Late May Garden Update

Well...for a variety of reasons  excuses, my May garden feels like it is running pretty far behind. 

There's the damn critters, of course, varmints, rodents, critters, a-holes, whatever you want to call them who dig around and ate a ton of my seeds and my first lettuce sprouts - I feel that shaking my angry fist their way is totally justified.

I'd like to blame Millie a bit, too, as she can be a menace and keeps laying in beds where she shouldn't be laying (strawberry dog, anyone?). But I can't. She's a good girl - and so damn cute.

MILLIE!

So that leaves me, myself, and I to blame, per usual. Oh well. It'll all work out.

This season, as a result of the critters AND the fact that hopefully (wishing praying hoping) we'll be moving by summer's end, I wanted to get a lot of the garden in more portable shape in case we move mid-season. Weird? Perhaps. I cut down my existing 4x4 garden boxes to 2x2 (or so) and added bottoms  and make-shift legs to them so theoretically we can move them to a new yard if/when the move happens.

GARDEN AT A GLANCE - CHAOS!

TOMATOES...PEPPERS?

BROCCOLI

AHH, THESE ARE THE PEPPERS, METHINKS...

While some things just stayed in the big boxes on the ground...

BEANS BEANS THE MUSICAL FRUIT...

ONIONS, LETTUCE, WEEDS...

Then I decided we should ditch the strawberry pyramid by the driveway because it was so dug up last year by vermin, and by Millie trying to get the vermin. Of course, I decided it a bit late, so we already have some strawberry plants growing strong among the weeds.

But we took  a bunch of the smaller plants from there and expanded the existing strawberry bed along the tall fence. I will likely put a net over it to keep out birds and others.

The kids and I are already excited to see the strawberries-to-come growing in there. Nom nom nom!

Last year, late in the season, I picked up a trellis and a grape plant. In retrospect, not the best place to plant it. But it's growing, there are little buds, and I think what looks like little grape-bunches-to-be!

And the raspberries...well, I think we didn't prune them properly last year, so we'll just see what happens with them this year.

Even though I am not a "flower gardener" by any stretch, I do enjoy having flowers that just come up like an old friend stopping by for a visit. I plant things hoping they will be low maintenance, and usually have a great time watching them resurface and sometimes spread year to year.

CLEMATIS - NEW LAST YEAR?

SALVIA - HAS BEEN SPLIT AND MOVED ALL OVER THE PLACE IN THE YARD

COUPLE THINGS THAT ARE NOT GROWING SO AWESOMELY...NEW LAST YEAR

DIANTHUS -I swear I purchased the plant 4 years ago or so and it just comes right up, in the pot which is usually left on its side all fall/winter, every spring without fail. Looking for something foolproof folks? Dianthus all the way.

BUTTERFLY GARDEN, CHEERY CHERRY TREE IN THE FOREGROUND

VIBURNUM - Ellie loves shaking them to "make it snow"

DARN HONEYSUCKLE - Everyone else has issues with their honeysuckle taking over EVERYWHERE! I don't so much have that problem, but after a couple moves, it seems to be happy in its current location, hiding the rain barrels.

PRETTY PINK GERANIUM (surprise) - End of year gift from an instructor at work

THE HERBS - chives (also foolproof and perennial), basils, thyme, rosemary, catnip, parsley

OVERGROWN LILACS

SAD LAVENDERS BETWIXT THE LILACS

My front yard is always a forgotten wasteland. Lots going on, but very hit or miss.

Except the peonies...They have been growing here since I was a girl and would come to my gram's house to visit. I love these flowers. Ants be damned, Peonies are grand!