Some know I moved from my 1 acre home with lots of flower/veggie/herb beds, trees and shrubs. I am now gardening in containers on my small deck attached to my condo which is not quite the same but still enjoyable. One thing for sure there is a lot less work!
My garden so far includes edible flowers: pansies and violas, blue boys, 2 kinds of mini marigolds, 2 kinds of nasturtiums; herbs: dill, parsley, 2 kinds of thyme, 2 kinds of basil (including Thai), oregano, mint, 2 kinds of sage, tarragon, rosemary, chives; veggies: 2 kinds of lettuce, Thai Dragon and Jalapeno peppers. I might have to get a cherry tomato plant to make my garden complete! These all do great in containers so there is no excuse not to have a garden no matter how small your space.
As soon as I started to pot up my herbs, lettuce, pansies and violas I had visitors coming to check things out. Here are the first to visit my container garden… As the season goes along I hope to add many more pictures of my Michigan garden in containers.
A small bumblebee enjoying my violas amongst my lettuce…
A bee or a wasp – I did try to identify it in my reference books… Maybe a yellow jacket?
Some recently potted plants that I grew from seed and those that I bought or grew under gro-lights…
I love these containers (not fond of plastic but they fit perfectly on my railing)… I bought four so I will be able to add more of a variety of plants and get the most out of my deck space.
May 31, 2018 – Time to harvest some of those beautiful leaves for dinner tonight…
June 1st -Peek-A-Boo – this little tree frog loves the coolness of my lettuce, soil and shade.
Peek-A-Boo – back in my lettuce – he probably thinks I don’t see him!
Actually, this was my first visitor that I captured on my camera; a wasp interested in my lunch! Zingerman Deli Pot Pies post yet to come… I did not know this little guy was in the picture!
Wasps aren’t the best pollinators but they still are pretty to look at – from a distance! Notice the pretty markings on him…
I knew “someone” was stealing the fibers from my coco fiber basket… to build their nest… Don’t you just love robins!
A male cardinal came to visit…
This chickadee was probably building a nest too…
Edible Flowers add a nice pop of color to my recipes…
May 31st – My dill plant is full of 3/8-inch caterpillars! It was hard to focus on the little guys as they were so small… Those little black specs are very tiny caterpillars.
This little guy is only 3/8-inches long!!! He’ll be much prettier as a butterfly… This picture was taken at 4:00 p.m on a very sunny day.
June 4th – Changing colors and getting bigger – they are voracious eaters. I wish I could have captured him “chomping” away on my dill!
June 10th – They totally ate the dill plant so I placed some parsley plants around for them to eat. You can see they are enjoying it 🙂 
Unfortunately, the plant stems are too weak to hold these “fat” caterpillars so I had to transfer them to my Italian parsley plant which is quite big with lots of yummy leaves.
Transfer was a success and they are enjoying all these lovely leaves. I wasn’t sure how they would adapt from dill to parsley but they did just fine. Looks like 5 are going strong…
June 13th – Only two of the caterpillars are left – either the rest were eaten or they are off becoming pupae.
June 5th – Male Baltimore Orioles and Male Yellow Finches have come to my garden – alas my camera was not ready! I could put up feeders for both but then it also attracts other visitors. Bees love the sugar water and raccoons love finch seed!!!
June 8th – A Swallowtail butterfly looking for a place to lay her eggs…
June 15 – My grape tomato plant…
July 4th – My grape tomatoes are starting to turn red!
July 14th – had my first grape tomatoes on a tossed salad. There are lots of these pretty beauties!
July 18th – A new visitor and he didn’t mind me getting up real close to take his picture!
Wishing you happiness in your new home!
Thanks – it has been an adjustment but nice not to have so much yard to take care of – the Association does all the work around my condo.
What beautiful flowers for your deck and little visitors too! Enjoy your condo, Judy. Sounds wonderful!
Most of the plants are just getting started but I hope to have a beautiful garden before too long 🙂
Share your beautiful photos with us, Judy! I haven’t even tilled my garden yet. But usually I don’t plant until the first of June.
With container gardening you can start early and bring plants in or cover them very easily. When I had my big gardens it was around June 1st too, to be safe!
Sounds like you may have similar weather. I think next week I may put my window boxes in, the flowers because they’re up off the ground they will be okay. Good luck with yours!
Beautiful gardening!
Thanks – container gardening does have its advantages!
Lovely flowers
Thank you – pansies and violas are great spring flowers!
Such a lovely garden and I love your photos! Thank you for sharing with us at Fiesta Friday!
Thanks – I have always enjoyed taking photos of wildlife. You should see the albums from when we lived on 75 acres and had woods, water, fields…
I bet you have some beautiful photos!
Beautiful. I’m kind of jealous. I like gardening enough, but when it gets hot, like yesterday when it was 96, I have a hard time being out for a few hours. Sometimes I fantasize about having a patio home!
Thank you – I would go out early and do my gardening (6:30-7:00) before the humidity and heat became an issue. From 75 acres to 1 acre to container gardening is part of the process of downsizing 🙂
You have a beautiful garden and I love the pictures of your visitors. I’ve been hanging the combed out fur from the dogs on a shrub outside my window and watching the birds take it for nesting material. You can stay connected to nature with even a few growing things. Come late summer I will be envious of the easy care you have.
Thanks Liz – nothing compared to what I use to have – like your yard now with all the perennials. Except I use to grow a bunch of veggies too. Gene has been gone 9 years so it was time for me to get something more manageable… Your dogs have beautiful fur and I am sure the birds loved to build their nests with it.
Beautiful! I am now working on getting my garden ready!
Thanks Diann – I have been gardening a long time and no matter what the size I always enjoy it. I don’t miss all of the physical work with a big garden but the personal satisfaction of seeing my veggies/flowers/herbs thrive!
It felt like I was reading my own story on your gardening post Judi. We too downsized from that acre lot to a much smaller lot. We do have flower beds all around, but I have also started container gardening, mostly flowers though. I love your selection and can’t wait for you to post more gardening posts. Great job!
Hi and thanks Loretta – yes, my gardening has scaled down quite a bit. I have a nice front yard but it is full of trees, shrubs and a few perennials. Because I am renting this condo I am not putting any money into it. The sides of all the condos are just grass and the back is all Association grounds so I just let them do their thing. I can enjoy my deck with containers…