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This is the most consistent rain season we have had since we have lived in this house and it really is quite amazing! I know it does have something to do with the garden getting more mature, but things are just going CRAZY!
For the most part, that is wonderful...but, it makes the weeds grow crazy too...lots of rain with sunny, windy afternoons...well, you can imagine. So, I have been tackling a lot more weeding (and spraying) than I normally have to do. The vinca and the mint in the front bed is just going wild and has become quite the aggressive traveler...so, I have become one with the string trimmer and have been pulling a lot of it by hand to keep it in check.
I recently bought one of the Worx GT Weedeaters from the informercial. First time I have ever bought something off the TV...and I must say, I LOVE IT! It was my mother's day present and it is awesome!
It has helped me a lot in the garden, especially keeping up with all the spring growth from all the rain.
Here are some recent picts taken of the garden:
The hydrangea bed is really coming along. This is the first year that it has actually looked like something:
The black and blue salvia is such a nice accent in this bed:
I won't show you the view of the back of this bed...which is pretty much a nice collection of crab grass that i need to get out with my special weeding tool.
My purple beauty berry that was basically a stick in the mud when I planted it in the fall - is rally doing well!
The veggies are coming along very nicely and we are starting to enjoy some srawberries, lots of basil and we are greatly anticipating the tomatoes that are soon to ripen!
Hubby has also made a ton of progress with the deck! He has gotten it most of the way done. All thats left is the railing and the skirting. We are also going to put a stepping stone patio at the bottom of the steps to create a nice landing where we can put a grill and nice little bistro set. He will begin work on the railing soon...
Here is a before and after:
And one more before and after shot of stairs:
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And finally, a nice shot of the top of the deck with the Garapa Wood:
A lot has been going on here at soapHOUSE the past few weeks. Some in the garden and a lot with other things. I have been very blessed to have just started a new job that allows me to work from home as a part time design assistant for my church. So, I get to be with my babies and look at my plants while I do what I love! What could be better???!!!
The wonderful people at the job that I left gave me such a hearfelt send-off and they all know how much I love to garden – so I got LOTS of plants!
One of the beautiful things that I got was a florist hydrangea in full bloom. I looks quite nice in my hydrangea bed!
It sets of my oakleaf very nicely!
I also got a native trillium that I put along my shade path to the veggie beds.
A red miniature rose was among the loot – I will plant that in my new bed by the deck when that is finished. (Progress continues there and this weekend work will be done on the stairs) I also got a “forget me not” – how cute is that! And, last but not least, some beautiful zinnias that I planted along my front walk.
Things are coming along quite nicely in the front bed ( my baby girl seems to think so) :
I do love the way everything is filling in. I took a clump of blue grass and put it in the from berm by the elephant ear…I think that will be a nice contrast in texture and color.
The veggie beds are also coming along nicely. 
Lots of good germination happening with the abundance of rain we have had!
All this rain makes EVERYTHING grow, which is great, but some things are traveling! My weedeater has become much more of a necessity lately and I wore out my old one, so I just ordered that Work GT thing of the infomercial…most of the reviews I read online of it looked good, so I am super excited to try it! I have to wait 3 to 4 weeks for delivery, though ?
Something funny happened the other day, hubby was in the back yard by the creek and spotted this ginormous turtle that had its claw stuck in our fence. You can see by this picture in relation to our rottie, just how big this turtle is…SO, hubby got out his welding gloves and moved (the quite angry) turtle back to the creek and we watched him swim away…
Also, as a present to myself for my new job, I decided to have someone come out to look out our “grass” (aka: patch of weeds) in the front. He said we have a combination of centepede and Bermuda grass and that he can start a treatment program to kill the weeds and encourage healthy growth and that in less than 1 year we should have real grass…I am SO excited! I think that will set off the gardens in the front so well…and if we are pleased, I will have him treat the back too.
If the rain holds off this weekend, I will be doing lots of tinkering in the yard: pruning, trimming, weeding, etc….
We had a great summer rain this afternoon! The garden was in desperate need...it even hailed a bit. But, luckily not enough to do damage to the plants. For the most part, things are just truckin right along in the garden. Most things are even holding up to the dry weather. I am having a hard time keeping enough water on my hydrangeas though. I am thinking I may install a soaker hose around that bed this fall, to help with watering next season...
Here are a couple of shots of the afternoon rain as seen from my front porch:
We have also been enjoying a very bountiful harvest from the veggie garden. Today was no exception!
Here
is a pict of the harvest bowl...
This was our first harvest of corn! I have never grown corn before and its fun that its turning out! Also, this is my third season to attempt carrots and my first season to get anything! Could it be that the companion planting is working????!!!!
Here is the bounty all clean and ready for munchin and cookin:
So rewarding!
I am already starting to think about how I can improve my plantings for next year and I am getting excited about doing a big fall veggie garden...I can't wait!
