Each year I get a little better. So far, this year, i'm just so proud of myself :D Since moving to this apartment in January of last year, I've been able to hone my skills a bit with the garden they let me have. Last year's draught, and the condition of the garden area simply destroyed everything. No flowers, no veg. Nothing. I kept my tomato plants alive until December, then I finally took all the green ones off and killed them. I had a late start last year, as well. But, I learned a lot. I learned how to watch the weather patterns, where to put certain plants for ideal sunlight/shade mixture, as well as irrigation. Around mid-january, I cleaned up the garden, made it look a lot nicer, and made a little more space. This year will be my 4th attempt at gardening - I am absolutely DETERMINED to have my tomatoes grow properly. I read many articles about our weather, and how it will not be changing for the cooler any time soon. So, I planned ahead. After I cleaned up the garden, and as soon as Lowes and Walmart started putting up their spring stuff, I ordered my seeds, and got all my starter sets ready. Yes, I started my stuff in January, only a month after I had destroyed the last of my garden from summer.

So far, these are the best seedlings I've ever started. They're all perfect sized and growing normally. I've lost a few, but it was expected since they were more delicate than I'm used to. That, and I've had to build a fortress around where I have them on shelves since the cats have gotten into them several times and killed a few. I have been able to transplant most of the tomatoes into pots and put them outside. there are a few runts that are needing to catch up. The garden beans, squash, and pumpkins have already been planted in the ground. Not sure if the beans will survive since they were victims of cat-attacks and had lost all their leaves. Also planted the black-eyed peas, which are new to me this year. They seem to be struggling, but hanging in there. I started peas, but then realized they were more of a cold weather plant. They were doing fine until earlier this month when it started to heat up. They're looking kinda rough now. I'm out of room already in the sunny areas, so I'm thinking this weekend I might get out there and make a new row for cucumbers and okra.

As for my perinnial outside garden, it has all come back beautifully. The bulbs I planted in early winter have all bloomed, and it's just so pretty. Daffodils, Hyacinths, crocuses, and tulips! I get so many compliments every day about how pretty they all are :) I almost managed to get an all purple bulb collection. But theres some pink and white mixed in there too. The strawberries actually never died over winter. in fact, they kept spreading, and now are in bloom and already have strawberries in process. The raspberry vine... I wish I had done research before I planted this thing. I had NO idea it would sprout new plants all over the place. This thing grows like a parasitic cedar tree. It's literally all over the circle I planted it in... even in the middle of the strawberries. hopefully it will produce something for me this year if it's already growing this crazy. My fig tree just unfolded it's first leaf today. The crape myrtle is slightly green, but still brittle in some places. I'm not sure if it's supposed to be blooming yet or not. I hope it comes back, it was doing pretty fine last year. The Jasmine vine also didn't really stop growing over winter, so I can only assume it will take off pretty soon and give me some yummy smelling flowers. The french lavender is loving the weather right now, but I know it's going to be unhappy again this summer. I might end up moving it, just not sure where. I also planted some canna bulbs from my moms, but I have no idea if they will come up. They're in rather shady areas. But, then again, so are my moms and they come up every year.

So that's everything so far! I'm really excited about this year. I feel like since I started so much earlier this year I might actually get some real results.

enjoy some pictures from my garden!