We were playing out in the yard yesterday with my little guy. I had been promising him all week that we would play in the water and finally happened, sort of. We got everything set up and then these dark clouds came over the mountains and the wind started to blow…
We stayed out until my little guy got cold and then came in. But in the meantime I snapped a few pictures of some flowers and thought I would share with you a few things I have learned about gardening over the years.
Morning Glory is a weed, not a flower.
When I was probably 5 years old I asked my mom why we were pulling the morning glory. It had flowers that I thought were pretty and being a smart girl I knew that weeds were ugly plants. My mom explained that morning glory was a weed and we pulled it anyway.
Weeding the garden somehow took all day long.
Growing up I remember that we absolutely hated weeding the garden. I also remember that for some reason it took us all day long. Probably because we had more dirt fights, water fights and naps in the garden than anything else.
Our growing season in Utah is short.
My first year planting a garden with my husband we tried growing tomatoes from the seed. Come to find out most people grew their tomatoes from plants they purchased at the store. The reason for this was that the growing season in Utah was very short and did not allow enough time for tomato production from the seed.
Read the directions first!
If the package says grow in lots of sun, don’t put it in the shade. If the package says do not use for potting soil, you might want to find another soil to use. My husband and I have made both of these mistakes in our gardening adventures.
I wish I had known this when I was younger.
My husbands uncle reportedly pulled out the entire garden and left all the weeds when he was asked to weed the garden. Incidentally he was never asked to weed the garden again. Wish I had thought of that.
Honestly, I am not a ‘green thumb’. I read a story about growing a pineapple and that it takes 2 years. At this point I am not going to attempt that because I know I kill plants a lot faster than that!
Happy Monday!
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Love your pictures. I agree with you about morning glories. Where I live they are grown as a garden feature. When I was growing up we pulled them because would overtake the garden.
I have made the same mistakes as you with plants and seeds… LOL
I love to garden but I have learned to work with the plants that like where we live and are easy.
, Susan
I actually used to live with a friend that liked ‘the natural look’. The benefit of this was that it required very little yard work. The downside was that the neighbors probably did not care for what they call ‘over grown’.
oh well. Have a good day!
Lovely pictures, they make me wish I gardened! I don’t because I’m intimidated by it. It helps to learn what others have learned!
I am not intimidated by gardening… but I am definitely not good at it. These flowers are actually in my mother in law’s garden. I guess if I cannot grow them, I will take pictures instead.
Thanks for coming by!
I heard the definition of a weed is anything that you don’t want to grow where it is growing. I have to agree with Susan. The Morning Glory takes over your garden and if very hard to get rid of. I remember you commenting about the pretty flower. Yes weeding does take a long time. It’s a never ending task. Do you remember once when we came home from the cabin and it had hailed. It flattened the garden and we had a hard time getting the plants to come back. I think the weeds survived pretty good.
The weeds survived because they are smarter than the other plants.
Hello: It sounds to me like you’ve learned some good gardening tips, so thank you for sharing them with us. I’ve been gardening for a while, and I’ve made a gazillion mistakes out in the garden, but it’s okay if you learn from them, and obviously you have. You do have lovely warm weather in Utah, perfect for summer crops like tomatoes and peppers. Enjoy the sun, and have a lovely week!
Thank you, same to you!
Beautiful flowers. My Mom has the same in her garden. Our garden consists of 2 rose bushes the catalog assured me I couldn’t kill. So far so good on that front.
I would accept that challenge. Although my husband usually prevents plants from dying at our house, so no casualties lately.
thanks for coming by!
Wow. And I am no green thumb either, but I love these pictures and the things you shared. Lately, I really want to learn more.
I am with you there. I am trying.
have a good day!
would love it if you could share this on my link party – http://serenityyou.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/serenity-saturday-47.html
Thank you for the invite! I have linked up. Hope to see you here again soon!
I had to giggle when I read about finding out about morning glory being a weed not a flower! Because I am the SAME exact way when it comes to learning about gardening! BUT I think a lot of weed/flowers are pretty…just as pretty as “REAL” flowers!
We’d love it if you’d share this at our link party – Home is Where the Heart is! http://www.homesteadsimple.com/home-is-where-the-heart-is-link-it-up-wednesdays-1/
Done! Thank you for the invite and coming by. I have to laugh when I see dandelion leaves for sale at the store… Weeds huh?
Our gardens are doing well but we lost a few cucumber plants from the heat. Can you believe how hot it is? I love the photo of the coneflower.
I think it’s supposed to cool down a bit this weekend. Maybe we’ll get some rain. Thank you for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things blog hop.xo
It is crazy how hot it is! Thanks for hosting the party! It is always fun to share!
Beautiful pictures,thanks for sharing with us at welcome to the weekend blog hop
Hi, I enjoyed this post you linked in to Claire Justine. I have linked in a post about the artist Klimt. Have a super week.
Thanks! Same to you!
Pretty flowers. And great gardening tips. Thanks for sharing at the All Star Block Party.
First, I have to totally applaud your flower photos. Those are absolutely breathtaking! I wish I could be that good.
Second, I am also not a very good gardner. Actually, I want to be a gardener, but I don’t have a garden–I just have potted plants and they always die. So I feel for you in your lack of a green thumb.
Thanks Bethany… they are one of my favorites to photograph. But my camera does a lot of that magic too. And yes, I try at the garden… I would love to have a beautiful huge garden. I guess it will stay on the to do list for awhile! Have a good week and thanks for coming by!
I never had to weed the garden growing up…probably because we didn’t have one. I envy you being able to grow anything. I can’t even keep a house plant alive. I found you though Operation Fabulous at Naptime Review and I’m now following you through Facebook!
Ha, ha. Our first garden… one carrot, one squash and I think 2 green onions. Trust me, we planted a lot more than that. I am sure I will get gardening down… one of these days.
Thanks for coming by!