Come Wander Through My Garden Thoughts :)

Where do I begin? This entry is more of a mish mash, or wandering through the garden. We were on vacation in Las Vegas and arrived home mid Thursday morning. I think I worried the entire time we were gone about the gardens even though I knew they were in very good hands. My son took the seedlings home to baby them while my neighbour took care of the main vegetable garden beds and the greenhouse. When we left Las Vegas it was 94 ^o to arrive in Detroit at 60^o and rain. Then we drove through blinding rain to get home! Despite lack of sleep I was itching to get out into the garden so was a little disappointed when the rain refused to let up.

Yesterday brought more rain. I wanted to get the beans planted but there wasn't enough of a break in the rain. So I contented myself with online research and tidying up my shopping list. Now this is just not a good time of year for me! Honestly, I'm not a shopper until it comes to plants. That means I "have" to stop at every nursery or garden spot for miles around. That means I end up with more plants than I really need. My son picked up the seedlings from my other son so they are back in the greenhouse. He also picked up wood for a 4' x 4' raised bed except he got pressure treated instead of plain spruce. So that bed will be used for flowers or shrubs only. The plants brought indoors are also back in the greenhouse and the electricity has been re-connected.

I woke late this morning to more rain. Drat! So I decided to at least do a little work in the greenhouse. It wasn't much but at least I made a list of exactly what plants I have so I wouldn't inadvertly buy duplicates. Then I went shopping at the local vegetable stand. The have nice, healthy plants! I bought a couple of hanging baskets of petunias, sweet peppers, ultra sweet tomatoes, big beef tomatoes, and coleus. My son arrived with enough wood for 3 more raised 4 ' x 4' beds. He assembled the beds but they are still empty until my husband can give his input as to location. At the moment they are forming a diamond pattern that is rather appealing. That means another 48 sq. ft of grass gone withouth the other 16 sq. ft bed to be planted with flowers. If it were up to me I'd have no grass at all. I seriously hate grass! It is boring yet in some cases high maintenance. I'd like to turn the front yard into a wildflower bed essentially eliminating all grass. This just might be the year.

The main vegetable garden beds are doing remarkably well! The peas will need staking shortly. The lettuces and radishes are promising to be bumper crops. I need to take pictures of both. The herbs are doing well too. Unfortunately the unplanted squares have attracted a few weeds but that will be easy to remedy. I planted asparagus the day before we left for vacation but there is no sign of growth.

I posted about bird feeders so thought I should follow it up with this comment. Choose your seed wisely. It will determine not only what birds eat at your feeders but also what wild life the droppings might attract. I feed the blue jays daily with a handful or two of unshelled peanuts. They take everything within a very short time so the peanuts don't attact any wild life. However, I filled the one feeder with a generic mix that included corn. This really wasn't too smart as the day we were leaving two wild rabbits were happily munching away at the droppings while the starlings/grackles fought to see how much they could spread the seed. My husband emptied that feeder before we left and I filled it with black oil sunflower seed today. Another feeder holds black oil sunflower seed but only the smaller birds can get to it and a third holds niger seed. The first feeder with be changed for safflower seed. The cardinals and smaller birds like safflower but the starlings do not like it at all. If you research the birds in your area, you will find out what attracts them. If you find one seed is attracting unwanted attention from certain birds or other critters, change the seed.

Chives! I'm going to do a whole post on the topic of chives but for the time being, chives are already being cut here. These are almost like weeds. You can't kill them and they spread like wildfire. However, they are the ultimate addition to so many dishes so I grant them a little lee way. This year I split my chive section up. I ended up with a half barrel, two large pots and I'm giving away chive plants. Even if you don't eat chives it is one of the easiest herbs to grow and it is very pretty. I love the flowers!

Well, now that I've wandered, I really need to sit down and do a little more planning. I'm garden shopping again likely in the morning but if not Monday morning. I really, really, really "need" a new garden gnome! My old one is looking a little ratty but he'll just get moved to another spot in the garden. I was rather proud of myself this year. I love garden decorations as long as they don't interfer with the function of the garden. This spring I tossed out a lot of garden decorations that either were too ratty or no longer met my needs. However, a garden gnome is a must :)

Happy Gardening

Garden Gnome