April showers DO produce May flowers!

Happy spring!!

The last time I posted. .It was early in the spring. .but there was already a lot going on in the gardens!

There is still a lot going on there. I wanted to give a little tour!

I have some fun family pictures uploaded. .so hopefully it won't be much longer till I can post those too. .some exciting things have been happening around here!!

On Mother's Day. .later in the evening, after the whole crew left for a short excursion. .

I enjoyed sitting right here. .

listening to the pond and birds. .

I just can't believe how beautiful the flowers are. .

The honeysuckle's intoxicating scent filled the heavy air of evening. .

What a relaxing and perfect ending to the day!

I was amazed at God's detail in our world.

It is always good to be reminded of how amazing He is. .

And how much He has blessed us by giving us so much beauty to enjoy in the midst of the cares of this world!

And the chance to just BE STILL and allow myself to be impressed with my surroundings was JUST what this curly headed chica needed!

I was in the mood for sassy this year. .

So red and purples went into the self watering deck planters.

Cami made the stepping stone a few weeks ago. .It's a butterfly, if you were having trouble identifying that!

I don't typically do Gerbera daisies well. .

But they've been in the pots 3 weeks. .and they are still blooming and look happy!!

If I can remember to get some fertilizer to them, they may last for another few!!

For years I wondered if this pond would ever looked like it belonged in the yard. .And after much trial and error, it seems to be coming along. The yellow water irises were part of my aunt and uncles pond before they moved to Oregon. They were quite showy!! I also figured out that these salvia bushes can take the heat. .AND multiply!! They are already twice as big as they were last year! There is a little bit of gallardia hiding in the middle too, it has just started to bloom in the last day or two. The green clump in the middle will be Mexican hats it looks like. .they self seeded. .I haven't seen one bloom for a couple years now, so apparently the seeds are hardy!

Last week I saw a hummer on the penstemon. .I was pretty excited to see him there. .I haven't seen him for about 5 days now, so I figure he went on to town where there is more going on. He fed on a number of the plants around here. .but never the feeder that I witnessed. .Maybe one day, I will have a habitat that will keep them around for the whole summer!

A look up toward the deck where the planters are.

I have this pink peony and one that is more of a crimson. .This one doesn't smell much. .but the blooms are crazy amazing!! I have been looking for a white fragrant one with a pink center this year. .but no avail yet!

The orange honeysuckle that has never thrived seems to be coming out of it's 10 year shell!! It has climbed up onto the metal bedframe clear to the roof line. .

It doesn't smell, but it sure is pretty!!

The hummer sure did enjoy it too!

The other plants near it are ones that I got from high country garden last year, hoping to find something that will do the intense west afternoon sunshine!! So far, so good!

I discovered two of these little dudes growing. .Oriental poppies that I started from seed last summer. .I popped them in the ground right before the first frost last year. .and forgot about them. .Because seriously, they were about 3 inches tall with about 6 leaves on them! I was so excited to see them coming up. This one now has a big fat bud on it. .I can hardly wait to see what color it turns out to be!!

GonSS. .

These little puppies are from your garden!! I always forget the name. .

But I sure do like them. And last week, I even saw them for sale in a nursery in Topeka!! They get very little attention, and lots of the intense sun. .But they have survived and are doing well! THANKS for sharing them!!

Here is my answer to west afternoon sun, a deck that needs summer flowers, and an inability to water them enough to keep them alive!!

SUCCULENTS!!

I have kept these pots alive for a couple years now. .and move them into the greenhouse for the winter. Due to an oversight on our part, we let it get too cold in the greenhouse one night. .and several of them froze. .but, many of them were preserved, and I have just taken other cuttings to add into the pots!! I can now have some added interest. .and only  have to water them a few times per week! The potted purple fountain grass is a new experiment. .I will see if they can flourish in a pot with very little water too.

This little clematis has existed for years. .but never got more than 2 feet tall. Last spring I had to move it to another location, and it ended up on the north side of the house. .It is going to town. It is now as tall as the 6 foot trellis and has a number of blooms on it. YAY!

Here is the bed on the north side of the house. The hostas are getting big. .and I am hoping to get some blooms this summer as well-so far it has just really been foliage. Cami and I had the day at home by ourselves on Saturday, so I moved the pitcher pump water feature (you can see it way at the back in front of the post). .I just moved it about 3 feet over. .but it radically changed the view from the back. .and the appeal of the feature! I will have to get pictures and post them soon!

This is the memory garden. The Blue atlas cedar looks pathetic. .but it has new growth on nearly all of it. .so I want to give it some more time to see if it recovers from the winter burn or not. I hate to see it go! All the daylilies I planted in there are living. .so the colors should dramatically improve in a year or two. The tulips there looked great. .and really, there has been a little color ever since that. .so it is changing like it was designed to. Cami and I put some seeds in there. .and some of them are sprouting. .it's hard to see them, because the weeds sprout at the same rate!!

