A Garden Amongst The Weeds

A Garden Amongst The Weeds

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Gardening Over the Fence

At least that's what we called it back in the day. Once upon a time, a long, long time ago when my babies were very young and I was a brand new gardener, we lived in a little house in a little town called Sheridan. My next door neighbor Chris was also new to gardening and we shared everything over the fence. We set up benches along our fencelines inbetween the flowerbeds so that we could sit and talk, share a beer and a break, stand on the benches and hand over plants to each other and all sorts of other necessities. She was a sweetheart when she wasn't drunk... I miss her today.

I miss sharing plants and seeds and knowledge with someone as crazy about plants as I am and so, I am posting tonight with a request to you dear Gardener. Is there anything in my garden that you'd like to have? Seriously, I'd be happy to share. Perhaps you might have something that I have a hankering for. Tuesday and Wednesday I dug up a full rubber maid tub of Iris rhizomes. They are all trimmed back and clean and if there are any takers, I'd happily send them to you. Just ask!

I took a pile of pictures and will continue to do so. Keep my offer in your mind as you walk with me tonight. If we hurry we may have a few minutes before the skeeters get bad.

Firstly a question before we get started...
How tall are  larkspur supposed to get? 
This volunteer from last year is well over 6ft tall!


I don't think I've ever taken pictures right from the garden gate before, come on in...

Mind the poppies, they took a dive in the rain

Under the apple tree is nice and cool

Watch out for the hose, I forgot to put it away. Aren't the foxglove pretty?


Hang over the fence for a minute and get a picture of lovely Mt. Shasta

I'm perplexed by the weather this year and fearful the veggies won't have much time to fill out.

I've got chairs tucked into my favorite places to enjoy the views


And chairs that don't hold people anymore...

And wagons that can't quite roll

But the foxglove are really catching my attention. All that hard work really paid off with them.

And now they require no more than a little water and my undying admiration.

I'm so glad that rock border worked out so well and I'm so glad it's done!

I have two of these in the garden. I'm hard on blenders!


This columbine comes back strong every year, want some?

Ok, I know it's a dresser but right now it's a planter box and tool holder. What kind of weird crap do you plant in?

These guys are gonna produce so many flowers, Sweet William smells good and holds up well in arrangements. What's not to love?

Parting shot for my Sweet Aunt Lee. Little Linaria likes her new spot above the pond. She's blooming! And you're right, I love her!

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Unplanned gardening...

So, yesterday about the time I'd finished my post, Ed showed up. Ed is my husband David's and my dear friend and one hell of a handy man. He's been threatening to end our shower woes for a while now and yesterday he began the process.

Handyman Ed and his piles of tools...
What does this have to do with gardening you might ask?
I thought nothing of it until somebody asked, where's the water main shut-off?
Followed by where's the shovel...

 
Darling Husband David,
poking around in my Iris bed near the pond

 

Here, gimme that,
it's gotta be here somewhere...



Smells interesting...
Irises spread ALOT in 8 years...
Save the plants!!!!
What you can't see here, since I'm the one behind the camera is me, scooping up planters, scooping up armloads if Iris rhizomes, tripping over dogs and trying to snap pictures with dirty hands!


They found the water main and the sewage clean out drain as well.
Here's what I was left with...

Be still my heart, there are fishies in there under that dirt...
I was given instructions to cover those clean outs with something more permanent than the wooden structure that was around them some years prior to us moving here. We found small remnants of the rotted wood and a couple of rusty nails but that was all.
Now, down in that hole is a flower pot over the water main and a rubber maid tub over the sewage drain thing...
Great, but it looked like crap. I back filled the soil, cut back all of the Iris foliage and stored them in a tub, I hope to donate them to someone else, if not, I'll find space for them in the days to come.

But what to do with the bare patch right next to my whiskey barrel pond and front door?
It needed to be something fairly easy to de-construct, which I'm not very good at...


Here's hoping it will blend in a little or something, as time goes by...
Shiloh votes that I remove the pot of succulents so that she can fish in the pond...
The fish don't look any worse for wear!
New view from the front door
So, that was yesterday. Tired and dirty, and no shower as of yet but Ed assures us it will be finished today. He does a great job, so I have no doubt or concerns over the shower.
About the time the sun was going down, David told me to grab the camera again. Mt. Shasta was doing her thing... Even when we don't get a clear view of the mountain it seems she's always up there doing something spectacular!



So, after looking at it for a while this morning, I decided that the rest of the Irises in this bed needed to go.
Shiloh's request to move the succulents won out and I added stepping stones so that it will be less likely that the animals will trample this bed. Here's hoping it grows in a bit before the season is over.





Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Summer Rain

I'm glad I got an arrangement before the rains came

Weather means more when you have a garden. 
There's nothing like listening to a shower and thinking how it is soaking in around your green beans.

Fishies won't mind at all!

Everything seems washed and renewed in the rain

But the poppies have hit the deck


Looks like we won't be using the sidewalk for a while

Watering hole

It splashes musically in this trough

The watercress seems happy

Wild columbine is taking a bit of a beating

Larkspur curving in the wind

Dripping from the trumpet shaped blossoms


Wet little friend singing in the trees


Wet larger friend bellowing from beneath the trees...




Washing everything clean