Grandpa's Trowel

Today I went to Tri Valley where friend Barbara is in charge of the horticultural program there.     Each year she raises a few plants to sell to help fund her program.    Her plants are always the best (for for years she ran our local Florist and Greenhouse, as did her parents before her) and I'm always eager for her sale.

My haul?    Two big pots of pink begonias that I always put in one of my planters.     And

White salvia, a tomato (a free gift) and seven basil plants.

On the stairs and ready for planting.     And my planting tool of choice?

Grandpa's trowel.    Husband Jim's Dad welded the trowel when Jim was small.    When his mother passed away a couple of years ago, the trowel was part of his inheritance.    It's a trowel with a good weight and there is no way that the handle will split or snap off!    It's a trowel made to last!

The perfect tool to dig holes for my newly acquired plants.    The white salvia in the patio bed -- which is full of perennials.    These should fill the bed with bloom when the perennials are not blooming!   Adding a bit of color all summer.

The begonias -- in an old concrete planter -- as we've done for the past five years or so.

It is beginning to look like a garden at Linderhof.    With pots getting filled and annuals being planted in the garden.    

The basil is always the last to go in -- it doesn't like cold and so we make sure that the spring chill is gone before we plant our basil.     The bonus!    I cut them back a bit and so we have our first fresh garden basil in the kitchen.     A simple pasta with roasted grape tomatoes and a shower of basil and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.  

It's Wednesday and I'm sharing my time in the garden with Susan at A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday.

It truly was a beautiful day on the prairie and I always enjoy spending a whole day in the garden!    Ollie kept me company as he always does when I'm in the garden!