I’m sure fellow gardeners will agree, the majority of garden work is at the start and end of garden season. The work during the weeks in between is very light by comparison, just watering, weeding and maybe some deadheading.

I’m happy to say, after a weekend outside, the bulk of my garden work is complete. My gardens are fairly established, so in theory, they should require much more than a soil top up and mulching. This year is the first year I didn’t dig a new garden.. but I did unintentionally add some space with the changing of the garden border. And I rearranged the back patio (required with the addition of the big BBQ this year) .And those small changes added considerably to my workload. But its all worth it when I walk out and see this:

Please excuse the grass that needs to be cut… we’ve had a lot of rain and the day after lawn maintenance was here, it was back to looking like it was never touched.

Now that you’ve seen the big picture, lets get into the details:

Dave generally does not get involved in my gardening… if he had his way, the whole yard would be concrete. I do all the hauling of soil, mulch and plants, all the digging, arranging, everything. Thought I did enlist his help to mount a few hangers for me.

First, that pretty basket used to hang on a shepherd’s hook in between the Little Bee Garden, and the Butterfly Expansion garden. But the birdcage has taken its place, so now it found a home on the new fence over the Big Bee Garden. This year I filled it with a big, beautiful Gerbera, some ivy and Creeping Thyme (leftover from the bird cage). In the centre, that lovely red basket is filled with a HUGE strawberry plant. I still have my pretty little strawberry pot, but as you may recall, I grow the world’s smallest strawberries… I’m hoping this pot will yeild bigger ones. And last… many of my garden plants are purported to attract hummingbirds, and last year, I did actually see one. I’m hoping the addition of a feeder brings around a few more and I can snap a picture or two.

In the backyard pic, you may have noticed a plethora of pots. A lot of my focus went there this year. I have glads and cala lilies. My first attempt at growing herbs was not successful, so I’m trying again – though it will be a failure too if I can’t keep Burton out of the pots.

In addition, there’s a little collection of annuals out front. These were actually meant for a three-tiered upcycled container, but it didn’t work out quite as planned. I’ll try again next year, but all the annuals I bought for it needed a place to go, so they now line the front walk (along with my broken pot faerie garden which has been completely taken over by Wooly Thyme.). Mr. Snail is back outside and has the sweetest purple Petunia with a little blue lobelia. And last… my luck with tomatoes has not been great since I took them out of the garden (in favour of space for flowers) and put them in pots. But I’m trying one last time with a really big pot, and my favorite Sweet 100 cherry tomato.

The Bleeding Hearts are in full bloom

The pink one out back never disappoints. Though it is smaller than previous years, there’s no shortage of flowers. The white one out front is very small, but it’s only its second year and it does not get as much sun.

Both the red and purple Pasque flowers are showing off, as they always do this time of year.

Other than the roses I showed the other day, not a lot new was added. Though I did need to fill in some space on the expanded gardens

I got this cute little Candy Tuft, perfect for borders. The rest I filled with annuals for now – mostly petunias and marigolds, thought I did add these pretty little pink allysum. I’ve never seen it in this shade (just purple and white). Allysum has a tendency to reseed, so I’m hoping it comes back next year too.

The lilac is almost ready to bloom. It’s going to be spectacular this year.

Both my Globe Alium and Chives are about to burst.

And the Leopard’s Bane, Peonies and Lupin won’t be far behind!

I may have been a full weekend of work, but it was well worth… now it’s time for a little rest…