got plants?

{disclaimer: this is a l-o-n-g post with pictures.  i'm just warning you now.  by the way, did you check out my wordless wednesday post?  i'm super proud of my bee pictures.}

we're serious about our plants.

really, we are.

about 5% of our garden is either store bought {the okra we planted last year} or has come back year after year on its own {all of our herbs, tomatoes & peppers}.  the other 95% of our garden comes from plants that we sprouted from seeds.  it's a seemingly simple, yet frustrating, process that requires a lot of careful planning, trial and error & a bit of luck.

trust me.

we don't have a greenhouse nor do we have much of a green thumb.  we just enjoy growing & tending to plants that repay us for all the love & care by providing us with fresh fruit, veggies & herbs.

as for the other flora in our yard, well, we paid good money for all of it & the landscaping of our backyard has been a process that has lasted MANY years {never ending, it seems}.  even our most overgrown flower beds provide us with new plants to split & share with friends and family.  we recently created a new flower bed in our yard {we got rid of our swingset} and a lot of what we planted came from other parts of our yard or from my parents' flower beds.  recycled plants, y'all...it's as green as you can get!

and, because i am proud {super proud} of what we are doing within the confines of our privacy fence, i'm going to share a few more pictures of our garden goodness {because showing off our green thumb wasn't enough}...

onion blossoms are big puffballs of pretty, aren't they?
such a big difference from the picture i took a couple weeks ago.

 dill...covered in dew.

this is the first time we've grown dill.  we sprouted dill seeds...twice.
the first attempt was a big mess.  our second attempt?  success!

 our tomatoes have blossoms!
i honestly don't remember if these are grape or roma.  this is one of the plants that came back on its own.  adam seems to believe that they cross-pollinated last year.  i'm not sure if that's possible, but, who knows, we may just wind up with a grape-roma hybrid!

chives.  i think this is my second or third time sprouting chive seeds this year.
i'm looking forward to adding fresh chives into scrambled eggs. yum!

earlier this week, i was watering the garden and noticed that our beans are sprouting.  

have you ever had a fresh green bean?  i'm not talking about the kind you can buy by the bagful at your local grocery store.  no, i'm talking about fresh off the plant. 

delicious.

sprouting green beans {or any bean or pea, really} is super easy.
no wonder beans were my "go to" plant for science projects as a kid.
really. if you're looking to start a garden & want to sprout your own seeds, i suggest starting with beans.

another easy plant to sprout from a seed & grow:  sunflowers.

these aren't just any ole sunflower.  they're are mammoth sunflowers.

we grew some last year.  at the plants' peak, i think they were about 15 feet tall with flowers that were just over a foot in diameter.  they were crazy big.
we also had smaller sunflowers growing along our back fence.

is there anything prettier than a zucchini blossom?  they've bloomed a bit more since i took this picture on monday.  i cannot wait for fresh zucchini.  our yellow squash is showing signs of blossoms, too.

adam has always been hesitant to grow any kind of leafy green.  i don't know why.  we tried {last year} to grow lettuce & failed miserably.  i'll admit, this IS our second attempt at growing both arugula {or rocket} & spinach {pictured above} and i think we've been pretty successful thus far.

 we turned our old metal fire pit into a planter box and that is where we sprouted the arugula & spinach seeds.  the fire pit cover is currently sitting on top of the sproutlings {is that even a word??} in an effort to keep our oldest boston terrier, frisco, out of the dirt.
{trust me, you should have seen what he did to this shortly AFTER i planted the seeds.  i wouldn't be surprised if there's spinach & arugula growing out of our pavers.}

not long after we moved into our house {back in 2002}, i came home with three oleander plants.  only one survived.  in fact, it barely survived.  the other two drowned.  adam put in a french drain & i haven't had a plant drown in our side yard since.  

i'll get a picture of the flowers.  promise.

 the lavender is blooming the teeniest purple flowers.  i wonder if i can cook with this lavender?  i'm not sure of the variety.  does anyone know? 

 first, i think orange is my new favorite color {it was red}.  

second, i think poppies are my new favorite flower {it was gerbera daisies}.  

third, i am in love with the tissue paper like quality of the poppy's petals.  

i believe these are champagne poppies.  between my three poppy plants we have yellow, white, orange & pink flowers.

    and, because it is the proper {southern} thing to do, i have a magnolia in my yard.  

actually, i have two. 

our landscape plan called for a sweet bay magnolia, but i want to say that i bought a star magnolia.  of course, this bloom looks nothing like a star magnolia's bloom, so maybe i did buy a sweet bay way back when.
we have an ann magnolia in our front yard.  

p.s.  my daddy hails from mississippi...also known as the magnolia state.

 many years ago, my mom gifted us with about five small lily plants.  this is what five small plants have turned into.  yes, it is covered {and i mean COVERED} in buds.  our side flower bed {which is ridiculously overgrown} is about to explode with color.

and, last but not least, i have a mum that's ready to bloom.  this plant was something i picked up from wally world a few autumn's ago and it's been so neglected & uncared for.  it's still in the same tacky, plastic, wanna be terra cotta pot it came in.  but, you know what?  this plant has been the most forgiving plant i've ever had.
{watch, now that i've said all of this, it's gonna die.}

linked up with frugal gardening 101: the busy mom's guide at getting freedom from debt - go check it out!