Do you have a garden? For most of my life, I have been gardening. I have found that the reason I garden has changed over the years. This is my little garden now – it has a variety of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, cantaloupe and a variety of herbs.

When we were growing up the farm, it felt like we gardened all summer. Not only was gardening a way to feed a family of eight, but also was a way to keep six kids busy! We had a corn garden, a tomato garden in addition to our regular garden. The main garden had lots of green beans, lettuce, radishes, squash, and variety of other vegetables. Plus we had an orchard and a few grapes. Just up the road my grandparents had a potato garden, an orchard and grapes. We planted, weeded, picked and preserved. By the end of the summer, we had two freezers and a basement full of food.

But through all that I did learn that I preferred to be outside – even in the hot heat. I would always choose working in the garden or mowing the yard to cleaning house, and I am still that way.

Now I garden more for the creativity and fun! I love going to the nurseries and picking out plants (I rarely use seeds anymore – just for a few flowers). It is fun to play in the dirt! Getting out the tiller and turning the soil means spring is almost here! As I till I think about what I am going to plant where.

Is there anything better than fresh tomatoes from the garden and the first BLT of the season? I also like to make salsa to give as gifts. These cherry tomatoes were grown by seed by my daughter. I love watching my grown children in their gardening adventures. They often start their plants from seeds and nurture them until they are ready to plant in their raised bed gardens. They grow a wide variety of plants – from kohlrabi to asparagus to heirloom varieties of tomatoes.

Herbs are easy and fun to grow – plus many are so pretty! They can be combined with flowers to make bouquets. Being outside and working in my garden always brightens my day. I think is it good for your soul! Gardening boosts your mood and just makes you feel happy!

One of my favorite herbs is basil. Not only is it a flavorful addition to many sauces and caprese salads, basil smells so good! I like to cut a few sprigs and put them in a vase by my kitchen sink. Love that fresh smell!

This is a pineapple sage plant, which will have bright orange blooms. I like to plant some different plants each year, just to play.

Gardening can be a way to supplement your family’s food supply – using fresh produce or preserving food for the winter months. Gardening can also be a source of creativity, fun and a stress reducer. You can share your produce with others or make gifts to share from your garden. Perhaps the best reasons to garden – you get to play in the dirt, enjoy the sunshine and it will make you happy! Enjoy!!!!!

Sweet Peas are another one of my favorite flowers! I love the gorgeous old-fashioned vines with their frilly, butterfly-like blooms. They just look like they should be planted at a cottage or grandma’s house, but they will also add a nostalgic charm to your yard.

Sweet peas come in almost every color, except true yellow. Most of mine are white and pink, but they do come in red to lavender to blues, some are streaked and flecked. Butterflies and bees are attracted to them.

Sweet Peas should be planted in full sun in garden soil that is rich in organic matter. Vines thrive best on a trellis that the tendrils can wrap around as they climb. Some will trail six to nine feet, but there are shorter varieties that are only eight to 20 inches tall. I think I need to get a taller trellis next year!

Sweet Peas are need to be fertilized throughout the growing season. Deadheading encourages a longer season of blooms.

In the past, I have had trouble getting the Sweet Peas to grow from seed in our garden. Then I read that Sweet Peas needed to be planted in cool weather. They require about 50 days of temperatures 60 degrees to bloom well. I planted them in early spring this year and they are just now blooming. I also cheated and bought some plants at the local greenhouse and they started blooming a couple of weeks before the seeds that I planted.

You can start them indoors, but I just planted the seed directly in the garden. Before planting soak the seeds in lukewarm water for 1-3 hours, then plant immediately one to two inches deep. Some resources say that it helps to make a small nick in the seed with a knife or metal file, to allow the seed to absorb the water more easily. To encourage reseeding, let some of the seed pods develop to self-seed. (I picked a few perennial geraniums to place on top of the trellis to add a pop of purple color.)

The Sweet Peas are great cutting flowers! Make a fragrant, romantic bouquet with your Sweet Peas. The blossoms usually last about 5-7 days in a vase. Harvest the Sweet Peas when fully open, they will not continue to open after cutting. A bouquet of Sweet Peas fills the room with their fragrance.

Enjoy this old-fashioned fragrant flower!

Resources:

Vegetables Love Flowers and Cool Flowers by Lisa Mason Ziegler

Bookmarks are mastered! Time to move on to another project! Greeting cards allow you to be really creative. Gather assorted papers, washi tapes ribbons, lace, envelopes, stickers, buttons – whatever you want to use in your creations!

Using the Microfleur, or other pressing and drying method, prepare your flowers. The Peach Drift Roses make beautiful cards.

Make sure your flowers are completely dry before using them in your projects.

This was two different pieces of scrap-booking paper layered on card. After you have glued the flowers on and the glue is dry, pick up the card and gently rotate it. If some of the petals are loose, use a toothpick and a tiny amount of glue to gently glue them in place.

It is fun to matching greeting cards and bookmarks to give as gifts.

You can use washi tape on the card and the envelope to coordinate the two.

Once you have your cards designed and all the glue is dry, place them in clear display bags to store them. I keep the greeting cards in the clear bags and place them inside the envelopes when I mail them, to help protect them in the mailing process.

If I am using colored, or special envelopes, I put the envelopes with the cards in the clear bags, so I have a matched set when I am ready to use them.

If I make a matching bookmark, I place it in the back of the bag too.

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Here are some ideas for greeting cards, some with coordinating bookmarks:

I used a page out of an old book that gave gardening tips for the background of this card and bookmark. Use old book pages to match your theme or occasion. Find them in antique or thrift stores.

All our kids had leftover scrapbook paper from their LA 4 projects. These cards were made using the scrapbook paper and coordinating trim.

The craft stores have such an array of colorful cards and envelopes. The turquoise makes a nice background for the flowers. Narrow ribbon tied into a bow adds another dimension to your cards. In the lower example, markers were used to add leave-like details. You could also use paints to add details to your card.

Washi tape is an easy way to frame flowers and to coordinate cards and envelopes. It is available at hobby stores in several widths, colors and finishes. The adhesive strip on the back makes it easy to use.

Use coordinating paper as a base for the flowers for greeting cards and bookmarks. Stripes of scrap-booking paper can add a pop of color or frame your pressed flower design.

Use a script background to create a romantic look. This was a piece of scrap-booking paper, but you could use pages from old books, sheet music, or type up special message or name on your computer and copy it to fill the page.

Add buds and leaves to pressed flowers to complete your design. Peach drift roses are one of my favorites and their hold their color well.

A simple look is created when you glue the flowers and greenery directly onto the card.

Peach drift roses make beautiful greeting cards, but you can also frame arrangements like this to hang in your home, or give as a gift.

Red drift roses look cute on note-cards.

Perennial geraniums can be used to make sweet little cards.

I also experimented using a teal background and layering the dried flowers on top of paper cut-out flowers to add another dimension to the cards.

Glue additional cut-outs on the envelope to coordinate with the cards.

Yellow blanket flowers are easy to work with and make your greeting cards look happy! You could also press flowers you receive in a bouquet to create special keepsakes.

Have fun being creative! Enjoy!

Resources:

Red River Paper – cards, envelopes, clear display bags

Paper Source – cards, envelopes, cut-outs

Hobby Lobby, Michael’s, Amazon – cards, envelopes, washi tape, trim, stickers, buttons