I was procrastinating cleaning my house today, so I went outside with my phone and started taking photos of my herb garden.  They aren't the best pictures.  I did it to sort of get an idea of what all I had. And with some of them, I might have one or two of the same kind.  Here's what I have so far:

Catnip 

(I have two of these - one for my cat and one for the neighborhood cats)

Peppermint 

(I have at least 2 of these)

Just one of my Rosemary plants (I have 3 or 4) with Coriander in the background

Chocolate Mint

Coriander

Lavender (I have a few of these)

Garden Sage

Spearmint

Bee Balm

Lemon Verbena and Orange Mint

Valerian

Parsley, Cilantro, Dill

Chamomile

Lemon Balm

Horehound

Apple Blossom Yarrow

Hyssop (Blue)

Cat Mint

Anise Hyssop

Apple Mint

Salvia

Pineapple Sage

Basil

Yarrow - Island Pink

Sweet Mint

More Mint

German Thyme

Moonshine Yarrow

Salvia - Mexican Sage

Agastache

Lemon Thyme

I'm sure I'm probably missing a few but that's what I got today with my phone cam.  

It's Sunday afternoon and I am so sore.  I worked from early morning until early evening in the garden.  We got the Indian Hawthorn hedge trimmed and now I have an extra foot of room for my front porch container garden.  I've added some Agastache there which will hopefully attract the hummingbirds.  I'm told they're late this year.  The Agastache smells so good!  

It's a lazy day and I feel accomplished.  I won't update too much with words, but with photos.  

Agastache Acapulco Salmon and Pink

My Moon Flower - I planted this by the front porch step as a seed not expecting it to grow.  Well here it is today.  I'm just a little worried about it since it's right near one of the sprinklers that it might end up being dug up one day by the maintenance people.

Iceberg Roses - They are blooming like crazy right now.

Pincushion Flower - I planted this in the back by the vegetable beds.

Some potted daisies in front of the tomato beds.

The cherry tomatoes are ripening.

Queen Anne's Lace - I actually had to make an emergency move of this.  I planted it in the vegetable bed between two Rosemary plants and in the late afternoon, it had started to wilt.  I pulled it out and placed it in the ground near the Moonshine Yarrow and Pincushion Flower, gave it a bit of water and it perked back up.  I hope this plant works out.  I remember seeing it all over Pennsylvania as a child.  Back there is more of a weed but it is such a beautiful flower.

Moonshine Yarrow

Salvia Farinacea Victoria Blue

Achillea Millefolium Island Pink Yarrow

It's been a few weeks since I've had time to visit Descanso.  It's hard to leave my own garden sometimes, especially in the early morning.  I had some time today to pay a visit to one of my most spiritual places, Descanso Gardens.  I come here when I need my energy recharged.  It was a weekday, so it was exceptionally quiet.  I'm starting to be able to recognize some of the plants without having to look and read what they are.  In fact, I can now look at some of them and say, "I have that in my garden!"  Sometimes I think to myself, "Maybe I should give gardening a break today.", Or, "I really shouldn't be spending any money right now."  But when I see this beautiful patch of earth, one that I've created or a place like Descanso, I realize that every penny and every amount of effort is worth it.  It's that unexplainable feeling of magic and the swirling of energy you feel when surrounded by nature.  Here are some of the images I shot today during my visit.

I’d planned on stopping by the Huntington before making a trip to the Garden Center, but I was too distracted with having to clean up my side garden that I decided to just stop at the Garden Center and go straight home.  I ended up coming home with an Apple Blossom Yarrow and was quite proud of myself for keeping it minimal.  I spent the rest of the morning/afternoon weeding, cleaning out spider webs and reorganizing my potted plants.  In the vegetable bed, my tomatoes are beginning to ripen and the plants themseves are becoming monstrous.  I don't know why I didn't stake or cage them when they were smaller.  I knew this would happen, but somehow they seem to have become huge almost overnight.

Several of the roses are starting their second round of blooms; Sheila's Perfume and Fragrant Plum.  Sparkle and Shine is right behind with Passionate Kisses soon to follow.  My new Icebergs are putting out their first blooms since I've brought them into my garden, and lastly, the Sugar Moon is finally making new growth! 

