Author: Veronica Bath / February 11, 2023

To all my fellow gardeners and gardener aspirers, I think you will agree, Spring time in the garden is something magical. I love the smell of fresh blossoms, seeing the beautiful colors of the flowers as well as the cute critters it attracts.

In past years, I’ve tried to stick to a soft cooler color pallet, much like my wardrobe. However, this year I want it all! I lust for color in the garden. The winter of 2022/2023 has been a harsh one. All of my perennials look lifeless and dull.

This year, I decided to add hot colors to the garden theme. I recently purchased red and orange ranunculus which I planted in close proximately to purple and lilac anemones. I also added a dark pink gaura butterfly plant that looks like it has tiny butterflies whirling the plant. Last year I planted two rosy jane gauras in my front yard but now I’m considering adding a few more to the side garden. The petals of the rosy jane are white, trimmed with pink. It’s truly a whimsical sight seeing them blowing in the wind. Passersby stop to enjoy the beauty that these plants bring to the garden.

Before you can enjoy the beauty of your garden, you must do some prep-work to make sure your plants thrive. I begin each year by amending the soil with amend or any garden soil to ensure the plants can grow and extend their roots. Next, I incorporate fertilizer, but not just any fertilizer, Espoma’s Bio-tone or Plant-tone. None of my plants go into the ground without it.

While I’m amending and fertilizing the flower beds, I also remove any pesky weeds that may have overwintered from the previous season. My tool of choice is a garden hoe. Its fast, effective and its not back breaking like other tools I have used in the past.

The final step is to choose your plants wisely. I live in California, Zone 9b. The summers here are scorching hot. We reach temperatures of 118 degrees Fahrenheit. I also live in a new build home and the trees the builder planted were not to our liking so we decided to plant our own. Unfortunately, there was a lot of trial and error before we learned which trees do well in full sun areas and poorly draining soil. My home was built where an orchard of fruit trees use to live. The soil is hard as a rock during the summer months and soggy clay during the winter months. For that reason, I make sure to amend the soil every chance I get. If I don’t amend and fertilize regularly, nothing in my garden will thrive.

I aspire to have a cottage garden in an extremely hot climate. I think it can be achieved with a little patience and a lot of fertilizer. I wish you success in your garden.

If you have any questions or just want to chat over garden topics, I’m just an email away.