Some Spring Cleanup

I have been really behind this year in the yard and I have come to the conclusion (actually I come to this conclusion this time every year) that I have a love/hate for our oak trees. We have a couple of them that I would really hate for us to lose but in the fall and spring I really don't like the mess they make. Every spring I have to clean out our landscape & it seems like there's about 10 trees worth of leaves in there it's crazy. Here's what I got raked out today. And I have decided I really need to get this done sooner because it was a pain to rake up with the shrubs all filled in.




It's such a pain to dispose of all the leaves we collect around here, plus it's hard to coordinate the leaf pick up with my dh. So I've decided to scout out a spot somewhere in the yard to start a decent size compost. Our mower is a mulcher so I'll just mow the leaves & bag them then dump them in the spot and wait for it to be compost then use that next year in the beds. We'll see how this goes.


While I was out raking today I saw this butterfly fluttering around and enjoying my phlox & he was nice enough to let me get his picture :)

Pics and planning for the shed area

It's so delightful to browse through these pics, everything is so brown and bare right now, these pics just make it so cheerful. While going through my pics around my shed I realized I didn't take as many as I had thought so hopefully this year I will be a little better about that.

This is an early summer photo (I know it's posted further down in the blog). This year I hope to get the little deck replaced before the flowers start poking through the ground too much so they don't get trampled on during the replacement.

I loved the tipsy pots but I think I'll try just three this year since the smallest pot was really hard to keep moist. Im not quite sure on the flowers this time but I think I want to change them up a bit. The little cone basket with the butterfly impatience in it did well so I will definately be doing that again. As for the fence table with the flower box I will do that differently since I was not pleased with the outcome last year. I haven't decided if I should use the fence again or mount the flowerbox under the window, I'm thinking of mounting it though to match the other two.

This side of the shed is really progressing & filling in nicely. I'll have to get my picket fence pieces painted before the flowers start coming up this year and I really shouldn't need to add any flowers in here.

I loved the geraniums in the window box, I can't remember if I had two or three but I think this year I will definately go with three. The million bells didn't do so great I think because I didn't keep it moist enough so I don't know if I'll do those again or not. It seems like there are some varieties that do great and some that don't. I also had a vine in the box that went to the ground, since the lilies grew up to the window I don't need a vine to fill in but some sort of foliage would be nice or maybe fill in with some white allysum. I love the pink and I think I'll be going with that again this year.

Another view of the side of the shed. It gets a little bare up closer to the front but Im hoping things fill in some more and spread that way instead of planting some more. I did plant 2 foxglove in the bare spots late in the year so we'll see if they come up again.

Here's the shade side of the shed. I loved the little purple butterly impatients and will definately do those again this year. Maybe there will be more colors available. The coleus also did very well I think this one was called mosaic, I'd have to double check, I love all the colors in it. I think instead of the begonia in the middle I'd rather do another impatient or something that trails a little more. Otherwise this basket looks good but Im hoping to do some pink rather than yellow & purple this year, we'll see what's available.

For some reason I don't have a pic of the flower bed on this side of the shed. It's complete though with some transplanted hostas, bleeding hearts and some astilibe I bought last year.

Thats it for this area. Going through these is really giving me the itch to get out and work in the yard and get everything ready for the planting season.

Spring is here!

I think :) One never knows with the WI weather. It's still kind of cool out 40's & 50's but Im sure those beautiful 60's & 70's are just around the corner and hopefully without one last snowfall.

I haven't had a chance to even venture out into the yard to see what's poking through the ground because I have been sick with bronchitis and I was lucky enough to have the flu 2 weekends ago too. Hopefully I'll get a chance to venture out this coming weekend to start some spring yard clean up.

I think it's time to start making notes for flower purchasing too so I can start budgeting that on the tight budget Im giving myself this year. I slacked off on my notes last summer so hopefully I'll be able to go back through my pics this spring to see what changes I want to make & what flowers I want to repeat this year.

Hopefully this week I'll get a chance to make those notes on here, it'd be nice to be ahead of the game :) I think the greenhouses will be open in under 3 weeks so I better get organized.

Finally some pictures

I thought I'd get some pictures posted today and make some notes for next year.

I think I'll just post one area a day so I don't get overwhelmed. I'll start today with the area under the maple tree between the garages. This is where I put my bike, which was suppose to go in the backyard. I do like having something in this spot so I think I'll probably do this again until I get the blocks in for a raised bed. This spot obviously gets most shade so the flowers I bought are not doing their best since they're not getting the proper amount of sun. So I need to plan this area out better for next year if I use the same set up.

Here is a pic from late spring, soon after I planted it.

This is from the end of June

And here's what it looks like now

What I like about this spot:

• I really like the bike, I think it works great for right here.


• The hanging pot from the tree


• The pots of coleus are doing great, they are placed here until my bleeding hearts are ready to be cut back along side the garage then I will move them over there. I definately like the coleus better than the impatients Ive tried the past few years. By now, if I had impatients, they'd be spotty and looking sickly.

NOTES FOR NEXT YEAR

• Buy shade flowers. I like the sweet potato vine and the coleus in the front basket. There is allysum in there but it doesn't bloom because there isnt any sun. So for next year maybe plant a sweet potato vine, and a couple coleus (shorter versions) in the front basket.


• For the side baskets I think the sweet potato vine would do good in there or maybe the butterfly (or is it the dragonfly) impatients like what I have by the shed. If I did sweet potato vine I think I need to add something else with bright color. Ultimately what I want for the side baskets is for them to be completely covered, the petunias did not do that for me.


