The Marigold Potager – A Zone 3 Prairie Garden

You all, our weather is beyond wild. We have gone from heat warmings down to single digits!

The other day, my weather station told me it was 35°C (95°F) on the back deck and 33° in the greenhouse. Today is only 5 (41°F) degrees on the deck and 6 in the greenhouse. Oh. Em. Gee. This is the most bizarre thing ever.

I have a wild assortment of things to share with you on this cool, rainy Sunday. Boy, did we ever need this rain. My water bill is going to awfully high as the month has been so dry.

Bugs & Things

Do you have one of these bug/bee houses that you see in my potting shed (waiting to go out)? If so, you really need to listen to/read this podcast... Oh no. What do I do now?

If you see rounded holes like this in your leaves or flower petals, do not start spraying! These ‘bites’ are from the leaf cutter bee to use for making her nest. It does not harm the rose/tree other than making these pretty designs. Here you can see that they even take bites out of flagging tape. That must bee (hah!) the prettiest nest! Read the article here.

Slugs & Snails: How to Get Rid of Slugs and Snails in the Garden – always a pertinent question with gardeners.

How To Grow…

• Creeping Thyme: Planting, Growing, and Caring for Creeping Thyme Ground Cover
• Grow a Salad Garden in a Month: Fast-growing Crops to Sow Now
• 7 Smart Ways To Use A Greenhouse In May in Small Gardens
• Edible Flower Collection – West Coast Seeds
• The 10 Most Influential Gardening Styles

Planting Inspo

While you are still in planting mode, keep late summer in mind. What are you going to want to can? To dehydrate (I always forget to plan for this and then regret it later on).

This article about how to dry herbs is timely as I really want to grow a lot of herbs, this year. I would love to fill my spice drawer with full jars of rosemary, thyme, oregano, dill, and basil. Maybe sage, too, though we use much less of that.

Here is the link to those spice jars. They come with loads of labels, including pink Himalayan salt.

• How to Use Grass Clippings As Mulch

How to Create Beautiful Peony Flower Arrangements – Beautiful new enamel pails or galvanized pails, like the author has, are on the pricy side, but worth every penny. You can often find them on fb marketplace, flea markets, or garage sales.

Or… check out this set of 4 white flower buckets or these 4 galvanized ones from Amazon. Note that they are not wide, they are not the same big ones that you will see in a florist’s cooler, but they are still super cute!

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Holidaying, Diy-ing, Entertaining

Where the Swedes Go in Summer – I love the photos in this article, the Scandinavian simplicity and beauty. It may be because I call both Finland and Sweden home (the family lives there still) but I hope you enjoy this read, too.

This cute little potting station in a nook caught my eye! I do not have a nook or a desk, but I sure do love this set up : ) This potting table also has drawers and shelves, in case you want to do something similar but do not have an old desk.

I then found this amazingly organic Tuscan feeling outdoor party setting article. Maybe it is the Italian vibes, maybe the colour scheme, but I sure did love the article and the inspiration. Here are some similar place setting items…

• the green checked cotton tablecloth
• the jars for the homemade rosemary salt
• cans of Italian tomatoes – organic tomatoes, green Mama Linda , Bianco blue label, Bianco red label tomatoes.

• When to Water Vegetables | Watering Chart | The Old Farmer’s Almanac
• The May Garden – Spring Has Sprung

Healthy Summer Meals a Nutritionist Actually Eats

• Easy Sourdough Blueberry Bread (above) – this is on my list to make this week. Sounds and looks fantastic. I love to have extra goodies in the freezer to pull out when company is coming.
• The Ultimate Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble Pie Recipe – it’s rhubarb time!
• Strawberry Oatmeal Cookie Cobbler – I still have raspberries in the freezer so thinking of making this with them instead of the strawberries.

• Midnight Pasta Recipe (5 Ingredients, 25 Minutes) – make it the normal way, or make it vegan! Both options look great I am making the latter one for dinner tonight.

My cute little violas are finally blooming their hearts out. They were planted out well before the long weekend, have gone through 2 snow storms, hah, but are still happy as larks. However, the bummer is that I am now ready for summer plants so need to move these happy little spring flowers.

Happy Sunday ~ Tanja