Garden – Page 4 – Dust Bunnies and Dog Toys

Vintage Insulator Garden Art

Published on May 20, 2016January 5, 2017 by JennaLeave a comment

While we were in Portland to pick up Brinley we stayed with my mother-in-law and since Mother’s Day was the weekend we were there we decided to create some unique garden art for her gift using some of the vintage glass insulators we got from her sister’s ranch in Colorado. You might remember some of them from our kitchen island pendant lights.

The entire project was super simple. We started with various lengths of 1/2″ copper pipe, which the hubs cut right in the store parking lot so it would fit in the truck. He used this nifty little tool we found in the plumbing section.

Back at the house we added some pipe sealant tape to one end so the insulators would have a bit more grip.

Next I chose where I wanted each pipe to be in the garden and pushed it down into the soil. Then you just put an insulator on the top. Repeat a few more times and you’re done!

While the copper and glass combo is quite interesting, we used varying heights on the poles to create additional interest.

And here’s the finished project! Simple and sentimental, that’s my kind of mother’s day gift! I plan to create a similar display in our garden as well, but have a bit more prep to do before we’re ready for that.

And the project took was so easy I had time left over to appreciate the garden including some amazing iris growing nearby! I was able to bring home a few bulbs from both of these plants so hopefully later this season I’ll have blooms like this in my yard!

Shared on Knick of Time’s Talk of the Town #24.

Two Metal Hearts

Published on May 18, 2016 by JennaLeave a comment

I finally found a spot for the metal hearts I picked up at the Alaska Chick’s Vintage Market a few months back! I toyed with several spots both indoor and outdoor but decided they would work best as a compliment to the flowers in the front beds.

The rusty metal color plays well off our neutral siding. And it only took a couple of nails for each to get them to stay just how I wanted.

Although the flower bed itself is still in progress, the hearts look great above the blooms and since they sit under the eave of the house they should remain fairly protected from weather.

Now anytime someone comes to our front porch they’ll see these rusty hearts. Plus we can enjoy them every time we’re out on the porch to watch the dogs play.

I haven’t decided if I’ll leave them up year round or take them down for winter. We’ll see how they fair over the summer and make a choice when fall arrives. Until then I plan to enjoy them regularly! 🙂

DIY Strawberry Gutter Planters in 4 Easy Steps

Published on May 17, 2016June 18, 2016 by Jenna1 Comment

The hubs and I tackled several projects over the weekend thanks to some glorious weather. I’ll be sharing them all in due time, but here’s one of the ones I’m most excited about – our new Gutter Strawberry Planters!

The install was pretty simple, just 4 easy steps:
1. Install boards across the space to hang the gutters from.

2. Hang the gutters from the boards.

3. Add end caps to each side of the open gutters.

4. Fill with dirt and strawberry plants!

It took longer to find the materials at the home store than it did to install and finish this project! The hubs may drill holes in the bottoms of the gutters to allow for drainage, but we’ll see how it goes for a few days before he finalizes that thought.

I love that they are high enough to be safe from our berry picking dogs and because they are behind the shed they are protected from the moose. Plus this spot gets full sun for a large chunk of the day which is what makes strawberries sweet. Hopefully the plants like their new home and start producing sweet success soon!

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The Garden Plan

Published on April 6, 2016 by JennaLeave a comment

Just as I was about to start a photography session the other day I spotted these pretty little flowers next to a building and immediately the gardening bug took hold. I’ve been day dreaming about what I’ll do in the yard this season for weeks as the temps have started to warm early for Alaska standards, but now that I’ve seen sprouts in person I’m narrowing down the plan so I’m ready to get going May 1 as soon as No Spend April is over. While that might seem a long time to wait in most parts of the country, it’s pretty typical for our zone and the local nurseries won’t have many items available until around that time anyway. I spent a chunk of the weekend cleaning out the remnants of last year’s annuals from the pots around the yard and spreading marigold seeds from the deadheads I’d pinched and dropped at the roots all last season. Since the deadheads had enough seeds to cover all of the whiskey barrel planters, I’m hopeful they will produce at least enough to fill those so I can spend a few more dollars on other items when I do head to the nursery.

