Mother’s Day bouquet

The bouquet for church this week was full of ‘Miss Kim’ lilac and several kinds of peonies. It smelled SO good! I also tucked in a few sprigs of honesty. The green seedpods looked nice with the pinks and lilacs of the bouquet.

bouquet for church

‘Miss Kim’ is a late blooming lilac (our latest) and it has petite blossom clusters. So pretty.

Our peonies are in full bloom and, along with the irises, are a beautiful sight. If you’re in the area, drive by. Better yet, stop in. πŸ™‚

front flower bed

It amazes me how well they hold up under high wind and torrential rain such as we had Friday morning.

I hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day. I certainly did!

~~Rhonda

rain!

Yesterday morning, the impending weather looked so bad that I gathered DD from school at 10 AM. We spent about forty minutes in the basement, just before noon, waiting out a tornado warning. We did get some high winds and there was some major damage south of us, but the only ill effect for us was a lot of rain. DD spent time in the afternoon playing in the puddles. After 5:00, we were outside picking up trash and she had more fun with all the water.

had LOTS of rain

This shows you why a particular large project is on our list of things “to do.” We need to remove all the plants from this garden which sits in the center of the driveway, add a LOT of topsoil, then replant. The center of the drive is lower than that driveway. When we get a lot of rain at once, it puddles like this. Thankfully, it drains quickly, but what a mess until it does. The problem is a result of the age of the driveway. Over many, many years, it has had a lot of rock put on it and eventually the drive has become higher than the middle.

she dubbed them "perfect puddles"

In the meantime, it’s a lot of fun for DD. πŸ™‚ ~~Rhonda

baby pics

The mother raccoon took two of the babies and left two. We are feeding them until we can get them to a rehab facility. The larger one weighs almost 15 ounces and the smaller one is about 11 ounces. We’re feeding them kitten formula.

weighing the baby

baby raccoons

Julie, as long as they stay healthy, we’ll keep them till you can see them on Sunday. πŸ™‚

~~Rhonda

look what we found in our basement

four baby raccoons

Yup. Four baby raccoons. Had to have the furnace man come and extract them from the furnace duct! Now to catch the mama.

Yes, they’re cute.

No, we’re not going to keep them.

~~Rhonda

menu plan monday ~ may 4, 2009

I hope we can fit in more of this during the week:

a gardener's work is never done

Monday
hamburgers / homemade buns
celery and carrot sticks / dip
grapes

Tuesday
tortilla pizzas

Wednesday
tortellini with asparagus
homemade rolls
sugar snap peas

Thursday
Baked Spaghetti
rosemary focaccia
peas
corn
green salad

Friday
spicy shredded pork (I make it in the crock pot.)
homemade rolls
spinach salad with strawberries
corn on the cob

Saturday
fridge food

Sunday ~ Mother’s Day
grilled BBQ chicken / pork steaks
coleslaw with peanuts and raisins
baby baked potatoes
corn on the cob
green salad

You will find more menu and recipe ideas at Menu Plan Monday.

~~Rhonda

sunday bouquet

Today’s bouquet was made from irises, snowball bush blossoms and pink columbine.

Sunday bouqet

It didn’t turn out quite the way I wanted it to, but how can you go wrong with such beautiful irises? πŸ™‚

~~Rhonda

i wish spring lasted longer

If you’ve read previous posts, you know spring is my favorite time of year in the garden. It’s lush and colorful and full of “new” everywhere you look. Here are some pictures from our spring garden.

The fenced garden sits just north of the mulch pile. In the second picture, you can see our mountain of mulch. We usually don’t have that much, but had a few trees removed last year and this wonderful pile is the result of that work. πŸ™‚

fenced garden

fenced garden

This clump of ‘May Night’ salvia sits just outside the gate to the fenced garden. And that’s a clump of lemon balm next to it. We’ll be pulling that out soon. It pops up all over the place. Looks beautiful in early spring, but quickly grows to gargantuan proportions. It would smother the salvia and anything else in its way.

fenced garden

This is blood sorrel. It’s in the fenced garden, along the path. I don’t care for the name, but it is a beautiful plant. And it’s edible. Can be used in salads.

blood sorrel

This mini geranium is in the center of the fenced garden. It’s in danger of being swallowed alive by the gold sedum. I am trying to decide where to move it. Somewhere it can be appreciated and not swamped by something larger. The entire plant is about four inches across.

mini geranium

The ceramic bunnies have been in the center of the fenced garden for five or six years. Before you know it, the sedum will cover the baby bunny.

bunnies

The columbine is in full bloom right now. The tree that used to shade this bed was removed, so we may have to move these plants this year.

columbine

Pretty pink columbine near the kitchen door.

columbine

And this old fashioned columbine was a gift from my friend Margaret. Thank you, Margaret!

columbine

columbine

The rain we’ve had the past several days has knocked a lot of the dogwood blossoms off, but the rain was good for the yard, not to mention the farmers’ fields. And just look at all those iris buds!

flower bed

Hostas provide a beautiful accent in the garden. Their leaves make quite a statement. Here are ‘Samurai’ and ‘Waving Wuffles’ near the carport behind the house.

'Samauri' and 'Waving Wuffles'

‘Pineapple Upside Down Cake’ is a beautiful yellow in the spring that turns green later in the season.