• Keep the 3 pots of coleus but plan them this time. They were a late thought this year so I didn't have a choice in what I wanted since there was nothing left in the stores to buy. I think each pot has the 4-packs in it.


• The hanging basket I haven't decided if I want to have that there next year or not, if I do, I need to choose shade flowers for it.


• Put in a fresh layer of decorative mulch

Since this is just one pot right by this area I'll add this one to this post. This is my whiskey barrel that gets mostly shade. Ive been planting impatients in this for the past few years. This is the first year I've tried coleus (and it won't be my last) I love it!

This pic is from the end of June

And this one is the end of July

NOTES FOR NEXT YEAR

• I really love the coleus but I think I might want to try a variety of flowers next year, maybe something that'll hang down the edges of the barrel then maybe more of a difference in the heights of the coleus so the ones in the middle are a noticeably difference from the ones around the edge. I really like the mosaic coleus in the flower box on the shed and that one is a little shorter.
• I like the star and I've had it there for years but I've been debating on this star that Sherrie has for sale that you can plant flowers in ever since I saw it in April. I think that would look nice in place of the plan star.
• Keep this area more cleaned up! It seems to be the collection area for leaves and debris (and sawdust when dh is cutting things outside of the garage :) )

Ok, I think that's it for today. If I keep up with my notes for next year, my gardens will be so much prettier than this year. I should really dig out the tags from the flowers so I can list the exact flowers I want to try different and make it a lot easier when shopping the greenhouses.

Im slacking off :)

I have been neglecting this blog lately, I guess I've just been enjoying the flowers and not making any garden notes. I have been snapping pictures here and there and I need to get those loaded and sorted so I can take some accurate notes on here. I will have to say though that I am pleased with some of the beds. I do need to make some adjustments to some pots and work on a couple beds and plan my future beds for next year.

Hopefully this evening I'll get some of my pics sorted and get them posted on here.

Oh and the "holding bed" is doing great with some additions from my garden too. I kind of like the idea of having an area to place flowers until I have a spot or need for them. I could even get some perennials yet this year and put there to use for next year in new beds, hmmm something to definately ponder.

Busy, busy!

I haven't taken many pictures lately but I sure have been busy in the yard. This last weekend I took a 4 day weekend to celebrate our 3rd anniversary. At first our plan was to go to Wis. Dells and do a couple things but dh asked if I'd rather start on the deck redo that we've had planned. Well I chose the deck! So, dh tore our old deck down and got most of the new one framed up and wow is it going to be a BIG deck, I can't wait til it's done. While he was working on the deck I just did some putzy stuff around the yard, I finally got most of the trim painted on my shed & I restained the door, now I just need to replace the deck on the shed and get some mulch in the flower beds and that area will be done. Oh yeah and I need to get some shutters put on too. The back yard is a mess but it'll eventually get back in order again and all the decking material that's been laying around since last year should be in the new deck!

There really aren't any perennials blooming right now but anyday now they will be. Thankfully I have lots of annuals to brighten things up. I think my nieces lilies will be blooming back in the "holding bed" (that's what I've decided to name that section since that's where the flowers that don't have a home currently go until they do have a home lol) soon. I did pick up some foxglove for 1/2 price last week and I have no idea where Im going to put it but I couldn't pass it up because I loooove foxglove. I also picked up some Irish Moss 1/2 price that is suppose to go in between my pavers under the arbor. I just need to get the pavers now :)

Oh yeah I also finished up 3 of my glass plate flowers this weekend (actually it was 4 but one broke) so I'll have to get some pics of those.

That's all for now, maybe I'll get some pics this evening if it's not raining. Some of the annuals are filling in nice while some of them seem to be a little slow.

Irises

Amongst all this rain we've been having the Irises around the yard have started to bloom. It actually wasn't raining last night so I went outside and battled the mosquitos and gnats to get some pics of these beauties.

These light purple ones I took this weekend, they were the 1st to bloom and they are in the clump of flowers that I am housing for my niece until they buy a new house so I've been enjoying them and I like her colors better than mine, maybe I should snag a few of them hehe :) Nah, I don't have a spot for them currently.

Another color of my nieces

And these are ones I planted by my fence this spring that were from the garden group I went to in May and got for free! I was excited to see what color I was going to get. The color is ok, not my fave but I like it, for some reason it reminds me of a rootbeer color, I know I'm weird lol.

In this same flower bed the asiatic lilies are getting super tall, makes me wonder if they'll get taller than me and I would expect some buds to be coming out on those in the next couple weeks. The iris on the other side of the fence didn't give me any blooms :( Oh and the clematis that I thought wasn't going to do any thing this year has just taken off! It must like all the rain we've been getting. I'll have to get a pic of that too and I need to add some more chicken wire to the arbor so it attaches to it.

Besides the Iris in bloom my Peonies are just starting to bloom. I found one opened up yesterday. This is my sadest looking bed this year but it's getting tore out this summer so I didn't do anything with it. The peonies are still my fave though.

One last one, I finally found a bike I just loved and I found liners for the basket so I was able to get it planted this weekend. I like how I have it propped up against the tree, unfortunately there's usually vehicles parked there so I don't get a chance of enjoying it as much as my other flowers, I may end up finding a different spot for it. The tires need some tlc too. I can't wait for the surfina petunias to start filling in some more, it'll be gorgeous soon!