First up on the plan is the garden box we installed just off the deck last season. I’m planning on having lettuce, cherry tomatoes, peppers and onions (which I’ve got in water growing roots after one sprouted in the pantry!) in this space. I may put the tomatoes in a separate container – like a cool old wash tub or burlap covered bucket – on the far side of the box so they don’t block the view of the yard from inside but we’ll see how it works out once I have everything ready to be planted. The box itself will need a little tune up after the beating it took all winter. When we placed it here I thought the water coming off the roof would be helpful, but too much of it created serious problems including flooding in the box bins which then turned to blocks of ice with winter’s early arrival last year. Although we didn’t get a lot of snow last season, what we did get came off the roof in batches and formed a small mountain range of snow across the top of the tubs which added to the weight of frozen water inside. To solve those issues this year we’ll be installing a gutter across the back of the house which will empty into the rain barrels relocated from the front flower beds at either end. That will make it easier to water the gifted garden on one side and should provide a constant water supply for the chickens during the summer on the other!

The big metal wheel the hubs brought home for me is still against the fence in the low spot across from the corner of the deck where I put it at the beginning of last season. I’ve decided to add a small retaining wall in a semi-circle around it and plant cucumbers there so I can train them to use the wheel as a trellis.

Of course I’ll have strawberries again this year, but I’m going to try the hanging gutter system I’ve seen all over Pinterest. There is a good spot between the fence posts behind the shed, where I think the moose wouldn’t be able to reach them easily and if they did the dogs would soon chase them off. I signed up for a “Do It Herself” (DIH) workshop at Home Depot later this month where I’ll make the gutter planters with the assistance of an instructor, so that should be ready in advance of my nursery shopping trip. I may also do potatoes in a pallet planter below them, if I have enough budget left.

The herbs will go in a bucket tower like I’ve done for strawberries in the past. I’ll put that right next to the Big Green Egg table so the hubs can snip things he wants to use while cooking quickly and easily. I plan to have oregano, basil, parsley, cilantro, garlic and possibly dill depending on space and budget.

One of the bushes I planted on the side of the deck *mysteriously* came unrooted back in the fall, which I’m sure the dogs had a paw in. Ultimately that works out because the rain barrel will need to sit right on the corner of the house and would have crowded the bush anyway. The remaining bush took the brunt of the snow shoveled off the deck during the winter so I’m not sure how well it will bounce back, but I’m hopeful it will at least add some greenery if not bloom. I have two more spirea bushes I picked up at the end of the season and never planted that have been sheltered next to the house, so I’ll plant those along the deck as well if they show signs of growth. I also have a large purple ceramic pot that will become a recycling fountain and will find a spot in this bed. I originally planned to have it out front but we don’t spend as much time on the front porch as we do on the deck so I think it will be enjoyed more here, plus it will help fill in some space since this is a large area to cover. The pretty blue planter that was on the deck last year will also move down into the bed around the deck, to create a bit of height and plant variety with an annual or two.

I’m considering adding a rose bush next to the house in the area that will become the expanded chicken run once we get that done. I did a bit of research on what plants can survive a chicken flock and roses seem to be the top choice – likely because of their built in defense system of thorns. Although I love their fragrance, I usually find them too fancy for my style, so this is a good opportunity to give them a try, where my usual choices would be torn to shreds. And it might just provide cuttings that can be added to summer bouquets. 🙂

I’ll be moving things around in the flower beds a bit too. The lilies out front will be moved to the gifted garden to fill in some holes there and make room for several new plants including salvia, lavender, delphiniums and daisies to fill in around the iris and hostas that are already in the front beds. My plan is to fill the entire space with perennials that come back each year bigger and bigger so it creates something like my co-worker’s bed which provided the beginnings of my gifted garden.

Although I planted the freebie lilacs in the rain garden when we first set it up, I knew they would eventually be moved elsewhere. That was just a convenient spot for me because I could tend and water them as part of the rain garden. They struggled a bit last year, and rather than wait for them to develop and shock them again with a move I’m going to go ahead and relocate them now. I figure if they don’t survive this move it’s not a huge loss since they were freebies anyway and haven’t shown much in potential yet. They will be moved to the hillside next to the garden where hopefully they will take root and establish themselves with plenty of room to grow and spread. Their departure will make room for a third clematis along the tire wall in the rain garden. That will put it in the center of the curve along the back portion, so when it grows in it should help fill the space between the two existing clematis on either end of the tire wall.

Finally, the hubs plans to install a gutter on the side of the shed which will feed the freebie water tank we picked up last year. That will be the water supply for the raspberry patch near the shed and the rain garden if needed.