Aside from two rose bushes on the front porch, all I have are herbs.  I would really like to add some flowers for color, but I am at a loss for space.  I do have an option to create more space which would be to trim the Indian Hawthorn bush which would give me at least a foot more room.  But my experience is only with potted plans and small vegetable beds.  I don't know much about trimming hedges and I'm afraid I'll cut it wrong and it will look awful.  I guess I will have to save that project for next week.

Why is it when I‘m at work all I do is think about what needs to be done in the garden.  Or sometimes I’ll get inspired to immediately set out to buy a new plant because it will be just perfect in the spot I am imagining.  The thought consumes me and I envision myself driving directly to the garden center because it can’t possibly wait until my day off.  That’s kind of what’s been going on all day today. 

This weekend I did more rearranging in the front garden.  I put my Yarrow in a larger pot and picked up a beautiful Dalhia  in Mystic Dreamer Pink.  It was 100 degrees and too hot to do much of anything.  This did not stop me Sunday afternoon when I sprung from a nap and rushed to the garden center to pick up fresh kitchen herbs.  Never mind I already have kitchen herbs, I just wanted to make a new herb pot and keep them handy right on my front porch.  While I was at the garden center, I came upon some Blue Hyssop.  Couldn’t walk away without that (even though I have no more room left on my porch.)

It was about 7 pm Sunday evening, but I had a sudden urge to remove every container plant and sweep the entire porch.  The reason for this was because on Saturday I noticed a lot of spider webs and the earwigs have been making my plants their dinner buffet.  By the time I finished, it was dark and I headed to the back by the vegetable beds where I had taken some of the old Candytuft that was looking tired.  As I stood in the back overlooking that garden, I realized it needed some serious attention.  The weeds were getting unruly and my containers back there were getting too disorganized.  In my head, it is a mess.

I have not been able to stop thinking about this all day.  I sure hope this week goes by fast because I have some serious work to do.

Dahlia 

Angelonia Archangel Pink

Strawberries

As usual I wanted a garden project to do this weekend.  Last weekend I didn’t do any gardening and I felt like something was missing all week.  I could have just repotted my Anise Hyssop and the new Iceberg Roses I got Tuesday night, but I needed an excuse to see what was new over at the Garden Center.  I woke up early Saturday morning and was out by 8:15.  I had to limit my spending because I had already spent part of my gardening budget earlier in the week.  After meandering up and down the aisles, my picks included “Moonshine” Yarrow and Pincushion flower.  I really want to buy more of both these.  They are a lovely addition to the garden that gives it even more of a cottage feel.  I also picked up an Angelonia in 'Archangel Pink'.  I had to do some minor rearranging to make room for the new Icebergs, but not much.  I’m very happy with how everything is looking right now.  I only wish I had more space so I could buy more plants!  I do see an opportunity in the back up against the house to fit a tall stool that I can use to elevate another container plant.  That might be next weekend’s project.

Most of the roses are making new growth in preparation for another bloom.  Ketchup and Mustard has never stopped blooming, but my first rose, the Sugar Moon, Hybrid tea isn't starting any growth since it's first bloom.  It’s been a very fussy rose since I purchased it.  I think it may have some black spot on the bottom leaves so I’ve been spraying it with Rose RX.  Hopefully, it will bloom again but I don’t know enough about roses yet to know how long it’s going to take and I’m still trying to figure this one out.

Along side of the house in the vegetable bed, 3 out of the 4 tomato plants have tomatoes already.  The green bell peppers are making flowers which means they’ll be setting fruit soon as well.  I was thinking about getting some cucumbers again this year, but last year the aphids got to them and they died before I had a chance to send the lady bugs out to take care of them.  I really wish I had more space so I could grow more food, but I don’t want to add more and over-crowd the bed.

My Moon Flower seedlings are still coming along as well.

The garden is looking more and more magical every day.

Herbs, herbs herbs...

...and even more herbs.

Bell Pepper

Moon Flower seedlings

Yarrow 'Moonshine'

Pincushion Flower

Anise-Hyssop