Fences... could it be done?

I had a dream about our house last night and this is what I saw in it, don't know if it's a feasible idea or not but hey.

Both sides of the house had a white picket fence, about knee high or so, running partially down them in the middle. The North side had the bittersweet arbor placed at the head of it by the hosta garden / snowberries, drawing one back towards the backyard with gardens along the fence (facing South, these would be partial shade.) The South side curved a little between the bulbs in the front circle and the rose garden, and created a border for a lovely brick or stone path that led from the driveway along the side, past the roses, past the cottage garden to the garage door, past the lilac and snowberry and perennial garden, to the veggies and backyard. It bordered an area entirely of path and gardens, no grass! All with South exposure too. It was gorgeous! I wonder if it would work.

Seed Catalogs

Man oh man, the seed catalogs arrived while we were overseas. I just went through them tonight and I am so not kidding in that I had afterglow by the end. I can't tell you how excited and inspired I was!

Now, it's 5 in the morning, and I've had about 2 1/2 hours sleep (love jetlag) so I might not be very coherent, but I wanted to log some of the additions I've been thinking about for next year. My main focus for next year will be the shade garden on the North side and, finally, my blueberries. I also plan on greatly expanding the veggie garden and including more herbs. I just have to figure out where. Originally I wanted to run more box gardens East of the existing one to cover that side of the property. But then it occurred to me that that side is super soggy with rain, very poor drainage. The boxes would help, but still... I have to think about this later.

Anyway here's what's on my wish list for 2007:

Fruit / Veg:
Cucumbers
Carrots
Peas and Snap Peas
Bush or Pole Beans
Shell Beans (like lima, kidney, etc)
Tomatoes and Cherry Tomatoes
Pumpkins
Watermelon and Rockmelon
Grapes
Brussels Sprouts
Blackcurrants
Maybe Bush Cherries
Blueberries of course, including potted patio blueberries
Spinach
Broccoli and Cauliflower
Potatoes
Miniature indoor Lemon and Pomegranite trees
Corn
Celery
Onions
Garlic
Capsicum / Bell Peppers
Zucchini and Yellow Crookneck
Acorn Squash
Miniature Apple Tree in the fenced yard for the girls to pick
Strawberries and Raspberries (already there)
Rosehips (already there)

Herbs:
Basil
Cilantro
Peppermint
Lemon Balm
Lavender
Calendula again, it was the highlight of last year's garden!
Chamomile
Catnip (indoors)

Shade Garden:
Astilbe
Painted Fern
Bluebells
Bleeding Hearts
Widow's Tears / Spiderwort
Hellebores
Trillium
Lily of the Valley
Maybe more Columbine on the West edge of the garden

All this - whew! If I start it mostly from seed, it won't be too horribly expensive. I wish our house had more South facing windows. I need a greenhouse! Anyway these three areas plus seeing which of the 200+ bulbs we got in the ground last autumn come up and how they do. I'm not holding my breath, because our weather was SO weird this winter and we had temps in the 50's right through January. It may have killed many of them off. Still, it's fun to watch the ground in Spring and see what appears without having to do anything but see!

I feel like a dork but I'm so excited I can hardly keep it in. This is more fun than I have had in ages! And it's so incredibly rewarding when all these things flower and fruit due to my own labor. I get all giggly and light up just thinking about it.

Thinking ahead to 2008, my goals for that year include redoing the front hosta garden; adding old fashioned hollyhocks by the garage door (and maybe some geraniums for a cottage garden effect?) and flowering vines in the species rose garden; perking up the South perennial garden some; looking again at the daylilly bed under the birches to see what can be done; and further expanding the veggies. I'm also thinking about adding an arbor somewhere with bittersweet growing along it - how beautiful in autumn and winter!