I live in a townhouse, and I am lucky to have a couple of decent gardening spaces. In the front there is the traditional flower bed-plus-ornamental-tree-plus-hedge combo, and in the back there is a patio with beds lining one side. I've learned so much just with this small amount to play with! My first spring in the house, I ordered a small bag of mixed spring bulbs from White Flower Farm. Having grown up in the hot Texas climate, I had no clue what to do with a bulb - but I stuck them in the ground anyways according to the instructions. Lo and behold, that spring they grew!

This is now my second spring with these bulbs (and a variety of perrennials I also planted), and I am finally understanding what gardeners mean when they say it takes three years for a garden to mature. Everything I've planted in the last year and half has gotten bigger, with more flowers and bigger growth all around. I've gotten through my early spring blooms, and am now anticipating some rather spectacular late spring/early summer arrivals: alliums. The first year, each allium bulb produced maybe one or two blooms. This year, I watched in amazement as six or seven long stems appeared in each grouping! I'm going to have to dodge bees like crazy to get in the front door, but it'll be a spectacular sight.

I also tossed around some leftover bluebonnet seeds on a whim, and a lot more of them have sprouted than I expected. They are called Alamo Fire Bluebonnets, and they come out bright red instead of blue.

They are mixed in with some as yet unnamed bulbs - unnamed because I cannot remember what bulbs I planted there. They will probably bloom in the next few days, and it'll be a nice surprise to see what they are! I think they might be asiatic lilies, but I have no memory of what color.