Saturday, April 24, 2010

~*My Flower Bed*~

Hello Dear Friends! Formal gardens are beautiful & the love, hard work, and discipline amaze me. However... my favorite gardening is prim, relaxed, and old fashioned.

My Dad use to live in a small town named Willard, Kansas. Willard was too small to have much of any businesses... so folks would travel a short distance to another, although larger, small town called Rossville. Along the road that connected the two were corn fields and farms. One farm I remember well, had a large, white farm house... with a beautiful front porch and an even larger red barn. I remember lilacs, tulips, phlox, and iris blooming... quaint, old fashioned gardens spread thoughout the farm yard.

One garden that always struck my fancy was one marked by an old, white iron bed. It always made me grin & smile... a pure flower bed.

A couple years ago, I made my own flower bed using a rusty old headboard found in the barn when we moved in. However, it never took root as I had wanted & I let it go. This year, I am re~inspired to make it pretty. In the center of my flower bed... a newly planted dwarf apple tree. Strange maybe... but it is prim and relaxed. :)



Mr. Bean... our beloved kitty... has inspected and approved the newly, reclaimed spot.

This morning, I lined the bed with some inexpensive bricks and transplanted a few seedlings from around the yard and from the greenhouse.

~daffodils... Do you tie your's in knots too after they bloom? This is a trick I learned from a woman that lived down the street from my Grandma... she was always playing in her gardens. She told me not to cut the greens because the bulbs use them to gain strength to bloom next year. It must work, because mine keep blooming.~


~four o'clocks~


~morning glory... to grow up the headboard~


~nasturtium~


When I was cleaning the bed this morning, I found this...


A lone sunflower. I couldn't get rid of it... so it will grow here this year too.

I'll take more pictures to share how the bed grows this year. I'm excited to see it! Aren't you?

Wishing you all warm smiles...
Betty

22 comments:

  1. Dern tootin' I'm excited to see it. I love it. Wish I was your neighbor so I could keep up with all your great ideas.

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  2. That s my dream... to own one of those white farmhouses with a huge front porch and a red barn out back... that's what "keeps me going"! :-) Love your flower "bed"! Very clever! Morning glories are a favorite of mine!

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  3. Such a charming flower bed. I will love seeing it grow. Karmen

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  4. Betty, I LOVE your garden! I am trying my hand at raised vegetable beds this year, that headboard would be great as a trellis! I tie my daffodil foliage too, I have read the same thing, that the daffodils need to feed off that foliage for next year.

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  5. Love your headboard. I need to find some 4 o'clock. I used to love them. And of course love sunflowers. Sooo happy.

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  6. I love your flower bed idea and I am sure it is going to be wonderful. Will be looking forward to pictures as the plants grown.

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  7. How neat is that! What could you find to use for possible night stands to go on the sides? Add beautiful hanging baskets on top, just a thought. Thanks for sharing.
    Blessings,
    ~Ronda~

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  8. Betty~

    I'm sure it will be beautiful when all your plants start to grow and bloom.

    Becky

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  9. That is so sweet Betty. I love the headboard for the bed. :o) I will be watching your new plants grow.

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  10. I have heard of people recommending to do that. All bulb plants take energy from the sun in the process called photosynthesis to store up enegry for the next growth cycle. Do you know that you should did up bulbs ever 2 to 3 years and split them? Other wise they will eventually get to big and not flower properly.
    That's all I know except it all works. If you are more interested I am sure you could find out more info online. Beautiful pictures by the way.

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  11. Very cute idea--Flower "bed."

    Enjoy!


    Melinda

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  12. The nature there is nothing more beautiful with the good embroidery on
    Best regards

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  13. There are several "flower beds" like that around here too Betty and you are right - it makes you smile at it! Can't wait to see what blooms!

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  14. Oh, I love your flowerbed, and can't wait to see it flourish!

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  15. That's my kind of garden! I remember we had all kinds of four o'clock plants growing in our backyard when I was a kid, they would re-seed themselves and we had tons of them, I remember how pretty they smelled when they bloom.

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  16. I love the look Betty, it is sooo you :).
    and for that lonely sun flower, you are really good. I would have thought it was a weed. I have no clue from one leaf to the next what is a weed and a flower lol. Can't wait to see it!

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  17. I have an old iron headboard and I was at a loss of how to display it..Thank you for the idea..I will be making this in the coming week..I also can't wait to see how yours develops as the plants start to grow..I feel inspired..LOL

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  18. Like everyone else, your idea for a flowerbed delights me! You might want to plant a clematis near the headboard next fall as they are perennials. Morning glories will be perfect there!

    Would be fun, but lots of work ;) to set in plants to make a quilt design... Hugs!

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  19. Oh I just love old fashion flower beds they are the absolute best...just brings back fond memories. Perhaps Miss Betty your creating a fond memory for some special folks in your life! Can't wait to see how your garden grows.

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  20. Betty,

    When I drive back to my home town of Ohio, I pass many houses out in the mountains that have "flower beds". They use the whole bed - the headboard and the metal railings. I love it!

    Linda in VA

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