a new bed of herbs

After the flood, I made a big decision about the two garden beds that run along the front of the house.  I grew the geraniums in those beds from tiny seedlings and nursed them through rust, drought, and completely replacing the soil.  But a few factors all came together at once: the floods really bashed at the geraniums that struggle every year in the heat.  At the same time, when we cleared all the pots off the front porch to clean it, it was remarkable how much more space we had without the pots and pots of herbs. I'd also noticed how much happier my herbs in the ground are compared to my herbs in pots. 

It actually made me sad to do it, but I pulled them out.  In the bed that gets hot, hot sun in summer I planted thyme, more sage and chives.  You can barely see the little things, but they should absolutely love the heat and sun they'll get here.  The rosemary bush casts a bit of shade in the afternoon but the sage, at least, will soon grow just as tall.

The other bed gets afternoon shade so I decided I'd plant basil (Greek and sweet) and parsley here, and in the winter replace the basil with rocket or lettuce.  This choice was even harder because the geraniums on this side do a lot better, although they did struggle badly with rust.  So in the end one plant survived the cull!

This has meant that the porch only has one small row of pots on it now, leaving things much more spacious!