Apparently no spending equals lots of planning! It seems pretty intense when it’s all written out, but I think I’ve got my list ready so I’ll have a plan when I go plant shopping which should keep the budget in check and fill the yard with plenty of pretty!

DIY Bird Feeders

Published on December 30, 2015 by JennaLeave a comment

While I had a few days off around Christmas I finally tackled a little project I’d been wanting to do for a while, creating a few more bird feeders for the yard. I had seen spiral copper feeders online and loved the simple design, so I did a quick search on Pinterest to find a tutorial and gave it a try. I used small copper tubing, which is typically used for the water line on newer refrigerators. It’s a soft metal so it bends very easily. The tutorials I found suggested using a rolling pin to get the circular shape, but we don’t have one so I used a soda can instead.

I wasn’t able to get pictures during the process due to needing both hands and the hubs being busy with another project, but it’s really as simple as placing the beginning of the tubing against the can and pressing gently as you turn the can toward the tubing. Once I had a spiral tall enough I snipped the tubing with wire cutters to make a clean end and wrapped that around the can as well to complete the final loop. After I removed the can from the spiral I pulled the top loop up so it was perpendicular to the rest of the spirals so I’d have somewhere to hang the feeder from. I stretched the spiral out a bit to make spaces between the loops and once I was happy with how that was looking, I curled the bottom loop a bit tighter so it could act as a stopper at the end. I had enough tubing left over to make a second as well. Here’s they arebefore I filled them.

I filled them with apples and hung them outside on the hooks where my hanging baskets go during the summer. I haven’t seen any of the wildlife visit them yet, but it might take them a while to investigate and learn this new food source. I’m considering making more of these for my Etsy shop, but am not sure if they would be big sellers or I they would ship well so I might post them on a few of the local buy/sell pages and see if they get any traction there first.

I continued my DIY feeder making roll with this simple S hook orange feeder. The hubs drilled a hole in a piece of drift wood from my stash and I positioned it where I thought it would work best as a perch then added a bit of hot glue to keep it in place. We could have just made the hole smaller to begin with so the perch would fit snuggly but I didn’t want to risk breaking it when maneuvering it on the hook. I cut an orange in half and just stabbed it onto the end of the hook. The hubs enjoyed cleaning up the other half of the orange so it didn’t go to waste.

This one hasn’t had any visitors either from what I’ve seen, but I’ll leave it up for a while to see if the birds and squirrels find it just like it did for the peanut ring feeder which I filled while I was at it. This continues to be a huge draw for both squirrels and birds so I might just let it run empty to encourage them to explore the other new feeders. If I still don’t see any traffic at them in a few weeks I might switch to using homemade suet balls or blocks instead of fruit and see if that’s more appealing to our neighborhood’s critters.

I picked up this store bought feeder several weeks ago and placed it farther down the fence from the peanut feeder so the smaller birds would have somewhere to eat when the squirrel is devouring the peanuts. The perch is on a spring that can be adjusted to different tensions for different sized birds and pulls down over the openings if there is too much weight, such as a squirrel, which was the main selling point for me. Plus I like the bright red, barn style too! I’m still playing with the different spring settings to see which works best for our area’s flock since it didn’t come with instructions or info other than the price tag, but I have seen groups of chickadees sitting on the ledge and pecking at seeds so it must be appropriately set for them. And because it has such a large reservoir, it hasn’t needed filling since I put it up so it’s perfect for the far area of the yard where we don’t often go.

Hopefully all of these options will make the birds stick around come spring, so they can keep the mosquito population in check allowing us to enjoy the deck more. If you have any tips on how to attract birds to new feeders or suggestions for feeder styles that work best I’d love to hear them!

A Weed by Any Other Name

Published on September 16, 2015 by Jenna2 Comments

Although weeds are usually something you don’t want in your garden, sometimes waiting to see how they turn out is worth the risk. Case in point is this lovely Jewel Weed (aka Touch Me Not) I found blooming in my gifted garden. I’m not sure where it came from, but I love the delicate yellow flowers that bloomed late this summer. After a bit of online research, I’ve learned that it’s actually a very useful plant, being both edible and a natural remedy for skin irritations because it contains both an anti-inflammatory and fungicide.

I’ve decided to leave it alone and see what it does next year, which I hope is return bigger and fuller. I’m certainly game for a 0 maintenance plant that not only fills my garden with lovely flowers but has a host of beneficial uses!

