The outdoors is dangerous!

Last weekend, the high winds brought down part of one of our big trees. Luckily it fell between the new blueberries and the asparagus bed, and not right on top of one of them.




And then I caught poison ivy, and two days later I pulled a tick out of my side! I may never go outdoors again!

But, this may convince me to - my score from the Dutchess County Master Gardener Plant Sale:





The rhododendrons are still going strong, and I'm trying to notice details more, so a close up is in order as well.





The columbine I planted last year is looking well. So deep and dark! If only I could remember the name...

Spring has sprung!

I'm tired after a weekend in D.C. with Mom and Christa, but really need to get going with spring photos. So here are a few!

Plumeria, first thing that was blooming this year. This was a "tag along" in a pot of phlox I bought a couple of years ago.



We are 99.9% sure that in that glass block, with the pink flourescent plastic flowers, is St. Joseph.



Love the vibrant blue!



Our pear trees are blooming, yay!



Some new primrose I added this year, with very big flowers. (Along with Mrs. Pampelone's primrose, a columbine and two bleeding hearts I planted last year)



I spent four years trying to rip this out of the bed. Last year I didn't get out there early enough, and it bloomed, it is a Flowering Quince! So, I let it grow...

Happy June!

Ah, it's June, sunny and 80 degrees. It has been a beautiful day! Here's what's happening in the beds this weekend:

Follow this shot all the way to Flickr and you can see the notes identifying everything in it. There is Bachelor's Button, Lady's Mantle, Echinacea, Geum, Sweet William and Coral Bells. Not everything is blooming just yet. Some things will come along later.



Here's another of Mrs. Pampalone's irises, this one all alone out under the rhododendron and next to the lilies. Hmm, maybe I should move it to a sunnier spot?



This columbine is under the pear tree.



The poppy bloomed! Here it is next to the Bleeding Heart.



And here's an "oops!" Our baby bok choi bolted. Oops! But it's pretty. Steve is going to let it keep going and see if he can save some of the seeds for next year. (Side note: I had a huge sandwich for lunch today of that delectable lettuce you see there to the left of the bok choi. Yum!)

We have compost!

We started composting maybe three years ago, and last year we got a little bit, but this year we hit the compost jackpot! Well, okay, not a jackpot, but that big ole' pot is filled with compost we made. I spread it around some select plants in the perennial beds that I thought could use a little umpf. It's a good thing Steve isn't afraid of the critters that tend to hang out in the composter. Twice I have opened the top to find a snake curled up all cozy on top of the compost. Now I bang on the sides a bit and give whatever is in there a minute to get lost before I open the top.



It doesn't look like much now, but I decided to go with Bleeding Hearts and Columbine in that empty spot where we took out the allspice. How strange that the bleeding hearts are white! I'm assuming that's from being in a box too long while shipping? Steve asked me if I was sure that wasn't the root. Um, yeah, I'm sure! There's a little primrose in front, too, that has been there all along but never blooms. I'm hoping next year it will bloom and spread a bit like the others have now that it has sun.





I was VERY excited to see all this new growth on the silky dogwood! Yay! It might take 10 years, but I'm hopefuly it will grow big and strong again.



The azaleas out front have started blooming. It's pretty cool how we can see how much sun our yard gets. Everything on the west side of the front steps is just a little bit behind everything on the east side of the steps, because the east side gets more sun.