I hope you’re not sick of the gardens…. because that’s all I have to show you!

The weather has been warm – but other than a few days at the start of the month, we haven’t had the gross, soul-sucking heat and humidity we usually have this time of year. It’s not going to last, so I’ve been spending every moment I can outside.

Because it’s not like there’s not work to do in the garden. In addition to staying on top of the weeds, I had all those seedlings to finally plant out. I won’t bore you with pictures…. I’ll wait until the get big and flower. But among the seedlings planted were cosmos, zinnias, marigolds, foxgloves, daucus, scabiosa and nasturium. And sunflowers…. lots and lots of sunflowers.

I posted this pic on facebook/instagram the other day…

And a friend asked how I keep them from digging in my garden and eating my plants. And I laughed and laughed! Because I don’t. As you know, they plant peanuts all through my gardens. And the digging was so bad this spring I had to cut off service at Squirrelington’s for a few weeks to give the small seeds a chance to sprout undisturbed.

And as for eating the plants… I find the squirrels really only eat one plant. And that’s sunflowers. They seem to LOVE sunflower seedlings. Once they get to a certain size, the squirrels leave them alone – but there’s a few weeks where the appear to be a tender delicacy for our little furry friends. My antidote to this is just to plant LOTS of sunflowers. They will probably eat 80%… but if I plant 100, that still leaves me 20. In truth, I didn’t plant 100…. I think I planted about 36. And there’s a pile scattered about the gardens from ones that re-seeded from last year. The ones that re-seeded are already pretty far along, so even if the squirrels eat all my seedlings (unlikely) we should still get a good show.

In addition to planting my seedlings, I also put down some more carrot seed. I got some more rainbow mix, as well as Imperator, which is the very first carrot I ever grew. And… I decided to give something else a try….

Carrot starters. I’ve never actually seen these before… probably because it’s not generally recommended to start carrots this way. They always say the best way is to direct sow. However, my favourite nursery had some, so I thought… what do I have to lose? I bought three little containers and they had enough carrots to fill 1/3 of one of the beds.

While there, I also got some pickling onions (to make some pickled onions for Dad), a jack-o-lantern pumpkin, some birdhouse gourds, a cantelope, and a honeydew melon. They were all $1 each, so why not?

And another cool find there…

A Ginkgo tree! And I got it for just $7. I’m keeping it in a pot, as we don’t plant to stay in this house forever (hoping to sell after renos are done in a few years). They are such pretty trees, and turn a lovely shade of yellow in the fall. I may have to up-size the pot every other year, but it should do fairly well that way for several years.

After all that work in the garden, it was time to make dinner. I had pork roast on, made some mashed potatoes and…

I sauteed up the last of the garden spinach with a little butter and garlic. We can’t eat every meal straight from the garden, but it’s nice to have a little something to add here and there!

… well not all of it.

The hotter weather has made the spinach bolt. So I picked the lot. It can still be used for cooking. So I gave a big try to a friend. I have a large bag in the fridge for Dave and I. And we all know, once cooked down, that large bag is probably just enough for the two of us for one meal.

Even the stems and flowers didn’t go to waste – a neighbour raises guinea pigs, so the went home with her as a treat for the piggies.

The pulled spinach also gives way for more light to get to my cucumber sprouts

They should really start taking off now.

And while the spinach bolted, the lettuce is still growing strong

I finally cracked the code on growing lettuce I think! I’m going to have to start giving some of this away too!

Sadly, my radishes have started to bolt as well

So they will get pulled. I don’t think the piggies will want them though.

Still, I’m not sad – they were just something to grow in that space until it was time for the zuchini

Which has sprouted nicely and is quickly putting on leaves!

Over in the carrot beds, things are not looking quite as good.

Both beds have very sparse germination. I got some more seeds to plant. I NEED carrots!!!!

We are more than half-way through June, and (most) of the garden is absolutely thriving.

More roses are blooming

Clockwise from top left: Bolero, Mellow Yellow, White Lightnin’, Koko Loko, Navy Lady, Good as Gold.

And Lily season is starting

Both the true lilies and the day lilies. So far just yellow ones, but all the lilies are looking great this year. And of course, I added several new ones!

Yellow is a popular colour in this garden…. especially among the Tickseed (Coreopsis)

I have some red and pink ones, but the yellow ones are definitely the most robust

And can we talk about my poppies? I think we can definitely call my experiment of sowing them in February was a definite success!

