Patio Garden

My patio faces west, so I was concerned that herbs wouldn't get enough direct sunlight and wouldn't grow. But I wanted a patio garden so badly that I started buying plants anyway. I intended to just get one or two plants, see how they fared, then get more if they grew and seemed happy. That intention didn't last longer than first contact. I loved having plants on the balcony, and I'd buy two to three new ones every couple of weeks from February through April.


I've had the spider plant, aloe, and rose bush the longest. But the pineapple sage and a rosemary plant that didn't make it were the first herbs I bought. Now I have basil, thyme, mint, oregano, catnip, rosemary, lavender, sage, pineapple sage, and cilantro in my herb collection.

The cilantro was the first herb to flower. I was surprised, because I'd never seen cilantro flower. Those little white flowers smelled so good, like cilantro times ten. Unfortunately I didn't photograph them. Now the catnip (clustered white) and pineapple sage (tubular red) have flowers.

This padawan has a long way to go when it comes to listening to plants, but at least this patio garden appears happy and healthy, with pretty little flowers.