Big clump of iris from a friend. We enjoyed several bouquets of those!

The pampas grass is already taking off. I will be excited when they occlude the view of the dead car lot! And the asparagus patch is looking good for it's first year. I was sure that most of those roots in the big-box store package were dead. .but they just remained dormant from last June until now. .Looks like we will have about 12 plants as they continue to grow. Enough to eat AND share. And maybe pickle. .if you haven't purchased pickled asparagus to eat. .you are missing out!

Some blue flax that reseeds itself into the little corner garden!

And the Red Texas Yucca has four stems starting! The other three plants have some as well. .These blooms will last throughout much of the summer. .I found some miniature ones last week. .and planted them by the walkway up to the house near the pond where it is hot and dry! I think they will do well!

I was so enthralled with my aunt's Dutch iris last year, that I ordered some bulbs for my yard. .I don't know why I never knew about these before!! They were beautiful!! I'll be excited for them to multiply and treat us to many more blooms in the summers to come!

I'm so glad to live in a location with amazing blue skies. .

And changing seasons!

Be back soon with some pictures of my other passion. .

My family!!

Planting of the Veggies!

Hey, Hey!!

We have had one little frost since like the first of March. .

And I am having a hard time believing that it is still only April!!

So I have been chomping at the bit to get stuff planted!

We enjoyed 4.75 inches of rain last weekend. .Prom day, of course!

But everyone was so glad to see the rains after the week full of the worst fires in Kansas history right in our neighborhood here. .that NO. ONE. CARED!!

My tomatoes have been in the wall of waters for about 2 weeks now. .

And I decided I needed to get the rest of them planted.

The pictures aren't great at all. .

Boring, pretty much. .

But I needed to map the beds so I can remember which plants are what.

My biggest issue at the end of the summer. .is that I have no earthly idea what plants are where anymore. .Because I can't easily find my little tiny labels!! 

And I'm too hurried and lazy to look for them!

I hope this works much better for me!

3 raised beds on the east side of  the house.

In the front one. .Bed #1

on the north side starting front of picture to the back. .

Beefmaster tomato

Super Banana Supreme pepper

Celebrity tomato

Gypsy sweet pepper.

On the south side is, ,

Green bell pepper

Snow White cherry heirloom tomato

Valencia orange pepper

Jetsetter tomato 

Bed #3 which you can see directly behind bed #1 in the top picture. .

has 3 rows of clemson spineless okra.

Bed #2. .the northernmost raised bed.

Only 4 tomato plants at this point. .

north side is a big boy tomato

Big beef tomato

south side is a Lemon boy tomato

1 renegade potato plant from last year

and a Jubilee heirloom tomato.

Bed #4 in the front.

on the east side are two mucho nacho Jalapeno plants.

6 sweet banana pepper plants (with a garlic plant in there too)

On the south side of the bed are 5 short rows of beets, another garlic plant, and a tiny basil plant.

In between the raised beds are where I opted to plant a couple bulbs of garlic last winter. .like in January. .Oops!

Bed #5 has Straight Eight cucumbers on the north side and National pickling cucumbers on the south side. 

To the right of the photo (not very easy to see) is a huge tarragon plant that I never use because I don't know how. .some sage, chives, oregano, lemon balm, and a bronzeleaf fennel plant that I never got around to harvesting. It not only overwintered. .but I found 3 small plants coming up from seed in other areas! 

I guess I will try to figure out how to use it. .It is sure is pretty. .and gourmet-ish!!

I planted 4 tomatoes in the memory garden. .

I should repost some of the early pictures of this space. .

It has been the best changing garden in my career!!

It may be hard for you to determine that there are 4 tomato cages in this photo. .

I can tell that. .

In the cage closest to left front of the photo is a Parks Whopper tomato.

The one directly to the south is a Cherokee Purple tomato.

The farthest south near the Atlas Cedar is a Salsa Roma tomato. .

And there is one right near the pedestal birdhouse which is a Juliet grape tomato. 

Remember how I mentioned that Jeremy is becoming a gardener as well??
He had been so focused last summer on hooking his drip system up to water his tiny cedar trees. .

That my Valentine rhubarb plant got more water than it has seen in it's lifetime. .

We hooked the drippers to take care of the rhubarb and a couple blackberry bushes as well as the tiny trees. .

So the rhubarb is happy, happy, happy!! 

And so will be the gardener the day she gets a pie from this critter!! 

Again. .

being stewarded by a too-busy gardener. .

I thought all my asparagus plants died.

They have never taken off. .

probably because of neglect.

SOO. .

I bought 14 more roots and planted them a couple weeks ago. .

And Jeremy added a dripper hose to them. .

