This is the Garden State, so plant a garden

I remember the first time I put a shovel in the ground. I was 12 years old and we just moved from South Philadelphia to a little town in South Jersey called Delran.

My dad couldn't wait to plant vegetables in his backyard. We lived in a row home in Philly with concrete all around and now we had a yard!

My father handed me a shovel and told me to dig up the grass in rectangular pieces in 1-by-3 foot pieces and stack them on the side of the house until we had a 15-by-15-foot square of dirt.

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I was not a happy camper, but I somehow got the job done. You would think I would hate gardening from that experience but the opposite happened, and I've been hooked on gardening ever since.

I still plant veggies in pots on my patio but a few years back I started fooling around with flowers. It's something I can't resist every spring. If you've never done it, you might want to give it a try. It's a great stress reliever and the rewards hit you in the face every time you enter your yard.

This year I had some help from my daughter who has a pretty good eye for color. We purchased more flowers that I thought would fit but last weekend we got down to it and I wanted to show you the results. And maybe inspire some people to give it a try.

Now we just have to figure out where all these things are going to go

In less than an hour, we had all but one leftover flower plant

When you're planting in shallow planters or pots it's essential to use good potting soil

We had five hanging planters on the deck railing to fill

I did buy a couple of pre-made hanging baskets from Red Top Market in Southampton

It was fun mixing all of the different colors and varieties

Now I just have to remember to water them every day when the summer heat comes

The view from the lake was worth the effort

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Dennis Malloy only.

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