Rain, what can I say about rain?

What I dislike about rain

1. My car gets dirty

2. My floors get dirty because my dog comes in with wet paws

3. Lots of people complain about it

4. The sky is usually dark and gloomy

What I like about rain

1. I don't have to water the gardens or grass

2. I don't have to cut the grass

3. It gives you a good plausible excuse for getting into PJ's early in the evening

4. It lets you look forward to a hot sunny day

5. Wet feet for no good reason except it was raining

6. A good reason to curl up with a good book or watch a movie

7. Rain forces some of us to sit down and relax

And my favorite thing about rain is the wonderful smell in the air after it stops, everything just smells so fresh. The windows beg to be opened to enjoy the air

I think my grandmother was right she always said "Rain is God's way of cleaning the earth."

Next time it rains in your area take a moment to inhale deeply after it stops, you may get a nice surprise.

"May All Your Weeds Be Wildflowers"

Planted by crazygramma at 6:14 PM 6 comments

 

Today I have only had a quick tour of my garden and only because I noticed a show of red from the Climbing Dortmund as I was leaving for work this morning. The first thing I did once I got home and changed was to visit my back yard where sure enough the rose bush has produced a bloom. I did manage to snap a quick photo of this rose and a few other things before the batteries in my camera died, so they will be posted later. This is the pleasure.

When I got to work this morning one of my co-workers (the one that was snipping and advising me on my roses) gave me a book on roses complete with a CD to borrow. This also was a pleasure. Here is the pain I do not have enough room in my yard to plant the 20 - 30 roses I fell in love with. Big Sigh.

Nothing was done outside tonight since as soon as I came back indoors the sky opened up with big claps of thunder and bolts of lightning, with of course a down pour of rain. Oh well now I do not need to water and I can rest my sore joints. I guess helping with the pool and doing all the weeding over the weekend caught up to me.

No big deal I am going to go and crawl up with the book of roses and a mug of green tea, the name of the book is Bontanicas Roses / The Encyclopedia of Roses. This goes A-Z. I may even pop in the CD and check it out.

Here is an insert from the Forward of the book written by David Austin

Few flowers can equal it for massed effect throughout the summer-but it is the individual bloom that makes it the "Queen of Flowers"

And oh yes before I forget I had a reply to a previous post "Name this Bush" and guess what it is not Jacqueline, Willard, Molly etc. It is a Weigela. I then checked on the web and found a photo so thank you to the anonymous reply.

"May All Your Weeds Be Wildflowers"

Planted by crazygramma at 7:56 PM 1 comments

 

What can be better than going out into your garden first thing in the morning? I got a good early start today as I know we are in for a really hot one, you could find me outside this morning at 6:am. It was wonderful and cool enough to get a lot of nice quiet labor in, I don't think my neighbors would of been happy had I turned on the weed eater so early.

I took my coffee and my little dog out and started pulling weeds all the while listening to the birds who I am sure were waiting for me to put seeds into the ground. I got about 98 percent of the weeds pulled and all the sweet peas tied up to the lattice work and I am hoping they will now start climbing the lattice on their own. After doing this I rediscovered the Russian sage I put in there when I first started a small garden three years ago. This is going to be moved somewhere else I think as it tends to get buried amongst the sweet peas. Also are couple of other plants that I have forgotten about in fact I forget what they are.

The morning smells are great I just relaxed and took lots of breaks so that I could just inhale the morning and look around. Everything is springing to life.

Here is a picture of what I started with my first year here. As I look at it, I thinks it seems a little sad.



However I guess it was a start and did not seem too bad at the time. I am amazed how much bigger it grew last year.



As you can see in this second photo the garden now extends around the back fence as well.

One of my orphan rose bushes bloomed yesterday however it is not that grand and something has been at the leaves. I guess I will have to spray although I don't like to.

Also got some work done at the side of the house where the wild flower garden is starting to go in. This was put off for too long I think so I am not sure if I will get the desired results. The whole project became so daunting that I kept avoiding it until I decide instead of trying to do it all at once I will just work my way up from the front arch. Once that was decided I have been giving it a good half hour daily.

Little steps make big gardens.

