Category: FlowerFriday

The garden is looking well and we’ve already pulled out some radishes, tomatoes, and a couple of chili peppers. Basil, parsley, and celery are doing great as are most of the herbs except for the cilantro. I’ve never had any luck with it and won’t plant it again. I’ll share some flowers of the garden tomorrow but for now, a photo of my first real harvest. Not sure I’ll eat the nasturtium flowers, but I’m loving them in the garden! So many blooms! I’ll definitely plant them again next year.

Yesterday was our annual pilgrimage to the Philly Flower Show and WOW! It was awesome. I was a little worried because last year’s first-ever outdoor show had me wondering whether this new format was one I would like, but this year proved me wrong. There were so many wonderful exhibits, the always amazing Butterflies Live! event, a nice food bazaar, and lots of vendors. I miss seeing Kremps there as well as the other cut flower vendors, but all in all, it was a fantastic show!

I remember reading Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring many years ago and was influenced by it to avoid using any pesticides in my garden in order to preserve Mother Earth. But that book also kindled in me a desire to try and help the environment in whatever small ways I could. I try to recycle and shut off lights when not necessary. We reuse plastic bags so that they are not single-use and I try to remember taking reusable bags for the grocery store. I think my biggest help has been using my Sodastream which lets me avoid having lots of soda bottles to recycle and also keeps me from putting fake sweeteners in my body. I also try to upcycle as many things as I can, like making a hall tree from a door that was headed for garbage if I didn’t use it. I like to think my little bit helps. How about you? What things do you do to help the environment?

My fav colors for flowers are pink and purple. They just make such a great blend together. I also like to mix in some blues and there’s a great benefit to using those colors in your yard: They will attract bees and hummingbirds! So unless you are allergic to bees, help out your local population by putting in some nice pink, purple, and blue flowers in your garden. This photo was taken in Bryant Park where they have all the spring bulbs and flowers out. Love them!