In The Garden

I haven't been able to garden much since moving to Colorado.  One reason being is we have a 1/3 acre lot and the soil is terrible. It's more like ground rock with no organic matter.  I do have a nice planter area on one side that gets a lot of shade which I would like to use for shade loving plants.  I friend of mine gave me some divisions of some of her perennials but they lasted one night.  Dug up by either the local rabbits that are everywhere or by our dogs.  I want to put in raised beds around the back patio which should solve that problem.  Until then I am content with a few pots on the porch.  Like California, we have water restrictions which makes it almost impossible to have the lush gardens like we used to anyway.

Even though it hasn't been much, my hanging pots of petunias has been a real treat.  You see, this is the first time I've been able to grow them.  The area I lived at in California was largely agricultural.  Our small tract was surrounded by fields of almonds, hay, and peaches which means you have a lot of insects.  It was a constant battle to keep the worms and spider mites off the petunias,  marigolds and geraniums.  I finally just gave up and stopped planting them.

Well here in Colorado we don't have the agriculture in this particular area.  With our high altitude we don't have as many insects and because of the snow and cold temperatures we don't have snails.  We don't even have to treat our dogs and cats for fleas!!!

So even though it's not much right now, I'm content with my two hanging baskets of petunias.  Getting back to basics and being grateful for the little things.

Have a wonderful week!