Tiny Gardens

I love gardening - I think every house needs a few pots full of lush green before it even starts to become a home. I know for me it's one of those things that shouts 'homely', a living member of the household, thriving on your love and attention and wilting if you go away for too long.

At the moment we're staying with family while house-hunting for a new townhouse & I feel bereft without my own patch of dirt, or at least a collection of merrily growing potted herbs and vegetables.

Late Winter and Early Spring are gorgeous times for planting and gardening, so Lolly and I have been out and about the last few weeks potting up some of our Spring time favourites. Unfortunately, as we'll no doubt be limited in our gardening oppurtunities in a townhouse it looks like it will have to be container gardening all the way - and a nice courtyard garden is definately high up the list of criteria I have for a new home. Here's Lolly watering in our new snow pea seedlings.

Normally I like to grow from seed, but we we're a bit late getting started this Winter & in order to have a nice showing in Spring we had to cheat a little. I can't wait to see those trellises covered in peas for little fingers to pick in a few months time - nothing says Spring to me like early peas.

Plus we planted in some of the more traditional spring varieties. Usually I'm a fruit/veg/herb girl all the way - I like the most bang for my buck. ;)

But one of Lolly's favourite stories is about a little spring bulb called "Ulba Bulba" who befreinds a late-Winter Snowflake and lets her hide with him under the ground, as the sun begins to melt the snow. Little Snowflake then joins Ulba Bulba in his journey to the surface and is transformed into a beautiful "Snowdrop flower" and gets to play happily in the warm summer sun after all.

It's a gorgeous Spring time story, we got our copy from Golden Beetle books (it's one of their little story and picture books for the under 7's) and I think we're going to wear the print off soon from constant bedtime readings. So while she was at kindy I picked up a pack of "Snowflakes" bulbs - the equivilant for warmer climes and we tucked them in there warm dirt beds for a long Winter's nap. Can't wait to see them shooting out of the ground! The pink tulips were Lolly's choice on a sucessive shopping trip - she's definately a pink type of girl.