It’s been quite awhile since I posted any photos of my garden, but I am happy to report that the first year experiment went pretty much according to plan! It’s crazy to look back at those before and after pictures and think what a wreck the front garden was only four months ago. We’ve made a lot of progress this year.

Sure, some plants had a rough go of it (I’m looking at you, blueberry bush), but others did remarkably well. The salvia, yarrow, and butterfly bushes have gotten nice and full and lush, while several of the sedum have done a great job of filling in the front of the garden. Confusingly, other varieties of sedum have done great in containers while their counterparts in the garden haven’t hardly grown at all. And of course, all the herbs loved how much south-facing sun the yard gets — I’m pretty sure the Thai basil would mutiny if it could.

But the showstoppers? The single packet of zinnia seeds I planted with the neighbor kids. We had to replant the seedlings and they nearly died in the process, but they have been blooming for more than six weeks now (!) and they’re showing no signs of giving up. Here are some photos from the last month of summer in the garden, and Grandma — these are for you!

above: An explosion of herbs, zinnias and soft fronds of calamintha along the sidewalk.
below: The bees are in love with all of it!


above: The zinnias grew from seed and have been blooming for more than six weeks!
below: Up close and personal with the butterfly bush, and tiny purple blossoms on the thyme are so delicate.


above: I am so impressed with the zinnia’s range of colors, but these hot pink blooms are my favorite.
below: The sedum has begun to bloom! And I’m pretty sure these tall flowers are weeds, but I didn’t have the heart to pull them up.

Earlier this week I was super excited to see that The Awl published a feature on tiny urban gardens — including mine! Writer Jessica Machado came to visit us a few weeks ago and check out the work we’ve been doing, and I’m so pleased to see her article.

Also included in her round-up is one of my favorite Brooklyn gardening blogs – Chris Phillips and Rich Powell of Brooklyn Roof Garden. And as a bonus, Jessica also solved the mystery of who maintains one of my favorite South Slope gardens (on 6th Avenue near 16th Street, close to my old apartment) — Michiko Okochi!

Check out the full article over at The Awl while I go fill up the ol’ watering can.

This past week, Zach’s parents were in town visiting and they fell in love with the Brooklyn Botanic Garden while they were here. I can’t blame them — it’s one of the major walking-distance perks of living in Crown Heights! In fact, buying a membership was one of the very first things I did last fall after closing on the house, and it seems like every week I go there’s a whole new section of the garden I see blooming, or a section I realize I’ve never visited before. Walking through the BBG is such a nice opportunity to force myself to relax after a busy week, reflect and slowwww dowwwn.

Many of our conversations this weekend centered around discussion of what we should do with our little garden in the front yard. Zach’s mother is a devoted gardener who gave me plenty of food for thought about ways we could build out the garden with hardscape and lots of plant suggestions to bring more color and fragrance to the fold.

We’re really happy with the progress so far, and I realized while I was photographing my herb bouquet this weekend that I hadn’t shared more of the progress photos yet!

We did the initial overhaul one month ago over Memorial Day, and this is what things looked like after Week One:

All those little baby plants! We were so proud of ourselves for all that hard work. It seemed like for many of the plants (salvia and yarrow in particular, but the creeping jenny and sedum too), it was slow going to get established and not look bludgeoned after a hot day in the sun. I can’t even tell you how many times Zach or I got home from work and worried about how wilted the garden looked. Thankfully we did get some good soaking rains that week, and they really helped everything settle down.

Here’s what the garden was looking like after Week Two:

It’s a bit hard to tell from these pictures, but everything started to look a lot greener and healthier. The buddleia and salvia filled out, the herbs went gangbusters, and the containers on the stoop got too big for their britches so we had a lot of replanting to do. During Week Three, I decided to feed the plants with a general fertilizer (okay, I’m not proud – I used a really watered down Miracle Gro solution because I was too lazy to go to the store and get the good organic stuff) and we got more rain, of the gentle soaking variety.

And now after Week Three, the vision is starting to come together:

It’s really exciting to see the plants fill out as intended, but I’m getting anxious to plant a few more herbs and flowers for color! Hopefully I’ll get a chance this weekend to head to the greenmarket and shop. Can anyone recommend flowers they love to grow that would be happy getting planted at this late stage in the game?

Meanwhile, here are a few glimpses of what’s happening in the garden right now!

This lovely yarrow has sprouted wonderful tiny flowers:

The jade plants have come outside to keep the tiny cucumbers company:

Our kale is growing huge:

Lots of little tiny tomatoes are cropping up everywhere, and the sight of bees has taken on new meaning for me:

Clockwise, from top left: Thai basil, buddleia, sedum and calamintha:

While still small, the lavender smells DIVINE:

Two more varieties of yarrow stand tall with lacy fronds:

The sedum has really taken off, and so have my Portuguese hot peppers:

And finally, an unidentified plant I just don’t have the heart to pull. Anyone know what this is?

Today in the cool drizzle of summer rain, we gave the garden some overdue lovin’ — and that meant pruning, and lots of weeding. Where to start? Well, the oregano was starting to flower and the lemon verbena was flopping over, so it was time for them to get a haircut. The basil is ALWAYS going crazy (thank the Lord) and I decided I want to try rooting them in water, so out came the clippers.

I’m a big fan of the herb bouquet as I so enjoy their fresh scent more often than flowers, but feel free to tell me I’m wrong and recommend something that smells sweeter and I’d love to try it. Apparently, the kitten shares my fondness for a good herb bouquet. He is OBSESSED:

We’ve had family in town all week, so there’s been lots of sitting on the stoop and discussing what we want to do with the garden next. I’m excited for all the ideas that are percolating but eager to see the plants reach their full potential or find out what’s not working. I’m so impatient sometimes, and too much of a control freak to ‘zen’ out in the garden. GROW, PLANTS!@1! But I love this part, the pruning and the admiring and the pondering of the miracle of nature indoors. Man, that sounded so granola.

In upcoming projects, I really want to try creating a smaller, taller version of this genius modern DIY planter that Anna from Door Sixteen posted and use it as a divider between our stoop and the neighbor’s. And I’m dreaming about planting a fig tree, and maybe some more sedum and herbs and grasses for density. And then we have to start thinking about what bulbs to order for next year, omg and then it’s winter again. Okay, RELAX.

I’m going to go smell my little bouquet and chill out now.