I had told myself, long before the chill of February had passed,

 

that I was not going to plant one seed or one blossoming plant from 

the nearby nursery in the upcoming spring and summer season.

The reason you may ask?............

For years I always have dreams of blossoming flowers, gigantic pumpkins, 

maybe a few cucumbers, onions, and tomatoes...........

each year I scrape, dig, plant, water, and drag a heavy water hose around...........

only to be beaten by a harsh climate with sun that bakes the land into

a brick,  along with tough hardy insects and ground squirrels.........who I know, 

watch with great intent and  happiness as I plant..........and then go

and eat everything I have managed to get to sprout.

I decided that I would be content to linger inside this sunny season and 

to simply stitch the hours away , letting my needle create the lovely and vibrant

flowers I have always dreamed of growing. 

However, there is just something about the fresh, warm, soil in spring

that reaches out to me as if to say "come........work with me"

And before I know it, I have the knees of my jeans dirt packed and

my arms and shoulders a shade darker than my face........

as I dig, scrape, pull weeds and push seeds into the ground ..........

with hope.

and now........how delighted I am  to try one more time.

With the recent rains and my constant looking over, the flowers are 

the prettiest I could have hoped for.

I decided to outsmart the ground squirrels by planting my pumpkins

in a large raised container, hoping they will dip down into the 

ground to produce pumpkins,

so far, it looks as if my plan just might work.

Now, here in July, where my garden once looked like this,

it now looks like this.

there are many flowers in the garden that cant be seen

from a distance

there are 4 o'clocks in varied colors

moss rose ( portulaca) ......growing everywhere

groups of happy daisies

Mexican petunia

and a mixture of morning glory, cosmos, zinnia and prairie aster.

The cosmos and zinnia I planted late and will be taller and 

blooming by late August.

among the flowers are lizards and little toads, who 

seem to always have a happy smile

and there is always a gathering of lovely butterflies

my dry garden that holds my cactus collection has a tranquil

little Buddha 

who looks as if he is happy to sit in the garden in peace.

That is how I now feel this year with my garden spaces.  

It goes back to the saying:

"If at first you don't succeed, try, try, again"

I am delighted that I did try..........just one more time.

How about you?

Have you tried over and over to grow something and feel 

like you are losing the battle with weeds, garden pests, or 

climate? 

What have you been most successful with? 

I would love to hear!