My grandmother has had a raised bed in her front yard for as long as I can remember.

She often tells me of the time that she let my brother and I plant it with Zinnia seeds. We planted the entire bed with Zinnia seeds, and she says that people would stop in the road to look at the flowers.

This last year my dad did not plant the large garden, so I decided to plant my grandmother’s raised bed for her to play in. As I started adding things to the garden my grandmother told me that folks were asking what was going on.

I added an old bed spring in the center for some of the vining veggies to grow on. The real showstopper was the container that I placed in the middle. Being a lover of container gardening, it was perfect!

I added a mix to the container including:

Everillo Carex, evergreen in Central Mississippi

Bay Leaf Plant, evergreen herb in protected areas of Central Mississippi

Hummingbird Mint, native perennial

English Ivy, trailing evergreen in Central Mississippi

The container really gave new life to this bed, and it also gave new life to my grandmother who is a lifetime gardener. She was so excited to get every harvest that this small, raised bed produced.

And that’s how my grandmother’s yard became the talk of the street.