FishinBC's Blog

Decks are done...almost.
Jun 18, 2007 | 8:02 AM PST

We got two of the three decks stained this weekend.  Yippee!!  We are almost there and will be able to sit down and enjoy it. 

I repotted three of the pots on the deck that were looking kind of sad after being ravished by the squirrels before the trough went up.  I planted them all in reds, whites and blues for the fourth.  Once the upper deck is stained I will start putting up the decorations.  The kids arrive on the first and my best friend arrives on the third, so all should be ready when they get here.

My veggie garden is doing great.  I have little zucchinis and cukes, loads of banana peppers and the bell peppers have finally decided to hang on to some of their fruit.  And…tomatoes galore!!  Ate my first ripe cherry tomatoes this weekend and I have a few large tomatoes starting to blush.  My two later bearing types are blooming and one has tiny maters too.

The mulch in the upper flower bed was getting pretty thin so I added another layer to that this weekend.  I dug a hole there to plant some ornamental grass that was potted on the deck.  I was surprised how dry the ground was just a few inches below the surface.  We have had lots of rain but apparently not as much as the trees need.  We watered the grass and that bed heavily.  Don’t want the trees to steal water from all the sod we just put in.

My elephant ears are going crazy.  Wow, how fast they grow!  The new dappled willow is doing really well.  I am so please with it.  The rest of the pond has filled in great.  The lily pads are all about to bloom again and the water is crystal clear.  All the new fish half doubled in size! 

We also have some new residents to the pond.  A family of chipmunks is living in the back of the upper falls.  I put some seed out for them and got a few pictures of them stuffing their cheeks. 

My white clematis bloomed again and the small red clematis, I noticed had opened this morning.  The dahlias that made it through the freeze are all blooming and I will post some pix of those in my photos as soon as I get home tonight.  They are huge the purple and white one is about 6 inches across and the yellow and red is a good eight inches. 

 

Everything in the rest of the flower beds are doing well and I am going to start planning for next year and really do things right.  Most of this spring was more about instant gratification.  Now that I have had time to stand back and look at things the ideas are popping and I have begun putting it on paper. 

Now if I could just get rid of the dog vomit slime mold in my shade bed I would be a happy person!