Plant Tables

Every year I have a pot garden and it has grown on platforms that were attached to our deck.

Here is the start of the pot garden last year.  This year the deck is being ripped up and replaced so I lost those lovely shelves that I created going down from the deck. For awhile the pots all sat on the grass which made it hard for me to look after them as it required a lot of bending.

So it was back to the drawing board to design some new plant tables that will be made out of the old wood from the deck. I love re-using things.  My wonderful husband has already made one for me, which I promptly filled with pots of veggies.  There are more in the making.  I'm going to like these new plant tables better than the old ones as I will have the option of moving them around.  The old one was in the sun constantly being a south facing garden.

So what is growing in those containers of all shapes and sizes?  Lots and lots of veggies ... including tomatoes, onions, peas, carrots, lettuce and beans.  The containers include old metal wash tubs, old buckets, a small recycling bin, a bushel basket and big black pots that once held shrubs from the nursery. Not your usual flower pots.  There are containers of more shapes and sizes in other parts of the garden just waiting for a plant table to be made. I can't wait to taste all those yummy veggies.

I'm sharing with

Tuesday Garden Party, Nature Notes, Cottage Garden Party

The Poppies

The poppies are popping out all over.

There is a spot on the hill that we let them grow and grow.  This variety of poppy can be very invasive as they spread rapidly by underground roots but they are still a favourite.  But up there on the hill beside the grape vine we don't mind how much they spread.  When they are finished blooming they all get cut down by the lawnmower.  There is the odd bit of wild phlox growing in between them as well.

Those green fuzzy heads start popping up in early May.  They are quite fascinating to watch as they slowly split open to reveal the orange/red blooms.  At first the petals are tightly closed together and then they gradually open to reveal a gorgeous bloom.

The blooms last a few days and then as they move in the wind the petals drop off just leaving the center where the seed pod develops.  I have been known to cut off the seed pod stems and arrange them in a pot.

I'm sharing with

Today's Flowers, Mosaic Monday, Bloomin' Tuesday,