Yes, I'm still here. Happy Father's Day to all the great dads out there. We celebrated last weekend because that was when both "kids" were available.
We have been ridiculously busy. Daughter is getting married in the summer of 2026. She had chosen a venue, a very nice winery where events can be held, but they dragged their heels and didn't get back to her in a timely fashion, so the question was asked if the wedding could be held here on our property instead. Well sure! Yikes!!
Nothing like a wedding at your place to motivate you to do things that you meant to do for years.
As well, I have been working as much as possible before the end of the school year (we go to the end of June here).
I will take you for a walk to see what is in bloom right now. There is nothing so wonderful as a June garden(s). You will also see what has been happening and is in the process of happening.
The Siberian irises are lovely at the moment. Short lived individually, but thankfully there are blooms still to come.
I think weigela is one of my favourite shrubs. I'm not totally sure which this one is. Red Prince??
I transplanted this cranesbill recently. It has decided to bloom a little bit. (I am completely digging out and overhauling an overgrown bed this summer). This is Johnson's Blue cranesbill (perennial geranium). I would really like it to flourish because it is a beautiful colour.
Here it is between two giant hostas . As you can see, it isn't very large. It doesn't spread the way my other cranesbill do. The hosta is Barbara Ann.
This is the shorter of the two cranesbill that are mainstays on the property. I have no idea what it is called. The honey bees love it.
This grows all over the place. Is it salvia?
We had an excessively cold spring this year and the peonies are only just starting to bloom now. These white ones (they start out very pale pink) are always the first ones. I sink my face in them and breath deeply several times a day.
This is one project that husband has already finished. We have rail fences on our property. He made this "solid" rail fence to hide the burn barrel and other piled up garden refuse. It is by the covered chicken run and chicken coop which he also built (but not this year).
These bearded irises always put on a good show. They are larger than other ones.
The centaurea is always so pretty - one of the early perennials. It is starting to fade a bit now. Later it will look rather mangey and I have to cut the foliage back.
This is the taller cranesbill. It is reliable and hardy and fills spaces nicely. Again, I have no idea what its actual name is.
This is my Hansa rose. I do not have many roses, but Hansa is reliable and doesn't get the usual rose diseases and issues that other ones do. It smells glorious.
Here is a close up of its blooms.
This weigela is absolutely gorgeous right now. I only know it is variegated, but I don't know the specific type.
There is another Barbara Ann hosta. It have it in a few locations. You can't go wrong with this big one! I plan on dividing some for my sister who is putting in a bed at her new place.
Spiderwort is a really cool, spikey weird perennial. I have little clumps of it around the outside of a bed.
This is another project which is happening now to be ready for the wedding in the summer of 2026. This is a line of tall cedars to form a hedge type division between two parts of the yard. More are going in further along, but that has to wait until the eaves trough guys come in August because they can only access the property from certain areas. You can see a wooden structure on the ground. It will be a poured concrete base for a covered arbour with a cedar shake roof and stone base. Yes, husband will be building that.
This is a new rail fence that husband built. There used to be a falling down old wire fence with an overgrown collection of shrubs /perennials / weeds along there. It is not quite complete, but getting close. There is the trusty cement mixer which is also a mainstay at our place. The green tarp is covering a skid of concrete mix.
Not to be forgotten is the pale yellow bearded iris. I prefer this to the very bright, golden irises you sometimes see. They are too harsh for me in the early summer. I also have dark purple ones, but not many and they have faded.
In this final picture, you can see my faithful rhubarb. It is always a great big, healthy plant. I don't do much to it, except feed it some composted chicken manure early in the season. In the background you can see the shed. There are two new window boxes (built by husband) that were just put up yesterday. Very soon they will have many flowers in them, as well as in those big iron urns on either side of the red shed door which got a new coat of black paint. Did I mention we have been busy. There has been a lot of clearing of invasive weeds and grass and digging out things and transplanting things and it just keeps going. Daughter didn't ask for most of these things to happen, they were projects that have been been already thought about and are now hurried up. We can rest in August of 2026. :)
