Garden Joys

Before I move into photos of the garden - let me give an update... umm... Robin still works days, now with Fri+Sat off. My sister, nephew and my dad arrive at the end of the week. I fly to Winnipeg in a week and a half. I've finished my first of three conferences this month - and it went very well. Monkey keeps growing. Fenwick is much more bold. Darla is enjoying the shade outside. I'm wishing we would replace the deck umbrella - because the sun is hot! I locked myself out one day a few hours before Robin returned from work and got a lovely sunburn.

On to the garden. Let's begin with the current flowers in the front yard.



These are my favourite daffodils because of the bright orange centers. We also have all yellow and in the neighbour's garden mirroring ours she has white with yellow.

These grape hyacinths just get crazier every year! You can see some of the other hyacinths behind them.


The Lepard's Bane. The day lilies beside them have yet to flower of course. On their right are the newly planted strawberries.


New phlox added as ground cover. We really like the phlox we currently have - makes a great perrenial, particularly once it fills out. Now, on to the tasty gardens!


The relocated perrenial herbs. Already, just days after this photo, these look even more full! Ignore the weeds creeping in from the side. We have lemon balm on the right, three small parsley plants from last year, a new lavendar just to the right of the trunk, thyme in the shade, and oregano in the left corner.


In this bed beneath the herbs are the broccoli, kohl rabi, swiss chard and chives (just out of sight at the top). At the bottom is mint.Below this bed are planted green onions, radishes and peas, but only the radishes are really showing yet.


Across from the cabbages bed is the lettuce and red onion (top row - you can see the onion best), radishes, and spinach along the bottom.


The oh so tasty strawberry plants! Between the rows is a row of mixed lettuce greens. Behind are sweet pea flowers.


Alas, these are the raspberry canes, which are not looking so good. Along the edges you can see Lily of the Valley coming up. We removed an entire bed of those flowers - they were so densley packed that all the soil had to go too! Now the soil/plants are in a pile in the sun... still growing.


Whoa - bigger than I thought, sorry. Here inside the greenhouse are the future plantings. Cucumbers are finally up (green stick). The blue sticks mark a flower - cosmos I think. The orange is for pumpkins. I was despairing that none had come up by the time they were expected, but yesterday two popped out - and when they come out of the soil they're already huge! So I will have pumpkin!!


I saved my sage seeds last year (after all the herbs went to flower). In one package I had separated all the teeny seeds from the dried flower heads. In another package I gave up separating them and saved the dried flowers. This spring I planted both in tow different pots. Then I forgot which was which. But both came up - so this year I am not straining my eyesight separating tiny seeds!


Here stands my lone tomato plant. But look - a new seed has sprouted. Behind them, with the orange sticks, is where the pumpkin has since sprouted. Behind the pumpkins are ground cherries which have also sprouted after many many many weeks - I'd about given up hope! No wonder you have to start them very early. Unfortunately, my peppers, which I started at the same time, are still not up.



And finally, here is the rosemary I so carefully tended inside over the winter. In the back right corner are the marigolds - with a couple seedlings. As you can tell, I love growing plants from seeds - they're my babies. I even get up early in the morning now to water them before it gets too sunny. Me, getting up early!