End of a Lilac Era

The beautiful lilac trees that have been the anchor of the backyard were taken down by the snow that came through here in February. It leaves me heartbroken but such is nature. The yard and life are telling me it’s time to start from scratch.

No posts in June?

It’s been an odd gardening year, although maybe you always say that. Too much rain and then boom into the hot season, which I hate. I can barely tolerate the sun any more so chores have been intermittent. Or not at all. Things seem to keep themselves going anyway but my enthusiasm has waned.

Blooms are greatly delayed this year, or didn’t happen at all. We finally noticed the hummingbird tree (really called a Butterfly Bush or Buddleia Bush) has finally come to life. The tomatoes and pepper plants on the deck are already starting to show fruit. I notoriously hate in about two weeks when things start dying, so maybe that will be slow to happen as well.

Here are some pictures from June.

Tomatoes / Peppers

A satisfying gardening weekend. As Fred said the Henry Ford production line was set up and tomatoes, peppers and assorted other unplanted stragglers were placed into pots. Soil repurposed and amended. Lawn (in the back anyway) mowed. Hose reattached and functioning. The fountain restored and bubbling. Huge cascading piles of blackberry canes and lilac branches from last fall finally cut to pieces and placed in the yard waste bin. Planters shifted around the deck to make space.

The hummingbirds were visiting in full force along with the chickadees and Dark-eyed juncos. We had sun for 48 hours, which after so many months of rain made me sick from being in it for just a few hours each day. That I did not enjoy and need to figure out how to get things done in the yard with such a small window. The weather folks keep saying we’re in for a hotter than average summer. Great news for the tomatoes, not so great for getting sun sick.

Plant Sale and lilacs

Vegetables have been procured from the favorite local elementary school plant sale. The lilacs are finally slowly coming to bud a full three weeks later than typical and there was a siting of the first iris. Finally!

In the weeds

The last three weekends have been weeding, weeding, weeding.

This time of year is somewhat a hurry up and wait. So much to do, not a lot of it fun. I have managed to get a head start on things I couldn’t tackle for the past few years, so that feels good.

The blackberries have been subdued for a few weeks but it is stunning how my last entire Sunday was spent taking them down from all over the front yard.

Made some in roads into getting stuff into pots and even tried out the weed torch which I’m meh about (it won’t stay lit).

The lawn mower continues to work too, so I guess that is a good thing.

We’ve had the rainiest and one of the longest and coldest winters on record and spring seems to be late this year. I am pretty sure the lilacs are usually going strong at this point every year and they are just getting ready to bust. Soon.

NW Flower & Garden Show

It’s been at least six years since I last participated in the winter ritual that gets gardeners all in a frenzy, the “too early to really plant anything but it sure is pretty” NW Flower and Garden Show.

To be honest my tolerance for these sorts of has steadily declined and I lasted less than a couple of hours. I guess I am getting pickier about what interests me.

There was one show garden that really caught my eye.

Then on to the real reason I came: dahlias and lilies. Thumbs up to the garden organizers for letting you bring a glass of wine with you every where.

I added this last photo to remind myself to pull out those Heath tiles I’ve had in a box since 2012.

Now to wait a few more weeks until you can really get out and get your hands dirty.

Flower Village

I’m a little obsessed about a little village named Zalipie (in Poland) that my sister posted about last night. The entire surface of the village  appears to be decorated in a sort of floral tole painting. Given the population hovers around 743 people (wiki) that’s a lot of work for a handful of people.

A travel blog I came across named Lou Messugo  underlined the smallness of the place:

“We arrived ravenous and were very happy we’d taken a picnic as Zalipie doesn’t have any cafés or shops, just a series of spread out cottages, farm buildings, church and community centre.”

Sounds completely delightful really.  As an added side note the author of the blog said her teenage boys grew pretty tired of all the flowery houses but she was able to see quite a few.

More / More / More (seems to lead to OCD compulsion.