We've got strawberries planted on the far end, which is a bit of an experiment. I haven't had much luck with strawberries in the past. I mean, they grow well, but I always had them in pots before and the birds would get to them before I could. So, this year, I'm trying them in the ground. And I got a good tip to put a piece of garbage sack (or something similar) around the base of the plant with a hole cut in the center. That way the strawberries itself don't lay on the ground to rot, they lay on the garbage sack, yet still have room to grow in the soil. We also have onions, 3 diff varieties of tomatos and peppers, both jalapeno, banana peppers, and bell peppers.
Last year we also planted watermelons and cantaloupe, which did VERY well. Almost too well. We started out with the idea to plant them along the back side of the garden and let them grow (in vines) up the fence. Well, only problem was, once they produced a fruit, the melon got to heavy and would break off the fence. So, we ended up letting them grow out into the yard, taking over one side of our yard. They produced fruit - and it was all yummy, but it didn't look very nice and made for hard jobs at mowing.This year, another tip, to "sling" the watermelons/canteloupes to the fence using pantyhose or something similar to hold them onto the fence. So, we're trying again using this technique. As soon as a fruit starts to produce we will build it a "sling" to hold it to the fence. Then if it starts to go past the fence, in theory, we're going to keep it groomed by cutting it back. Wish us luck with this!
In the center, are our tomatos and they still need their stakes to tie off to (one project left to do), but haven't started producing yet, so we'll do that as needed.
And our strawberries have already started bearing fruit! And Brooke and I ate these two tonight! YUM! I hope they continue to do well. We only have a small garden and only plant what we can eat. With the exception of strawberries - I swear we could eat strawberries for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But since I'm not so sure about how well they'll do, we still started out small.
And these pictures are just for fun. In our backyard, we have two flowerbeds on either side of the house. On one side, it seems we constantly are having to re-do, rebuild, etc every year. We finally got it this year where we only had to replace two plants. The bridal wreath and some of the other 'greenery' plants survived and are thriving. Maybe after 4 yrs here, we are finally making progress on this side?
This is the other side of the flowerbed...never needing maintenance. Again, bridal wreath seems to do well here for us (that's why we planted it on the other side), but the other plants are thriving as well. We have really never had to touch this flowerbed. It just does so much better. So, hopefully the other side will start to learn from this one. ;)
This is the backside of Brooke's 'clubhouse'. The lattice work encases her sandbox underneath the playhouse...er...sorry, "clubhouse". Last year I planted jasmine on each corner of the lattice because frankly, I LOVE the smell. They started out last year as tiny little plants (wish I had a before shot), and this year are doing wonderfully! 
Our rose bushes in the front yard are also doing well this year and here's our first bloom of the season!
This is another rose bush that provides some very interesting (and pretty) colored roses. Hard to describe, but it's a pinkish-purplish color. You can see the tiny blooms all over where we're about to have some nice blooms! We have a total of 6 rose bushes in the front, strategically placed in front of windows. Every one is a different color rose, so between these beautiful blooms and the bridal wreath in the back yard - I should have the makings of great vase arrangements!
These are some other random flowers in the front yard that are showing off their pretty blooms this Spring.
And just ending with a cool picture - I thought. I'll def post more pics of our garden/flowers as they develop and as we make a hopeful progress! Ideally it would be nice to have the garden pay for itself and actually provide us with much needed 'groceries'. I would eventually like to have a fruit tree collection as well, but that will be down the road. In the meantime, it is a fun hobby for me...both the flowers and the vegetables/fruit. Our family loves to be outside and the nice 'scenery' provides a nice setting to enjoy our backyard and neighborhood. Happy Spring!
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