My Walkabout

An early morning walkabout a couple of days ago...made me run in and get my camera. A day or two ago...there was little color in my gardens. Now, at last, the color is beginning to pop. The roses are so pretty right now...except for the leaves. Joe hired a lawn company to spray our trees.  We have two pines in the back that look like they are dying and Joe wanted to try spraying them as a last resort...we had this problem with a Spruce years ago and this company saved that tree.  They sprayed my flowers as well. The leaves are all mottled from the spray..I think.It doesn't seem to have affected the roses or the plant itself, however.  

 The ground cover, Lamium or Dead Nettle has filled in everywhere. I usually pull some of it out so the plants that it surrounds are more defined, but this year I decided to just let it go for a while. It just creeps everywhere. It's an easy plant...you just pull it and take the plants you pulled and plop them in the ground somewhere else. It's pretty blooming or not...as the leaves are very pretty.

 This is the back corner of Mary's Garden...My volunteer clematis starting to fade and the purple chair makes it's debut just behind....waiting for the next clematis to bloom. Will it be purple?

 I planted this Yarrow just last year. It's huge and has so many buds. I really love Yarrow...I bring in bouquets of Yarrow and let it dry for fall arrangements. It's the yellow variety. This garden is taking on a new color scheme...first it was to be soft colors of pale purple, blue, white etc. but now, I have yellows and other bright colors. A Mother's Day gift, a planter, was taken apart and put here. They are Gerbera Daisies and doing well in the ground. The fall Mums are a bronze color. 

 Going around the side of the house, we find that the Sage is starting to bloom. It is leaning out to the grass, trying to capture all the sun it can get. Other herbs are filling in the back.

 My Lavender is starting to get buds on it and the Russian sage is close by.Soon the Russian Sage will need propping up as it leans to one side.

All in all I would say that we had a good spring for gardens. Lots of dampness and misty days that gardens love. Now summer is on it's way and pretty soon the air conditioners will be buzzing in our neighborhood. People will be indoors....to hot for them outside. I'll be out, however, this year. It's getting harder for me to garden every year.  It takes more time to do things, but this year I find that I have more stamina than in past years. I don't think that the heat will bother me as much. I am trying to do a little each day to keep the gardens tidy. I move around the house like the hands of a clock and pick up where I left off the next day.

As I look out the window, I see weeds popping up around the tree, in the mulch. The trees are there with just a circle of mulch...no plants surrounding them. The way I garden, with everything so close together...the weeds don't have a chance. That has cut down my work considerably. So, this year I'm trying not to complain as much...we'll have to see how that goes when the watering season begins and I have to drag the hose.Joe has tried to solve that problem, by installing lightweight hoses at every faucet and we have not planted things that require a lot of water far from the water source. If you want to continue to garden...you have to take steps to make things more convenient for you. You do continue learning past the age of 75...I find :)

Balisha