"May All Your Weeds Be Wildflowers"

Planted by crazygramma at 12:14 PM 1 comments

 

Not much done in my yard tonight except for cutting the lawn and watering we hit a temp. of 90F too hot to do much.

I wandered over to take the promised picture of my neighbor's clematis.



I then went on to help my other neighbor with setting up a pool for their son Riley. We actually had to dig up the sod and level it and although we got a good bit done we had to quit due to mosquitoes and lack of light. Here we are still plugging away in the dark.



Am I the only one who has real bad garden shoes? These sneakers cost me a $1.99 about 5 years ago and I could not pass up the opportunity to share them, so take a look at these they are well broken in and usually stay on my feet for about 10-15 minutes once I get outside. I have totally given up gloves in the garden unless I need to pull thistles.



To bad you can't see the tattoo I have on my leg in this shot but maybe another time. These poor shoes are well worn.

Now I want to see pictures of other peoples garden shoes. Yes it is a challenge for those brave enough to show their worse foot wear.

Changing the subject I have a red snapdragon blooming that I don't recall planting last year and lots of other mystery plants coming to life.

"May All Your Weeds Be Wildflowers"

Planted by crazygramma at 9:42 PM 3 comments

 

I have read other garden blogs and it holds true "That I too am a sucker for plants" My friend and went to Walmart today so she could buy herself a few things for her new home. Of course we needed to go into the plant section as she wanted to get a planter for her deck, mistake number one was that I followed her there like a lamb to slaughter.

I promised myself I was not going to buy anything not even a packets of seeds! Oh who was I trying to fool, I am a Garden Addict. By the time we left I had 12 Dahlia plants 6 red and 6 yellow. Oh come on they were on sale only $1.87 for six. Not too bad eh? Well they also had alyssum plants on 6 for $0.99 so I had take advantage of that too.

There really was some reasoning behind this small splurge on plants. I do not like the way the area around the lilac bushes I recently planted looks, so I decided I would dig around them and plant all these newly acquired flowers there. Oh can you just picture how beautiful it will all look?

This did not happen, I forgot how hard that strip of dirt is so after trying to get one hole dug I gave up and dispersed the Dahlias around in three different garden areas and planted the alyssum in the front garden as a filler. While I was doing this and pulling weeds I noticed my miniature rose bush is loaded with blossoms. I don't know how the poor little thing will hold them all up when they open.

My neighbor has her Clematis plant in full bloom with huge flowers so I am going to go over and get some pictures tomorrow night. I hope mine are even half the size.

Everything got another good watering and I resisted the urge to check the seeds I planted last night.

Gaze at the stars and take a deep breath of the scented air

"May All Your Weeds Be Wildflowers"

Planted by crazygramma at 9:38 PM 3 comments

 

Well I decided that if I did not get off my lazy butt there would be very bare gardens this year. After a power dinner I went outside armed with my many packets of seeds, the purchased ones, the donated and saved one and the scrounged ones.

Planted on this fine hot evening (30c sorry I don't know the conversion for my American buddies) were marigolds, wildflower, baby breaths, alyssem both white and purple, a mixture called old fashion flower garden (another surprise somewhere along the line), poppies, nasturtium jewel mixture, some unknown seeds for a beautiful plant that gets purple flowers with white all over it, and you know a ton of others that I can not remember now. I love to garden however as you can tell I really do not keep track very well of what I am planting. This is why I drive my friend/neighbor crazy she knows everything that goes into her garden and where. I like all the surprises I get through the season, although I must admit it might make weeding easier if I knew what was where, but I am good about figuring out the dandelions and dill.

Everything got a very good watering and for once there was good water pressure so it did not take to long. While I was placing the sprinkler in the front yard to get the lilac bushes some moisture I checked my two bargain roses and YAHOO they both have started to get leaves.

"May All Your Weeds Be Wildflowers"

Planted by crazygramma at 8:40 PM 1 comments

 

Ok I have just read two other blogs on gardening and I feel so lazy becuase I didn't get much done over the weekend. I cut my grass on Friday night in between the torrential rain storms. Saturday I put an extra day in at work and then went out Saturday night. Who can resist a turkey dinner invitation.

On Sunday I had great plans to go out and play in the gardens, however in between the necessary naps I did not get out there until around 4pm. A small overindulgence of beer Saturday night caused the need for the naps.

