It's raining it's pouring

It has been raining for a few days. I am happy for the free watering but want the sun so I can check out how things are doing. My new set up gets a lot better drainage so I am not as worried as I was before about drowning plants. I do how ever have to water more often. I planted a ton of seeds two weeks ago and yesterday almost all have sprouted. I planted a wildflower mixture into the soil where the dayliles are. Fast growing annual mix to liven things up a bit. Next to the now giant hosta that last year looked all but dead. I planted some love lies bleeding and that seems to be growing nicely next to the driveway. It can be weedy elsewhere but here is an annual. Not to mention contained by the house on one side and the driveway on the other.

 A sideways view of the giant Hosta. Sorry I didn't rotate it. You can see the leaves from the now spent tulips and crocus next to it.

My once pretty bucket full of done flowers. I have planted some flowers and by the time the leaves have saved enough energy the new flowers should be popping up. In the background you can see my pot with the teddy bear sunflowers. My neighbor said she hates sunflowers so I suggested she just not look at them then ha ha.

Garden Update

I got almost nothing done in May. I know that is when I should do the most. As this is the first year I am trying to establish this garden, no blooms yet. My winter-sown plants have more than doubled in size. Quite a few didn't ever sprout, that had more to do with old seeds and poor watering. A few scraggly looking scabiosa have bloomed the last few days. They are by far my new favorite this season.

I have divided this planter since the picture to give the plants some more room. They seem to be happy with that decision. My best plans of writing out a chart of what is where is long gone and the only plant I'm sure of id the butterfly weed. My garden seems to be following an orange and yellow theme this year. The funny thing is I didn't plan it that way. The yellow cosmo and orange corpeous. Butterfly's have been paying me a visit even without the blooms so that makes me happy. My rose bushes from last year have buds so next week I should have some real color.

Last year  I had two large blue plastic bins, a ton of pots and three wooden crates. I decided to do it a bit different this year. That meant starting over with new plants but for a nicer and more streamlined design I decided it was worth it. The box to the left with the snowy fern leaf marigold in it had fallen apart after a few years of use and is now a vintage looking shelf indoors. To maximize space I got an old horse trough rubbed it with neem oil and it now runs the length up front. The large box in the front is holding steady but I rejuvenated the soil by adding new with the old some fertilizer and  per-lite.

Drumlin farm

I took the kids to Drumlin farm today. They had so much fun looking at all the animals and learning about how a farm works. Most of the kids are from the city and other states so it was exciting to see them interested in agriculture
.  

 It was a nice change of pace. Drumlin farm is a real working farm and a wildlife sanctuary. There is so much to do at Drumlin Farm. The kids loved visiting the animals on the farmyard, trying on their green thumbs in the learning garden, and riding the hay wagon. The sanctuary provided a good learning experience for all the children. Plus learning how to milk a cow was cool for everyone and iodine will forever be the stuff on the cows udders.
 
     
It was cool to see the owls from the:Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole 
in real life. The kids could learn all about real owls and relate it back to the movie. 

 

Backyard redone

                                                         My Backyard Before

                    and this
 
The amount of garbage I pulled out surprised me as I already had cleaned up a ton. Now for the after:

 
Looking a little sad before a trim and some water. I'm going to make the raised bed using tarp and staple gun on the frame. The day lilies should fill in front nicely and I have kept a path to go through. I'm also going to put some climbers such as morning glories to crawl up the chain link fence in the back. I'm looking to put a few sunflowers somewhere as well. 

tulips!!

My first tulip blooms!! I must say I am impressed by the photos I can take with my phone.
I'm glad it takes such wonderful photos. I don't have to buy a separate camera for my garden adventures.
I love the red and yellow and black together. It is so pretty.
Since I planted so many in so many random places every one is a surprise and I like it that way. Sure purple, yellow and red look silly together but I wouldn't have it any other way! What are your spring surprises?