Getting ready for spring herb and flower planting!

It’s starting to be that time again!

Now that Easter is over I feel like most of the country is ready for spring or at least hoping their last snow fall is in the past.

When I lived in Colorado for two years to finish up my undergrad I was always so excited for the Spring season. In numerous ways it does feel like a re-birth. It is the beginning of the next 6 months of being outside and awakening from winter hibernation. While Southern California doesn’t really have ‘seasons’ it is totally not warm enough to run around in a sundress or bbq every evening. We live about 10 miles from the beach so once the sun goes down it is quite windy and chilly. Spring and summer are the months where you get to really start breaking out the patio furniture and enjoy outdoor living. 

We hosted Easter dinner at our house this last weekend and while it was a little chilly (low 60’s) it felt really good to be dinning outside again. While we were having dinner I had a good look around and realized that we desperately needed some color sprinkled into the base of our backyard foundation. We are only renting so I can’t do anything too major but I am so excited to bring some life into the space!

One of my favorite weekend actives is to have my friends over for small dinner parties and get togethers. Since our house is on the smaller side I always take things outside. Like I said before, the space is great it just needs some ‘magic’. We decided to go with an easy and approchable planter route, but we would first need some inspiration! 

Last week, I went to a few of my local nurseries to get a feel for herbs and flowers I wanted to plant. Not only was this so interesting and fun it makes for perfect lifestyle content setting. Everything was in full bloom and I was so excited to snag some spring photos!

I have also come to the conclusion that I want to go herb crazy in the backyard! Mostly because I am so tired of buying bunches from the grocery store and wasting them just for one shoot or recipe! I know there are a ton of ways to save and freeze herbs but I would love to just be able to walk outside, clip a few sprigs and be on my way. We are in the process of building a few upright planters that will hold herbs, flowers, etc. There will be a separate DIY post on how to do those as well. 

I have always been a little hesitant to grow any kind of ‘vegetables’ but I am going to try and tackle some tomato plants! My dad told me this weekend that I would need to find some kind of way to build them upwards. We have planned for one of the planters to have some kind of lattice on the back to increase the growth. I wish I could say I was growing the plants from seeds but we have decided to just go with pre planted ones. Luckily our nursery adventure left me with plenty of options to choose from! 

I do have to fully disclose that you guys are totally following this planting journey with me as I try and navigate my ‘green’ thumb. I didn’t grow up doing a ton of planting or gardening with family so this is a new world for me! Jared, on the other hand, has had tons of experience with seasonal planting. His mom was really into gardening and he actually knows a great deal more than I do. There will totally be some trial and error but I am excited to share my spring bloom journeys with you all! Stay tuned for the next post that will talk more about our planters that we built and what we ended up choosing from the nursery!