I gave you an update on some of the seediness going on here mid-week, but there’s still more!

The sunflowers I started late have germinated beautifully!

If all of these, and all the ones that re-seeded in the gardens, survive – it’s going to be one sunny garden this summer! Of course, I have learned that the squirrels LOVE sunflower seedlings, so chances are at least half of these will get eaten.

The tray below it is doing just as well. As I mentioned before, it’s a mix of annuals. I may just plant those nasturiums out in the garden this weekend.

Out in the containers… I’ve said before it pays to be patient…

And those tiny bits of green are the proof. You’ll remember that some weeks ago, I planted a pile of foxglove seeds out in one of the raised beds. Then the squirrels came along and dug up all the soil. Foxlglove need light to germinate, so if they get buried, no foxgloves. I figured this lot was lost…. but decided to give it a bit before planting anything else there. And as you can see – that was a good call! It doesn’t look like the Rusty Foxglove, or Chinese Foxglove beside it, made it – but I’m happy the Yellow ones did.

The swiss chard has also taken it’s sweet time.

I planted seeds weeks ago, and I’m just starting to see sprouts.

These chives were started from seed in 2022. It’s so nice to have them come back year after year. (and nice to add the chives to dinner on occasion!). At the townhouse, I learned chives can take over if you let them, so I keep them in a pot now.

My strawberry seeds did not germinate at all… so I picked up three new plants to add to my existing strawberry beds

They are the ones with the dark pink flowers (one in each bed). The strawberries never make it into the house – they are for in-garden snacking!

What’s your favourite garden snack?

No words needed.

Please enjoy.

I’m probably a little biased….

But I do think he is one of the most regal-looking cats in the world!

As mentioned previously, I took Saturday off… but as much as I probably should have, I just couldn’t stay out of the garden for long. So Sunday, I got out there early, because it was hot, hot, HOT!

Gardening without kneeling is difficult, but I managed it. I got a few things planted…

Susannah Swan got planted up with some pretty pink sedums (from baskets I had last year), and a lovely apricot dahlia.

I’ve said before, I’m not a big fan of impatiens, but they are one of the few things that will grow well on the sidewalk garden that gets very little sun.

But these rose-like impatiens…. well I love them! There’s only one garden centre around here that sells them, and they are twice as much as the regular impatiens…but I think they are worth it.

They will fill out the spaces between the Heuchera and add some much needed colour to that area.

My half cask on the step got a begonia and some fuschia. It’s pretty much what I grew there last year and it did so well it was worth a repeat.

Then I moved to under the tree to get a little relief from the heat.

And now my little garden mirror/window has a planter of fuschia and ivy …

this will grow and trail as time goes on.

After that, it was time to give some love to all those seedlings I’d started.

Several things got planted out into the garden – squash & pumpkins, cucamelons, and yellow pear tomatoes.

The Morning Glories and Sweet Peas got planted into large pots with supports they can grow up.

But the rest of the seedlings weren’t quite ready to plant out yet. Instead, they all got planted on into pots…

And they are all sheltering on the porch where they can have a little more time to grow and get stronger before they go out in the big, hard world. In truth, with the exception of the squash, and pumpkins, while I got decent germination on most of the snails, they did end up a little leggy and weak. Not 100% sold that snails will be my go-to for next year.

After all that was done, I took a little break in the A/C for a bit, then came back out after dinner to plant some more seeds. We were past time to get the peas, beans, cucumbers and carrots into the ground.

And for some extra excitment, while I planted one bed up with my regular, reliable Neptune carrots…

I planted up an entire second bed with these colourful beauties!

There was still lots to do… potatoes and zucchini still need to be planted… and then there’s all those dahlias, and pots to be planted up… but that was about all my knee could take (and it was getting dark).

Monday and Tuesday were hotter than Hades (and there was much to be done on the INSIDE of the house), but Wednesday cooled right off. I used it as a sewing day (more on that later) but hopefully today I’ll be back out to finish those tasks. Its a good start to what I hope will be a banner season.

You might be surprised to see an FO post for quilts, as you know I haven’t hit the studio in a few weeks. (Tis the season… garden season!). But when Mom was here, I sent her home with the two tops I had finished so she could quilt them.

First up.. the Blockhead quilt.

Although I did not love making this one, I do like how it turned out. I love the black and white theme with pops of colour. As you can see, we went with a scrappy binding. But it’s the back I really love.

Aren’t these tigers so cute? I got several yards of that fabric on deep clearance probably about 10 years ago. I’m so thrilled to finally have a quilt to use it on! It works so well with the animal theme of the Linework prints.

As you will recall, there was enough fabric leftover to make a baby quilt too.

It got binding that matched the border on the lap quilt. But… it got the same backing.

I really can’t get enough of those grumpy tigers! There’s some left, so expect to see some scraps show up in other quilts!

In the mean time – both of these are in the shop…

Not a lot of stitching got done this weekend.