The other ‘weed’ in my garden this season were some pretty German Impatiens our neighbor gave us. I didn’t know anything about them other than her instruction that they needed to be planted very soon. I had some empty holes in my front flowerbed at the time so that’s where I put them.

They started out as 4″ tall sprouts, but within a few weeks they were chest high without an ounce of effort on my part! Once again I turned to the internet for information, where I learned they can be invasive – not surprising given their super-fast growth rate. They are also another variety of Jewelweed (Himalayan Balsam) so they have similar skin irritant remedy properties and are edible.

I knew they wouldn’t work in the space where I had planted them, so I moved them to the hillside near the rain garden where they have plenty of unused space they can fill. Now that we have these helpful plants I’m thinking there’s a good possibility that raspberry sangria, with basalm and fireweed garnish will be the signature drink on our deck next summer! Do you have common weeds in your garden that you love? Tell me about them with a comment below!

A Sweet Harvest

Published on September 9, 2015September 9, 2015 by JennaLeave a comment

Although they haven’t been around long, the freebie raspberry plants we added to the yard earlier this summer have been cranking out a pretty bountiful and sweet harvest recently! We noticed a large batch of berries form on several of the plants about a month ago and patiently waited for them to fully ripen.

The first harvest (seen below) was fairly small, but within a few days another batch was ready (seen above). While a few were still a little tart, the majority were sweet and juicy – perfect for a yummy, easy to eat breakfast during my morning commute the next day.

During the holiday weekend I picked a third batch that was twice the size of the first two! Those were also promptly eaten for breakfast on my morning drive to work yesterday. And there’s still more berries waiting to ripen on the bushes. Hopefully the cold weather stays away long enough for them all to come in fully so we can enjoy a 4th or maybe even 5th harvest.

What’s even more impressive is that all of these came from just a handful of bushes. Most of the bushes are still establishing themselves and focusing on lush leaf growth rather than berry production, so next year we should have a plethora of berries when those start adding to the harvest. Guess I better start saving raspberry everything recipes now!

Junkin’ Up the Yard!

Published on August 6, 2015September 9, 2015 by JennaLeave a comment

Welcome back for part two of how we’re using the cool ‘junk’ we picked up on our recent vacation. Here’s where things ended up outside along with a little garden update while we’re at it.

The big rusty metal star the hubs picked out at the junk show for $18 had to be hand carried on the plane. We were sure it would be considered a weapon thanks to the top point sticking out of the only bag we could find that kind of fit it, but TSA said as long as it went through the scanner it was ok. I’m very glad it made it through because it looks fantastic on the front porch!

Nearby, the cool metal excavator I found for $20 found a home in the front flower bed where it appears to be digging up spots for more plants. It’s definitely something you won’t see in everyone’s garden and that’s just what I like about it!

Several items ended up in the gifted garden including the cool trellis the hubs surprised me with. It works perfectly for the troilus that started blooming soon after we got home. I still can’t believe this piece was only $23!

The trio of rusty pulleys we got for $10, $20 and $30 are the perfect “dog proof” garden art. They have since been knocked over by those energetic fur balls, but ‘eh – it makes it look more authentic so oh well.

Pulleys2

We also picked up this massive pulley at an estate sale last weekend for just $25. I love the little number tag on the side! It’s found a home down in the rain garden.

Back in the gifted garden, I adore how these metal quail figures we found at the junk show look in the garden too. I’ve wanted some ever since I saw some just like them in a family friend’s amazing garden so I made sure to snag a few when I spotted them at the show. They remind me of living in the desert and watching the little quail families dart between the tumbleweeds. 🙂

My last find of the day at the junk show, a cast iron campfire cook pot now holds Johnny Jump Ups the neighbor brought over. I admit this picture is a week or two old because those plants behind the pot are now massive! They were also gifted to us by the neighbor but I have no idea what they are. They sure seem to like this spot though, because they are 5 times this size now!

This little stained glass lady bug – an appropriation from my sister’s garden – now adorns my marigolds in the front yard. He’s so cute I might have to make a few more, and possibly do some dragon flies and butter flies while I’m at it!

Beyond the junk things are still blooming. We got home just in time to see the iris, which I was so happy about. I have a few varieties including water iris, wild iris and arctic iris. They each have slightly different colors and leaves but they’re all beautiful to me.

We also have a few poppies blooming. These were another gift from the neighbor – have I mentioned how much I love having a gardening neighbor?! 🙂 The fact that I’ve done nothing to them and yet they seem to be doing quite well makes me even happier.