So far, the California ones are coming up in just two colours – pale yellow and bright yellow.

The Corn Poppies have a little more range

They are also bigger. I will definitely be collecting seeds to spread in the winter again!

From corn to cone… flowers!

You all know I have many, many types of coneflowers. They bloom right to the frost so they are a great garden stable.

In the garden I have two types of primrose

The pink is an evening primrose, and until it bloomed this year, I’d completely forgottten I had it (I bought it on clearance last year), and sundrops, which are a day blooming primrose. The Sundrops are a much more robust flower, but I hope the pink primrose is able to get established and spread around a little more – it’s very pretty. (Plus primroses are great for moths who mostly fly at night when most flowers are closed up)

And last… can you believe the pansies in my front porch boxes??

I really only stuck them in there to bridge the cooler days of spring – but they’ve absolutely thrived! I thought they’d get cooked as soon as we got hot sticky weather, but so far… they are handling it just fine. If they are like this for the rest of the summer, pansies may be my go to from now on!

What’s thriving in your garden

Dave was over at the neighbour’s the other day, helping out with a broken lawn tractor, and he came home with some presents for me.

In addition to this group, there was this larger totem style cat..

A friend of the neighbor’s passed away a little while ago. These cats were in their garden, and the neighbour hoped they could find a new home in mine.

They all need new paint jobs if they are going to weather the outdoors. Dave has already given them a good sanding and filled some crack. Now it’s up to me to paint them.

I think this one needs to be painted like Rupert…

…don’t you?

I was hoping to have at least one finished sock to show you, but I haven’t knit a stitch this week. In fact, it’s not much farther along than when you saw it last week.

So instead, you get to see what little bit I managed to accomplish in the garden over the weekend. Saturday morning, Dave and I were up early to drop off some waste oil at a Hazardous Waste Drop in Sarnia. When we got home, it was just starting to get hot, so before it did, I wanted to re-mulch the pathways around the veg beds. Mulch breaks down over time, and the paths were in a sorry state

While I would love to do them over in stone like the catio paths. That’s not in the budget right now (nor do I want to sling rocks again any time soon) as the paths are about double the square footage of the catio. So mulch it is, for now.

15 bags were spread out, nice and thick (and inspected by Furby afterward). I need a few more bags for the back in Willow Grove, and on the side where I have all the pots.

I have landscape fabric underneath all the paths, but it’s not strong enough to stop the Milkweed from popping up through it.

Naturally I mulched around them, because I love how they bring the monarch to the yard. There are several others coming up behind the peas.

By the time I finished, the sun was high and the temps were hot. I went inside, washed up, and laid down for a “short” nap. And… I woke up at dinner time. My day gone! Dave and I went out to grab dinner and run a few errands.

Sunday, they were calling for rain, but when I woke up it hadn’t moved in yet. So I decided to get out into the garden right away and get as much done as I could before the weather hit. The front yard was in desperate need of weeding, so that’s where I started. I got about half of it done before the skies opened up. I also gave ‘Cousin It’ a hair cut

It’s a weeping pussywillow, and those branches will grow right across the pathways if I let them. Cousin It will probably need another haircut before summer is out.

Next on the to-do list is weeding the Catio.

Lemmy is ready to assist!

By mid-spring, it seemed like we were finally starting to make some progress between Furby and the rest of the boys. There were still scuffles… but they were much fewer, and shorter for the most part.

He was content to come in around 10 or 11 each night, and stay in until morning.

But then the weather warmed up.

Now he’ll come in a night… but he doesn’t want to stay in. He howls, he cries, and he starts fights with the boys. So… I’ve had to give in and let him stay out all night. I’ve checked the cameras in the morning, and he mostly does circles around the house all night. Patrolling his territory, I suppose.

And, unless it’s raining, he really only comes in to eat or occasionally check on us and get some attention.

He’s just determined to be an outside cat.

Even when it’s sweltering hot…

I’m pretty sure the neighbours are going to think I’m neglecting him.

He’s just happiest outside. But he loves it when we are outside too.

If I’m in the garden, he’s never far away.

Indoor cat he’ll never be, but I do love having him as a friend in the yard!

