Blooming This Week

Variegated loosestrife (this picture is about a week old - it's not being obscured by the crazy overwintered kale).

Principe Borghese blossoms (I was out there this morning and there are two tiny little tomatoes on this plant!)

Sweet Cherry Peppers

Mexican Midget

The overwintered leeks are going to bloom! I'm excited to see what they look like.

A single Icelandic Poppy blossom

Blooming This Week

Spiderwort: it's going gangbusters this year - I think it's about a foot taller than it's ever been.

The last of the irises.

The first of the many unknown lilies have opened.

The orange poppies finally opened. The thing is loaded with HUGE blossoms. I wish I had about a dozen of them!

I got a few more things in the ground this week, including a "Nelly Moser" clematis. I've got three more clematis to plant, but haven't quite figured out the trellis part yet. I suppose I could just plant them and do the trellis later? That sounds like it would involve some extra work, but that's usually the way my gardening goes, so I don't know why I'm over thinking it. ;)

Holy Peony! (Guest Blogger)

Holy Peony!

On Friday, ictero and I made the trek to Howard Lake to visit Swenson Gardens Peony Farm. It was one of the “to do” items that never got crossed off the list last year and I’m glad we were able to make it happen this year. The peony field had rows and rows of one-, two-, three- and four-year old plants and made a stunning sight in whole.

There was an amazing variety of colors (the standard classifications of pink, red, white, yellow or coral often didn’t seem to be enough), sizes, shapes and smells. Laura Dessert was definitely the sweetest smelling peony in bloom when we visited and there were a number that either had no scent whatsoever or smelled less than desirable (some of the descriptions we had written down included “rotting roses” and “smells like tobacco”). The Swensons grow all of their peonies without any chemical fertilizers or herbicides and even a brief conversation with Mr. Swenson makes it clear that this is truly a labor of love.

Nearly all of the peonies are available for sale on their website, now to find a place in the yard! The visit was definitely worth the drive to Howard Lake. I think we should make this a recurring item on the gardening “to do” list every year.

Veggie Tales

The over-wintered kale has bolted. It's sort of alien looking right now, but I'd like to collect seed, so I've let quite a bit of it go. The yellow flowers are kind of pretty. And if I end up with a whole bed full of  kale next year, I don't think I'll be complaining. ;)

This relatively ugly brown patch is a "three sisters" planting (ignore the rest of the ugliness back here - I've got plans for it, but it's going to take me another year or so before I get things under control). I put the corn in over the weekend and am waiting to see something sprouting. Squash and beans will go on once the corn pops up (hopefully the corn pops up!). I'm sure there are more productive ways to get a crop, but it sounded like an interesting experiment and I had the space for it.

The first buds are just barely visible on the "Principe Borghese" tomato.

So Many Pretty Blooms

Notice the ginormous hollyhock behind the peonies. It's a "nigra" grown from seed last year. When it finally blooms this year, I'm guessing it's going to be over 6 feet tall! 

The white ones are about a week behind these.

I divided, replanted, and gave away these peonies last year, so wasn't sure they would even bloom. I had about 5-6 on each pink peony and one or two buds on the white peonies. I'm hoping for lots more next year!

A soon-to-be-pretty bloom .... I have no idea what color it will be as I dug it out of the ground from a friend of a friend long after it had bloomed last year. I check it every day for tell-tale signs of color.

Bachelor Buttons

I went from not knowing what it was, to being in love! Of course, now that I know what it is, I need to move it and put it in a more appropriate spot. I think I've got 3 other plants in a different area of the garden - they'll probably find a new home in the hell strip.

Excuse the bad cell phone pic, but they were so pretty!