Spring Gardening - MyPictureDay Submission

Participating in the MyPictureDay challenge as you might have guessed from the title of this blog post.

I am quite excited to take you around my back garden. It has taken six years and countless hours to get it where it is now. I got to tell you, it is not the dream garden by any standard, but it is my little heaven of hard labour, experiments and care. Knowing nothing, I can proudly say I now grow veg & fruit. Is it sufficient? Don't be fooled. I am not slaving, just enjoying this side of life.

Fl🌸wers

I tend to enjoy scrolling through the images of gardens on the internet, looking at the pretty colourful arrangements, tidy green lawns, funky furniture and decor. I don't have it, I L😍VE pots, and I grow everything in containers.

From year to year, I spend a fortune in the Garden Centres because temptations to buy the flower arrangements are too powerful and my willpower - too weak. Unfortunately, nothing looks the same beautiful once purchases are unpacked and replanted. I am terrible at it. I guess it is a gift! Or a curse.

Luckily, my favourite way of shooting is going to f 1.8, which makes everything look better. How do you notice details otherwise, right? Of course, 35mm is not a macro lens. I would give up a mobile phone for ten days to own it. We all are interested in getting things we don't have.

I did not get a chance to spend money on flowers this year, so here is a lockdown flower gallery.

^{Moroccan Daisy - f/1.8 | ISO 100 | 1/1600s | 35mm}

^{Astrantia Star of Love - f/1.8 | ISO 160 | 1/4000s | 35mm}

^{Sea Thrift - f/1.8 | ISO 100 | 1/800s | 35mm}

^{Dahlia Dahlietta - f/1.8 | ISO 160 | 1/800s | 35mm}

^{Viburnum Kilimandjaro - f/1.8 | ISO 160 | 1/2500s | 35mm}

^{Pansy - f/1.8 | ISO 160 | 1/200s | 35mm}

^{Polemonium Kaleidoscope - f/1.8 | ISO 100 | 1/500s | 35mm}

^{Geum 'Scarlet Tempest' - f/1.8 | ISO 100 | 1/1600s | 35mm}

Fruit & Berries

In the past, I tried to grow blueberries. It is such a picky bush. First, it did okay for a week, then yellow leaves slowly began to appear, following by wilting. I was devastated! I have also nearly lost my pink dwarf apple, but as you see below, it survived and has tons of flowers this year.

I grow a variety of berries and fruit:

gooseberries,
red currant,
white grapes,
red apples,
pink apples,
cherries,
strawberries.

The season just began!

^{Red Currant' - f/1.8 | ISO 100 | 1/1000s | 35mm}

^{Purple Weeping Crab Apple - f/1.8 | ISO 100 | 1/250s | 35mm}

^{Cherry Tree - f/1.8 | ISO 100 | 1/250s | 35mm}

^{Strawberries - f/1.8 | ISO 100 | 1/200s | 35mm}

Greens

Since the beginning of the lockdown, I am growing salad. But, Gosh, it is taking forever.

Did you know you can cut the leaves leaving the centrepiece intact and the bush will continue to grow?!

I planted some spinach and chard with my kid the other day. Let's see if it proves as successful!

^{Italian Salad - f/1.8 | ISO 100 | 1/250s | 35mm}

C🦋coon

Imagine, sitting, cleaning my strawberry pot from the dead brown leaves and other dirt and suddenly felt this thing in my hands. Looked like poop to me at first, frightened me!

Then got on the google search, turns out we might be growing a butterfly now!

^{Butterfly Cocoon - f/1.8 | ISO 100 | 1/4000s | 35mm}