June is busting out..................

Almost, it is the last day of May and we had the back end of Alberto come through last night. It did take some of the heat and humid air out with it. Lots of lovely rain that has made my garden happy. So I am happy. Unfortunately for me it did not drown the Mozzies as I had politely asked. Ah well. Day inside today. Tomorrow is supposed to be nice and cool. It's still wet outside and I have a load of housework to do.

It is amazing how a small box of plants can cost about 78 dollars and disappear when planted. Hmmmmmm. Well everything got into the ground before the rain so that was nice.
This little tomato plant is the first to have flowers and look one tiny green tomato, now I know the plant is not going to outgrow its pot I will hang it up in the sun

The beans have sprouted and the Zucchini looks good. I am putting the little Rhubarb there to the side.


So having established that the veggies are doing OK I wonder what else I should plant. Heck, I have room for corn haha. No, I don't think so............but not sure what else I could plant either.
So here's the thing. I moved my radio flyer that I found somewhere in a field abandoned. Brought home many years ago, not workable so I want to plant something in it but what? Any suggestions, it will be in shade.

This is the ornamental grass I corralled in a big tub I am still collecting it's offspring from other parts of the garden. Now it looks lovely and has to behave
I will start another container of the ones I pull up from this area.


That spot finally filled in and is doing OK but now to get it under control. The whole edge of the Pines are Day lily types.
The side with the fence is coming along and it will be allowed to go wild as the plantings are spreaders.



It really did not take me as long as I expected to whip the front into shape. I planted some daisies and Lily in here and the rest ended up in what was supposed to be the rose garden. Roses do not like me. The one little knockout is doing well and actually I have 3 other roses who are ok. Maybe the others will come along as they get older.




The side where the Iris are I decided to not put any more in there. The Iris are just starting to pop and it fills in pretty quick when the yellow daisies take off. A pulled a load out last year because they get unruly.


This part gets really unruly but is shrubs mainly with some yellow flower that spreads like crazy and some Asters. That can remain as is and I just have to pull out the invaders when they get too close to the grass, the lilly on the corner is lovely when it blooms.

I did see my Hydrangea is coming up from the roots so I better cut off the dead wood. I wonder if my butterfly bush does the same because it looks dead to me. So looking out onto the front from the steps, these are the views.




Some day soon it will all be blooming. I hope. We have a much larger plot than the neighbours ours is a double and I have the same amount of space out back. It's a lot to keep up and one reason I am putting in wild stuff that spreads. Next to go out and get those darn Lily of the Valley whipped into shape out back. This can rest awhile till I see what happens once the sun comes back out.

OK I was naughty...................

I went to see Alex today. I didn't go Memorial Day because it's always so busy and we could not have Tristen. So I stopped by today. First I went to Joannes and got a wreath for our back door. I had hoped to find some things there for Alex but they had nothing in the garden department. So I will go to Garden Goods another day. Or Michaels maybe. Anyway, the sprinklers were on and so I didn't get out of the car. Everything looked tidy enough but I will go back another day.
I have had the sprinklers on here as well as it is so hot outside.

Looks so scruffy right now. I have thinned out what I could.

Gerry didn't get the grass cut out front this weekend and it's a mess.

On my way home I stopped at a garden center that Skegamog Gardens puts on every summer. It's temporary but has great stuff. I should have stopped sooner. I found all the things I had looked for. For some reason my pictures won't post to Photobucket.

This morning I dug up the front garden and pulled a bunch of the stuff that spreads all over so my Astilbe can breath. Now I need to fertilize and do the back half of that garden. I really need to get in and dig...........I had cone flowers and Bee Balm and several other things that did not do well last year. So I will replace those with the ones I found today. I was not going to buy any more stuff. I really can't afford it but I really cant help it either.
You can see where things are coming up in bits and pieces and I have no idea what they are at this point. Well unless I get down in there but I think Daisies of some sort so will plant the new stuff in between and hope for the best. At least it looks a bit better

I don't have a lot more to do out front now. Just some more weed pulling on the side and fertilize and groom. I love these little Poppy things

This mess just needs old branches pulled and baby trees that took root Otherwise its just Azaelia and Quince with some yellow flowers in front. They may need thinning.



This is the back of the center front where I need to pull some of the Ferns. It's straggly until the Bee Balm fills it in. i will cover the hose when I can pick up some wood chips again.

