Blooming beauties

I'm not a big gardener, although I do enjoy pottering around on my little vegetable plot.  I keep trying to take a decent photo of it, but it looks far too orderly and boringly green, so I've given up.  My veggie plot, I believe, is the only orderly thing in my life!  I remember reading recently that you really don't need to sow vegetables in neat rows (I've done vertical rows and now this year I've done horizontal) but should just jumble everything up around a central column of, say, runner beans or peas.  It sounded fun when I first read the article, but now, it just sounds caotic and I do crave a tiny bit of order once in a while! 

Anyway, getting back to the point, the garden needed some attention.  Last Autumn I went a bit mad pulling up weeds (or so I thought), and moving various plants from one area of the garden to another.  I've finally planted up my new herb garden, which, once it's all bushed out and lovely, will fill a space directly under the kitchen window.  At the moment, it's vary sparse with tiny herb plants itching to grown and take over the area, but the weeds keep coming back and swallowing them up!

Anyway, getting back to the point ... again!  My moving bits and pieces around has paid off.  We came back from holiday to a beautiful array of colour in the one and only flower bed and shrub area of the garden.  Katie took some photos to show off the colours that greet us each morning from the kitchen.


Canterbury Bells



Rose


Marigold


Lavender - strictly speaking this isn't in my flower border, but at the front of the house instead.  I cut it right back during the early part of this year and actually thought I'd killed it, but as you can see it's looking gorgeous and the flowers are bigger and darker than we've had in previous years.  Obviously it likes the rough treatment!  This is the lavender I cut, dry and store ready to use for the scented items at Ellie's Treasures.