Mary Mary, quite contrary, a garden MMP

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Life continues to slap me up alongside my head, so I was pleased when Sunday’s forecast for rain did not happen; instead here in north western Washington we had some clouds overhead in the morning but the afternoon was sunny with enough of a breeze to keep the flies off. As I was straightening up my bedroom I kept catching floral scents as the wind puffed through the open window and so I grabbed my book and went out to sit on the deck and read.

I have been creating a new garden since I moved back to civilization, and today was definitely payback for my efforts. My roses are beginning their first flush, I have mostly David Austin’s English roses and they are famous for their intoxicating old rose fragrance. My dianthuses, in all their forms are blooming with a spicy carnation-like scent, and for the first time in my life my peonies are flaunting their blossoms and perfuming the air. As the sun lowered in the sky I gazed around my deck at all the different colors and textures, glossy rose leaves alongside spiky snapdragons with pansies in every color combination imaginable at their feet, the dark dahlias pushing forth buds, the herbs around the fountain adding to the perfume. As my attentions switched from my book to the garden and back again suddenly it was feeding time for the hummingbirds. Brrr . . . chit chit . . . brrr, mostly Ruby Throated but a couple I didn’t recognize as well were hovering over my head before landing on the feeders and drinking. There was a couple who also ate from the flowers on my sage.

All in all it was a delightful way to pass the time, and I finished my book, which turned out to be a wonderful tale as well.

So, how does your garden grow?

2

Serviced by City Hall, it’s how I like 'em best.

Most Spanish housing doesn’t come with gardens, plus my brothers and I are still traumatized from knowing that Mom loved her (potted) plants more than us… (only half kidding)

3

Good morning!!

This year, I actually have a gardenthat looks the part. A few years back, a tree near the house died, and when we had it removed, suddenly, there was sun!!! So the garden patch that was mostly hosta is now full of day lilies, moss roses, black eyed susans (just getting ready to bloom), purple coneflowers, liriope, chrysanthemums, naked lady amaryllis, and a few other things I can’t identify, but they look good and I’m pretty sure they’re not weeds. I moved a bunch of the hostas to different places in the yard, including one bed that I hope will be full to overflowing in a year or two. I don’t have any pics of the back yard beds, but there are azaleas, dianthus, columbine, hostas, catnip, mint, lavender, and a clematis that may well overwhelm the deck. I have 4 peonies, but only 1 bloomed. I think the other 3 need to be transplanted and fed. It’s on my list.

I decided to abandon the veggie patch this year in favor of 'maters in 3 big pots on the deck - they get much more sun there. I’m going to disassemble the bed in the middle of the back lawn so that it can all be lawn. Plans for the fall (I hope) include a lower level deck for my clotheslines, with two raised beds adjacent - those will become my new veggie beds. I’ll also plant around the new deck - it’ll make a good home for several azaleas that need to be moved.

The rest of my garden (yard) is totally out of control. I’ve got a wisteria on the fence that threatens to grab slower-moving passers-by. There are way overgrown evergreens along the front that need to be thinned or removed. The side hill is covered with dead/dying stuff, miscellaneous weeds, and random tree-like growths - I want all that to go away, replaced by a lush carpet of ivy… That may be an impossible dream. But having lots of time means I can do things little by little - maybe before I die, the yard will actually start looking good! :smiley:

It’s been a banner year for spiders, too! It seems every time I go outside, I see more webs on shrubs and hostas. And there are daddy-long-legs everywhere!!! I guess it’s because of the mild winter.

Today is yard day. The guys from KDC Dirt Worx are coming over to abandon our dug well and grade/seed/lime/straw our front lawn. If all goes well, in a month or so, we should see grass again. I’d like to work out front, but I’ll be in their way, so I may attack the back yard some more. Or I could beat the wisteria into submission. Or I could just sit here, peeking out the window from time to time to see how they’re doing. :smiley:

Happy Monday!!!

4

My garden consists of 1 cilantro plant and 1 sage plant, both in pots on the deck.

3 days till vacation.

5

“with silver bells and cockle shells,
and one ogdamned tulip.”

:wink:

Actually, I have a 10X30 marginally raised bed plot that I call The Garden of Weedin. In it, I have onioms, maters, 5 varieties of peppers, radishes, green beans, spinach, and a variety of herbs. That’s not counting the crabgrass.

6

Good Mornin’ Y’all! Up and caffienatin’. YAWN 'Tis 72 Amurrkin out with a predicted high of 94 and, of course, hyoooooooomid. Yep, it’s Summer in south Jawja.

I do not have a garden of any kind. Heck, I mow da yahd and trim shrubs. That’s enough to keep the neighbors happy with me. I admire all y’all who are ambitious/green thumb enough to grow a garden.

Ok, time for more caffiene and to feed rumbly tummy. Then, alas and alack, irk purtification must commence. I am not motivated but nonetheless it must happen.

Happy Monday Y’all!

7

I’ve done a big (for me) veggie garden that was very successful. I’m not so good with complicated flower beds, like the ones I inherited when I bought this house. I couldn’t keep them up.

The new college I’ll be at has community gardens for faculty and staff right on campus! I think that’s awesome. I can see taking a break during the day to pick some veggies or do a little weeding.

8

I have some lettuce in the backyard that the kids haven’t killed yet. Mr. Lissar built a raised bed out front (I should take pictures) with wooden edging, and I’ve planted a lot of herbs, and we have irises that survived uprooting. The front bed has lavender, oregano, lemon balm, rosemary, sage, thyme. The cilantro seems to have died and I’ll replant. I’ve also got nasturtiums, strawberry plants, and morning glory, which I hope will reseed every spring.

