Vacation is Over!

Winter is vacation for me...since ALL THE STUFF I do doesn't include gardening in the winter! But that's coming to an end now :) ...and WHAT a winter we've had. I don't need to elaborate, except to say that I was able to get my perennial seeds "winter sowed" in between giant snowstorms. Hooray! I'm assuming that even without ANY sunlight, they are blissfully germinating under all that snow...or at least thinking about it! (The snow was above the hand rail right after the snowfall!)
Next couple of weeks will find me starting annuals like crazy.

REST TIME

So this is not strictly a garden photo--but these guys are taking a much-needed rest in the sun from their self-imposed gardening duties (chasing birds and rabbits). That's Lucy the dog, and Jerry Lee the cat (official "old man" of the neighborhood at 16--but who's counting!).

THIS PHOTO DOESN'T DO JUSTICE TO THE RAINBOW OVER OUR HOUSE LAST WEEK...ALMOST COMPLETE--JUST THE VERY TOP OF THE ARC WAS MISSING. IN FACT, THE NEXT MORNING, THERE WAS A FRONT PAGE PHOTO OF IT IN OUR LOCAL PAPER (MUST HAVE BEEN A SLOW NEWS DAY!)

JULY ALREADY?!?!?!?!

SO I HAVE NO IDEA WHERE JUNE WENT--EXCEPT THAT I SPENT A LOT OF IT OUTDOORS WITH MY HANDS IN DIRT...YES!! HERE ARE SOME PHOTOS OF THE FRUITS OF MY LABORS...AND, I KNOW, THERE'S STILL LOTS TO BE DONE!!

IRIS TIME

NOW THE IRIS ARE IN FULL BLOOM--ACTUALLY SOME OF THEM ARE ALREADY DONE. THERE'S NOTHING LIKE THEM WHEN THEY'RE IN BLOOM...THEN YOU HAVE TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO DISGUISE THEM WHEN THEY'RE DONE!!

The Ides of May

OK so I missed the exact date, but I'm close! Here's a sampling of blooms in my garden right now. Don't you just love this time of year? That rose is a miniature...I keep my eye out at the grocery stores for them--often cheaply priced and with some TLC they acclimate pretty quickly to the great outdoors. Also, my Tahoka Daisy seeds were included in a treasury. I'm just babying the seedlings for this year right now. Here's the link:

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=58764

So I go to a nursery on Monday--ostensibly looking for a patchouli...and find this awesome different kind of centaurea montana (perennial cornflower) called Amethyst in Snow...which I just HAD to have. So I justified the purchase by giving it to Dave as part of his birthday the next day. He was too smart for me...he figured out that it was mostly for me, but he graciously accepted it and we planted it today. I love it!!