And today whilst rummaging around this back area. .

I found all of the 4 plants that I knew had survived of the first 10 I planted 4-5 years ago now.

Yay us!! 

We love them grilled. .or roasted. .or wrapped in prosciutto and goat cheese!! 

A tiny little columbine that survived it's first year in my garden!

The shady and moist narrow garden on the north side of the house may be a winner! 

Feeling cocky because ONE had survived. 

I bought a few more at Lowes a few weekends ago. .

When I caught them on a flash sale for $3.00 apiece!!

Behind it is a hosta that is supposed to be 5 feet tall. .

It's been pretty pathetic these first few years. .

But it may be settled in and ready to go now!! 

We have decided to add some privacy to our west deck. .

Something that we SHOULD have done about. .

Um. .

16 years ago!!

But I was afraid that we would tear up all the plants. .
So I dug up this clematis from his little spot there.

He won't die. .

But he didn't thrive there either. 

I am hoping that this area on the north side will be a little better. .

Not as intense sun. .but hopefully enough sun that he will perform. 

Here is the north side of that deck!

I am LOVING IT!!

We had some reclaimed church windows. .

In my head plans. .

I knew that I wanted slats to partially see through. .

And I also know that I don't do perfection. .

Instead, I prefer complete randomness. .

That way no one can judge my lack of measuring and precision!

I think this fits the bill!!

Jeremy, as usual, couldn't picture it in his head. .

But was pleased with it too!

The west side is almost done. .

Complete with change of slat direction and different heights on window placement too.

Hopefully by next weekend, it will be all finished up!!

In the rock planter we made several years back. .

There is a clump of maiden grass on the left and a Karl Forester grass on the right, closest to the deck. 

A darker colored sedum clump that you can see..

along with a hardy little dianthus plant loaded with cherry red buds. A few hen and chicks are loving their life there too--a swap from Gardener on Sherlock's house. 

This is the biggest pain in my butt site. .

The west side of the house. .

Hot. .windy. .nothing likes it here!

Climbing on the deck rail is an orange honeysuckle bush. .nearly ready to bloom.

I ordered some little starts from High Country Gardens. .and am hoping that they will be up for the challenge. Rock garden goes in after this if the plants are a no-go!! 

The green grassy clumps are actually old hyacinth foliage and some Magic Lily foliage.

I don't have a lot of curb appeal. .

But my little front flower bed is finally looking fuller.

The same day I got the columbines. .

They were also having a flash sale on these salvia plants!

SCORE! 

I added some along the pond. .

Where I have the same issue of too much heat. .and too much sun!

I put a couple little gallardia plants in there today. .and some more plants from HCG down to the driveway. .filling in among the existing--but sparse plantings!

The green hedge looking thing in the back. .are 3 spirea bushes I dug from my MIL's border years and years ago. .I noticed a smattering of blooms on the north side of them today. .Can't wait to see them in full bloom! 

Little water irises blooming.

My pump died this winter. .

And in delaying the purchase of a new one. .

Both of my big Koi died!! They grow super fast. .So I will have to get some more at Petsmart this summer! 

My friend Pat got a bunch of hybrid iris starts from a gardening buddy out west. .And several years ago, she shared some with me. .This is the first time it was big enough to bloom. .LOVE IT!! 

Well. . 

That's all for the garden diary today!

Thanks for tagging along during our very busy day!!

New Blooms on the Block

April showers bring May flowers you know!!

And we have really enjoyed the April showers that are happening nearly weekly!!

Soft colors inferno strip from High Country Gardens is going to town!!

Except that. .

I can count on one hand, how many times I have taken shelter from tornado warnings in my LIFE. .

And twice, during the month of April. .I found myself in a basement with people who were not part of my family. You may remember the episode I talked about at the beginning of the month, when my gardening buddy, Gardener on Sherlock came for a visit and we ended up sharing quality time in the basement with Grant and his video game.

The short pink flowers to the left are Fragrant Persion Stonecress, the taller lavender plants are Napeta (walker's low catnip) dark purple-Cardonna salvia, bright pink blooms are Jupiter's Beard.

Last night. .

At the high school awards banquet. .we joined all of the people in the cafeteria in proceeding to an underground weight room to hang out while we waited for the dangerous weather to pass. .concerned about the coaches, bus drivers, and our kids that had been 1 1/2 hours away at a track meet. .who were hiding out in a church basement!!

Kansas weather. .one just NEVER knows!!

And praise to God, who kept us from danger both times.

Elfin pink penstemon in the inferno garden. .while it is touted to attract hummers. .and I actually saw a hummer over the weekend in the yard. .I haven't seen a hummer on this plant!!

