Well, everything is coming on pretty fast now and some of the spring flowers have finished up. Even some of my Bleeding Hearts are fading fast.
This time of year is always so special to me. I love the song of the birds throughout the day and everything is so bright and clear on a sunny day. Of course that's after the pine trees and other trees have finished pollinating. When the pollen sacs on the pine trees are full, and the wind is blowing, you can see the pollen clouds around the trees.
My iris bed is doing a lot better this year than last year. Last year I didn't have one bloom in it. This year there are several buds and I even had an early one bloom last week. I think it helped that my husband cut down a tree that was half dead. That opened up the area to let in more sun.
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| Hosta garden that we started a few years ago. The Sweet Woodruff (small white flower) ground cover has filled in around them. |
What happens is that when you first plant your garden beds, that area is probably sufficient to provide enough sunlight for your plants, but over the years if you have other trees or shrubs in the area they will grow and possible impede the original sunlight intended for your gardens.
Some of the drawbacks of our gardens is that fact that we have lots of shade and lots of mosquitoes. But when the mosquitoes are bad I either spray myself up with repellent or sit on my back enclosed porch and listen to the birds.
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| Jack-in-the-Pulpit. This native wildflower appeared in our garden a few years ago. It was probably transplanted by a squirrel burying one of the seeds. |
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| Kindred Spirits sharing secrets. Remember that perennial I showed you in my previous blog post that I called my alien plant? Here it is in bloom. Solomon's Seal. |
And that's not all of the backyard pests. There are moles, lots of moles, and chipmunks, squirrels, red and gray squirrels (the red ones are pests and they get into buildings), raccoons, rabbits, possums (which I think are so ugly), oh, and skunks, too. You never know when one of those critters are going to wander through your yard. You just hope that they keep on passing through.
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| Arched trellis made by my husband, Ted, a few years ago. |
While I find the little critters cute, they can also be harmful to your gardens as many of you know if you have any of these guys visiting your gardens or buildings. Our neighbors had raccoons get in her attic. And we've had squirrels get in our pole barn and damage some items, as well as build a nest in one of the vehicles.
And then there are the deer. They can decimate your entire plantings in one evening's visit. But when the critters do stop by they can make for some great photos before you chase them off.
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| Ebony Jewelwing Dragonfly |
Our gardens are not weed-free, and they are not elaborate. We worked with what we had when we first moved here several years ago. It was a house on a lot that was previously a pasture and later was planted with rows of pine trees. So a few of the trees had to come down that were close to the house. Then we just started making little gardens in different areas that kind of expanded on their own by out-growing their boundaries.
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| Some of our minitaure hostas. While that looks like snow or hail on the ground, it is actually little petals from flowers on (wild) chokecherry trees. It looks like confetti and I love it. |
But everyone's garden is an individual thing. If it appeals to you, then that's all that matters. Whatever your garden looks like, whether or not it's a sunny perennial garden, flower pots on your patio, a hanging basket on your front porch, or a little green plant in your home- just relax and enjoy the view!
"I don't have to take a trip around the world or be on a yacht in the Mediterranean to have happiness. I can find it in the little things, like looking out into my backyard and seeing deer in the fields."
~Queen Latifah
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Would love to hear from you ~
