I know that lavender spreads, so I usually buy a pretty plant at the nursery and keep it in a pot. The plant in the front is a yellow variety of lavender.  I can’t wait to see what it looks like.  I’m hoping this one grows quickly and I will need to move it to a bigger pot.

I have two different varieties of oregano this year.  I planted a traditional oregano and a golden variety last year.  These plants have been extremely happy in my garden.  I think I have enough oregano to share with the whole neighborhood.

Parsley grows very well in my garden too.  I use parsley, in my cooking, when I feel like something needs a little color.  My bunny is a huge fan of parsley too, so she gets a handful once in a while too.

I’m just starting to use chives in my cooking.  I had always pictured chives on baked potatoes, but I’m starting to come around to using these oniony flavored stems in other dishes as well.

Lemon Balm is my newest herb.  I bought 4 small plants last year and they didn’t even grow as tall as the top of the planter.  Once the warm weather hit this year, these guys took off.  Lemon Balm is a relative of mint, so I planted them in their own container to reduce unwanted spreading.  I can’t wait to try this in salads and teas.

Last year’s Rosemary plant is still going strong!

Just because I love it, I planted another container with Oregano.  I really will be able to feed the whole neighborhood.

All of these herbs are leftovers from last year, so I didn’t even need to spend any money in my garden.  I have lots more to show you in another blog post. So many herbs, so little thyme.  Sorry.  It had to be done.

Happy planting!

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The displays were stunning!  I can’t even imagine the amount of work it takes to haul in rocks, dirt, and all of those plants.

My biggest take-away was that I NEED CHICKENS and I need an adorable chicken coop like this one.

Seriously, I left with plans to talk with our Home Owner’s Association and petition to get chickens.  My hubby claims that he is 100% sure there will be “someone” sitting at that meeting in the very front row making sure chickens are not allowed.  (Can you guess who that “someone” might be and how he is so sure?)

Another take-away is that I can totally make this:

I fell in love with is greenhouse.  It was amazing and not horribly expensive.  When my kids are grown and I have a bit more time, I think this needs to happen in my yard.

There were several speakers to choose from.  We decided to go to a class on landscaping with herbs.  Notice that I didn’t say “gardening” and instead said “landscaping”.  This speaker showed how to use tons of different herbs in your landscape rather that just putting herbs in a kitchen garden.  I learned a lot and wrote down several herbs that I’m going to grow this summer like Bee Balm, All Spice, and Calendula.

Diane has always wanted bees in her yard and when we found this display, I knew she was sold.  She bought Mason Bees for her yard and is storing them in her fridge right now.  In a few weeks, she’ll hand her bee hive outside and have her own little pollinators.  Her kids weren’t thrilled about the idea of bees but Mason Bees rarely sting and don’t even look like bees.  They look more like small flies.  She will have beautiful flowers and fruit this year thanks to these guys.  As much as I would love to add bees to my garden, I just couldn’t pull the trigger.  Maybe they’ll fly up to my house and pollinate once in a while.

There were tons of garden books.  Many were on clearance since it was the last day of the show and I bought a couple.  I even bought a book on backyard chickens for $4.98.  I didn’t buy the book below because it wasn’t on sale, but it’s on my wish list.

So, here’s what I learned from my day at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show:

*I need chickens.  I need them now.

*There are so many DIY garden crafts that I should be working on.

*Someday I will have a greenhouse.

*I’m going to try using herbs as landscape plants this summer and see how I like it.

*I need to buy herbs in bulk, rather than just 2 or 3 to put in a kitchen garden.  I need a whole border of parsley.

*I’m buying a 2-day pass for the garden show next year because I could spend an entire day in classes and listening to speakers.

Happy gardening!

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