April Showers

These days have been rushing by so quickly that it’s hard even to remember what day it is, even though each day is as unexpected and unique as the next. At the beginning of April the second quarter of Baking & Pastry school began and another change in my ever-evolving schedule has thrown things pretty out of whack. Luckily it’s gotten warmer and in my very small amount of free time (Sundays) I’ve been looking forward to getting a little garden together. I’ve picked up a couple of blueberry plants, planted some kitchen herb seeds, and 10 small strawberry plants that are blossoming and incubating little strawberries:

I don’t have a great deal of time or patience to get really into gardening, but I’ve always been pretty in love with the idea. My back “yard” is kind of small, and isn’t really a yard, but mostly a concrete pad with a strip of planting area running the perimeter of the small urban yard. The boyf sketched out some planting ideas about a month ago during our first warm spell, but it hasn’t quite come together. Maybe it’s because I read The Secret Garden one too many times when I was young or maybe it was my grandparent’s large and well kept garden that stole my heart:

So I’ve been looking for a little inspiration on the potted/container garden front to motivate myself to get out there and make my garden the kind of place I dream about disappearing into:

From Marthastewart.com

Orchid Show at the Smithsonian Botanical Garden

From Freegardeningadvice.info

I’m definitely looking forward to creating some kind of potted garden. Is it so wrong that I’m tempted to put up a tall wooden fence between mine & my neighbor’s yards or grow tall thick plants along the little chain-link fences to block out all of the eye sores, jort-wearing neighbors, construction projects and urban noise? Gardens have always signified a hiding place to me, somewhere I’ve looked forward to going alone with a cup of coffee and my imagination. A break from reality and a moment of pure beauty. It’s a little cooler in the summer heat and a little quieter than the park. Shoes are optional. I’m also interested in picking up some of these to cover up some of that dull concrete pad and bring some warmth to the yard:

Platta Decking from Ikea

Sometimes after daydreaming a little bit about a project like this I fall back into reality and wonder if I’ll ever really be able to make time to do it all, or if when I’ve got the time I’ll be able to afford it. At the moment it’s happening in small steps, and for now at least that’s okay. There’s a lot of spring and summer yet to come =D