When I did finally get up and about I did all the trimming I needed to do and all my weed pulling.

What I did discover was all the roses bushes I have in the back yard have buds on them. The moonflowers look like they may actually grow,the hollyhock is looking very good and has grown about 3" since the rain started, the lilac bushes I put in the front yard are still alive. My clematis plants are climbing like crazy on the arbor though no signs of flowering yet, but they seem happy enough.

Today was a wash as I went shopping with my sister who is getting married in September for wedding decorations and stuff. I purchased a packet of baby breath seeds to plant around some of my roses in the back and a packet of nasturtium jewel mixed seeds that I am going to plant by an area along the back fence just because I am not sure what I want to do with it yet, so I hope this is a quick fix that will brighten that corner for this year. Yeah like I need more seeds! By the time I left her to come home it was pouring rain again. Well there is always tommorow after work.

"May All Your Weeds Be Wildflowers"

Planted by crazygramma at 7:32 PM 2 comments

 

After two days of much needed steady rain I finally managed to get a chance to walk around my back yard to survey the weeds and the length of the grass.

To my surprise look at what I discovered.



These were given to me by the same friend last fall who gave me the yellow iris. I love mystery plants in my garden it is such a treat when they are discovered. Now that's what I call the joy of gardening.

Also I am happy to report the alyssum I planted last weekend was so happy with the rain that they have started to sprout, as well as three Moon flower plants.

And after all the comments about my bush here is a better picture of it now that there are more flowers on it.



All the rose bushes loved the downpour too they look quite happy in the yard, and the climbing Dortmund is actually starting to climb now that I moved it closer to the arch.

Happy planting!

"May All Your Weeds Be Wildflowers"

Planted by crazygramma at 7:26 PM 2 comments

 

Well after a long wait at the Hospital today I am very pleased to announce the arrival of my third grandchild. Zayden weighing in at 7lbs.13oz. the first child for my son Cody and his wife Alyssa, both are doing great. It will be so much fun having a grandchild in town, my two granddaughters Ivy & Chelsey live in Ontario.

However without further ado here is a photo of mommy and Zayden about 45 minutes after arrival.

"May All Your Weeds Be Wildflowers"

Planted by crazygramma at 7:51 PM 3 comments

 

Here is a picture of the flowering bush I cannot remember the name of. Maybe someone can help. If not I will just keep calling it the Neat bush with the pretty pink flowers.



As you can see it is ready to burst open with flowers as well.

"May All Your Weeds Be Wildflowers"

Planted by crazygramma at 5:13 AM 7 comments

 

And I really mean that. The yellow iris have taken right off in the back yard the purple ones are blooming happily in the front yard. I have decided that come fall I am going to mix them up a bit so I will have both colors in both yards. Mind you I did not know I had the yellow iris until this year as a friend gave them to me.

The bush I cannot remember the name of has started to bloom. I will post a picture tomorrow and maybe someone can give me a name for it other than "the cool bush with pretty pink flowers."

Today I tackled the planting of the four lilac bushes. Man what a job! First I soaked the area where I was planning on planting for a good half hour thinking this would make the job easier. Wrong. I set out with spade in hand and to my surprise it was as solid as a rock, I did manage to get a dent in the first planned hole so I stuck the hose in there for another twenty minutes or so, should be good enough you'd think, no way, I then had to wait 10 or 15 minutes longer for the water to absorb into the ground. Finally I managed to get the first lilac into the ground. I went on to the second spot and was a bit wiser as I waited for the water to sink in I dug the third and then the fourth hole. I decided to take a break before planting the second lilac and as I stood there wasting time I felt pain all over both my legs. Looking down I quickly realized that the fourth hole I dug contained an ants nest and they were all over me biting. Let me tell you I was glad to have the hose right there, after getting them off of me I drowned the little beggars, or at least I hope I did.

Also nestled into the ground are two Russian Sage both placed at the back of the front arch and a couple thyme with little white blossoms placed front of the lavender by the same arch. I am working on this front area and then gradually up the side of the house to get the wildflower garden going. However I hope I have not left it too long.