Hosta 'Pineapple Upside Down Cake'

‘Squash Casserole’ was sheltered by an apple tree last year. But we had so much rain last spring that trees actually lost their grip and fell over, and the apple tree was one of those. So this beautiful (and fast growing!) hosta and its ‘Valentine Lace’ and ‘Lake Veronica’ neighbors will have to be moved soon. Not sure just yet where they are going to end up. ‘Squash Casserole’ seems to tolerate some sun, so we’ll keep that in mind as we ponder its future home.

'Squash Casserole'

This is ‘Northern Exposure.’ I’m partial to the hostas with variegated leaves.

'Northern Exposure'

Star of Bethlehem grows from a bulb and can overtake a garden bed. We dig them out as we come across them just to keep up with them, but are always happy to see them pop up in the grass and here and there in a flower bed. They make a pretty show. The bulb is poisonous, though, so keep that in mind if you plant them.

'Star of Bethlehem'

Star of Bethlehem is a spring flower. The leaves come up first, in what my family always called “Easter grass.” It makes clumps of beautiful green, even before the lawn grass greens in the spring. The perfect resting place for an Easter egg. After it flowers, the leaves quickly die back and the plant goes dormant until next spring.

A couple more shots and I’ll let you go…

garden

dogwood

I think I’ll head outside. It’s a shade cool, but I want to see if any new irises have opened. πŸ™‚ ~~Rhonda

iris season is off and running

These first few irises opened their first blossoms of the season today.

Siberian Iris ‘Illini Charm’

Iris 'Illini Charm'

This is an old fashioned iris that we do not know the name of.

UNK iris

We brought this iris from our previous home. Bought it in a collection of six, years ago. Probably the first irises I ever bought. But I no longer know the name.

UNK iris

‘Mary Frances’ is a beautiful bluish tall bearded iris.

'Mary Frances'

Another unknown.

UNK iris

This early brown iris was in the yard when we moved here. Unfortunately, it was planted against a brick wall of the same color. We’ve moved it around the yard, where it shows up much better.

early brown iris

early brown iris

‘Raspberry Blush’ opened April 26.

Iris 'Raspberry Blush'

This very early old fashioned iris opened April 19 and is still blooming strongly. We brought this iris from DH’s family farm, where it has bloomed every spring for many years.

early purple iris

‘Baby Blessed’ is one of my favorite dwarf irises. It blooms prolifically in the spring, then blooms off and on all summer and into the fall, providing it has plenty of moisture.

Iris 'Baby Blessed'

Other irises have already finished blooming.

Tiny little ‘What Again.’

Iris 'What Again'

And the even tinier extra early purple iris. It bloomed March 30. This iris came from DH’s family farm. It stands 3-4″ tall.

early iris

This picture of ‘Irish Chant,’ a lovely dwarf iris, was taken last year. It bloomed this year while I was too sick to go out. The one picture DH took of it, wasn’t a great shot, so I’ll recycle this one.

dwarf iris 'Irish Chant'

There will be new irises every day for a while. This is my favorite season in the garden. The entire yard will smell heavenly when they are blooming at the peak of the season! ~~Rhonda

spring rain

The weather has been rainy today, but it’s a slow, off and on, gentle, spring rain. Looking out the kitchen door into the back yard, things look wet, but fresh and new. Every time I walk into the kitchen, I am amazed by all the green visible through the windows. There are four windows over the south counter and the door on the south, too, and the view is completely full of new spring green, now that the big oak has leafed out.

under the big oak

The hostas are filling out well, and the columbine and Spanish bluebells are in full swing.

wet garden

This little flower bed sits just outside the kitchen door. We have three birdbaths in the yard, but this is my favorite one.

birdbath bed by kitchen door

The birds use this birdbath, but not as often as the cats do. They find it a convenient watering hole. πŸ™‚

sprinkles in the birdbath

~~Rhonda

wednesday in the yard

We spent a lot of time in the yard yesterday. DH did have some work related things to take care of, but we still had a lot of time for the garden. The weather was beautiful. Grass was a bit wet from rain the day before and during the night, but I was able to mow in the afternoon.

peonies are ready to bloom

DH spread a lot of mulch. We are grateful to our friend Paul who gives us shredded mulch via his tree trimming service.

Taking care of the trees is just as important as tending to the rest of the yard. After all, healthy trees provide shade, improve soil stability, and add beauty to the landscape. We checked on a few branches that looked weak and decided they needed pruning before the next big storm.

Regular trimming keeps trees in good shape and prevents potential hazards, especially near the house or driveway. Beswick Tree Service has been a great resource for expert advice on keeping trees strong and well-maintained, ensuring they stay healthy for years to come.

We also took a closer look at the younger trees we planted last year. Some needed a little extra mulch at the base to help retain moisture and keep weeds at bay. Watering was on the to-do list as well, especially with warmer days ahead.

It’s amazing how much of a difference small maintenance tasks can make in the long run. With a little care and attention, the yard is shaping up nicely, and the trees are thriving along with everything else.

spreading mulch

Not sure why I didn’t take many pictures yesterday. Busy with other things, I guess. But I did get this one of the clematis ‘Nelly Moser’ that climbs the hydrangea by the front steps. She is just beginning to bloom. The hydrangea has yet to leaf out completely.

clematis

We have had 15 different iris varieties in bloom so far this season. Lots more getting ready to bloom and there will be pics of those in the near future. πŸ™‚

~~Rhonda