July 20.2011

I'm trying to get an hour's worth of weeding in the flower garden every dry morning.  It's been so hot and humid, I've been out at 7.  Of course, I let the weeds get about a foot tall before I started.  So much for "doing better this year.  

I'm working on the side of the shop, too.  We have a bush there that is spawning two babies.  I put a columbine next to that, weeding around them, dropped some larkspur seeds, and blazing star and penstemon,  This is the north side, and I've blocked out the space with old 2x4's for now.  The west edge has a Stella d' oro lily at the corner, going strong, with some iris.  But there is a black walnut tree in the middle, and lots of brome grass.  I've finally got some holly hocks going, and I've dumped the other seed there, too.  (west side)  I think I will have to wait until next year and spray the grass early.  

I want to get some skinny tomato cages for the holly hock, delphinium, and something else, evening primrose?

Also, those taller frames that you can put flower pots on and display work well for spreading tall flowers.

Jim is just now watering the corn.  This week is the first we've had to water anything, we've had so much rain.  I planted some peas where the other ones only produced three on a new package.  They were a casualty from the cold, I imagine. We are eating green beans now, and zucchini.  The second planting of cucumbers is not coming up either. 

Jim at Work

June 4, 2011

We planted 8 more spruce trees along the south edge of our "vacant lot" and Jim installed a drip system to water them with the 8 from last year.  It is nice that he can do this so easily. 

June 28

Of course, the usual thing has happened, I didn't keep up with my photo taking or my weeding like I wanted to, I did other things instead.  It is, however, taking a long time to be hot and it's been raining about every other day, too.  Not, just sprinkles, but measurable rain!!  Four days ago we had 2", and we've had another nice rain with a little hail just a couple of days ago. 

I planted the mint in the terrace garden and it is doing fine.  The asters, I forgot to plant right away and they are doing NOTHING in the pots.  Just sitting there. 

Zane was a sort of help the day I planted the petunias in the front window boxes.  He was over exuberant in the watering department.

My pansies are beautiful!

(out front)

I think this is the gas plant I got from mom.  Your are supposed to be able to light the blooms after dark, they put out enough gas to burn.  This is the first year they've bloomed.  I've had it several years. 

(middle circle, main flower garden)

I love these larkspurs, the original seed came from Jim's dad flowers. I've had them all over in the garden, but I'm trying to keep them in this part just north of the house at the moment.  They tend to reseed everywhere. 

(dry garden)

 On the left, are my painted daisies are looking just like they do every year.  Scraggly and yellow.  I need more iron in my soil.    Usable iron, anyway.  These were yellow when I planted them.  One year later, they've reverted to pink. The photo on the right is spiderwort which we dug up by the Platte River one year.  It is a native variety so it does well without overtaking.
(by the pond)                                                                                                                                                                    (dry garden)

Daisies and Bachelor Buttons (blue cornflower) look so pretty together. 

( main flower garden)

Silver mound with dianthus

(main flower garden)

 My beautiful vining pink mini rose, in my depression glass cup and saucer. 

 Climbing Rose, it sure should be doing better than it does, but a lot depends on our soil, which is white clay, and we likely don't fertilize effectively. 

(rose garden)

I THINK this is a "nearly wild" rose bush.  I love them and it blooms it head off a couple times a season.  It tends to grow very long branches part of the time and needs trimmed off. 

(front of the house)

Blue Flax next to coral bells.  This reseeds itself well, and not too much.  I have to watch to keep it where I want it.

(main flower garden)

Double Delight rose, gone wild.

(main flower garden)

I see that last years petunias have reseeded themselves and come to join the pink ones. 

(window boxes)

Clematis

(Flagpole garden)

Our red dianthus, so pretty, and it keeps coming back.  It is usually good for three or four years. We like to put blue lobelia in with it, but couldn't find any this year. 

Jim has extended the trellis for the clematis.  It grows bigger every year and is doing splendidly.  The first year or so, it grew slowly and died all together, which is a normal problem with new clematis, as they get older they should do all right. 

May 22

We have had a lot of rain lately and wind and cooler days, so I haven't been out to do much weeding.  I went out tonight to take pictures of the flowers in bloom right now. 

Hardy Geranium, Snow on the Mountain (I think), Thrift

Columbine, Purple Iris, Heliotrope (I'm not sure)



Dianthus and Silver Mound

Columbine

Perennial Bachelor Button

Coral Bells. Snowdrift

White Iris

May 10

Jim planted another two rows of sweet corn.  I spent a little time cleaning out a section of the main flower garden. The easiest part.

I love lilacs.  They are one of my favorite flowers.  I say that I am finding about a lot of things.  They are my favorite FRAGRANT flowers, how about that.  We have a row to hide the shop from the road.

Here's one with a bumble bee in it.

The King's Bathtub

If you take the petals off a violet blossom, you can see the king taking his bath.

Pictures here 

May 7

I've been busy, but the gardening is still going on, slowly.  This spring is way behind.  Our ash trees aren't leafed out yet. And it has been so windy.  Jim planted 2 rows of sweet corn May 2nd.  We had a freeze that night. We might have gotten frost the next night, too.  Our cherry tree was just starting bloom so I think it will be okay. We'll have more cherries than we will want, need or use, if all these blooms make cherries!

This little bush is one of my favorites.  It's a pink flowering almond, and like so many of my chosen plants, there is a story behind the reason I have one. 
My paternal grandfather worked in the laboratory of Mount Arbor Nurseries in Shenandoah, Iowa, and my grandmother worked in the office.  We had from them roses, and also a little bush like this one.  I used to visit and admire it when it bloomed in the spring, and I remembered what it looked like. Years later when I wanted a bush like that for my own garden, neither Mom nor Dad, remembered we even had a bush like that.  So on my journey looking for it, I found this HAS to be what I'm looking for, same leaf shape, same blossom.  However, the one my folks had was a nearly while blossom with a very faint pink.  So, either, I'm not remembering the blossom color correctly, or they don't have that kind anymore.

Blossom close-up.



I couldn't decided which of these pictures was the best of the bush itself, which is is rather sad shape, as these are taken before the half the died was cut out.  These are growing suckers underneath it, and making new little bushes under the old.

 Main Flower Garden

Creeping phlox are just gorgeous, and we used to have 6 ft solid plants along here, but they've most of them died out.

Our lavendar ones.

White, purple and a tiny bit of magenta, accented with another very popular and well known flower.

They are being taken over by this pointy leafed WEED, that started out as a beautiful plant.  It grows, insidiously underground with a network of fine, easily broken off roots.  It has a tall stalk with very pretty purple bells, but it spreads so fast and is so hard to get rid of, that it isn't worth having. We have been fighting with it for several years, and it seems like it it winning, not us.

These are my later tulips.

I had the furnace still running May 2, and now it is 90 degrees today, so the air conditioner is on for the first time.