The trellised gate that was given to me last weekend I have decided is going kitty cornered in the back garden by the fence and shed. If I do not find a rambling rose that I like this year I will plant some sweetpeas or something for this summer. This will take care of a messy area that I cannot get to easily once the garden takes off, so hopefully it will suffice for this season.

Mary Mary quite contrary how does your garden grow?

"May All Your Weeds Be Wildflowers"

Planted by crazygramma at 7:54 PM 1 comments

 

Look what I discovered this morning when I let the dog out.




What a great way to start the day. I love spring.

"May All Your Weeds Be Wildflowers"

Planted by crazygramma at 5:44 AM 1 comments

 

After complaining about my iris not blooming check out this picture. This Iris was given to me last fall and I stuck it in the back garden and I had no idea how wonderful it was going to be. In fact I did not even realize it was ready to.




And here is a shot of the purple ones at the front of the house still teasing me.




I finally finished the area where I want to set a bench and planted the Canterbury Bells, the wedding mixture, alyssem, snap dragons and moved some of the small yellow pansies and dusty millers over. Here is a picture,though hopefully it will look better once the seeds all start.




Between the two gardens I am hoping the thyme I planted will grow over into the grass/weeds and give me a nice soft walking area.

Tomorrow I hope to either just finish planting all the back areas or start the front yard with the lilac bushes. Although I think I will just plant seeds and go for the front yard on the weekend as it shouldn't take long. It is amazing how much more energy is developed once a few blooms arrive.

"May All Your Weeds Be Wildflowers"

Planted by crazygramma at 8:55 PM 2 comments

 

Well I did not get it all done. I did get the area by the three rose bushes cleared and Lily of the Valleys planted around them and in a few other spots. The six white snap dragons are nestled into the ground. Only six you say? Not a chance my friend and went to Walmart and they were selling six plants for $1.87 and of course who can decide between white, pink or orange snap dragons, so we both purchased six white ones each and then six each of the orange and pink. We are both now going to have three pink and three orange, however my friend took them home so I do not have to worry about planting them until tomorrow.

Weed pulling when you are up to elbows in mud is a given so needless to say I did a good amount of that tonight. The Lilac bushes I have been assured will be OK in their pots for a week or two as long as they get water. I set them in the garden on the stepping stones so they are not going thirsty.

My iris are still teasing me with the promise of glorious blooms, however not one of them have opened although all my neighbors' gardens are blooming.

The pansies are now spreading, other forgotten plants are making their way back such as the dusty millers, hens and chicks etc. I am also in the process of waging war against the dill that keeps appearing, it is as bad as the dandelions.

Also I am back once again fighting the battle trying to kill off the Alberta Wild Rose that keeps threatening to take over yard and garden. Last year I dug right to the root, or I thought I did and poured Round up in the ground, did not do a thing, I am going to try vinegar. It's not that they are ugly its just they are totally invasive.

"May All Your Weeds Be Wildflowers"

Planted by crazygramma at 9:06 PM 2 comments

 

Plans after work and dinner tonight include:

Planting the four lilac bushes I have been given. (the big birds bought 3 more yesterday morning)

Finish the strip between the rose bushes and plant the Lily of the Valley plants given to me last night...about eight of them and put down some seeds for ground cover.

Plant the pail full of iris that were also given to me.

I am hoping to get in before dark tonight and before the mosquitoes attack. Wish me luck.

"May All Your Weeds Be Wildflowers"

Planted by crazygramma at 7:58 AM 2 comments

 

Here we go the complete addiction has taken hold. Come on people you know the one, The Garden Addiction. Unlike other addictions this one is not a danger to your health, it is however a danger to your wallet and your time.

It is an addiction that progresses slowly. First time you get a small area outside that is yours, all yours to do what you like, be it a small balcony, patio or yard that is when the first signs start to appear. Sometimes it is very subtle and you may not notice it, it starts on a sunny day and you have the urge to move one or two of your house plants outside for some sun, or you go shopping into an area of your favorite store that you swore you would never venture into and BAM you walk out of there laden with planters, soil and a ton of flowering plants to put on your deck.

