June Update - Part 2

This is the Part two of my June update....here is part one. This is kind of like one of those vacation slide shows... Well if you are here, maybe there is something interesting you will find in our June garden.

I love these flowers (above and below). The barrel on the right has what I have thought are "purple tansy"...they look nice as seedlings, in bud, and purple blooms later.


We started a rain barrel in the ferns by the garage. I wonder if they will fill in and hide the whole garbage can. At least it has been full so I know it won't tip over with the weight of water.


This year we are growing parsnips...the ones in the back are a couple weeks ahead of those in the front. This brick really has no purpose.


I never knew parsnips look like cilantro...I will have to check the spacing and maybe thin these.


It is a time of alliums here...chives are blooming. Given a warm, sunny morning I should find some bees in them.


Another allium, love the tall blooms of these.


We are starting some ever-bearing strawberries to supplement our June-bearing harvest. There are also some pole beans and cucumbers in this barrel...we will see if they grow over the fence.


Jerusalem artichokes / sunchokes are another new plant this year....here I have some in a container...


We also have a bed of sunchokes started. It will be fun to see how they look in the fall.


These are some very nice hostas we inherited with the house. I really like how large these get -- they fill in most of this North side of the house.


A volunteer viola -- I hope to get more growing. These are another of those edible flowers.


Parsley from last year is starting to build a seed stalk. It will be the first time I see parsley flowers.


June raspberries are almost here...


Finally, I was impressed to see an herb return from last year. This lemon balm returned where parsley failed to survive the winter. This made a great addition to my wood sorrel cold tea.


Thanks for visiting our garden!

Wild Progress

Some warmer May days and we have "wild" progress in the garden. Above is a violet from the yard - one of those "weeds". The garden has been taking off with our warm May days although there are still some threats of frost in the future. Maybe Memorial Day I will put out tomatoes.

Here are a couple of shots of plants returning to my wildflower garden.


In the farthest corner of the yard the ferns are just starting to unfurl. Spring flowering shrubs are beginning to bud and will bloom soon.


In the shadier area the sedum and asiatic lilies are returning.


Here is the cool season vegetables (lettuce and snap peas) on the 18th. I think the cool nights are actually helping...they have grown bounds in the last two days.


More peas and lettuce. I put a flag here to ward off birds. The other pea beds have netting over them because I'm pretty sure the birds were picking on the pea seedlings and cutting leaves off. Whatever the cause, the netting solved the problem.


Kohlrabi and radishes are now getting true leaves and will be ready soon.


More buds on the chives. I enjoyed a baked potato the other day with some chives...didn't realize how good that was.


Thanks for saying "hi" and stopping by. I think the last two weeks of May should be quite exciting. Crops shooting up, planting and transplanting tender plants, getting ready for air conditioning season.

Bugs and Blooms April 15

Hi. I decided that I should post some of the things "blooming" in my garden this month. It is funny because I didn't have a blog last year, but I did take photos on the 15th. For other blooms and blogs from April you should go to May Dreams Gardens: Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day - April 2008. As I was getting my photos I spotted the little guy above.

The first is my favorite of the moment, a purple colored crocus. I think the yellow pollen is a nice contrast, especially in the full-sized version.



Next, more crocus -- hey it is North Dakota in April. Two different yellow varieties and a white. I noticed the first bloom of the back yard is also forming (the rest are in the front). I think that the crocus are behind some this year. Last year there were more blooming on this day.




Here are some tulips still growing up. They look ahead of last year. I like the color of the red one.



Hyacinth buds are just coming up.



Also some Allium in the back.



A representative of the rest of the garden is this fern from last season. Give the garden a week or two and it should waken more.