In The Garden

The Boy and I spent some time in the yard Friday afternoon, Grandnanna planting and tidying up and The Boy "making a mess" in the dirt!
My herbals needed some beefing up, basil and chives are coming along and thyme has held over through winter and taken a new lease on life, cilantro sort of working. However, oregano and flat leaf parsley were absent and the spearmint died when the watering system was turned off! You know how mint loves water, in Aussie my Mum always had a thriving patch by the tap to the tank stand, our main fresh water supply and it grew lush and fragrant.
I went by Home Depot after the gym today and their herbs were half price a great time to buy so I replenished my supply. I much prefer to use fresh herbs in food prep, the flavor is so much better than dried herbs and the fragrance is divine!

 I like these new biodegradable "pots", remove the label and place it in the ground and it will incorporate into the soil - nice!  I hope the flat leaf parsley does well, I use it frequently along with basil and rosemary.

 Here is where I keep several herbs, in the pot with the little Mexican lime tree.

 The Thyme is growing like it loves this weather, but cilantro is struggling. I put the sage and oregano in there too, that should fill the tub as it all grows in. It gets morning sun only and has worked well for my herbs, they would fry in Phoenix in full sun - I have much more success keeping herbs in pots.

 Mint and parsley are in a hanging basket, they are always in shade.

My fresh greens are enjoying the Spring, kale that has held over from Fall and also arugula, and I think the cress is coming back too. 

The herb I probably use most often is rosemary which grows like a weed in Phoenix, I have a small bush that gets clipped regularly to prevent it from taking over the entire yard!

Something else that came back from almost nothing, a hydrangea with a delicate flower head not the kind traditionally seen on hydrangeas. The other two, a pink and a blue hydrangea did not revive from winter in spite of being sheltered on the patio.

This is a new gardenia I bought today also. The two gardenias in pots on the edge of the patio been flourishing for years, but this winter, a very mild one, they died back to bare stalks.

 I was afraid they might be gone for good, but they are now showing a few tiny leaves at the base and one even has a single bud forming though it looks pretty sad doesn't it?

Still, it's unlikely they will produce the usual abundance of blooms before it's just too hot so I decided to add another, can't have too many fragrant flowers.
It was too warm for any further labors so the rest of the clean up will wait till tomorrow.