What's the problem here you are probably wondering. Well that is the start, as the season progresses and you may be sitting on your deck with your new flowering planters when your eyes stray to a little corner of the yard and you say to yourself "Hmm a few flowers over there would sure brighten up my yard and I don't have to make it big" "I won't get crazy like some of those other people" Off you go once again, to a nursery maybe, because everyone knows the people there can get you started with low maintenance plants. Perhaps you buy 4-6 flowers and wander back home only to discover that you have not bought enough to make the area look the way you want. Or maybe you bought more plants than the area you dug and primed can hold, not wanting to waste money you either enlarge that area or OH NO you dig and prime a whole new area to place the excess plants in.

It continues on slowly like this, when you think you have done enough and all looks wonderful you take a rest, crack open a beer, pour a glass of wine etc. and sit down to enjoy the fruit of your labors. Big Big mistake "That area needs something I just can't figure it out". "HMMM maybe I will just look around a different nursery tomorrow and see what they have, but I won't buy anything."
Roses on Sale oh no.

Now you are hooked your evenings and weekends are consumed with working in the garden, or plotting another area while you rest your sore muscles. Reading gardening books, watching gardening show, or surfing the net for great ideas while it pours rain also consumes your free time. Being an addict the rain doesn't bother you after all it is good for the garden(s).

I am a prime example I went out tonight to turn on my sprinklers and did not come in until it was near dark and the mosquitoes were using me as a their own private buffet.

Say EEK at the worms but let them be.

"May All Your Weeds Be Wildflowers"

Planted by crazygramma at 9:10 PM 2 comments

 

Ah the scent of fresh cut grass. I am so happy (and my neighbors are too) we went and got my new lawn mower yesterday as well as a weed eater. What a chore that turned out to be, the first decision is what type to buy. One with a bag, one without a bag,one that mulches, one that is push or a self-propelled lawn mower. And don't get me started on the prices, I refuse to pay or have my other half pay $500. in order to cut my grass, we settled on a bagger that was in the middle price range. After making that decision we paid them and had them load the huge box into the back of the pick-up. Anxious to get home and do the yard before the heat of the day was upon us we went straight home and unloaded the equipment only to discover they had given us the wrong one! Back into the pickup this huge box went and off we went to the store to get this fixed. Of course I had to go in to see the store and to customer service (remember I have figured out to go there 1st from now on) while my other half stayed in the truck to keep watch on the huge box with the lawn mower. It is now around noon and the store has twice as many customers so I wait in line which is somewhat disturbing because everyone is lined up at the customer service desk was either returning or exchanging something, (about 6 people in line me included)finally it is my turn so I explain my dilemma, we go to the pickup to bring in the huge box and set about getting me the correct one, only to discover they have one left and it is the floor model. No problem I agree to take it and out the door I go with it all assembled and with a thing of oil which apparently comes with it. The original sales person did not advise us that oil comes with it, so of course we had paid for some, oh well I have extra no big deal. The beauty of taking the already assembled floor model is now I did not have to figure out what to do with the huge box later. Although I realize now I do not have any warranty papers. Back home we head and I figure it still is not too hot so plan on using both of these new toys ASAP. Wrong I had company waiting for me so by the time I got around to cutting the grass and doing the trimming it was going on 2pm and it was hot.

But WOW the lawn looks so much better now that it is cut and trimmed up. Also the dandelions are shrinking away after the use of weed & feed. Nice to see more green than yellow and white in the lawn.

Here is something you might like if you are in the market for a weed eater we found one that runs off a re-chargeble battery. No more cords to drag around and worry about just charge the battery and this slap it onto the weed eater and away you go. I do not have an outlet at the back of my place so I have been using shears which works fine mind you but takes so long. This was such a treat to get it all done quickly and then still have time to play in my gardens. We were also considering getting a battery charged lawn mower since they were on sale for about half price, however they were all out of stock and we were told it might be two weeks or longer for them to get more. I did not want to wait that long.

Having said all this and having a freshly manicured lawn I am going to plant, plant and plant today.

Oh did I mention that I was given an old gate that has lattice in the middle. So what you are probably thinking, well here is the latest brain storm I have come up with. I am going to prop this up on its side and plant a rambling rose on it. I did think about doing a whitewash on it however it is a very pale gray color so I will skip that and just figure out how to get it to stand up.

On and On it goes, I wonder if I will get to all the things I want to do this summer.

