The Garden is Coming To Life

I love the look of the brick paving, although I hadn't counted on weeds pushing up here and there. It's because of the bird feeders; the birds flick their husks and some seeds down to the brick and next thing you know, there's a corn field  in the making.

If I could get the racoons interested, they could turn into furry Hoovers and suck up the debris.

Just dreaming.

Only two more bags of sheep manure to lug into place.

The good thing about being your own gardener is you set your own rules, and if rule one states that the world will not end if the weeding isn't up to date then follow the rule while admiring everything from  the porch swing..

One of the newly potted geraniums saved from last summer. I consider them the mainstay of every garden--they'll endure no matter what kind of weather comes their way.

Bouquet

Morning

The Oriental Rhubarb is casting out more leaves and threatening to overtake the raised bed.

I'm not sure this guy approves of his head being used as a planter.

A white Peony at 6 AM, just waking up for the day.

We're Having A Heat Wave

This is a new concept for us--a heat wave in the usually truculent month of May.

The Trumpet Vine says "bring it on," while it clambers  up the arbour to play with the roses coming up from the other side

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The honeysuckle won't stay long at this rate but I'll love it while it's here.

I moved the thermometer into the shade.and it still reads pretty high. Too high to garden.

A good day to head for the porch swing with my book and appreciate the day.
Also a good time to jot down all the garden needs to attend to outdoors on the next rainy day. That's what gum boots are for.

At this point a short but drenching shower would be just fine.

The First Spring Blooms

Sweet William Is Not Sweet

It's pretty, right? And you're thinking it would look nice in that bare patch in your garden.

Wrong.

It' goes by two names, Sweet William and cornflower.

Unless you have several acres just begging to be filled, stay away from this little dude.

See, it isn't just one--it's a gazillion before you know it.

I guess I was having one of my senior moments when I bought it at a year-end nursery sale.

Now it's en every section of my garden and believe me, every bit of that ground is already spoken for.

Every morning I try hauling out a batch by their roots and that's hard when we've been short of rain and they don't want to cooperate.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

A Fishy Story

If I had a family secret to pass down  it would be--load up with  fish emulsion for your plants. Stinky old fish emulsion.

 I use it indoors and out. Even my orchids get their fair share.

My mom used it for her house plants in Vancouver and for her cottage garden close to the beach on the Gulf of Georgia, augmented with with lots of seaweed.

You could smell her garden long before you saw it.

I lace my  seedling with  a dollop as I plant them and I like to think they are beating their little chests with joy.

Rock on, smelly elixir

My Garden Giant

My Oriental rhubarb is off and running, flexing its muscles and crowding the other plants out of  the raised bed.

In the old days when I grew regular rhubarb Ì`d stew it with a few dollops of sugar and serve it to the kids and that wasn't a tearing success but they did like it in pies.

I got to wondering whether my Giant Gunnera is edible and  if you happen to live in Chili or Argentina then  feel free to cook and eat it, or make liquor out of it or even a few jars of marmalade.

 

In southern Africa its used for medicine, although there is no explanation about what part of the body It might benefit.

I don't think I`ll experiment on this.

My plant leaves disappear to the roots every winter and  start up again in the spring. If it had the opportunity to grow year-round, I might feel like a Hobbit in my little patch of paradise..

Mine is a handsome plant  and  seems happy here so to be on the safe side Ill just keep it out of the kitchen.

Summer is Officially Declared

Two days went by without frost on the neighbors' roof tops so I declared it time to plant.

The potatoes had been languishing in a mesh bag in the garage, fully sprouted and anxious to get a-growing. When I declared it planting day, I got out the barrels (you have to be inventive in a tiny garden) and set them out where they will spend the summer.

The the potatoes were carefully cut into chunks with sprouts on them and placed into the barrels with a layer of dirt to cover them.

As they develop stems and leaves, I'll comtimue to add more dirt  until the top of the barrel is reached and then the leaves will eventually wither and I'll know it's time to harvest.

I had a few left over after filling the barrels and a crazy thought came to me--why not plant them right in the garden? Yes, that tiny little garden with very little waste space. 

There was a small patch  to the right of the shed where I had some left-over sod rotting upside-down, and since the sod was now composted into one of the beds the space was free. This is how it looked before some serious digging took place and the potatoes were planted.

 

Knowing that rabbits have no problem getting into raised beds and not wanting to provide lettuce for their salads,  I cadged the old window screen off the rain barrel (keeps out mosquitoes in the hot season) and hope this confuses the little rodents.

About that patch neatly removed from one corner of the screen--can't recall what I used that for but nothing gets wasted

The lattice screen hiding the clothes line is filling in nicely with greenery,and the planters are in early planting stages.

A couple more trips to the nursery will provide the colors  I have in mind and when they're ready, I'll cajole some muscle into setting them in the best place to show off  their blooms..

After that it will be maintenance---water, water, water and when the ground is soft, weed, weed, weed.

With lots of pauses on the deck to read another chapter of the current book.

Warriors

The geraniums are telling me they're ready to go outdoors. Look at them peering out the window.

 They're pretty tough but still  there will  be nights when they'll need their woollies .

It looks as though unstable weather is here to stay and we'll have to re-think what the garden can handle..

I'm bad at remembering names of plants--I've always thought of this lovingly as Swamp Rat.. It fits into damp spots with ease and have a hunch it can withstand iffy weather

The oriental rhubarb looks best before it grows tall and hangs over everything else in a menacing fashion. Right now, it's pretty and soon it will be just the right size to feed a dinosaur

The Forget-Me-Nots are beautiful but the camera wouldn't do them justice. Okay I was in charge of the camera but trust me, they are lovely. I let them have free rein for now.