The hydrangea I planted this season is also blooming! I’m so excited to have this one establish itself and grow bigger and bigger each year. The blooms started out pretty small but now they are almost full. I’m torn between cutting some to bring inside and letting them continue to grow. Thus far I’ve just let them grow, but as the season wraps up I might go ahead and snip a few.

Hydrengea

I do need to add a little support for it though since the back side seems a bit heavy for the thin stalks. I’m thinking one of those large rings might work well since it’s not very tall yet.

My lilies are also making an appearance after teasing with tightly sealed buds for weeks. I have several varieties of these as well including pink, orange and yellow. I made sure to get a few shots of them to enjoy right away since I know they won’t last long.

I love how the orange lily compliments the little excavator in the background. 🙂

The lambs ear I brought back from my mother-in-law’s yard is doing well in the rain garden. It’s certainly not going gang-busters, but it’s green and healthy after an overnight trip in a ziplock baggie on a plane, so I’m not going to be too critical.

I added some bushes I got for $20 on the buy/sell page to the side of the deck to get that landscape started. I don’t remember the names of these right now so I’ll have to dig the tags out of the gardening cabinet, but I believe they are both varieties of spirea. The one on the left gets pretty purple flowers and the one on the right has small white flowers.

My Columbines are doing well, both in the rain garden and the gifted garden.

And after some pretty lush leaf growth all season the campanula is finally blooming.

My freebie raspberries are slowly getting established, so I’m just letting them be for now.

But there is a potential harvest this year if these little guys come in a bit more and ripen!

That is of course if I can keep this big boy out of them! He stopped by the other night during a huge downpour and thankfully seemed more interested in the weed patch just in front of the raspberries. Good thing I haven’t been able to keep a super tidy landscape yet! Luckily, the raspberries are close enough to the back yard fence that the dogs typically keep the moose at bay.

So that’s how we junked up the yard. Do you have ‘junk’ in your gardens? I’d love to see it, so share a photo or a link below!

A Little Update Out Front

Published on June 24, 2015 by Jenna2 Comments

Now that summer is here it was time to get the front porch and flower beds in order. I started with the porch, which just needed a little cleanup and a few accessories. A citronella candle and a cute little cast iron frog I’ve had for years were a great fit for the milkcan table by the rocker.

As one of very few shady spots in the yard, the porch was the perfect place for some inpatients. I used an old ceramic crock that fit in the small spot next to the front door.

Since the crock didn’t have any drainage I placed a small disposable pot inside before adding soil.

I did something similar in the large whiskey barrel planters just off the porch. The hubs drilled a couple drainage holes in both, but I wanted to reduce how much soil it would take to to fill them so I filled the bottoms with plastic containers from our recycle bin.

You’d never know all of that is in there looking at them all planted.

And they do a great job of attracting butterflies!

I filled two metal buckets on the steps with dusty miller and lobelia for a little contrast.

I did the same combination for planters in front of the garage, which were used on the porch last season.

I searched for several weeks to find a third green planter to match the ones we already had but could only find a larger version which I placed between the two garage doors.

Since it was so large I placed an empty bucket in the bottom to conserve soil once again.

I also added some pieces of sponge in the top layer of soil to help the plants retain moisture between waterings.

I just tucked them down in the soil as I planted.

The perennials in the front beds were the slowest to return this year and I’m convinced that the landscape fabric we used was the reason, so I tore it all out. While doing so, I found a couple of plants that did get trapped under the fabric as they started to grow so hopefully now that they’ve been freed they will come in properly.

And to finish it all off I added a few patriotic pieces like this garden flag and fun door hanging.

There’s still a bit I’d like to do out here, but for now it’s ready for summer!

A Garden Update

Published on June 10, 2015 by JennaLeave a comment

I’ve been planning to share a little update on my Gifted Garden and Rain Garden for a week or so now, but by the time I edited the photos I took to share things had changed some more. So before that can happen again, let’s get to it. First up is the Rain Garden, which looked pretty dismal for weeks even when the warmer temps arrived. Then one day I was driving up the driveway and noticed a good amount of green had suddenly appeared. Upon closer inspection I saw that 90% of what I’d planted last season is coming back in, which makes me pretty darn happy. And now that the cat mint has returned Luna is quite happy as well!

I mean like seriously happy. As in she won’t leave the poor plant alone! She’s in love with the darn thing!

Even a robin on the branch above the garden can’t tear her attention away for more than a glance through the leaves!

