Out & About – July 22 Edition - Fertilizer Friday

I’m joining the weekly Fertilizer Friday meme hosted by the wonderful Tootsie.  You can pay her a visit too!   By clicking here.

This week has proven to be a random happenings kind of week. 

I pruned back the petunias in my hanging baskets and collected seeds for next year.



The last of the Leeks were pulled.   I love to let them bolt and have the papery scape burst open to reveal the inside.  But that’s just me being silly (and experimental).



In my little neighborhood the backyards are kind of pie shaped and meet in the middle.  Thankfully, we have been blessed with the greatest neighbors.  Very “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours”.  This is a view of one part of my backyard.  Looking right from the deck. 
About 20 minutes before this picture was taken, I mentioned to my husband that a mammoth vine had climbed the tree overlooking my veggie patch and the tomatoes were not doing as well as they should because they needed more sun.  Next thing I know, our neighbor is up the tree on a ladder roping the tree to take it down.  Do you see the diagonal white line in the center of the picture?    Well hubby is on the end of that rope (behind our SHARED compost bins) pulling the tree while our neighbor is on the chainsaw.  He is obscured by the overgrown grapevine and hydrangea.  Poof!  Done!  My veggies should be happy!

From this vantage point if I were to look left (wish I had taken a picture), there is a small creek with a bridge and pretty much forest on the other side.  I use it to store nursery pots and there is a compost bin there too.  While I was walking the puppy  a couple of days ago, I was startled (doesn’t take much to freak me out, critter-wise) to see this….
This guy has apparently taken up residence in an old kiddy pool.  A quasi Club Med for frogs and friends.  Knock yourself out buddy!

WARNING!
At the risk of boring you to death, be forewarned this is but yet another blurb about my daturas.    You may want to run off at this point and that’s cool.  Run!  Run!  (This is the first year that I’ve grown them from seed and I just want to keep track.)


What a difference a day makes!

Have a wonderful week but first,  head on over to see Tootsie and more garden aficionados!

Catching Up on Fertilizer Friday

 For the first time ever this post actually has something to do with fertilizer!  Imagine that!

So… on May 21st I took this photo of my brugmansia.  I didn’t have high hopes for it.  The 3 that I have were mere twigs and just behind schedule IMHO.

So with the passage of a few weeks and lots of water and fertilizer…

I am hopeful!

A day or two ago I posted about my 2 newly acquired hibiscus plants.  One is pink but the other was not tagged so the color is a mystery.   

But the proverbial “cat will be out of the bag” in a couple of days.   A flower is ready to pop!

And to everyone back home…..

HAPPY CANADA DAY!

I’m linking to Tootsie’s Fertilizer Friday.  Pop on over for more garden beauties.

Raking in 90 Degree Weather? Is That Necessary? - Fertilizer Friday

Holy cow!  It was a hot, humid, sticky, yucky weekend last week!  And what did I choose to do?   Work in the yard.  In the beating sun.    The plan was laid out earlier in the week as part of the grander plan to get ready for the annual Memorial Day garden kick off!  I was so not ready for this!  90 degrees and humid!  In May?  Really?

The raking part would have been OK if it didn’t entail picking up tons of acorns.  They are heavy!    The squirrels haven’t even considered digging up any of my flower bulbs.   Why should they?  They have a veritable buffet of about 20,000 sq.ft.  Right there, sitting on the ground, no digging.   The digging was left to me.  The hundreds of acorns that had planted themselves and taken root everywhere.   And let me tell you, they don’t give up easy.

So after a few of hours of that nonsense, I decided to hide from the sun on my deck and get some seeds going.   A little late but it kept me in garden mode.  Boy do I have a lot of seeds!  Some of which were getting old.    Time to experiment.  Throw caution to the wind and let nature take it’s course.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

The seeds that were started a mere 4 days ago, looked like this today!

Are you laughing yet Tootsie?

Updates:

The grapevine is coming along.

The hydrangea is growing vigorously.

A large part of my yard is woodland.    I haven't gotten to clearing this area yet but here are a few things that are going on.

The hosta is looking good growing in front of the tin man in a rotted out old tree.

(Obviously, I haven't gotten around to cleaning this area.)

Forget-Me-Nots

Lily of the Valley.  Love the smell!

Volunteer potatoes in the raised bed.  Must be some that I missed last fall.

 

This is leftover brussel sprouts.  It seems to have bolted so I'll let it occupy space until I have something else to put in.

All things considered, it was a productive weekend.   It helped that I had some pleasant company.

Oh, and I hear the hummingbirds are here.  Time to make some sugar water.  You can find the migration map here.

Have a wonderful week and don't forget to visit Tootsie's  Fertilizer Friday for more garden views.

Out & About – Week 3 & Fertilizer Friday

It’s been a very odd spring here in New England.  Unseasonably warm and periods of heavy rain seem to have sent all things with roots into high gear.  The bloom schedule is way out of whack!  

As we say good bye to these….

We say hello to….

Flowering Almond is  so pretty.  I feel like this is a bit on the early side.

Leopard’s Bane is a true work horse in the garden.  It often blooms twice in the garden.  With this early start it may go for 3!

Grapevines are budding!  I really need to get this wild thing under control.

Coming around nicely………

Foxglove

 

 Hydrangeas   

Lupines

Peony

Oriental Poppy – one of my faves!

Pulmonaria

 

Lamium & Sweet Woodruff

Catnip – is looking good!  For now!  Soon the kitties will be rolling in it with wreckless abandon like a hippy in the 60’s!  And acting just as funky!

My brugmansias arrived from Florida and were potted up yesterday.  Fingers are crossed!

Now these are the most unwelcome guests of all!  Japanese Beetles are very early and I was shocked to find them yesterday. 

 Nasty bugs doing nasty things.  It’s going to be a long summer with these guys!

Well that’s it for this week.  Can’t wait to see what’s going on in your neck of the woods.  Head on over to Fertilizer Friday at Tootsie’s blog.

Out & About – Week 2 – Fertilizer Friday

I love to keep a timeline of what is going on in the great outdoors.  Which plants are blooming as well as the wildlife that emerges or migrates back to the area.  

Last week I was out & about and here are a few of the pics.

In my own yard….

Brussel sprouts!  I was shocked to see this is growing from the last year.   It was the first time I grew it so that was one of my experiments.

Leftover garlic.

And leeks.  And acorns, of course!

This beautiful tree blooms for a very short time every Spring.  Such a pretty addition to the landscape.  I wish it lasted longer!

Hydrangeas are budding.

Tulips & Hyacinths…..no garden is complete without them.

Nor these, unfortunately.

Neighboring towns….

I love this place.  It’s a house on a corner so it’s easy to see the pond from the side street.  It was quiet on this day.  Usually it’s brimming with geese and ducks.

Only one lonely duck on this day.

Then just down the road, this beautiful pair.

I hadn’t been to this pond in quite some time and was delighted to see this beautiful swan. 

 

Her partner was across the pond when I started feeding her but not for long.

 

What beautiful creatures!

We’ve had a very wet spring in the northeast and it hasn’t been very much fun.  

But there is a bright side.

Flowering trees have all exploded at the same time.    I’m happy to enjoy the beautiful sight even if just for a short time.

So that’s what’s been going on in my area over the last week.  I hope you are enjoying the bounty of Mother Earth’s wand too!  I look forward to seeing everyone’s posts on Tootsie’s Fertilizer Friday.