9

Well, ratfarts… :frowning: I just broke one of my favorite drinking glasses - I’m now down to 3. I started out with 12 over 20 years ago, and one by one, they’ve failed me. :frowning:

On the other hand, I have some russets in the oven to be baked, scooped out, and re-stuffed for future dinners. And I pulled some weeds in the front garden - doggone, did the grass start growing fast there!! Just waiting for the yard guys to show up.

10

Our roses are blooming, in spite of having no care last year. We did lose one to the cold weather this winter, but otherwise they’re lovely. We vow to feed and weed the rose beds this year.
We aren’t planting tomatoes this year. The neighbor always has way more than they can use, so they share.
The grape arbor is falling down. They will get cut back or moved, since the trees around them have grown enough to starve them of sunlight.
The grass in the front is tamed, but the back year is a veldt, I’m pretty sure lions are stalking the squirrels back there.

I’m up before the sun, which by the way, now rises at 4:30 AM, because I have a long list of chores and errands today. Most of them are things hubby put off last week when he had 5 days off. :rolleyes: Now, they automaticly become MY chores. (sigh)

11

picu I say hubby will owe you big. Flowers, candy, jewelry, dinner out at fancy restaurants, it’s all yours! :smiley: I don’t think we’ll even need to take a vote. I’m sure all the Mumpers will agree.

Ok, look, you have a user ID and password of your own choosing to access the website. It is not my fault if you don’t remember it or keep puttin’ one or both in wrong. Yes, after five attempts it will lock you out and it is up to you and you only to contact the IT TPTB to get 'em reset then go in and choose a new password. I cannot do it for you. I will not do it for you. Yes I do expect you to take care of it. It does not take that long.

This I had to say first thing today. Yes, it shall be a loverly day at irk. :rolleyes:

12

There’s a big-ass truck in my driveway about to dump a load of gravel - I’m impressed he was able to maneuver into such a tight area - guess that’s why he gets paid the big bucks to drive that truck.

The well is being demolished. N.O.T.s are baked - time to go shred some cheese and prepare to scoop out some shells. Good times…

13

This looks like a good place for this - I took this picture of a neighbour’s crabapple blossoms yesterday - is it just my imagination, or did that picture turn out really well?

I have some pictures of my flowers in my yard that I haven’t uploaded yet - have to do that later. My deep purple, huge irises are in full bloom - so gorgeous!

14

My garden- or at least my allotment- is growing in profusion at the moment- though it is growing rather too much in the way of grass and weeds after going away last week. It looks like today is going to be the only relatively dry day this week, so I need to go hack back the jungle shortly. I should get to start pickin’ my first veg of the season out there though today, which is nice! All I’ve picked so far is a few buckets o’ slugs… including a silly soggy night slug raid on saturday.

The actual garden, the one attached to the house, is… well… the bit right by the house has flowers, and even gets weeded every now and again, but the rest could have a lost tribe living in it and we wouldn’t know. It’s a rental house that’d been neglected for years. and they just hacked back everything just before we moved in, but left the roots in- not to mention the rubbish heap at the back, with decomposed matresses and all sorts dumped in there. At first, I really tried to fight it; I dug out veg patches, and cleared about a third, but I’ve given up now. I think the plan is to move in 6 months, and frankly, it’s just not worth the bother to fight back the jungle. I’ll hack a path to my raspberry patch when I think they’re going to fruit, but that’s gonna be it.

We just call it the wildlife reserve, and pretend it’s deliberate :smiley:

15

So, I have two mushroom kits under way. Within a fortnight I will have mushrooms galore!

Sadly, I bought the second one over the Internet and can’t recall what sort of mushrooms it is supposed to have. I know the first is Portabella’s.

It’s probably not money saving to grow your own but the flavour compared to supermarket varieties is outstanding.

16

I live in a condo so do not have a garden thank goodness. I love flowers, I love to look at gardens and walk through them, but I have no interest in dealing with them. I do have a pot of geraniums and a pot of something else (maybe fuschia?) on my stoop. And there are beautiful bushes and lilies in the front so it looks purty without me having to do much.

I love English gardens and if I gardened, that’s what I would have.

17

Yeah, gardens are a pain in the rectum but I still love them. I’d love to live in the UK for a little while rather than here with the heat where if you forget to water on the weekend the whole garden croaks.

18

I have five types of maters growing well, with little baby maters beginning. Cukes and squash blooming all over the place. Peppers also doing well. However, something ate one of my watermelon plants down to the nub,and also the marigold I planted to keep the bugs away from my maters. Grrrr.
I have six days to get my act together and my house spotless before the eldest limey gets married on Saturday! I might have to sedate hubby about Wednesday, as he’s worrying himself to death over the details. But since it’s summer, I have NO irk till August! Yeah!!

19

I’m having a housewarming party in two weeks. The invitations are getting mailed tomorrow morning (I know, I should have done it earlier, but most people already know about it). The clean-up that I thought would be done by now, isn’t. I’m doing Camp Nanowrimo, and I’m three days behind. I’m trying to figure out what I’m going to wear (kimono? But I’m really out of practice! Suit? But I wear that all the time. 50 dress to match the invitations? I’d have to go find one!) and cook.

They may drag me gibbering away.

Any suggestions for good, easy party food? I’m only going to make one or two things, and the rest will be ‘open package, put on plate’.

…must find coasters…
… dammit, where’s a good produce market in town?..
gibber gibber gibber

20

Limegreen, I had only six to eight tomato bushes in my garden last year. They grew the cherry type tomatoes and between the plants i estimated I got 500 tomatoes. I hope they do the same again this year.