My 2021 Garden

Happy Tuesday! I'm so excited to chat about my 2021 garden!


I've always been drawn to gardening, but really got into it a couple years ago when we moved into our own home. I've grown a little more each year, and it's become a huge source of joy for me. The pandemic made me appreciate it even more. We are so lucky to have space to spend time outside and grow things! Since I spend so much time and effort on it, I wanted to chat about it here too.


A little background on what we grow/where we grow. We don't get a ton of sun in our yard because of all our trees, so we are constantly learning what we can get to grow and what we don't have the right conditions for. We're right in between growing zones 6b/7a. We grow a variety of cut flowers and vegetables. I primarily like to grow things from seeds/tubers but we do buy seedlings too. Our vegetables garden lives on our driveway and is all grown in containers. Flowers are grown on the side of our garage and in the front yard.


I started a lot of seeds in 2021, both indoors and some direct seeding outdoors. Indoors from seed I started marigolds, zinnias, dahlias, morning glories, portulaca, strawflowers, winged everlasting, pumpkins, squash, and tomatoes. Outdoors I direct sowed arugula, radishes, carrots, and morning glories.


A satisfying project I undertook for 2021 was building an arched trellis. I looked all over the place for something ready made, but I couldn't find what I wanted, plus the ones I was finding were really expensive. So I made my own with some stakes, plastic fencing and some covered wire. I think it turned out pretty darn good for being practically free. I wanted one because my neighbor grows morning glories every year with great success and I wanted to grow some too. I planted a couple varieties around the base of the trellis at the bottom of my garden and I loved it. Definitely doing that again for next year! I let tons of seeds drop around it.


One interesting thing I tried in 2020/2021 was overwintering my geranium plants. I tried dormant storage for mine (like this) and I had great success with it! I think maybe only one or two didn't make it. I'm doing it again this year too!


The most exciting thing I grew from seed last year was our tomatoes! I had never grown tomatoes from seed so it was really satisfying seeing them do well and getting a great harvest. I grew all small varieties: black cherry (LOVED), super sweet 100, and minibel. This year we grew lots of peppers, tomatoes and herbs. We didn't have very good luck (at all) with growing pumpkins, squash or mushrooms.


Flower wise, the biggest thing I grow is dahlias. I grew my first dahlia plants in 2019 and became immediately hooked. Last year I think I grew around 60 plants. It was my best year for dahlias yet! I tried a new spot in the front yard for my zinnias that did not work out well. Will need to re-think that for 2022! Finally time for some pretty flower photos, let's go!


My favorite non-dahlia flower I grew in 2021 were these giant marigolds! The variety is called 'mission giant' and they look like a chrysanthemum. They were huge and stunning. Definitely growing these again!


I had my first dahlia blooms at the end of July, and they really started kicking off in August. I had great luck with my tuber storage over the winter, so I grew many of the same varieties as I did in 2020, plus lots of new ones! Here are some of my favorite dahlia varities I grew in 2021:

Take Off. I grew this in a bad spot in 2020 and it didn't bloom. Thankfully it was worth the wait and bloomed a bunch this year. It was the only aneomone style dahlia I grew. I love the purple color.


Robin Hood. Photos don't do this variety justice. In person, you can see variation in the petal colors on a single bloom. I was surprise by how much I loved this one!

Lark's Ebbe. The colors on these blooms were incredible. Soft buttery yellow and peach.

Karma Choc. Ordered this one for Michael, he loves the dark red ones the most! The waterlily style blooms didn't look real. And it smells faintly of chocolate!

Jowey Winnie. My favorite dahlia variety of 2020 and 2021. It is such a stunner, even more so in person.

Esli. A new one for 2021. It was a sweet short plant, and I grew it in a galvanized tub. Bloomed a bunch considering how little sun the plant got!

Crichton Honey. A very close second for my favorite. The color changes so much throughout the season. Sometimes it's more pink, sometimes more yellow. In this instagram post I shared ten different blooms of this variety in my garden.


I better stop there, or this post will have 100 photos! There were successes and failures, but in the end I think it was our best garden yet! We were rewarded with lots of produce to eat and share as well as loads of flowers. Our garden was constantly full of bees and butterflies.

I can't wait for the 2022 gardening season! Each year I learn more about what I grow and how to improve. I'm anxious to put everything I learned last year to good use!

Happy Gardening!