Enjoy the smell of the flowers.

"May All Your Weeds Be Wildflowers"

Planted by crazygramma at 5:37 AM 5 comments

 

I have had the most incredibly busy day at work today. Lunch was postponed until 3:15 because I could not get away from the desk or the clients. One of my co-workers felt bad for me and bought back a big chicken salad for me. What a sweetheart she must of noticed me wilting away.

However between the phone calls and the steady stream of clients my life was brightened up by a delivery of flowers to my desk. Of course it was almost another 30 minutes before I could look at the card to see who sent them.

Here is a picture of my flowers:



These are from two little sweethearts in Ontario, Ivy and Chelsey my little granddaughters. Thank you both you cheered up your Gramma's day.

"May All Your Weeds Be Wildflowers"

Planted by crazygramma at 5:33 PM 2 comments

 

What a glorious night to putter around outside, dark rain clouds and sun streaking through them, cool breeze and no hard labor. As you recall I am without a lawn mower so the grass is tall and I don't feel guilty since I can't cut it anyways.

My little dog Lucy loves it she gets right into rolling around and moaning when it is this long.

Here is a picture of her sort of she is afraid of the camera so I can never seem to capture her face.



I fixed the problems with the all the roses which were planted to far from the arches and the miniature rose in the front garden the I noticed was not in deep enough. And of course being a good curious garden person strolled around to see what and what is not up in my gardens. The mystery plant which I have now identified as a Columbine is blooming, my iris are ready to burst open at any point in time, the lilac bush still looks great and I am going to bring some inside tomorrow, the bleeding heart has more blooms, and finally I am very happy to say that the last three rose bushes I purchased have all developed leaves and hold promises of great blooms. Funny thing is,these are three rose bushes my friend found no fault with.

I am worried about the two bushes I planted by the arch I just put up they are not showing any signs of life. But hey maybe the $6.17 bushes from Walmart take longer to get started. Just in case they decide not to do anything I have planted Moon Flower seeds on each side of the arch, and if all else fails I will go back to Walmart and buy plastic vines and flowers. Take a breath that is a joke.

Also I am happy to report that I did finish the cobble stone area under the front arch and sprinkled some flowering thyme seeds in between the rocks. I have been trying to grow this for two years but with no luck, so taking no chances this time I put a real hefty amount of seed on and mushed it aroung in the soil. Just for good measure the sprinkler is going in that area because the roses and the lavender need a good drink too. The soil I have is really sandy so a little sun sure dries things out in a hurry.

Keep your nails dirty and wear dark nail polish.

"May All Your Weeds Be Wildflowers"

Planted by crazygramma at 7:31 PM 2 comments

 

I could scream. I spent all weekend getting the weeds in my gardens and in the grass under control so that I could just plant and enjoy some easy time outside through the week. Ha! Ha! The joke is on me I arrived home last night to see that my yard is a big mass of yellow dandelions and white seed bearing heads. The rain that came Monday and Tuesday was just what they needed to bloom all over the place. And to top that up the grass has also grown to a good 2" taller than normal.My guess is this is due to the weed & feed I used.

So what is the problem with having very lush lawn you ask? The problem is that on Friday night my lawn mower gave a big bang and then died leaving me stranded so to speak and wondering "Should I buy a goat and get free lawn cutting and fertilizer?" Or "Should I use my shears?" I borrowed my neighbors mower instead. My other half is going to buy me a new lawn mower for mothers day. Ah Spring Romance LOL.

Sure wished I had gotten my seeds planted they would of loved this rain. Of course I did get the seeds for the Moon flowers planted so its a start sort of.

My friend came over last night to cut some lilacs to take to her mom. She scouted out my yard since this is the first time she has ever seen it and made some startling observations. The first being that the Climbing Dortmund I planted last year is too far away from the arch. I panicked thinking I would have to dig this up and re-plant the rose bush and I hate to disturb it since it seems so happy where it is. Oh course then I realized that this arch can just be moved over 2" without any effort. Man I scare me sometimes when things come into my head in a logical manner. The second comment was that one of the orphaned roses I acquired last year (I thought it was doing good) is dead at the main branch? And that I need to cut that part away because it is not blooming to its potential. This is the one I was going to pull up last year. And the third comment, again on my roses, was that once again one of the rose bushes that I planted this year is too far away from the arch as well. All the while she was telling me this I watched her take a clip here and there to prune them up. I will not dispute what she was saying or doing as I know she took courses and worked in a nursery for a couple of years. But hell I think if they are blooming what the heck. Maybe I should be more concerned about these things but I just want to have fun and not over think it too much.

