Lilies

I think these are called Starfighters - but that seems to be a strange name for such a beautiful lily! Correction: Just found my receipt and the actual name of these lilies is Starlight Express - wasn't that the name of an 80's band? : )

The fence is done.....

But the gates don't really line up right. I'll have to find a different way of latching them. I love the fence and have already planted my blueberry bushes in the corners!

Fencing

After a weekend out of town (why does that put me a week behind in my gardening work?), I spent the day working on the fence. It is about 3/4 done and I am pooped! Hopefully I will be able to finish it up tomorrow and post pictures!

We have harvested zucchini, green peppers, lettuce, and today, sugar snap peas from the veggie garden! I have used basil and the kids have had fun smelling the sage.

Red Dragon Fleeceflower

These Red Dragon Fleeceflower plants look great under my Prairiefire crabapple. They will look even better once I get this large shrub border mulched!

Coneflowers in bloom

Hard to believe that these coneflowers were just planted last summer! I think I put in 6 plants - three on each side. I guess they like it there!

Fencing

I have been working on getting my fence around the vegetable garden installed. I have all the support posts in place - they just need to be pounded into the ground a bit deeper. You can see the corner section on the right.

Because it is easier to install the fence sections with two people working on it, I started taking the grass out. As I was working, the idea came to me that I need to work on installing the fence sections beginning at a gate post and working to the next gate post - because I think there might be a bit of wiggle room where the gate meets in the middle. I need to measure the gate sections, just to make sure!

Rocks

On Saturday, we headed up to our neighbor's farm to pick rocks out of a newly plowed field. We picked more than this, but this was a full load for our truck. Where will these rocks go? I'll get them cleaned up and use some to fill in near the dry creek bed. The large ones will be placed in my shrub border.

What's Blooming?

My pink Volcano phlox, joined by a butterfly delphinium and some ballon flowers.



Moonbeam coreopsis and some coral bells.

Veggie garden

Look at how full and lush my veggie garden looks! There are a few green tomatoes and we've eaten leaf lettuce and some banana peppers. The beans are just starting to climb the obelisks.

New plants!

Here is a new sedum next to the dry creek bed.



And the new My Monet weigela. Some new sedums are planted near the edge of the dry creek bed and I also tucked in some irises from my friend Elizabeth. They'll join a few irises that I got years ago from my friend Sandy. I am going to add a few more rocks in this area.


The shrub border now includes two Dark Horse weigela, and two Daydream shrub roses. The next job will be to get it mulched!

Shade Garden

On Monday, I worked on getting some of my shade plants in the ground. I don't have much shade in my yard yet, but there is always a spot for a few hosta!

Garden Wisdom

A quote from Zach, my little gardening buddy:

If you're not getting dirty, you're not having fun!!

A busy (and dirty!) day out in the garden. I planted more shrubs in my border, added a new weigela and some sedums next to the dry creek bed. I trimmed up my baby's breath and did some weeding next to the path.

If it isn't raining in the morning, I'll take some new pictures and post them. I have to keep reminding myself that everything doesn't need to be perfect - that I am documenting the process of creating.

New shrub border

The weather has been cloudy and cool, perfect for planting. I spent all day yesterday putting in a new shrub border along the outside of my brick path. Closest to the path is a row of evergreens - Sea Green Junipers in the middle and two Holmstrup arborvitae on the ends. My favorite spirea, a Shibori, is front and center. It flowers in three colors - white, pink, and rose. I have more shrubs to add to this area, including some weigela and shrub roses.

Along the curve of the path and towards the house, I put in some Ivory Halo dogwoods, some Tor spireas, and a Tardiva hydrangea.

It will all get mulched. I haven't decided what type of edging I will add in the front. I would like to do a low stone wall, but I haven't found the right type of stone just yet.

Railing planter

This fun planter is on the railing of my front porch. It has black-eye susan vine, some lantana, a fun coleus at the back and purple million bells. There is also a pair of the dark sweet potato vines on the back and a purple bacopa. It looks very different from the front and the back.