My four-garden bed garden is off to a good start. I have eleven different flowers growing in several places, and the fantastic thing is that I know just about all of their names.

That’s quite a change from knowing none.

I love gardening so far, but the real test is yet to come.

I’ve learned a lot and take scrupulous care of my four garden beds, watering them daily, but not overwatering them,  weeding, and planting where I see openings. I can now tell a weed from a flower.

I have a rich, exciting, diverse bunch of flowers growing, and I wanted to show each of them in order to share the progress I am making. So many of you have helped me along.

The garden experiment has inspired me to confront my Dyslexia and learn the names of the flowers I am growing. With the help of the Gardeners of Good, Maria, one or two erratic plant apps, and some new techniques for writing things down, I’m bulling my way past the Dyslexic wall that has blocked me so much over the years.

It can be lived with, and I’m doing the work.

Thanks for your help, encouragement, and wisdom. I give myself a B. I’m doing well, but the real test comes when my flowers bloom, and I’m taking them out into the world. Too soon for A’s. I don’t want to get cocky.

Good gardening is not simple.

I admit it; I’m proud of my gardens and the work I’ve done. This year I think I have a good chance of becoming a natural gardener. I’ve made enough mistakes for five people and struggled to learn the names of the flowers I’m growing. I’m making a few mistakes now and learning the words.

Good progress. I might be a better student than I thought I was.

The flower above is a lobelia, a flowering plant in the bellflower family. I have these growing in a hanging plant on the black porch. Maria says we can eat them in salads, but I couldn’t.

 

I am very proud of my nasturtium garden, a memorial to the children killed in our classrooms. This is the first plant I’ve brought back from the dead and is beginning to thrive. I knew it wouldn’t fail those children. We can’t seem to protect our children, the least we can do is remember them.

 

These are my primrose seeds, starting to come in my new raised bed Primrose garden. I planet them less than a week ago.

I have a nice mix of colorful flowers that will come up at different times throughout the summer and early Fall. Everyone who knows me here will get a bouquet now and then, all summer. I’ve got a whole primrose garden going and sprinkled some primrose seeds on the other three beds.

 

I’ve got petunias growing in three different places, two in hanging baskets right next to my garden beds, and others planted in the beds themselves. This old basket came with the house; we found it hidden away in the woodshed.

 

I’ve planted zinnias in all three beds since I did so well with them last summer. They will make beautiful flowers for the bouquets I’ll be handing out until the Fall, and they are starting to bud.

 

 

More petunias, I love these flowers; these are hanging in a basket on the back porch. The colors are rich and deep.

 

 

I’ve planted two packets of marigold seeds in my garden beds. They, too, are beginning to pop up. I’m a month away from the flowers I most want to see, but it’s good to know they are coming. I’m excited about the mix.

 

I’ve finally identified these very young flowers as Begonia’s, a different strain than we usually see. I can’t wait to see them unfold. Begonias come in many different ways. These flowers should be gorgeous.

 

 

I love poppies (above); they are bright and transparent and graceful. They should blossom in a couple of weeks, but they are growing fast and strong in two of my beds.

 

More begonias, I planted a dozen bulbs I got at Country Power Products; they are unusual but beginning to open.

 

I planted a score of gladiola bulbs, which are shooting up. Gladiolas are beautiful flowers and perfect for the bouquets I’m planning. Flowers are two or three weeks away.

And last but not least, my campanula’s or Peach-leaved Bellflower. They were my first flowers to bloom in the raised beds this summer. They are coming on strong.

Thanks for coming along on this tour. I love gardening; I feel like a proud papa. Stay tuned if you are so inclined, it will only get better.