The Best of 2023: My 12 Favorite Plants and Garden Projects
In winter and early spring, it’s easy to forget how abundant and colorful my garden is during the growing season. I jog my memory by looking through photos and coming back to my blog posts.
Although I have been noticing signs of spring since February, this was yesterday’s view out my studio doors:
More snow is forecast tomorrow.
Last spring before much was happening in the garden I shared my favorite projects and plants from 2022. I think today is the perfect time to do it again.
Although 2023 was a hard gardening year, with an extended drought here in Wisconsin, my plants and flowers were beautiful and productive.
No matter what challenges we face in the garden, there’s always something to savor and celebrate. Isn’t that true in life, too?
My Favorite Plants and Projects From 2023:
Dahlias
Although I tend to grow the same sorts of plants each year, I didn’t want this year’s list to be a duplicate of last year’s. I couldn’t not include dahlias.
Honeymoon, Neon Splendor and Doodlebug dahlias from my 2023 garden
Their colorful flowers brought me so much joy throughout the summer.
I grew some as tubers, some saved from the previous year and some purchased new. I also grew dahlias from seed — the Bishop’s Children variety (which even showed up in my art).
Honeymoon was probably my favorite variety, but I enjoy having lots of colors in my garden. (You can read more about my dahlias here). I stored last year’s tubers in the basement and plan to get them out soon. Last spring I started them inside under grow lights instead of planting them directly in the garden. I think it helped them to flower earlier in the season.
Forget-Me-Nots
My mom grew a flat of forget-me-nots to give to friends at a crafty garden luncheon she hosted to celebrate her new greenhouse. She had extras and shared some with me. I’m not always the most organized with my garden planning and have a “there’s always room for one more” view about plants.
I tucked the forget-me-nots into a spot that ended up working perfectly. There’s something delightful about blue flowers in the garden, isn’t there?
And the combination of the blue forget-me-nots with the orange lilies and purple clematis made me so happy. I can never have enough color in the garden.
Barn Quilts
I wrote an entire post about my “barn” quilt painting project. It’s one of those projects I thought about for a LONG time before finally tackling it. I tend to do this a lot. When the project is finished I always wonder what took me so long.
That was certainly the case with this.
Each time I see my quilt hanging on the garage I smile.
Longevity was one of my concerns, but it seems to have made it through the winter without any problems. I made one more and have to find the perfect spot to hang it in this year’s garden.
Sweet Peas
Most years I grow sweet peas. They’re not always successful. Last year they were.
One thing I did differently last year was starting the seeds indoors. I followed The Impatient Gardener’s sweet pea method (but made my own weird-looking “pots” out of newsprint). They flowered beautifully for much of the summer. Colorful and fragrant. I’m looking forward to growing more this year.
Eggplant
I grew and we ate a LOT of eggplant last year.
The variety was Millionaire which I started from seed (they’re the first seeds I planted under my grow lights this year, too). The plants were healthy and productive and the eggplants were delicious.
Reclaiming a Garden Bed and Painting More T-Posts
Painted t-posts were on my list last year, but 2023’s t-posts were used to support panels (goat, I think) in a newly revamped area in the garden.
This is one of the sunniest spots in my yard, but the plants there weren’t working. I pulled out a rose and gooseberry (you can read why here) and planted my tomatoes along the fence where they thrived.
This project was a good reminder that if something isn’t working in the garden, change it!
Garden Harvests
Harvesting (and eating) from the garden is one of my favorite aspects of growing a garden.
Eggplants, tomatoes, greens, herbs, peppers, onions, peas, beans, radishes, carrots… I’m getting hungry thinking about it all.
I had cherries, strawberries and raspberries, too. And my little Contender peach tree had a bumper crop of peaches.
Such a gift.
Zinnias
What’s my favorite flower? I would have a hard time choosing just one, but zinnias are definitely on the list.
They’re easy to grow and perfect, long-lasting cut flowers.
The bees, butterflies and hummingbirds adore them, too. What’s not to love?
I’ll be planting LOTS of zinnias again this year.
Honeysuckle
I made a garden arch at the back gate of our garden and planted a Scentsation Honeysuckle beside it. It took a few years to establish and last year it finally took off, covering the arch with fragrant flowers.
The bees and hummingbirds love them.
I enjoyed adding a sprig to one of my paintings.
The cut flowers on my painting table smelled wonderful. But what’s even better is that the back gate is just outside my studio and I can smell the flowers through my open window.
Begonias
Shopping for plants with my mom at the Amish greenhouses in our area, I fell in love with some gorgeous flowering begonias.
Fragrant Falls Peach begonia
When I planted them in containers, I discovered one of the varieties was fragrant. Even better!
A lull after the first flush of flowers made me nervous about my choice. But I shouldn’t have been.
The plants quickly bounced back and continued to bloom all season long.
The fragrant variety spent the winter dormant in our basement. I hope I’ll be able to wake it up this spring.
Scented Geraniums
I have a soft spot for scented geraniums. And usually have some growing in my garden. If I can find the plants, that is.
Last year I bought a few from Select Seeds and found some locally, too.
The nutmeg scented geranium (the one with the white flowers in the photo above) was small enough that I brought the whole pot inside in the fall. I took cuttings of some of the others.
They’ve been happy in my studio all winter and will go outside again this year.
Sliding Doors and Deck Construction
My favorite project from last year completely transformed the garden and my studio.
I’d dreamed of adding a deck and doors to the back of the house, but we had trouble finding someone to do the work. Since we knew we wanted to move sometime in the near future, I put the dream aside.
When we decided last year wasn’t the time to pursue our goal of buying a home in the country, we were determined to make some changes here. This project was one of them.
I’m so glad we did!
Construction was completed earlier than we thought it would be and we were able to enjoy the deck during the late summer.
Fiona trying out the new deck
My new studio space has made a huge difference to how I felt throughout the winter. The girls and I have been enjoying the deck on warm days. I’m looking forward to continuing to watch my garden grow from the view from my studio this year.
More snow is forecast tomorrow, but looking through these photos and thinking about these plants and projects has me dreaming of what I want to do in this year’s garden. So much to look forward to!