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 Every Day!

Greetings from southwest Kansas. .

We have enjoyed cooler temperatures this week. .more seasonable for sure.

We have, so far, escaped storms. .which also means that we escaped the rains. .unless you count a few minutes here and a few minutes there. .maybe a tenth of an inch! But we had about 1.70 inches last week. .and compared to this time last year, we feel like we are livin' in the rain forest! And lovin' it. .I might add!

We had a great Easter. .and the weather was perfect for hanging out in the great outdoors!! I took a few photos Sunday, when I was photographing the chicks first afternoon out. .and I'm glad I did. .the colors are prettier with a bit of sunlight!!

Looking at the house from the veggie garden. .We put a smaller Bur Oak tree near to there last weekend. .and I couldn't help but stop and admire the view of the spirea on my way back from watering.  Those three bushes were taken from my mother in law. .she has an enormous hedge of them around her house. .We snuck some small ones out, and could never tell where they had even been. They have been thriving here and become progressively more beautiful every spring. .The blooms have been going for about a week. Directly on the other side of the spirea bushes is the pond. .I really like the seclusion aspect of it. .and people don't see the pond when they drive up, even though it is in the front yard!

This tulip came from a blueberry and cream mixture from Brecks. .I'm likin' it. .A LOT!! It reminds me of a peony bloom. .which, I noticed in the drizzle this afternoon, are beginning to show some color on their flower buds. .they will be in bloom soon too!

I spent a LONG time weeding out this patch. .I am thinking that watching the goldfinches cling to the sunflower heads wasn't quite enjoyable enough to warrant ALL this work to get rid of the seeds they missed!! Yikes! I did plant a little patch of four o'clock seeds in that mess. .Hoping I will be able to ID them when they sprout!! The number of Spinx moths that are attracted to those in the evenings is incredible. .and reason enough for me to have some. They generally reseed once they get going, which is nice, unless you are referring to sunflowers. .and now I think their reseeding ability is a less than attractive quality.

I had to add this photo. .first because it shows everyone. .in one place. .at the same time, which is becoming more rare. .and second. .because it shows the relation of the pond from our dining room table. I LOVE sitting where Cami is standing, and looking out the window. .sipping java. .watching birds. .or contemplating life! If you were wonderin' what Grant was doing in the background. .the chicks moved from the bathroom to the kitchen after the first day. .and Grant was busy watching them. They made the move to the yard a few days ago. .and are doing well in their tiny little chick house with the heat lamp in it. .today they even came out into the little caged in pen to see the outer world! They have lost a lot of fuzz and gained a lot of feathers. .even in the course of time since yesterday!!

I'm pretty excited to see how the pond looks by the end of the summer. I am amazed at how much all of the pond plants have grown just this spring. .they already seem so much bigger than they were at the end of the summer. Two small hostas and a heuchera that I thought were goners last summer have made appearances in the flower bed under the tree. It has pond liner under the soil to hold the moisture in for these water-loving plants. Must be working!! My biggest issue with the pond is that it turned out too round. .I am working things around in my mind. .which may entail pulling up some of the rock and adding some plantings closer to the water to change the shape. .Hmmm!

There is new growth on all of the spruce trees. .including the Blue Atlas I planted last August. .That's always my sign that things truly are "alive and well!!" The spruce trees took the drought. .but barely. I have one of these dwarf spruces that may be lucky to make this summer. It is a little closer to the elm tree, and I wonder if the roots are competing for moisture. But, he also has some new growth though, so I am hopeful!

Now joining the dwindling parade of bulbs. .some of the cottage garden faves are showing. .Enter Lineum

or blue Flax. .I am noticing some mild reseeding in the bed these are in. .but they are such an unusual color of periwinkle blue, that I just can't bear to pull them yet. They only bloom when the sun shines. .so on these cloudy days, their buds have been closed up! They have really cool foliage too, so even when not in bloom, they are nice to look at.

The larkspur has also started blooming. .but there is a SEA of this stuff coming up. .and I know Jeremy's customers must wonder why I let so many tall weeds exist in the bed right alongside the driveway!! In another little bit though, I think it will be quite stunning!! 

I did a little transplanting the other day. .from one bed to the next. .and this cloudy, cool weather has been just perfect for that!! Not much transplant shock happening, and I'm glad!! I planted the first pot of winter-sowed seeds this week too. .I had some carnival morning glories that I threw in a pot just cause. .(they are quite easy to start in the spring too). They got a spot near the new cedar fence. .to crawl up the posts and add some color. I have several pots of winter sown seeds that have sprouted and a few that are starting to sprout. .but because of my organizational mishaps. .and the dry erase pen I used to mark the pots. .I have NOT a clue. .what any of the seedlings are. .just what they could be. .a mishmash of about 8 kinds of seeds. .none of which I had ever tried growing before. .except for the morning glory. .I knew which ones those were :-) Sometimes my brilliance is baffling. .even to me!! 

We're looking forward to a weekend full of this and that .a little family time. .a little gardening. .a little socializing. .and a little antiquing (for me anyway:-)

Stay out of trouble. .

and drop by again soon!!