Veggie Garden

Finished planting the veggie garden last weekend. Look at how the seeds are popping up!  The tomatoes I planted may have gotten a bit of frost damage, I will have to keep an eye on them.

Are you wondering what the cups are? A friend planted the sees and labeled the cups - I want to keep track of what varieties they are!

Handy tool

I have been wanting one of these multi-purpose garden carts (This one is a Worx)  for a while, so when we spotted one at the local Fleet Farm, I was pretty excited! We used it to haul rocks - the arms with the netting really work well.  

Hosta Garden

The setting sun enticed me to take a few photos of the hosta garden. The ferns, hostas, astibles, meadow rue, and ligularia are growing like crazy with all the rain we've had.

Look at the size of those ferns next to the rain barrel! A couple of weeks ago, I was thinking that maybe they didn't make it through the winter!

Pond Plantings

This area is on the southwest side of the pond. Soapwort is blooming along the rocks and there are some blooms on the perennial geraniums. 

These blooming shrubs are chokecherries. They are natives and have a suckering habit, so eventually, this area will be filled with chokecherry shrubs. I found an old hollow log in the back woods and had to add it to the area. It will make a good spot for the chipmunks to hang out!

Doesn't this old log add a lot of character?

Alliums

These alliums are blooming in the rose garden.

Front Garden

 

This year, I decided to add pink flowers to this garden. They are small now and I really need to pull the flowers off the petunias so the plants can get established. But it has been raining since mid-morning, so no gardening today.

Vegetable Garden

 

 

Each year, before I plant my vegetable garden, I draw it in my garden notebook. I want to be sure I move the tomato plants to a different section each year to avoid diseases. I tried the carrot seed tape this year and some interesting white French radishes.  Kale is also a new addition. Typically, I plant zucchini seeds, but this year, I may buy a couple of plants and plant seeds. I'm thinking the plants will give me fruit a bit earlier - I guess we'll see!

 

Ready for planting!

 

I got most of the garden planted on Saturday and we got over an inch of rain last night, which is good. But it is going to get cold tomorrow night, so I am going to have to cover the tomatoes and peppers. Average last frost date here is May 15th, but that is no guarantee!

Plant Supports

These rings are sold by Gardener's Supply Company. I think this one is a large and I also have the medium version. I really like the way they look. The instructions say that assembling them is a two-person job, and it is.

More spring color

 

The common name for this plant is prairie smoke. When it is done blooming, the seed heads looks like wisps of smoke. I think I need more of these!

 

This is a type of spurge. I love the way the leaves have hints of pink.

 

This short iris is near the pond. I love the color -  I think I bought it without seeing it in bloom, choose it because the tag that said purple and white. What a nice surprise!

 

The marsh marigolds add a bit of color to the stream bed.

Spring flowers!

Love my little Tina crabapple - it really pops with the contrast of the dark green evergreens behind it.

And my fothergilla - such a unique flower! This shrub looks great in the fall, too, when it turns shades of oranges and yellows.

What's happening here?

I started this boulder retaining wall last week. What was I thinking with all of the other things to be done in the spring?  Here is my list of things to do in the yard this summer:

• Move the last maple tree away from the row of pines (but where to put it?)
• Remove the badly sunburned dwarf blue subalpine fir and move the one that isn't sunburned to the pond area
• Build a ground level deck near the pond
• Add soil to the north area of the pond, add plants and mulch
• Finish this boulder retaining wall, add steps,  move the weeping crabapple to the corner. Add yellow perennials to contrast with the wine-colored leaves. Move Lanham Beehive pines from front garden to the front of the boulder retaining walls
• Build a small patio off the deck
• Add river rock to the bare ground under the deck to keep the soil from washing down the hill
• Add lattice under the north and east sides of the deck 
• Move remaining plants from the former cutting garden area
• Create a plan for the remaining boulders - where should they be placed?

This is an aggressive list! The most critical thing to get done is the boulder retaining wall, as we would like to add a fence around the pond area and the fence will follow the edge of this retaining wall.

Fresh edges!

 

 

 Both the west and the east borders have been freshly edged and a bit of new mulch added. Such a good feeling to have this done!

Spring!

 

Happy Mother's Day!  A rainy evening - so a good time to add some new posts to my blog!  In addition to the typical crocus, daffodils and tulips, this spring I have some lovely pasque flowers blooming. They are the purple flowers in the center picture. They are covered in fine hairs and are soft to the touch.