A Convenient Excuse for Some Lovely Pictures (Garden Update)

Being well past the time for the tulips and dafs which were lovely this year, the irises have started to burst open in the sun and warmer weather of the last couple days.

We have lilac/purple ones which Wendy donated and helped me to plant last spring along the driveway.
The grass really wants to take over, but I'll work on that slowly.

And then we have the more burgundy ones that my sister Judy donated and helped me to plant along the south side of the house.
Only a few are open in each bed, but the rest are almost there.

The alliums came up early this year (I thought). They are in full bloom now, distracting from the now-bare stems of the tulips and dafs and barely keeping above the lilies which are thick as thieves.
Gertrude and Antonio are enjoying the colours and keeping a careful eye on all those who use the path between the garage in and house. Be careful Antonio doesn't peck off a button as you walk by: he can't get enough of bright or shiny things.

I had a nice surprise in the bed by the propane tank:
One of the dahlias from last year decided to come back. How nice! The perspective on this pic doesn't show it, but it's almost 2 feet tall already.

And finally, my spirea bush is really outdoing itself this year
I have noticed a lot of really full and vibrant spirea bushes in people's yard, but mine has never been able to keep up. I'd like to think it is due to my TLC, although I'm not sure you can call severe pruning tender loving care. But if it's what it needs, you gotta do it.

I will add that Troy has all eight fruit trees in the ground. I put on the last of the trunk protectors for him and used some scrap pieces to put around my poor stunted Red Bud and Crab Apple trees. I planted them about two years ago. They were the tiny starter trees you get from the Arbor Foundation and still are not more than 18" tall.

Perhaps now that Troy has some trees around them they will get a little more of the care that they deserve. Except the one which I discovered had been driven over by the tractor. I don't think it will live to benefit from Troy's TLC. But ever the optimist and believer in nature's ability to grow stuff, I put a trunk protector around what was left and will wait to see!

Garden/Landscaping Update

So we have been slowly working on improving our lawn. It wasn't in bad shape when we got it, but last year saw a lot of crabgrass and other weeds move in, and the moles digging extensive underground cities haven't helped either. Then when we removed seven big maple trees, that left a mess and gaping holes to be filled. Isaac seeded a lot of grass last summer which has for one, yielded a great improvement on our west lawn.

The top shot was taking as they were removing the three maples along the west lawn (taken from an upstairs window).











The second shot shows how well the grass is growing in. The lawn is at least twice as wide as it was last year. (You can also note the tilled strip along the house which is where Troy put in some potatoes and tomatoes; and a tilled strip on the right edge of the pic where Troy put in some corn--including popcorn! Woo hoo for me.)



We had a little mishap in the garden over the weekend. I used part of my (precious) day off to pull all the tulip and daf leaves/stems, weed the area, and then spread some mulch to keep the weeds down. I thought this would be especially nice for Troy along the garage where he had put in a second variety of tomatoes. I carefully marked each tomato plant with a tag so I wouldn't crush or damage it. And when I spread the mulch I went so far as to put a plastic cup upside down over the plant so the mulch wouldn't smother or crush it. When removing the cup, I oh-so-carefully brushed the mulch away from the plant so it wouldn't crush it. Well, then it rained (like a motha') on Friday night. The plants were put in right under the garage's drip line. Troy went out on Saturday morning and couldn't find the plants for all the mulch that had flooded over them. He was very worried. (I, however, have more faith in the resilience of plants, especially if give the right care after a crisis.) So he cleared all the mulch from around the plants (again) and we found some cardboard collars that will work very well to protect them until they grow strong enough to take care of themselves.


And now for some gratuitous pics from the garden. I don't remember what this plant to the left is called. They looked very pretty in the catalogue. I remember I resisted them for a long time until I finally purchased some for my very own. They have two problems: 1. the stems like to follow the ground for a while before shooting upward which makes them very vulnerable to the mower (I have them planted at the front of the bed--maybe that's my fault); and 2. the blossoms only look good from underneath. The tops just look green, and a boring green at that. Perhaps I should have put them in hanging baskets, very high ones.


And finally a shot of the alliums I kept going on about. I was right when I said I hadn't planted any "fancy" varieties, but a couple did come out a pale lilac colour (that was a first); but most were the dark purple you see on modeled on the blooms further back in the pic.

Garden update

What another update? Already? Sure why not...springs blooms are popping up all over right now. The hyacinths, for instance, finally stopped looking so anemic and are sending their scent all through the yard.

And the tulips have finally made an appearence. (Ok, so I'm an impatient gardener.) Along the garage, they're all lined up:
And the ones facing south that I wrote about are all popping open as anticipated. I didn't realize how many purple and yellow ones I had planted. Good for me trying something other than red!


The next to bloom should be the alliums--their flower buds are already forming. And the lilies are coming up through the ground now. (I still get excited that I can recognize plants at such an early stage...I'm learning.)

I put in some cosmos seeds this afternoon that Troy got for free with his last order. They also threw in a free pack of fertilizer--they generously provided a sample for a whole square foot! Wow. Ok, I guess it was free, what am I complaining about.

Alright, that's it for tonight. Tomorrow I should be able to give you an update on the construction, so stayed tuned!
-christina