Gardening is one of my passions, nothing makes me quite as happy as seeing something that I grew from seed flourish and thrive, and I figured if it makes me so happy, maybe it will bring some of my fellow Steemians joy too...

I tend to grow more of the varieties that are, for lack of a better word, "useful", so I grow a lot of edibles, but I also have a soft spot for a few plants that are just simply beautiful, roses and orchids being my biggest weakness, probably because they are fairly difficult to grow successfully due to their fussy natures, and I enjoy the challenge. But there is nothing better than an edible with beautiful flowers or fruits, useful and gorgeous. My favourite edibles to grow are peppers, hot ones, sweet ones, super hot ones, I just find them so satisfying to grow and eat, and they look like little jewels on the plant.

My garden also gives me a chance to exercise my favourite photography medium, macro nature photography, so please enjoy a few pictures of my latest babies:

My Burning Sky rose which just came into bloom, it has exquisite lilac blooms with red tipped petals, and a full, fruity scent:

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My Tom Thumb peas just got tiny little flowers:

https://s19.postimg.org/wrud9ylg3/DSC_4581.jpg

My Grannysmith apple tree also just got its first flowers:

https://s19.postimg.org/q1dw0hg9v/DSC_4616.jpg

My first chillies of the season, these are Cayenne peppers, medium to hot heat and really delicious fresh and as a hot sauce:

https://s19.postimg.org/q1dw0i3f7/DSC_4624.jpg

Some new seeds have germinated, these are Cape Gooseberries, also known in other countries as Ground Cherries, and sometimes Golden Berries, they have a weirdly tart and slightly bitter flavour, and have the cutest little dry shells to protect their golden treasure, here we call the berries in their casings "shy ladies":

https://s19.postimg.org/kpyzfrmhf/DSC_4625.jpg

Some cute little strawberry blossoms, this particular variety is the Elan strawberry, I grow another variety (the Superlicious) but this one is by far my favourite, the fruits are so juicy and heavenly, and the plant is very prolific, it just never seems to stop flowering, which is just fine by me, because how cute are these flowers:

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If you made it this far, thank you, and I hope my garden made you smile.