Looking Good in June

It's been a little warm, so things are looking a little wilted. The plants are all fuller than usual, and the things that are blooming are beautiful. I think this may be the best year yet.





































Pots

Trail Ragnar AAR

Hunter boots
rain jacket
rain poncho
fleece
long pants

pitch tent on highest ground
dig a gulley around the footprint

wet wipes!
lots of towels
toilet paper

plan meals through the night
pack each meal prepped and labeled in a bag

trail shoes
gators
headlamp
knuckle lights!

May Growth

I went on a trip to San Diego recently, and in looking at the gardens realized that there are some things that I have put in my garden in the past that I did not do this year.
Last year I had a fuchsia in the hanging basket. We didn't get to see how it would grow because we gave its life in favor of some birds that nested in the pot. With my seagrass birdhouse/nest hanging above the pot this year, I could have tried again. I don't recall seeing any fuchsia at the garden store, and am thinking maybe the cold weather this year gave it a late start. I'm making this note to see if I can remind myself to try again next year.

Lobelia... I love the bright blue flowers. Again, none at the garden center.

So, let's see how the garden is doing this year...
The pots are looking great! of course, we've had rain and no super hot days. The super hots are the demise of the pots.

LOVE how this urn turned out this year.

Kitchen window border:

Look at the yellow iris!

I love this bed. Gets fuller every year! Working on getting the other one to look like this too - and fill in some of the blank spots ;-)

Front bed:

Foxgloves are playing games with me. I originally planted a white one, and added a pink. The white gave me 2 years, and the pink 1. I replaced the pink in the second year. Now I have no white, and the second year of the pink. I thought they were perennial, but maybe they are biennial?

And look at what's on the lamp post!!

Spring Pots

Some moments from the beginning of May...

It has taken a long time to stay warm this year. After I did my garden work in the middle of April, we had another freezing cycle. I tried to protect the basil:


It didn't really work. So I planted a new one this past weekend.

I also got the pots planted up...
We've got them arranged differently this year. Put the urns on the step:


and the little pots on the porch:

excited to see how the Dahlia and Gerber do.

The hanging basket:

I have hung a little grass birdhouse on the basket, and going to see if I can get the birds to use that for their nests instead of building on the pot preventing us from watering!

I had to replace everything in the urn. Turns out, the grass and ivy died because it was completely root-bound. Here's the new attempt:


Of course, need a status for the other beds:

herbs with a new basil...








love this bed.



This is almost the same photo... just a month earlier!

And my first windowsill arrangement:

This is how it's done!

Janet kicks it into high gear and overtakes one more woman on the uphill-finish!

Getting 2014's Garden Started

This weekend was the first of warm spring (more like summer actually) weather and so we got all the gardening done.
I moved the Liatris forward next to the birdbath, and I move the Agastache to the front of the bed, next to the Azalea. I also moved a little sage that was smooshed against the border.
We double-teamed the mulching and got all beds around the whole house done in about an hour.
I also made a new wreath for the door. The insect one was driving me nuts with the bugs falling off all the time, and I didn't have a spring/summer backup... here is the 2014 spring/summer door decoration:

Here's a capture of the front beds:
The hosta is coming up in the side yard and the bleeding heart is growing well. Let's hope the weather stays cool enough for blooming.
I think that the urn is going to get completely replanted this year. Bye bye ivy!


A view from the drive showing all the beds:


Here is the front bed:


and here is the side bed:


Side bed by section (for future reference):




Bed under the kitchen window...
The hosta is coming up under that mulch, and the Brunnera is looking good, but still not as good as THIS year!


I guess I didn't actually cut the clematis to the ground!
It started blooming on old growth, and this is how high it has grown in about 3 days!


I put some new parsley and a basil the hnerb bed, and I added another rosemary because I'm not sure the other one is coming back. This is a shame because I really want the rosemary to grow into a big bush.