But I digress…. Elsewhere in the garden, the iris that I rid my friend’s lawn of are growing tall and strong. I haven’t seen any buds yet, but they didn’t have any last year either since they spent most of the season sitting in clumps in a pot waiting for a permanent home. I’m excited to find out what color they will be. I’m betting it’s purple like the wild iris around Alaska, but I’d be happy with any color if they just bloom.

Three of the freebie Craigslist lilacs are showing small signs of life with some new leaves, although two are still just bare twigs. I’ll let them be until the end of the summer before I give up on them. They have a mystery neighbor that popped up. I’m thinking it’s yellow yarrow, since the leaves look very similar to the other yellow yarrow I have a few feet away, but we’ll see what it grows up to be when the small yellow bud at it’s top develops.

Another mystery arrival is this grouping of spouts. It’s in the area where I had mint last year and the leaves look about right for that, so I’m guessing that’s what it is. For now I’m going to leave it alone and see what we get.

The clematis on either side of the garden are showing momentum after looking dead for months and are even touting a few blooms. One is certainly bigger than the other, but hopefully they will both take over the tires and provide a lovely natural background for the garden over the next few years.

One of the vincas from the box store came back and is even flowering already. The other didn’t fair so well. At first I thought the green was new growth, but it’s been the same for a while now so I’m classifying it as a gonner. I haven’t decided what to replace it with yet, so for now it can hold the space.

The water iris are slower growing than the other iris, but hopefully they’ll provide some pretty yellow blooms this season.

The speedwell in the back of the garden has some dense growth, so I’m thinking it won’t spread much this season. The Aluetian speedwell I put around the front of the garden has some pretty delicate purple flowers, but is a slow grower. I planned for it to be a ground cover on the hillside leading to the garden but if it doesn’t pick up the pace by mid season I’ll be looking for something else for next season.

The ornamental onion, yellow lily and campanula are all showing good starts. I’m thinking they will hit their stride when the warm weather returns next week and start to really fill out.

The columbine has a good amount of growth but no signs of flowers yet. I don’t remember if this one is yellow or purple, but either would be nice.

In front of the columbine is a forget-me-knot, that I ironically forgot about. I think this one came from some seeds I got at one of the holiday weekend giveaways at the box store and let sprout in the little cup they came home in before planting just to give it a shot. Maybe it will continue to surprise me and spread a bit to come back next season even more.

The thing I’m most excited about in this garden is the lady slipper orchid that I acquired on our trip up the Alcan last year. It seemed to go dormant soon after I got it home, although it had been on the road for several days at that point so I thought it wouldn’t come back. I’m so glad it proved me wrong and surprised me!

I remember planting things on the hillside above the rain garden, but for the life of me can’t remember what they were. Some were bought and others were freebies, but I wrote them all off when the builder’s contractor came to do our final grade and bulldozed them even AFTER we’d told him not to go in this area… sigh. But they’ve poked back up without any water or feed from me so I’m thinking they are my kind of plant. Feel free to leave ideas in the comments below if you think you know what they are! 🙂

Ok Luna, are you ready to leave your cat mint and head over to the other garden? I’ll take that as a no. Well, you know where to find me….

Over in the gifted garden there are small signs of life. In the corner near the back door I replaced something that didn’t come back with a hydrangea and finished off the far corner that never got any plants last year with a lilac. Both are from local nurseries so I’m pretty confident that they will establish and come back year after year. This is the first hydrangea I’ve ever had so I’m excited to watch it grow, especially after seeing 5 buds on it the other day! The lilac had a bud on it when I bought it – hence the reason I picked this one over the others – so we should get some color out of it this year.

When I went to plant the lilac I found something strange just under the surface.

You guessed it. That’s one of the dogs’ balls! Apparently someone decided to bury it here for safekeeping at some point! Kids….jeesh!

Although some of what I was gifted didn’t return, what has is showing good signs that it will stick around for the long haul.

The wild geranium is doing the best out of all the returning gifted plants, and is covered in tiny buds! Although it’s native cousins in the surrounding woods already have sporadic blooms, it looks like the special attention this one gets will result in multiple blooms!

Now if I can just keep the momma moose and her yearling calf who have been frequenting the easement near the back yard away from my unfenced sprouts I stand a chance of having a pretty yard this summer! For something so big they sure do blend in well! Luckily, the dogs tend to keep them at a distance, but that’s only so efficient for things outside the fence. Wish me luck!