Oh, My Achin' Back

  We had a superb Easter weekend.  Wonderful weather. .lots of activities. .great food. .family fun. .and joyous church services!! The kids are getting too fast for me to get pictures at the egg hunt!! Cami (who doesn't have a shy bone in her body) decided that she was too shy to hunt eggs Saturday.  She finally got going and I got a picture or two before she was done. .and by then. .

Devin had all the loot out of the eggs he found. .so the only photos I got of him. .was with his loot. .which included $7 in gold coins and a kite! Great huntin'.

Easter egg coloring was a family affair this year. .even dad got in on the action.  We made tie-dyed eggs.. which were pretty. .but very messy!

We turned those eggs into Bacon and egg sandwiches for supper tonight. .only half the batch left to eat now!

How sweet is this!! Aside from a family dinner Sunday evening, and church from sunrise until lunchtime. .I had a lot of garden time! 

I worked on cleaning out the greenhouse. .I've plugged in all the marigold and zinnia plants.  I started several packets a month ago or so. .I have better luck with spacing and germination when I can control stuff. .like the weather!  Probably 40-50 plants of each.  I also planted some mammoth sunflower seeds last night when I thought it really might rain on them (it did. .finally. .1/2 inch last night. .the first real moisture in months!) Today, as Cami napped, I hauled 4 wheelbarrow loads full of my own composted material to the waterfall.  I haven't been totally happy with the way the fast falls resevoir has looked after installation.  Thankfully, I had several large rocks that needed relocating. .so I shoveled on the dirt. .and added rock for retaining the soil. .to make the soil line even with the water fall.  I added a few more rocks to make a couple stair step planting areas on the way back down toward the pond.  NOW, it looks like it has always been there!! You'll note in the top photo, that you can still see a bit of the plastic. .but I am hoping to pick up a flat rock in Wichita this weekend, foam the underside of it, and have the water come over the top of the stone.  We'll see how it works out!  I will love the new planting area. .and so will the earth there. .it has been terrible soil, and rock hard. I transplanted some of the zinnia plants to grow in the compost enriched soil.  And hope to add a few short grasses to it to add some winter interest.   

The miniature hostas planted last fall are coming up, as well as the toad lily. This small garden sits beneath the large elm tree on the east side of the pond.  I left black plastic at the bottom of the bed, and added soil to the top. .I did poke a few holes for a little drainage.  I am hoping that this method will keep the soil moister for the hostas. .without rotting them. Can you spell. .experiment?? 

LOTS of mulch has been dumped on!! I've hauled home 40 bags. .and think I might still be a little short. I can't believe the difference in the soil where the old mulch has been deteriorating over the last few years. It really doesn't take much mulch to put around on the existing beds. .it's the new areas that I keep digging up that are consuming the most mulch! The line of grasses along the sidewalk are blue fescue.  I also ordered a number of native wildflowers from High Country Gardens which were planted along the pond and sidewalk and within the bed shown above.  They are doing well, and I can hardly wait to see what they will do!

We've been working REALLY hard to get some grass to come up where the dirtwork was done following the sidewalk endeavor. .as well as the HUGE stump he pushed out of the ground.  It's been terribly hot, dry, and windy here for several weeks. .until the last few days. Finally some grass is sprouting!

Things are starting to bloom here!! The white spirea bushes in the first picture are beautiful! I transplanted all three of them from the rows of spirea that my mother in law encloses her yard with.  We snagged 3 small ones and you couldn't even tell where they were removed from. .but they make a nice impact on my yard! The pinks are blooming. .this one is firewitch. .in its second blooming season. I love the bright pink next to the bluish foliage! I cut a few to put in a vase with some blue flax for dinner last evening. Lovely! By the way, it's xeric!! (doesn't need much water. .which is great around western Ks!) 

Here's a new columbine that I had to bring home from Lowes a few weeks ago!! I intended to dig some clumps from a friend, until I read that they don't transplant well.  This will add a punch of bright color to my shady north flower bed of hosta. 

Speaking of punch. .The same trip to Lowes rewarded me with the ability to check off a "wanted" plant from my new notebook.  This is Burning Heart bleeding heart.  It is B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!! 

I also moved a couple of succulents out of the greenhouse. My friend Jennifer salvaged them, frostbitten, from the local nursery last fall. She knew I loved plants and brought them to me.  After cutting off the areas that died from the cold, they made a great comeback! I put this one in an old pressure canner that has been taking up space in my yard.  

The varigated one went in an old enamel bucket.  I think they will be happy on the deck! I can't wait to move my houseplants out. .but will have to wait till night time temps warm up just a bit! The veggies are sprouting well!! We have potatos, beets, carrots (a first for us), onions, swiss chard, and cilantro coming up in the garden.  I put out lots of basil plants today (purple and sweet). Grant and I will have to thin the beets out this week. .and the carrots soon too.  It's hard to believe that school will soon be out. .and summer will be in full swing! Wishing everyone a terrific week!!