It's been over 25 years since I first designed and constructed my "Early Garden." It was thus named because it was the first part of our property that receives the morning sun. Over the years, I've wearied of weeding and maintaining it all. Know what I mean, fellow gardeners? But this spring has brought a renewed interest in beautifying the Early Garden, so last week I began with the NW quadrant to create a designated herb garden. It's the closest to the kitchen, so it's really the "kitchen garden" as it were. Here are a few pix with captions:
My digging up of flora from the past begins. Bess is on hand to pluck worms as I unearth them.
Gone are the rampant lemon balm volunteers, the feverfews, the love-in-a-mists, the past-blooming iris leaves, the old straggly calendulas from the 1980's. Time to plant anew.
The first new residents: a rosemary plant, a sage plant and a thyme from friend Jennifer, some parsley babies from friend Tom, dug up from the old garden, two pericallises (violet flowers; garden gifts from Rick), and a couple of new pansies for more color. The sorrel plant from friend Patty was kept, as was the heritage rose from my mother-in-law.The vinyl chicken fencing is to keep you-know-who from excavating in the soft earth. There is plenty of room for other herbal newcomers, so I'll post more photos as I make progress on the planting.
Jocelyn Curry 
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