Before and after garden portrait

For the most part, the Busbee family garden is in pretty good shape (for now at least, during the peak of spring weather). Hubby has worked hard to maintain it since its debut last year.

We have bright annuals just planted and fresh mulch on all the beds.

The roses are days away from bursting open and providing a colorful display in our yard.

Hubby added some new flowers we've never had before.

I especially like the bleeding hearts.

He has kept everything very colorful and tidy.

But then suddenly there is this eyesore in the back yard. A 7' x 7' slab of concrete just slapped in the middle of our little plot in Durham. It lays right beside hubby's vegetable garden, which will be in bloom in the coming months.

Hubby and I decided we would finally do something about our ugly grey yard addition.

We drew up plans to make it a patio. First hubby leveled it off with a fresh coat of concrete. Then we headed to the State Farmers' Market in Raleigh.

Baby Caleb skipped his nap to join us. It was all too exciting an adventure to sleep through.

He really wanted to grab all the pretty flowers.

The State Farmers' Market is heaven for gardeners (for experts and novices alike).

If you go, bring LOTS of money and cargo space. You'll want to buy one of everything. Also, go with a plan. Or else you'll buy stuff you don't need or have room for in the garden.

Hubby and I got to work right away after leaving the farmers' market and a quick trip to Lowe's Hardware.

Baby Caleb helped for a bit and then graciously took a two-and-a-half hour nap. God love him.

Hubby began construction on two 5' x 1' x 1' raised planter boxes.

I worked primarily with arranging the flowers and planting them in pots.

Here's our brand new patio, fresh after the night's rain.

Our succulent garden.

A rare find (in the background): perennial snapdragons. Blue star in the front.

One flower box will be filled with hubby's herb garden. We still need more soil to complete that task.

Our beautiful new Japanese maple, surrounded by coleus and other annuals.

Overall, the patio project was a success, but we are far from done. We'll still be putting another bed in front of the patio and adding chairs and a fire pit.
The best advice I got before beginning this project was to not attempt to do it all in one afternoon. And how exciting it is to think we've still got room to grow!