It was lovely outside today, so I really enjoyed my time puttering in the garden. One of the wonderful things about gardening is that there is always something new going on each day. Of course it’s not as much fun when there’s bad things happening like pests or diseased plants, lack of rain or too much of it and so on, but when things are good it’s just so very rewarding.
And it’s especially fun to find unexpected things! As I was standing at my potting bench filling up my watering can, I looked up and saw this robin sitting on its nest in my mom’s lilac bush only a few feet above my head…
Several days ago I had noticed a mess of grasses and twigs on top of my potting bench, but I thought it was just debris brought by the winds during one of the storms that rolled through. How exciting that I will be having a family of robins keeping me company now while I’m gardening! 🙂
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I keep forgetting to take photos of my peas! We’ve just been so busy picking them and eating them up. But today I caught myself and snapped a photo before I popped them all into my mouth (see one is missing ;)).
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My cukes are really starting to take off and are growing so nicely! 
In an earlier post Adventures in Gardening Part 7 ~ Trellis Time, I shared about a little A-frame trellis I built for my cucumbers to climb on, and I’m so excited to finally have them doing just that! I’ve got two different varieties growing up each side and then my lettuce growing underneath…
An A-frame trellis is seriously an excellent idea for space saving in a small bed.
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Strawberries are still continuing to grow in abundance on my one little plant. Here is another one just starting to show the first hint of color…
I simply adore strawberries. ♥
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I also adore flowering things…
Over the years I’ve always enjoyed growing Astilbe in my shady garden areas and planted some for my mom in hers too ~ they are blooming now. 
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Her Hosta are blooming as well.
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At one of the garden nurseries I visited earlier this spring they had a special promotion where the first 500 customers got a free plant. Mine was this lovely begonia…
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Now, I realize that marigolds are quite ordinary and nothing special, but they are still bright and colorful, and a faithful bloomer.
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And another shot of my English lavender because it’s my favorite…
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The ants and aphids are still hanging around doing their thing, but don’t seem to be causing any real damage at the moment. I’ve just been spraying them off with the water hose for now, but I’m keeping an eye on them…
~Gardening is my therapy~
Ramblings From Jewels 
I love, love, love your cucumber trellis. So charming. And, I love fresh peas especially when cooked with new potatoes in a cream sauce. I am not sure why I never had grown peas. Yummmm.
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Thanks Teresa, when I saw a similar trellis design in a gardening catalog. I loved the idea and knew it was just the thing I needed for my new garden, and went to work making my own. My sis helped me build it and although it’s just a flimsy little thing I’m pretty darn proud of it.
You should try growing your own peas sometime, they’re quite simple. And yummy! 🙂
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Good morning~what a beautiful cool day~ 😉
Mama & I collect Birds & Blooms magazines~
Your garden is so wonderful Jewels~your pics divine~
I was just watering ours & spied the family of wrens on the fence~cardinals~grackles~song & regular sparrows~robins & hummingbirds at our trumpet vine around our door. We have so many froggies this yr. it’s unbelievable!
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Good morning Patty 🙂 I used to get that magazine too! Thanks so much! It’s small, but I’m thankful for every inch. I would love to find a spot to grow trumpet vine at my mom’s. I had honeysuckle starting on an arbor at my last house, but we moved before I got to see much growth from it. I haven’t noticed even one hummingbird at the feeder I put up earlier this spring. 😦 But I’m glad the robins trust me enough to have their nest so nearby. 😉
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Just saw our first Goldfinch~so pretty~came for the birdy bath~they really like lemon balm & we have a lot of it just for them.
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I love goldfinches! We had tons of thistle growing on our land and had “swarms” of them! It was wonderful! I didn’t realize they like lemon balm.
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Everything looks so lush and green! Thank goodness your garden has turned out so great! I love begonias! Is it in a pot or did you plant it right in your garden? I was always told they hate to get wet and not to plant them. I wish I could have a garden full of them!
