Raindrops on Roses (or peonies)

Our lovely heat wave was followed by lots of rain. I've been picking strawberries every day, trying to get them before birds (?), chipmunks (?) do. The berries are lovely and big. Here is what was on my counter this evening.

Because of the rain, many of them have been splashed with dirt, but I wash them and freeze them, so that isn't a problem. I also made this for myself for dessert. Have you tried these meringue nests before? I like them, but husband doesn't really care for them. He just had a bowl of strawberries with a little whipped cream.

Not only does the heat and the rain make the strawberries swell and ripen, it has also been a boost to the flower beds. Here's what is blooming now:

The white peonies bloom first. Unfortunately, they suffered a bit in all the rain. Some are a sodden mess, but the ones that had only just opened faired better.

The pink peonies are just starting. I love how soft the petals are and the fragrance is heavenly.

Mock orange has to be one of the most fragrant shrubs. The smell makes me think of my Aunt Jean and Uncle Earl's place where we would gather for family get-togethers.

These are the flowers close up. I don't know how to describe the scent. Maybe like cherries.

This is another cranesbill (hardy geranium) which I think is called Johnson's Blue. It doesn't spread, is on the taller side, and the colour is just beautiful. However, part way through the summer it looks gangly and rather ugly, so I usually cut it back.

My one and only fox glove, although I try so hard to have foxgloves. They just don't last. The periwinkle blue plant in the background is spiderwort. I first saw spiderwort at a garden called Larkwhistle up on the Bruce Peninsula and knew I had to have some. Mine have never been as big and luscious as the ones I saw, but I still like them.

This is called gasplant.  Apparently, the gases given off by the blossoms can be lit to a tiny flame. I have not tried. I only have the one clump.

In this shrub border, the weigela and ninebark are both blooming very well this year.

Gerald, my Easter Island Head Guy is adorned with dappled willow (I think there is another name) and weigela.

Unfortunately, with all the rain, the limb of this Manitoba maple got so heavy, it gave way. Thankfully there was mostly just lawn underneath.

These trees are not the strongest and we've had branches come down before. We did not plant these trees. They grow like weeds along the edge of our property. We will need to ask our neighbour to come over with his handy dandy chainsaw. Then we will have a bit more firewood for next year, and the smaller branches, we will just burn.

Well, that's the week. I'll be picking strawberries and freezing more through the weekend. It is coming up to Father's Day, of course. I don't know if we will be able to get both kids home at the same time, but we'll try to work something out. Present is bought. He wants roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. Help me. I tried to do Yorkshire pudding a couple of times before but it isn't quite right. Personally, I can't stand it, all sopped up with gravy, but he has fond memories. I wonder if M&M Meats sells frozen ones? There will be strawberry, rhubarb pie, or crisp for dessert. Daughter just texted with information about a British Car Show this weekend. I'm sure husband would like that! TTFN!

plant matter

Oh my goodness (that's not actually what I want to say) I was 3/4 of the way done writing a post when my curser was jumping around the screen like it does and the combination of me hitting a key and where the curser was deleted the whole thing. Allow me to try again...

So, I have not yet planted my vegetable garden but my goal is to be done by the end of this weekend. I went to our sweet little green house at the edge of our village this morning before things pick up for the Canada 150 year celebration down at the community center. I purchased vegetable plants (tomato, cucumber, peppers, lettuce, basil, parsley) for immediate gratification, seed potatoes and onion sets.
I already had a big tomato plant and one cucumber from a fund raiser. They have been sitting on the back porch waiting patiently for me to get my act in gear.

The weather is supposed to be delightfully hot today ( I NEVER complain about the heat). Here are some pictures I took this morning of what is currently blooming.

This cranesbill is of medium - tall height and behaves itself pretty well, staying in a nice clump.

This cranesbill is low and spreading, but fills in spaces very well. It is hardy beyond belief.

Variegated weigela - this one is so pretty with soft pinks and white. Here is a closer look:

I planted this weigela a year ago (?) and it is just beginning to burst with colour.

It sits in front of what I call my lilac tree but I'm not certain of what it is. It was a gift many years ago. It smells amazing, and attracts bees and butterflies. We watched a swallowtail a couple of days ago.

I am always happy when the Siberian irises are in bloom. They are one of my favourite. I had them in my wedding bouquet 26 years ago.

Up close and personal -

As I was walking around the back, past the strawberry bed, formerly known as my vegetable garden, I caught sight of this!!

So exciting!!

Obviously, someone beat me to it. Snail? Bird? Don't know, but I picked it and washed it off and ate it anyway! I think I picked all of 6 or 7 berries, but I'm happy to know they're starting.

Tonight is Prom night. Tall skinny boy needed new everything: pants, dress shoes, black socks, belt, shirt and pink tie to go along with his girlfriend's pretty dress. Pants needed hemming, I've sent him to go pick up the corsage he ordered, I have meatballs in a crockpot for pre-prom gathering, and I'll have my phone at my bedside to pick him up from the after-prom gathering at god-knows-what-time. Mother of the year award.

Rabbit fence and Shrubbery!

