Yard Walk

Mom DW, today I took a yard walk with my camera and pretended you were there too.  The conversation was rather one-sided, but the weather was lovely and we had a delightful time.

Would you care to step outside?

Here is my deck tomato.  It's a yellow pear.

And my blueberries!  Look how loaded the little bushes are -- yea!

I was so excited that these black-eyed Susan vines actually started blooming.  I started them from seed, and I haven't had a lot of luck starting my own flowers.  So this makes me happy.

My little alakazam or abracadabra or hokus pokus rose is loaded!  For such a bitty bush it's putting on a pretty impressive display!  And the bees knees behind it finally decided to open (I was beginning to wonder).

The woodvine on the fence has really taken off this spring, er, summer.  Oh, careful not to trip over the lifejackets.  We took the kayaks and peddle boat out on Mirror Lake last night and everything came back wet.

Oh, peek behind the picnic table a sec -- that's the new clematis that I thought was dead when it arrived in the mail.  It's not!

Alas, we're down to one surviving pumpkin plant.  Hope nothing tragic happens to it or we'll have to buy pumpkins this fall!

Luke's cucumber plants are doing nicely though.

In fact this whole row of vining things is doing alright.  Besides Luke's cukes, we've got gourds and luffa. (You know those long, tubular body scrubby things you can use in the shower?  They're the core of luffa fruit/squash/gourd thingies.  We're going for homemade this year.)

And Isaac's peas are climbing nicely.

The arbor is looking quite lush this year!

Another potted tomato plant...

And the hosta bed...

And a better view of the hosta bed from under the arbor.  And it's hard to see here because it's in the shade, but...

... there's a cute little bleeding heart back there.  It got reduced to absolutely nothing in the hail storm last month, but it's made a delightful come back.

And the garden.  Ugh, don't look too closely, there are more weeds than veggies in there right now.

The view from the other end.

And this cute little volunteer is loving its spot near the drippy water spigot.  Sigh.  Isn't it sweet?

The tomatoes are looking awesome!  And those four little ones in front?  Volunteers I didn't have the heart to pull.  I know, they're way too close together to stay there, but, well, for now they're gonna.

And the strawberries.  Pretty small, but bearing nicely -- much better than they did last year.

This bed is getting so lush!  Love it!  Let's take a closer look.

Okay, we've got the wiegelia (how do you spell that?) with a columbine tucked in on the side and baby's breath coming up behind it.

A little farther down the blanket flowers are beginning to bloom.

And more columbine.

And this lovely riot of pinkness.

They're a little past their prime, but still pack such a bright punch of color.

You wouldn't think it to look at these sweet, simple roses, but they are incredibly fragrant.  Not quite as aromatic as double delight, but wonderfully potent nonetheless.

And just beyond them is my salad garden.  The radishes popped up right away, but the lettuce and spinach took a little longer, and the carrots aren't doing real great -- only a dozen or so have come up yet and it's been weeks.  Maybe it's too shady?

This corner bed is slowly filling in more and more.  This year I planted several tomato plants in there since there was room, and the more plants that take up space, the fewer weeds come through.

However, as you can see, the little toms aren't doing much to shade out those weeds yet.  Yikes!

This is a, hmm, coreopsis?  It's new this year, and sheesh, this bed needs weeding too!  I've got a lot of work to do before vacation or I'm gonna come home to a jungle!

The wildflower mix I scattered in this bed several years ago never fails to delight me.  This time of year it's mostly sweet William.

And I don't know what these little blue guys are, but they're only open in the morning and are one of my favorites.

This corner isn't real colorful right now.  The lilac in the center was beautiful a few weeks ago, as were the irises, and the lilies will be in another week or two.

Oh, but here on the other side of the lilac is some nice color.  Just have to step out on the sidewalk to be able to see it.

The poor little annuals around the mailbox were planted just before the hail storm.  They survived, but they're still looking a little rough.

Lijah's precious little forget-me-not that he was so taken with at the greenhouse that he had to walk all the way home to get some money and walk all the back to buy, thankfully survived.

This bed isn't doing much in the way of color yet, but the Russian sage, coneflowers and milkweed look like they're gonna go gangbusters later this summer.

Oh, there's a little color -- the potentilla is showing some yellow.  I think it needs some pruning.  It has a lot of bare branches this year.  Tell me why we still have a seat-less Hot Wheels trike in the driveway? Our baby is almost 8.  Hopeful thinking, I guess.

Okay, that tall blooming thing that resembles a yucca?  It's a um, volunteer (I can't call it a weed since I deliberately left it to grow there).  This is the first time it's bloomed, and I hope it doesn't scatter seed that tries to take over the flower bed.  I'm a little wary about unidentified "volunteers," so I'm keeping a close eye on it.

This is one of the hanging baskets the boys got for me for Mother's Day.  It took the hail hard too, but carries on.

Now, no laughing.  I know this is no VanWingerden's product, but this is the fuchsia the boys got me for Mother's Day.  It took the hail even harder.  It was mere twigs afterward.

But look at all the buds it has!

And we're back around to the deck.  Gotta remind those boys about not leaving bikes on the walking path... again!

Nope, those aren't weeds, I've got pepper plants growing in there with the blueberries and dahlias.  Now what is a rubber snubber doing in my flower bed?  Seriously, do I live with boys?

That's better.

And that little rose again.  I just can't get over how many blossoms it has for only being ten inches tall!

And my happy deck -- such a sunny, smily place to be.

Okay, except for these guys.  I planted 20 freesia bulbs in here and only three have come up, and it's been weeks.  I think they got a little dry in the package before planting.  

So there we are.  I think I need a glass of iced tea now.  How about you?