On the brighter side on Sunday evening prior to the rain starting I went out to move my sprinkler and there were two Robins playing in the water, I got to watch them for awhile until they noticed me and took off.

Now my question for the day "Does anyone know of a plant that will help keep cats out of the garden?"

That's all for today I am still trying to figure out where to plant my new Lilac bush.

Keep digging up your lawns and plant lots of flowers.

"May All Your Weeds Be Wildflowers"

Planted by crazygramma at 7:16 PM 2 comments

 

It is finally raining and I knew last night I should of put my seeds in the ground, but I was tired and sunburned so figured it could wait until tonight. Well unless I want to get soaking wet I guess that plan is put to rest.

Might as well curl up with a big mug of tea and browse through my garden books and dream up more ways to conquer my gardens.

I got a nice surprise this morning (after thinking the digging was done) when I went to let the dog out, there on my deck sat a small lilac bush for me. Don't know where it came from yet (Oldroses I think it is to big to blame the birds) and I'm not sure where to plant it either. Maybe the front yard by the road, or near the back fence, I don't want too much shade in the back gardens since I have planted all sun & heat loving flowers.
I wonder what color this Lilac is? I am sure I will find out who left it there, guess it is my reward for taking my neighbor's on the guided tours.

When I was in my yard yesterday I noticed the 1st climbing rose I planted is coming to life, it is a Climbing Dortmund. I can hardly wait for it to bloom again.

This is what it looks like (not my photo, one off the net)


Well thats it for tonight. Keep your garden spades dirty.

"May All Your Weeds Be Wildflowers"

Planted by crazygramma at 6:10 PM 1 comments

 

Alright I started out to do the area under my new arch and it did get started however I was distracted by neighbor's who wanted to chat and check out the progress of my gardens in the backyard. Alhough it is an interruption of work in progress I can not say no, so off to the back we go where there was lots of ohhs and ahhs (even though not much is blooming yet) I think is was my discussion of future projects that got them going, plus this very heavy bloom laden lilac bush.



Or maybe the Saskatoon berry bush right beside it,




Those big leafy things on the right of this bush is rhubarb and I have no idea where it came from or the berry bush for that matter.


Now at the risk of sounding like a braggart here are my Clematis plants that are just going wild.



They are not blooming however the little white bleeding heart in the foreground is.

And finally on the whimsical side of my garden is Ronny The Rambling Ram, this was given to me by a friend and was carved with a chainsaw, an art I find intriguing since I am afraid to even start one up. Must be a lumberjack thing. Also you can get a glimpse of the new bed I am working on. I can't remember the name of this bush but it has some really pretty reddish pink flowers, also I thought it would stay rather small but it does not look like it so I will move it in the fall where it can grow as big as it wants to. Funny thing about Ronny he never is in the same place twice, he has a tendency to ramble around thus his name.




So you see this is why I did not finish the underneath part of the arch, I had three sets of different neighbor's come to take a look. Hmmmmmmmmm maybe I should hand out shovels.

"May All Your Weeds Be Wildflowers"

Planted by crazygramma at 6:54 PM 2 comments

 

Am I insane or just a garden masochist. I have just spend two days doing all the trim around the yard, which is no small feat since my weed eater has no string and I am just using shears.

Now I have decided to pick up the rocks on the road which the road crew left behind when they graded the road, so that I can dig up the patch of grass under my new arch and make a bit of a cobbled path looking effect. If that is not bad enough thoughts of maybe gradually working it all the way up the side of the house have entered my mind.

Someone save me from me!!

Well back outside to the trenches so to speak to accomplish this mission. And if I really get at it I should be done within the hour since I have left the hose running in order to soften the ground, and to give the new roses and lavender a good drink.

"May All Your Weeds Be Wildflowers"

Planted by crazygramma at 11:54 AM 2 comments