Those of you who enjoy gardening, will be excited to see the 2010 additions to my flower patch, and my vegetable garden.

Last year I posted all my monthly blooms from May through September, so as not to bore you, this year I will only share the new additions and any amazing changes to last year’s plants.

As you already know that I use only natural fertilizers and do not spray my vegetables with any chemicals.

I also deposit my kitchen vegetable scraps into my vegetable garden to create compost as an additional nutrient for my garden soil.  Some of these vegetable scraps include potato peels, or chunks of potatoes not suitable for cooking.  Many of these potato pieces sprouted into new potato plants, and will produce new potatoes for us to enjoy.

Potatoes are not one of those vegetables that most small gardeners would plant, as they take lots of space, and I am one of those gardeners.  However, this one is a keeper since it is so vibrant and in full bloom now, so it will produce at least 2-4 potatoes, enough for one dinner.  I am very excited about that, because homegrown potatoes are delicious.  At the bottom of this post I will share a close up picture of a potato flower, if you never had a chance to see one before.

Sweet Williams – what a perfect name for these flowers, as their fragrance is truly very sweet.  Aren’t they lovely?

Perfect for cut flower bouquets, but I prefer to admire them live, in my garden.

These were here last year, but this year they really spread out and I totally admire the numerous blooms.

Pruning these rose bushes this spring, resulted in numerous new branches, full of gorgeous blooms.

Here is my self grown potato plant, and a close up view of the potato flower.  I would be curious to know how many of my readers had ever seen a potato bloom before.

This year I have added few artichoke plants and sweet peas.   Sweet peas will be able to produce this year, but the artichoke will only build up strength to produce next year.  I will share an update on its progress, and hopefully enjoy some fresh artichokes next year.

We are familiar with the expression that “Diamonds are woman’s best friend”, but I think roses also fall in the same category.

If you are thinking of buying roses, Red seems to be the most popular color for Valentine’s Day, however for other occasions you may want to select a different color.

I would like to expand your horizons about the different colors of roses and their symbolism.  So next time you are shopping for these beauties, you might want to think twice about the color you want to purchase.

Then again, you can always select a bouquet of mixed colors, which is just as beautiful.

Red rose is the traditional symbol of love and romance.

Pink rose is a symbol of grace and elegance, admiration and appreciation.

Yellow rose is a symbol of warmth and happiness, joy and friendship.

White rose is a symbol of innocence, purity, honor, reverence, marriage and new beginning.

Orange rose is a symbol of passion, desire, enthusiasm, fervent romance, excitement.

Lavender rose is a symbol of enchantment, and feelings of love at first sight.

I hope you don’t worry too much about the color, since women love roses, period!

If you know that the special person in your life loves certain colors, then it does not matter what symbolic meaning has been assigned to these colors, just go ahead and go for her favorite color.

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!!!

photo credit: knitsteel

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