everything else in your yard than if you were to plant an evergreen, unless you were planning to keep it short.  I'd stick with something more enjoyable.

[sister13]

Thanks @Titian06 ! I know, I’m so glad to have blooms already with the peony and the Snow White mock orange! The other mock orange (called Blizzard) looks pretty scraggly (not pictured and not planted yet) but it has buds all over, so I’ll give it a chance. I was kind of thinking of a shrub type evergreen (there is a mugo pine shrub I was thinking) to cover that utility box year round, but I can always add something to the side perhaps in that bed over there. I am planning to do some uptight junipers here and there for some screening, but probably in the fall or next spring. 

These bricks were on sale at Home Depot over the MemorDay weekend for only .25 cents, and I asked and an associate told me that was regular price (one had a sign that showed the sale ending 5/29 and the other did not), but she was wrong, so I’m sad I didn’t buy more then! Oh well, these are only like .48 regular price, but still, that .25 was an amazing deal!

[sister13]

Some irises on the way! These I transplanted from my moms, so I’m glad to see something is coming up. Though, they are pretty puny, so I’m not sure if they didn’t like being transplanted, don’t like the spot they’re in, got too much water because some drainage comes through her, and/or don’t like the soil. The daffodils and paperwhites didn’t do great over here either.

Anyway, now I want to put my mock orange where the Siberian iris is, but trying to decide if I’m going to plant it in front and move them in the fall, or just scootch the mock orange over a bit. There’s a big utility box in the neighbors yard they I’d like to block. 

Anyway, the purple one is the Siberian iris (the little teeny ones) and the other one might by a light blue/lavender, but I guess we’ll see! I should have waited to take the pic after I weeded, but I got excited, haha. I also got my peony in the ground so I’ll get a pic tomorrow!