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Thanks! I know, I’m so glad everything is doing so well! I really like begonias too! I grow them in a pot. If you look at the photo of the trellis you can see them in a little teacup planter underneath my potting bench. It’s hard to tell from far away just how beautiful they are, that’s why I always like taking the close-up photos of everything. I’ve never planted them directly into the ground, but they’ve always done real well for me in pots. 🙂
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Jewels, such beautiful pictures. Glad that things are coming along so well. Love the lavender. 🙂 We finally had our first Hummingbird the other day, so you know our Lil’ Gardeners are all excited. 😉 I feel like I am gardening vicariously through you. 😀
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Thanks! I’m glad too! I know, I love my lavender sooo much, I really wish I could have acres and acres filled with it! But I’m truly grateful for my 2 little pots of it! ♥ Oh how fun that y’all had a little hummingbird! I hope you get tons more of them too! Alas, none for me. 😦 But my garden is new and it’s in between two houses in the heart of the inner city, so maybe it’ll just take a while longer for them to find my feeder. A friend suggested I place a feeder up higher in a spot where there was a bit more open sky, so I might try that. 🙂
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I was going to ask you if you wanted seed pods from our trumpet vine?
I think they would travel well & you could plant everywhere~lol
Would love to share with you~our garden is very small too but the yard is a nice size thankfully,.
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Oh Patty I would love that! I could possibly place a trellis of some sort up against the corner of my mom’s little partial fence on the patio and plant them there. 🙂
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Ok great Jewely~ 😛
Allan is getting fresh seed pods & old ones so you can see which will work best~it’ll be fun to share our gardens~will send to address on box ok?
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Yay! Thanks so much, Patty! But don’t send them to my apartment address, I’ll message you with my mom’s. 🙂
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Ok sweetie~
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Julie, you have the coolest garden! I really like your cucumber A-Frame, and if we ever have enough guts to start a garden of our own I’m going to use your idea. I might need to enlist you and your sister in order to build it though! 🙂 On a side note, the closeup of the peas and the strawberry…whoa. Awesome photos! I dig the depth of field you’ve got going on there. You should teach classes on gardening, photography, and photographing a garden.
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Thanks Simon! I hope one day you guys do put in a garden ~ it’s so rewarding growing your own food, and you certainly have enough yard for one. Then you wouldn’t have to go to the “hippie-dippie” store to get your good eats. 😉
That’s Rachael’s camera for ya… I basically just pointed and snapped to get those shots. Although I admit I did kind of plan for the shading of my hand, the lighting, the angle, and the greenery in the background on the pea one, so I guess I’ll take a little credit. But the camera really makes a difference, as you well know with your new fancy shmancy one. 😉
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Yeah, for years I heard things like “It’s not the camera, it’s the photographer” and I thought I was pretty terrible at taking pictures because of it. Turns out our little point-and-shoot cameras just weren’t capable of getting good bokeh, shooting good low-light shots, or other things that a DSLR can do. Sometimes it really is the camera that matters!
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What a nice garden! I don’t have one this year and miss it, so it was nice seeing photos of yours!
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Thanks so much! I’ve been without a garden for the past few years myself, so I completely understand missing it. I’m so grateful to my mom for letting me put one in at her house this year. I’m glad you enjoyed the photos, thanks so much for stopping by and for your comment! 🙂
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Good morning~our weather is crazy~tomorrow is supposed to be 108 & 105 today~ 😦
Anyways I saw our 1 eggplant & it’s about 3″ long & 1″ wide~so cute~
Mama wren & babies~
Hope you are doing fine~trying to water every other day is this drought.
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Oh my that IS hot! And I thought it was hot here!
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We have a full week of 100 + weather & no rain~ugh
How is it by you now?
That strawberry jam was fabulous~I ate every bite~ 😛
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It’s not as humid here as it was the other day, but the temps are still higher than is my liking. 😉 I’m so glad you enjoyed the jam!
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