I only stitched on Saturday night. But that saw me pick out the greens for the leafy parts of her dress. I got a little bit done on the front of the dress – but there still a fair bit more to do there. Then there’s the leaves that run along the bottom of her dress.

Still enjoying every stitch

My vacation did NOT start out as planned. All the weeding I did the other weekend apparently took its toll on my knees. Well…mostly my right knee. Over the course of last week, it got steadily worse, and Friday night I noticed it was swollen.

The internets told me to ice it, elevate it… and stay out of the garden…

So my Saturday looked a lot like this…

With Furby on nursing duties, I figured if I was stuck in my chair, I might as well finish my sock. So I binged The Other Bennet Sister, and got them done.

I’m afraid you get unblocked socks, because the blockers were upstairs and the knee did NOT like going up and down stairs. And yeah… they TOTALLY look like mismatched socks. I’m not thrilled with that but I can live with it. The balls must have been two different dyelots. As long as they keep my feet warm, it doesn’t really matter.

That said, they fit perfect. So it looks like 52 stitches on 2.75 mm needles will be my set combo for Kroy socks. I’ll just be checking dye lots next time.

And… while my knee isn’t 100%, I was able to get in the garden on Sunday. More on that later

Ideally, many of the seeds I started will be going in the garden this week.

The sweetpeas are starting to flop, so I think it’s time to get them outside and on a support. And remember how I said none of my Mini Mike Melons had germinated….

Take a look at the bottom and top pods!

We have sprouts!

On the porch…

It hasn’t been terribly warm, but the sunflowers are sprouting!

The tray of mixed perrenials below is in a similar state.

So far it’s just the Cosmos and Scabiosa, but the Nasturtiums are starting to show signs of life.

Outside…

The lettuces are all looking nice – in a few weeks we could be enjoying some nice salads!

We might even be able to add some radishes to it! I probably should do some thinning in those big clumps though.

The winter sow jugs are still growing along…

Some better than others but they are all growing. These will stay in the jugs for a while longer. I’ve learned not to take them out too soon.

The Cornflowers seem to have survived the squirrels digging. They’ve bounced back quite nicely!

But the big success….

I have Poppies!!! When I was buying poppy seeds, I bought two types… California (Left) and Corn (Right) poppies. As I was weeding I was thrilled to find several seedlings thriving. No idea what colours these will be – I literally took all my poppy seeds, mixed them in a bowl and tossed them throughout the bare patches in the gardens.

With the exception of these poppies.

In my fat bird planter I planted Amazing Grey. It’s a corn poppy and I’ve tried to grow it a couple times with no success. But it looks like this year is going to be the year! My hope is they all grow well enough that they get established, reseed themselves, and also provide me with some seeds to keep back and share.

I know we are really only getting started, but I already feel like this has been a very seedy successful year!

Today is the first day of my week-long vacation. It’s also the start to the Victoria Day long weekend here in Canada. Which is also the official start to the gardening season as it usually means we are past our frost date!

So you know that mean I’m going to spend as much time in the garden as possible. There’s lots to plant, but I will still be takin some time to pause and admire all my hard work.

There’s still a handful of tulips hanging around.

And my pretty Poet’s Daffofil is the last daffy standing.

Coming into replace them we have the alliums

I have several types of Alliums, so they will flower in success until at least July.

The Lupins are almost in full form.

And while the irises aren’t going to be as spectacular as previous years – they still look darn tooting pretty.

I’ve got several Geum just getting started. If I dead head these, I can keep them going for at least a month or so.

And the Lily-of-the-Valley is always a favourite this time of year. I brought a tiny clump from the townhouse, and I’m happy to say it’s thrived. I’ve been able to spread it around all over the Woodland garden. The clump from the townhouse was from a much large clump that grew from a few small plants Mom gave me when we first moved there in 2013, so it’s very special.

I’ve struggled with getting Forget-Me-Nots to establish, so I was thrilled when two patches came up in the catio again this year. And then when I was weeding the fence borders, I found another patch. It’s in a shadier spot, so not many flowers, but the foliage is much more lush than that of the catio patch. Hopefully both patches continue to reseed and spread for years to come.

Out front we have a pink abundance in two separate spots! The first is Armeria (aka Spanish Thrift), and the second is that Creeping Phlox I showed last week. Just amazing.

And not to be outdone, just look at that saxifraga! One of my tasks this week will be getting some impatiens and begonias to fill in around it.

Ok – that was enough of a rest – I better get back to work!

It’s hard to believe, but we are coming up on this guy’s 10th Gotcha Day!

I brought our dear Rupert Von Scrufflebutt home at the end of May 2016. He was (according to the Humane Society) about 10 months old at the time. Hard to believe he’s been with us for 10 years already! We’ve loved every day of having him. He’s such a sassy little weirdo.

Here’s to hopefully at least 10 years more!