We had ridiculously cold weather a few days ago, but now it feels like summer again. It rained last night and it is threatening to rain again this morning, but the air is thick and warm and you could practically swim through it. If I could, I would include the scent of this morning in my post. It is heavy with the smell of the lilac tree, mock orange, and peonies. Be still my heart.

Last night, I asked husband for help to finish the rabbit fence. My vegetable garden will be considerably smaller (almost on the "cute" side) than previous years. The world domination strawberries take up 2/3 of the garden. No, I don't have them in rows. Yes, I regret not taking command of them and ruthlessly ripping some out and creating rows from the chaos, however they are ripening right now and they are incredible! No comparison to the tasteless midwinter nuggets that I buy in clear plastic containers.

The rabbit fence is literally just that. I am no longer willing to feed and sustain the growing rabbit population, regardless of how cute they are and how much I want to pet them. You can only replant so many times. Husband was disgusted with how I constructed this. He would have built a permanent fence and probably sunk posts into concrete, but I didn't want to wait for all of that, so teenager son and I started two days ago and husband helped to finish last night. Yup, it's just re-used tomato stakes (I use these in addition to tomato cages to keep big tomato plants upright), actual "rabbit fencing" that I bought in two rolls from the local farm supply store, and a bunch of staples. When husband said he would never have done it this way, I let him know that I wasn't trying to contain cattle with it, I was just keeping fluffy bunny rabbits away from my garden. He informed me that these rabbits wear little tool belts at night with wire cutters and it wouldn't keep them out for long.

You may notice that there doesn't seem to be any vegetables growing in my vegetable garden. I decided I wasn't going to plant a thing until there was a fence. But last night, I did put in some potatoes. A very small amount. It's going to be such a small garden.

What my vegetable garden lacks, my shrubbery (can't say that word, even in my head, without Monty Python and the Knights who say Ni popping up) is making up for . Here is a picture down by the pool of Gerald the Easter Island Head wearing his headdress of dappled willow and weigela. I cut that willow back really hard last fall and look at it now. I think I did not plan well when I planted that border because it is crowding out the shrubs beside it. Regardless, it puts on a beautiful show this time of year.

A Girl's Best Friend

With a post title like that, you might think I am talking about a dog.

We do not have a dog. We never have. With both of us working full time, we felt it would not be fair. Also, neither one of us wants to get up extra early to walk a dog. Cats on the other hand are fine with solitude. They decide if they want you around or not anyway.
But I'm not talking about a cat either.

I'm talking about this.

Today the husband helped me get this beauty out of our very organized and neat and tidy shed (note the sarcasm) and put some gas in it, and then I got to work!! I do not have a big vegetable garden by some people's standards, but it is big enough for us. My neighbour gave me some wonderful weed killer to deal with the horrible weeds that set up camp in my yard, therefore, in my vegetable garden. After a week, most of them had curled up and died a horrible death. Please don't hate me, those of you who are organic. I've gone that route for MANY MANY YEARS, digging and digging and digging. I am 48 years old and my back wakes me up on a nightly basis. I do enough digging with my perennial beds and around my shrubs, without having to dig all the weeds out of my vegetable garden.

So I did dig a few things up because they were huge, even though they were dead, and then my best friend and I tilled up the garden going one way. Then I stopped for a bite to eat and we continued tilling going the other way. It looked like this.

This is also the first year that I am putting on granular fertilizer. Honestly, I have never done that! We kept backyard chickens for years and I have always had natural fertilizer for my garden, as well as compost and bagged manure from garden centres. However, I have stopped being a chicken lady and my source of fertilizer is gone. So... I have decided to try this out. My gardening results were disappointing last summer with NO (honestly, NO) tomatoes, poor peas, poor cucumbers, no beets... the only things that did well were green beans, pumpkins, and potatoes.

Then I took my trusty rake and raked the whole thing smooth. With wrangling my rototiller and raking my garden (yup, I am now sitting with a hot "magic bag" against my back as I type this) (Oh, and a glass of red wine!), I would like to introduce you to my second best friends.

For all the years that I have been a gardener, I have used gloves. There are some tasks that go better without gloves, but usually I wear gloves. Those times when I think, "Oh, I'll just grab my trowel and get rid of a few weeds," and an hour later I have blisters, I think, why didn't I just put on my gloves? Because I am one to always try to save money, I usually have those cheapy cotton gloves with grippy bumps on them. I usually go through a thumb in a few short weeks. Then I hold onto them and use them and get filthy, hurty thumbs. Then the mice eat through them in the shed over the winter. (the very organized and neat and tidy shed) So... lately I have been "treating myself" to good gloves. It is worth it. They are all leather, soft leather, and they fit well without seams that rub and cause more blisters. (Funny, some women treat themselves with spas or clothes or shoes... I am pathetic).

Lastly, I am quite pleased with my strawberry plants which I put in last year. I got maybe 4 strawberries. I actually watched a squirrel run across the lawn with one!! But now this year, they have sent off runners and there are lovely white blossoms. (No, they are not in nice, neat rows, just a big clump of them over on one side of the garden). But all I see is lovely sweet potential!!

Check out my rhubarb! (Still have bags of it frozen in my freezer, but who doesn't like rhubard, strawberry pie, or crumble??) (Mind you, I HATE stewed rhubarb, does something wierd to my teeth!!)