Next I can do more out the back. That's where I like to work because the Poodles can be outside too. I realize we do not have a whole lot of Tomatoes. I bet Gerry has not thought of that yet so I better let him know to get some this weekend. So far the Zucchini is doing OK. This is a Raspberry and I can't remember how it got there.

We have some Strawberries that went wild but we really don't get anything from them as the birds and critters get them first
On Buds side the garden that was supposed to be Roses, well that didn't do well. One rose is doing OK the other two not so much. So I planted some Lavender and put in a Tomato and a Pepper in the hopes that will enjoy it. That's the garden with the rocks around it. Then also on Buds side is the Iris patch. That has spread to other gardens now. I should get some more colours.

I should invest in more Iris,they do well and even if they do not bloom the leaves are pretty.
Flowers I did get at Joanne's.

I have put down the rubber mats from Lady's stall that I brought home when she died. They are just a reminder I guess. See the bowl of lettuce? Pretty and useful?

Herb garden doing well

I just hope some of it comes back next year. It's a pain buying stuff and planting every year.
Ah well, keeps me busy.

A Little Rain goes a long way......................

we had two nights when it rained and oh boy, the next day was spectacular. The amount of growth overnight, just incredible. So when it rained again last night I was not surprised to see the same thing again. The water from the hose comes off our main water supply and has added chlorine in it. Also it does not soak as deep as rain water does. Rain has a neutral Ph that helps the plants to retain minerals and goodies that they don't get from the hose.
This is how my Herb garden is progressing.

I have used some of the Basil already, so good.
Some of my potted Hosta are overflowing. This is a project for next week. I want to separate some of them, that will save me some money. I can always use more in the back shaded area. It takes a long time for the Hosta to come up, even after the rain. So more is better. I have bought a few more but they just do better quicker in pots.

The other half of the Herb garden is at the back of this garden. This is a mainly Hosta patch with some Day lilies and Iris. The Violets try to take over and so do Forget-me-nots. Those I move out once bloomed and put in other spots. I will move some out under the Pines out front where they can all go wild.

The Pond is looking good, the two remaining fish are fat and happy. I had to take out some of the Water Iris because it had tripled in size

After I found the lime green Hosta I bought several, they sure brighten up the shade areas

I am not sure what this is called but it has done well in my garden. I saw some this Spring and bought one. I should have bought more because now the don't have any more.

The ones in my garden are old and tired. I must start news ones from the old if I can. Then if I see more I sure will buy some.
All my gardens need to be refreshed. I bought some more Day Lily and have put most of those in front. Two new ones are really pretty.


The others are a bit different, those only bloom the once. The other two have a different leaf style. I think they are yellow but can't remember.
I have bought some ornamental grasses to see how they do. This one I had to coral and keep in a pot. I found that it spread all over and I am still rounding up the stragglers. So with that in mind, I will start the new guys off in pots.

This is a new one.


I am hoping they will do well.
So this stuff grew and blossomed after the rain and I like it for ground cover. It will keep spreading hopefully back of the pine tree rather than on the lawn. Lawn is hardly a description of my grass areas.

This is how the one side looks now. I still have to get the rest of the fence. Gerry says wait. I am working on that.............

Several years ago now we took out the wild Honeysuckle. Well it came back and is now very pretty.

The climbing stuff has taken and is climbing up the front wall. I will have to control that. It seems like it's going to be rather a pain. Funny thing is I put some out back and it didnt take.
I am taking out some of these ferns to go under the first pine tree. They really took over the very back and that is reserved for the Bea Balm. There is a little Pine that has to come out. I hate to kill it but have nowhere to put it. I did put a smaller one or two in pots but this one is a bit big.

I have little paths everywhere so that I can work in the gardens, besides I love little pathways. The back is the Poodle paths but these are so I can work without killing stuff.

Some of the flowers are starting to open on the side garden

A few fun things around the yard.



I bought 3 hanging baskets, a yellow, a white and a red.




Some of the rock garden flowers are blooming.



I was going to move out the old wheel barrow but decided to keep it there, just moved it over a bit to be sure the Tomato I planted gets it'sun quota. It needs weeding and cleaning up.


On the new side yard my Zucchini is growing, the cucumber is doing OK and then someone dug up the beans. SO I had to replant those. Not sure they will do any good.

I may try to plant something in the fountain because it has a crack so it can't hold water. Trying to think what I could put in there. Well any ideas? Lettuce maybe? Not really big enough for that.

Hmmmmmm. What else? I was surprised to see my Kale came back up from last year. Bonus.