So if you read one of my previous posts, you know the saga of the green "giant". Well, i am still awaiting the 3rd one that mysteriously got left out of its bag...the 2 that were planted already are suffering a bit of transplant shock, but we have had enough rain lately that I still have hope for them. So, today I stopped by the local nursery (SO many temptations!!!!) and they had 3 gallon sizes of the green giant :) So, I picked one to plant in the spot reserved for the 3rd one:
The sticks that you see on either side of the tree represent the other ones that were ordered through the mail. It will be interesting to see and compare the growth of the different sizes...HAH!
The freshly planted weeping willows (from the same supplier) are looking great and getting all their new leaves:
I think it will be so pretty weeping over the creek side :)
Once I got my new tree planted, I set out to mow and edge the front yard. Looks so nice when that has been done. I also got some picts of more spring happenings:
Azalea buds bursting:
I must say I am learning to love my azaleas. They came with the house and would not have been what I chose, but the were in good condition so I left them. I have really started to put some more time and energy into the back beds and I am starting to form a nice shade bed with the azaleas as the foundation. Last year they didn't bloom (due to an extremely late frost that zapped all their buds) and the years before I did not pay much attention - other than to notice that they are various shads of pink. So, I have no idea their varieties or how big they are expected to get. This year...when they bloom, I plan on taking cuttings to the local nursery to have them tell me the varieties so that I can fully develop the design of the shade bed. Should be interesting and fun :)
The newly planted lilac buds are starting to open so I am looking forward to watching that. I have never grown a lilac before:
The oakleaf is budding out nicely as well. Year before last, we transplanted it from a very awkward spot close to the house and the following year, its form and shape was way out of wack, so I had to prune it and sacrifice some blooms, so this year it should be in its full glory :
I also transplanted some large pieces of variegated ivy to the shady side of the creek bank. Hopefully they will fill in and cascade nicely - providing a nice evergreen cover and weed suppression.
I would say, all in all, a great afternoon in the garden. I certainly feel blessed that I could spend my afternoon that way and not cleaning up rubble from the tornado that hit just south and north of us. Amazing that a tornado blew through downtown Atlanta. They say that has never happened before....first time for everything, I suppose.
I slowed down my pace a bit today in the garden...just did some routine housekeeping...
Edged the beds with the weedeater, trimmed back the wild onions and vinca with the weedeater, raked and started to cut back all the grasses. This is always such a messy job and I don't know that I have figured out the most efficient way of doing it. I figure this year, I will just do a bit at a time through the next couple of weeks and then it won't seem so bad. The yard is looking so tidy and is just ready for spring to burst through. I also took some time to play with the camera and capture some wonderful winter moments in the garden:
Dried Annabelle Hydrangea Bloom:
Exfoliating Bark of the Oakleaf Hydrangea:
Wax Mahonia Bloom/Berries:
Nice contrast of the Variegated Ivy against the bark of the tree trunk:
Lilac getting ready for spring:
Twisty Twigs of the Contorted Filbert:
Brilliant Color of the Nandina Fire Power:
And Finally...the beautiful bark of the Natchez Crepe Myrtle (the reason I chose this variety):
All of these picts were taken in my back yard. It was really nice to look closely at all the winter details. I see my garden different through the lense and its always a fun perspective!
I had another great weekend in the garden. Got LOTS done as I am taking advantage of the warm daytime temps we have been having lately. I spent so much time on the front yard this past growing season, that now I am excited to get more work done in the back. I have been doing things such as defining the beds and putting in paths. I ordered another load of the free woodchips from the city and got busy spreading it:
I laid down a path in between the beds leading to the back. The bed to the left contains hydrangeas and hostas. I just transplanted all the hydrangeas to a better layout and added 2 variegated hydrangeas on either side of the sweet gum tree - I am looking forward to seeing how it looks come spring.
Here is the same path, from the back view:
My husband cut down the remainder of the trunk of the tree we took out last weekend. He was excited, because this meant he got to buy an electric chain saw. He always loves getting new toys...as you can see it definately did the trick:
I also transplanted the nandinas that were in the front of this tree over to another space so that now I have room to put in a nice conifer garden :) I also finished spreading all the pine straw (this helped to define the beds and create some new planting areas in the back yard. Here is a good shot of the back yard as of today:
The creek area even got some attention this weekend. Once I finish dragging the brush to the curb, it will be all cleared and ready to plant up with ground covers and ferns. I also plan to put an arbor at the gate with a nice vine on it and an outdoor hammock so that the area can be fully enjoyed!
I am interested to see what survived out of my bargain fern purchases that I planted back here in late summer. Once the drought hit, they began to suffer...so we will see. The creeping euonymous is doing well, however :)
On the list for this week: finish spreading wood chip pile and dragging creek brush to curb!
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