We had a pretty laid back weekend. Tristan got his foot surgically fixed on Friday. .And it went better than expected. After the podiatrist got into his foot, he decided that no canals through the bone needed to be drilled. .and no cartilage grafting either. Just cleaning out bone fragments,and shaving off a bony overgrowth was enough to fix the problem, he thinks. No weight bearing for him until he is seen this week.

He used some camo duct tape to "trick-out" his crutches. .and he has been SUCKING up the attention from any female in the school willing to give it to him!! We are hoping that he can be at least partially weight bearing by Friday, as the one act play that he has the male lead in for forensics, will be performing at state on Friday!!

The only thing that would make this set up a little better, would be solid sides. .so we couldn't hear him!! His mouth moves NON-STOP!

We are still loving the chickens. .One died last week for an unknown reason. .it was the largest plain white one. The others are at a horrifically U-G-L-Y stage of their lives. .and I keep thinking that I need to get some photos. A chicken raising friend looked at them over the weekend and said they looked perfectly normal to him. .I was starting to worry about their big patches of bare skin and hideous appearance!

Here is our home as you drive into the driveway. .the knockout roses are truly a knock-out this year!! Too bad they don't do vases!!

The peach irises are in their glory now. .They, fortunately, do tolerate vases well. .and make a great team with the white peonies and purple larkspur!

The unmarked hot pink peony just has a couple blooms this year. .but we are enjoying them. Cami helped me make a couple floral arrangements Friday. .she got to run the snippers. .and I am lucky to still have all my fingers!

This mini rose bush was given to me by my MIL several years ago after the passing of my first grandma. It is a reliable little pop of color!

Bridal pink rose bush only looks nice this time of the year. .the blooms usually do well in vases. .but I haven't actually gotten any into the vases! Soon the heat and insects will not do nice things to any blooms left. .and the slated high for Saturday is 1-0-2!! WHAT??

This tropicana rose bush is a bright spot out of my kitchen window. It is planted all by itself in a bed that I finally covered up with fabric and mulch to get rid of the bermuda grass. .The bed is in a great spot on the east side of the house. .and has morning sun with afternoon shade. .I haven't decided what to put in the spot yet. .but will be working on that in a year or two. So tropi stays there for now, but will likely move in the future.

This. .has been incredible!!

It was one of the bulbs that I ordered last fall from Brecks. I have never tried allium before. .and this year I planted 2 kinds. .I am so sorry I never grew them before!! This particular variety is Beau Monde (I think. .I'll correct it later if I find an error).

You can see. .

It is HUGE!!

It has been blooming for nearly 2 weeks now. .and has been absolutely covered in butterflies and moths.

Speaking of butterflies. .I have never, EVER seen the winged creatures in the numbers that are in my yard already this spring. All types. .monarchs, red admirals, moths of all types, a number of dragonflies, and I even think I saw a black swallowtail yesterday. .though I never got close enough to ID it. Cami tries to catch them, but is rarely successful. I had to ask her not to chase them through the inferno garden, as she was tromping down the plants, and they weren't recovering!

The sea of larkspur has started. My original clump of butterfly milkweed is among the sea. It will probably be in bloom by next week. It is a pretty striking, the vibrant orange with the hues of blue. A few other milkweed that I started from seed should also be big enough to bloom sometime this summer.

We are at the point of spring, when I have to take an extra moment to inhale deeply as I walk into the backdoor, or around the west yard, as the fragrant honeysuckle are in bloom. The hummingbird I have caught fleeting glances at, goes from the white to the orange and back again. I am hoping that I will have enough other food in bloom to entice him to stick around when the honeysuckle gives it up.

I was happy to find that Devin had taken initiative to fill up the pitcher pump water feature while Missy and I were antiquing a couple weeks ago. .I have really enjoyed listening to his small trickle while mulching and weeding!

Rocky Mountain Penstemon and Cardonna Salvia



Speaking of mulching. .I finished (mostly) mulching in the new memory garden, in which the inferno garden is the main highlight right now. As I dream about what it will look like as it matures, I can hardly wait to see it.

The Amethyst Falls Wisteria vine is blooming. .It should bloom for several months. .I hope so. I haven't really noticed a scent, and the buds seem smallish. .but I see great potential. .and the winged creatures are enjoying it too.

Every day brings new promises of what's to come. .buds on the cosmos, and some coneflowers. .as well as the buds on this Red Hot Poker. I chose it from HCG last year for the foliage, and the promise that hummers liked its blooms. .I'm looking forward to seeing this in it's full glory!

The schedules are beyond hectic now. .

with Jeremy and I having to divide forces to watch kids or take them places. .

so every ounce of serenity and quiet beauty that the gardens and their inhabitants have to offer. .

are a great source energy and refreshment.

 And. .even though this last month of school and everything it brings is just starting. .

I already feel like. . .

THIS!!!

Happy Monday. .

The FIRST day of May!!

Ecclesiastes 2:24-25

There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?