The Nightmare Bed

Everyone has one of them.
You know - those flowerbeds that, for multiple reasons, just suck.
This is my major nightmare bed:



I actually took a picture a week ago of how bad it looked, but I must have accidentally deleted it. It was awful! Packed root to root with weeds. It took 4 full days of weeding to get this mess cleaned out and looking decent. Needless to say, I lost tons of plants from this bed this year. Yup, it's my nightmare bed.

This is what it looked like last summer:



It is so bare! It won't be for long, though.

Some random yard pics - because I can! lol. Ignore the weeds, please, there are only so many hours in a day.

Not a very clear picture, but the birds seem to be completely fascinated with the majesty palm. I've tried to catch a pic of them, but the only one that would stay still long enough was this red winged black bird.



The catbirds are back and following me around the yard again. They are so curious! I call them my nosy birdies. (yeah, my neighbors think I'm strange, too). But the catbirds answer me, so it's all good. lol. Of course, I haven't thought of snapping a pic of them.

The real randomness:

Iris and poppies looking better every day. I don't know what variety the iris are, but they smell just like lemons! Seriously! People stop and sniff the air trying to figure out why they smell lemons. :)



The peonie and weigela hedge.



Looking fab! (So, of course, a downpour is due.)



The front (mostly) perennial bed.



The shade bed.



My favorite right now - snow white columbine.



I think it's time to stop taking pics of the yard and get something done . . . like go weed out the beans.
:)

Random Garden Pics

Just because I'm still messing about and practicing.

The chives look fab right now.



A little blurry. This is my fave columbine at the moment.



A better pic of the hay bale garden?



Lupines are also looking fab.



My most favorite spring combination ever.



Getting better - especially since I found out a kid messed with the camera settings.
:-/

So Much Going On

Wow - long time no post.
Been very, very busy.

And my daughter found me a camera! I have a freaking camera!
Wooooohoooo! This is such a big deal for me. A really big deal.
I haven't figured out how to take the best pics with it yet, but I'm learning. Slow, but learning.
Why do they have to put a thousand bells and whistles on the damn things? I just want to point and shoot for pete sake.
Now I'll be posting tons of pics, the one thing I dislike about most blogs. Ack! lol.
:)

There is so much to update that I don't know where to start.

We had a freeze/frost last night. A frost on June 1. Urg!
We ran around covering and dragging pots inside last night. (Yes, I've completely, purposely forgotten about the post where I gave advice about not planting anything around here before June1. Shhh!) Hopefully, we are now home free as far as the weather goes. The record last freeze/frost date was June 7, 1889, so I think we're good.

Toms and peppers don't look so hot, but that's what I get for trying to push the growing season. Serves me right. They'll catch up and be fine, they always are.

We're a month or so into the hay bale planting. Here are a couple not-so-great pics. (hey, I said I was still learning.) Sorry about the monster size - I wish I could figure out how to resize and make them smaller. Something to mess with when I have more time.





I know you can't see the toms, but they're in there. I'll try to get some better pics later.

And here are some of my WS jugs. Yes, I know they should be in the ground already, but we've had really crappy cold and rainy weather so I haven't gotten all the flower beds where they need to be weeded yet. ~sigh~



I'll get there when the weather starts cooperating.

Our hummers are here feeding/chasing like crazy. I had a black swallow tail butterfly on my Lupines. Poor thing, it's so cold! And of course I took pics. This could turn into a real problem.

Hope everyone's gardens are sprouting like gangbusters!

Gardening Trends; What's In And What's Out For 2009

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Some interesting, but not so surprising, trend data from GMG.
GIY (grow it yourself) is hot. Ummm, duh?

Gardening Goes “Back to the Future” – GIY Style (pdf)

GMG 2009 Garden Trends

-------What’s In--------------------------------What’s Out

• 1. Eco-Boosting is In!----------------Conspicuous Consumption is Out

• 2. Grow It Yourself (GIY) is In-------Doing it ALL for Me is Out

• 3. Blended gardens are In------------Segregated gardens are Out

• 4. Locavore is In---------------------Big carbon footprints are Out

• 5. Water is In-------------------------Water is Out

• 6. Outside is In-----------------------Inside is Out (But not “out”)

• 7. Info Lust is In----------------------Lack of Knowledge is Out

• 8. Quick & Simple is In----------------Over-the-top gardens are Out

• 9. Global Colors are In-----------------Safe colors are Out

• 10. Worldly is In-----------------------Cookie-cutter is Out

• 11. Bubbling is In-----------------------Excess is out

...

Getting Started

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Finally, yay!

With my dad having another heart attack and the hubs' job set to disappear (ugh!) things have gotten way behind around here.
Well, just us. Most certainly not the plants. They know it's time to make an appearance, ready or not.

So far planted in the garden:
Broccoli
peas (I know, I know, we are way late!)
cabbage
cauliflower
Brussel sprouts
and potatoes.


Hey, at least it's a start.
The belt broke on the rototiller (ahem, the yearly go-round with the beastie. Some things never change) and another is on order - translation = "We can't get you one for at least 2 weeks." ~sigh~

We made a quick trip to TSC to see if maybe they had a belt that would fit and they have chicks in. Oh, man, I'd love to have some chicks! Our coop was dismantled ages ago and there's no way finances will allow one right now. A lady in the store came up while I was looking at them and said, "Oh, how cute!" Her husband looked at her and said, "Yeah, cute now, then they get big and you eat 'em." She about freaked. When she glanced at me after he said that, I nodded and said, "Yeah, then you eat 'em!" Poor woman, I thought she was gonna faint.

Anyway, still on deck and waiting in the wings:
radishes
lettuce
and carrots.

Now, to the good thing - my nephew brought me 4 dump truck loads of wood chips for mulch. Yay! Hey, it was free and I'm smilin'! I got a little of it spread on the perennial beds where I can see things popping, but I'll have to wait on the other beds for the reseeders (both flowers and weeds) to show themselves before I can tackle those. Besides, spreading mulch is no fun in 90 F heat. I'll wait until it cools down in a few days. I really can't imagine what it's like not to battle weeds non-stop all summer long and never really finish before starting all over at the beginning again. It'll be a new experience! Seriously, I've never been able to have mulch before. Yes, sad. Very sad.

The pepper and tomato seedlings are looking awesome. I'm so proud!
Sent some cole sprouts to my niece. Remains to be seen if they get planted or not. I'm sure she'll get to it, eventually.

My gosh, I am soooo excited about that mulch . . . y'all have no idea! Seriously, I could PMP just thinking of it spread everywhere. Those piles are bee-u-tee-full!
Lordy, I'm such an easy garden date. lol.
;)

I'm so very proud of my youngest daughter! Out of the blue, she noticed the lady that volunteers every year to clean out the school's flowerbeds struggling a little to get it all done by herself and D ran right over there and offered to help instead of going to lunch and recess. How sweet is she? What'd the other kids do? Why, stood and stared at them do it, of course. :( Yesterday, the lady came in the school and gave D some potted-up pups from her aloe plant as a thank you. Awww, that was so nice! D wasn't expecting anything for helping and was very shocked. She has them sitting at home on her desk next to her comp. They might have to be moved for more light, though.

Oh, and another good thing - I have sprouts out the wazoo from my WS jugs. I'll make a list soon. But I'm much more excited about that mulch!
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