Stitching did happen this weekend – though not a lot. I ripped back the light purple I wasn’t happy with and did it in a slightly darker shade. I was much happier with it, so I continued on and did as much of the ribbon as I could without moving the hoop.

I’ve got some work to do at the front of her dress and then the hoop will be moved. Maybe after this weekend.

This weekend flew by – and none of it was spent in the studio, as I’d hoped. But… the weekend before last, while I put together the dino quilt top… I also finished up something else…

All of my postage stamps were finally sewn into 16 patches! It was time to lay them all out and see just how many I had.

Much to my surprise, I had enough to cover the entire top of my Queen-sized bed. Of course, once you sew them all together, you lose much of that size to seams. And since this one is for me (and will ideally be going on a guest bed one day) I want it at least as big as my Jubilee quilt (which it’s sitting on top of)

So… I did a little counting, and I did a little math (which I’ve now realized was wrong)

I currently have 119 16-patches. To make the quilt 91″ square, I need 225. That’s 106 more 16-patches. Of course, I don’t have to make it quite that big, and 85″ square would be acceptable too. That would requite only 77 more 16-patches. Either way, it’s a good thing Mom brought me more 2″ scraps. This Leader/Ender project has been going for two years now… and I can easily see it going another full year!

I’m retiring Seedy Sunday for the year…. because most of the seedlings are now full on plants and thriving! So let’s check in on the wonderful edibles in the garden.

Here’s another look at my Laundry Basket Potato tower. Potato sprouts busting out all over the place!

And I showed you the potato comin up in the garlic onion bed…

Well – I also have this one which popped up in the middle of a pot of Sweet Peas. But… I unlike the onion bed – I never had potatoes in this one. My only theory is that an industrious squirrel dug up a missed potato and replanted it here at some point. But… you can never have too many potatoes so….we’ll let it grow!

My purple cabbages are starting to look more cabbage like.

I tossed some dill seed around them and they are starting to sprout. The dill should attract parasitic wasps which should help keep Cabbage worms in check. That’s theory anyway.

I planted two beds of snap peas this year, because I love them so much… and they are looking great.

I sent a friend home with a couple tray of lettuce, spinach and radishes on Thursday. And I still barely put dent in any of the beds. Dave is going to get sick of salad and cooked spinach very soon…. but I’m loving it! That said – any of these crops could start bolting any at any time – it’s been hotter than hades this week!

That heat is good news for the melons though! My Mini Mike (left are looking great) and my neighbour gave me a couple of his melon seedlings. I can’t remember the name, but apparently they are a mini yellow-fleshed version.

And it looks like it will be a banner year for blackberries…. maybe even enough for jam if I can get them before the birds do!

What’s delicious in your garden?

The roses have started blooming!!!!!!

I’m not entirely sure which one bloomed first this year, as I wasn’t able to get out an poke around for a couple of days.

I’m pretty sure it was Prairie Princess. She’s usually the first to bloom and she’s extra spectacular this year. She spent most of winter under a thick blanket of snow and it’s resulted in a beautiful, bushy plant full of blooms – as you can see.

Reflecting Glory was probably the second to bloom. I bought this one on clearance last year. I love the soft apricot blooms! It has a lovely, mild scent too.

Other blooms (Clockwise from Top) Koko Loko, Quicksilver, At Last and Chrysler Imperial.

Still to come – Bolero, Eden, Miss All American Beauty, Mellow Yellow, White Lighnin’, New Dawn, Good as Gold and Chicago Peace.

The Oriental Poppies out back are done, but this one – called Central Park – is out front. As you can see, the blooms are varying shades. I get anything from deep magenta to a dusty burgundy.

And I finally have success growing California poppies from seed! The blooms don’t last long (just about a day each) and the plants are much smaller than expected, but still… I’m thrilled! I’ve struggled to grow these for so long. The corn poppies are bigger, and will be blooming any day now too!

And my other June favourite.

Foxgloves! These are all ones that came from a few plants I started the second year we were here. Foxgloves don’t come true from seed most times so I get a mix from pure white to bold pink and every shade in between. And I never know where they are going to pop up! Sadly, none of the foxgloves I started from purchased seed this year have taken (though I’m still holding out hope for the Cafe du Cream and Yellow Foxgloves still as I have some very small seedlings).

But I can’t complain much… there’s so many beautiful plants just bursting out everwhere!