I like the warmer, but not too hot, weather. I have spent time outside working on our gardens and putting in new plants. The vegetable garden has had a rough start, but we are on our way.
The front yard is coming along nicely. Everything is growing bigger, blooming and filling in.
Our yard still looks terrible, but I don't expect it to look nice until next year. Every time the lawn guy comes he sprays weed killer and most everything dies. I am looking forward to seeing our yard with nice, lush grass.
The columbines in the side yard are done blooming, but they are filling in the otherwise boring side yard.
My Mother's Day hydrangeas from
last year are blooming. I've always liked the full blooms of a hydrangea. I read somewhere that if you put a penny in the ground at the base of the hydrangea it will turn the flower blue. I planted two pennies and figured if it didn't work it didn't cost me much. I'm not sure if it was the penny or if I just have the right kind of soil, but I have blue hydrangeas.
On a side note, I did see a praying mantis climbing on the hydrangea. I'm assuming he was one of
ours.
This year we added two gardens to the back fence. I thought the area looked boring and I really hate mowing along a chain link fence. On one side we put in blackberry bushes, strawberry plants and pin wheels in hopes of scaring birds away. We're not having much luck with the pin wheels.
On the other side I transplanted plants we already had in a side garden that never got much sun. It also happens to be on the side of the house that we plan to terrace, so it had to go anyway.
My garden just wouldn't be complete without a Texas shaped bird bath. It's just what every home needs!
By our basement door we added another garden. It helps to keep the grass from growing against the house, and hides what used to be the mud pit underneath the garden hose.
The last little area of landscaping we did was in our new concrete area. There was a small strip of dirt that was 15" x 8' and it needed more than weeds and dirt.
We made some small changes to the vegetable garden this year. Instead of three boxes all together we removed a box and added a larger one on the other side of the yard where it could get some afternoon shade.
The vegetables have had a bit of a rough start this year. I went back this year to the
Amish nursery to buy my plants. I won't go back next year. I had a fun day with my friends, but the plants were more expensive this year and half of what I purchased died almost immediately. I'd rather stick to the local stores and save some money.
If all that wasn't enough I've tried my hand at some container gardening. Usually my pots have looked like this with one type of flower in different colors:
After the success of my front pots:
I decided to go crazy and make another one. I had an empty pot and clearance plants. I figure they'll come back around with a little sun, water and love.
All I have left to do is water, weed and tend my garden, that and the terracing project which we plan to start in the next few weeks. I can't forget that we need to re-stain the unevenly stained fence. I guess we'll be busy all summer long.
Now I leave you with some photos on how far we've come:
