July's garden update

Sorry I haven't been posting to the blog much lately, I've been outside tending to my garden nearly every day! It's so nice to have all the hard work of Springtime done, now I can enjoy being in the garden a lot without having to work so hard. Watering is still a necessary chore, and spot weeding here and there. But overall I'm so happy with how everything is just growing and growing.

I have a bunch of sunflowers along the back fence in the back yard- they are just about to bloom. I'll take a photo of them in the next week or two. The plants are already as tall (if not taller!) than I am. I think some of them will get to be 7-8 feet high.

The flowerbeds are doing well this year, they seem to like all the rainy weather we've been having. And lucky for us the hailstorms have been very mild, with no bigger than pea-sized hailstones. phew!

I am really pleased with the Russian sage we planted last year, it wintered over just fine, and is bigger and lovelier this summer.

I like the tiny purple flowers (so do the bees!) and it makes a nice contrast to the yellow/orange poppies, rudbekias and coreopsis that are all in bloom. I also planted some lavender and purple verbena to play on the contrast.

Here's a pic of the sage with some poppies:


Like I told Chuck, you can take the girl out of California, but you can't take the California out of me! I love having those bright orange poppies in the front flower beds each year. We also have some cream-colored ones which seem just as happy in the hot, sunny bed. They both re-seeded themselves this year, which was really a surprise for me this spring. Quite unexpected considering all the snow and bitter cold weather we had last winter.

The roses are about to bloom again. It seems we have a week or two with all 10 bushes in full bloom, then after we cut back the spent roses it takes a few weeks for them to re-bud and bloom again, so they look all plain and green for the time in between blooming. I wish there was a way to have some of the roses green while the others show off their blooms, then it wouldn't seem so plain in-between roses! I guess a solution might be to plant something among the rosebushes that bloomed more frequently. Hmm... I'll have to think about that for next year!

This rose is one of my favorites, I just love the shade of pink.

This weekend I am finally able to harvest some vegetables! We have 4 huge heads of broccoli, 2 crookneck squashes, and the first of the tomatoes.

I didn't get a picture of the first tomato, as I ate it within 10 minutes of it being picked! Chuck and I had scrambled eggs with toasted english muffins for breakfast, so I decided to use the first tomato, and made mine into an egg and tomato sandwich. Oh my- so delicious. Seriously, nothing beats the flavor and texture of a home-grown tomato. This one was an heirloom variety named "Cherokee Purple". Yum! I gave one to Pat later in the afternoon, and the 3rd one is pictured above. It will make a great addition to some cheese and crackers for snack at work tomorrow!

Thank goodness Chuck doesn't like tomatoes, so I don't have to share with him. :)

Have a great week everyone!

This is why Spring is my favorite season

Pat and I spent several hours last fall picking out bulbs for this Spring, and then of course there was the labor of actually planting them in the 2 front planters. Phew- a lot of work!

We weren't even sure how well the daffodils and tulips would do in the harsh cold. Also, it's pretty much squirrel territory on our block, and I know they will sometimes dig and take off with the bulbs. It seemed a little foolish to spend money on what might not even turn out to be worth it.

But we hoped for the best, and planted several dozen varieties of tulips and 50 or so king alfred daffodils in the two front planters that are closest to the street.

And now, several months later, yeah- they are all doing beautifully! I am so happy each day when I drive down the driveway heading to work, and see all the pretty colors greeting me at the street. The colorful flowers really brighten the yard, and they weathered all the late snowstorms nicely.

These sunny yellow daffodils are so sweet. Maybe this fall I'll add in some bi-colored yellow and white daffodils too. The flowers are spaced pretty far apart right now, because I know that as the years go by and they naturalize, they will be larger clumps of bulbs where now only one sits. So, while there's still room, I'm thinking I should take advantage and fill in with some contrasting colors. I'm also thinking of planting a bunch of blue grape muscari in with the yellow daffodils.

This orange and green tulip is quite striking, there are a few over in Pat's planter. I love how tulips first bloom looking one way, and then as the colors mature and develop, they sometimes turn out looking like an entirely different tulip! I'll have to check on this one again and see what it's turned out to be.

So, now that the Spring-ish weather has finally arrived, and we have hit the traditional last frost date (usually around Mother's Day weekend here) Pat and I are both getting antsy to get our hands in the dirt and start planting the garden!

This afternoon Chuck emailed me at work and said that Mom wanted to go to the nursery after I got home from work. Strangely enough, I was already planning to ask her if she was interested in going either this afternoon or tomorrow, so I readily agreed. :)

Chuck came along for the heavy lifting (cart pushing duties too). Here is our cart of flowers about half way through the shopping trip...


We went to O'Tooles garden center - they are our favorite nursery. They are family owned, have great selection of healthy plants, and very knowledgeable and friendly staff.

Maybe not the least expensive place to get plants (there's always wal-mart's garden center for cheap plants,) but I know that the quality is a LOT better here. We have been really happy with their veggies, perennials and annuals over the last several years that we've been shopping here. And best of all, this evening O'Tooles was having their Spring Open House, with special sales (the clematis was 25% off!) guest speakers, lots of sweets and drinks, and even door prizes. It was a like a big garden party, the place was packed.

We are all set to spruce-up the front planters with snapdragons, daisies, pansies, violets, cosmos and even some pretty pink and purple petunias. (And as much alliteration as I can handle, apparently!)

Check back soon, I'll post some photos of the front planters all decked out with their Spring colors.

Hope you're all having a great week- and Happy Mother's Day to all the Mom's this weekend! Thanks for visiting and we'll talk again soon.
:)

The flower beds and veggie gardens are doing great this year. Chuck and Pat and I have really worked hard in the last couple years to build up the flower beds in the front yard. We re-did the planter between the two front doors last summer, and that led to many other projects in sprucing up the front yard. It looks so nice now, with everything in bloom. I love being out there in the early evening as the day cools off, just watering the flowers, or dead-headding the spent blossoms, mostly just enjoying the beauty of each plant.

I just did that very thing, except I had the camera with me, so I could share the flowers and plants with you! Here are some of our roses blooming this afternoon:



And the coreopsis and verbena in the big planter outside Pat's front door. I love the contrast of the purple and yellow flowers. The other plant is vinca that's spilling over the edge, it has a nice grayish tone to the leaves which looks good with the dark foilage of the moonbeam coreopsis.
In the back yard, Pat has several big pots full of brightly colored petunias and geraniums, they are in their full summer glory right now, and attract lots of butterflies into the yard.

My herb garden is growing well this year. Basil, peppermint, catnip, parsley, and some marigolds because they keep the bad insects away, while attracting the beneficial ones. I had radishes in the empty squares, but they were harvested last week. And the lettuce in the lower right corner is looking like it's next to go. yum!
The big zucchini plants are starting to produce. We've had zucchini for dinner, and I've given a few away, and I think I'll be making zucchini bread this weekend. Anyone interested in some delicious zucchini? Just let me know- I've got plenty!!

I took a bunch more photos, but Chuck and Pat want to go to dinner now, so this will have to do. I'll post again soon! :)