Photo Card

Snowflake Dream Christmas

Send Christmas cards personalized with your favorite photos.

View the entire collection of cards.

Last Call for Bulbs

The corner bed at the side of the house.   I will get rid of the edging next Spring.

One lone Hellebores.  I fell in love with them this year and hope it makes it through the winter.  If it does I plan to grow alot more.

I needed to spend some time in the Fernwood (Blue Lake) garden to finish planting my bulbs last weekend.  Pleased to have great weather,  I planted the bulbs (Allium and Daffodils) and then thought I might fill in the bed with cranberry compost.  I started hauling compost by the pailful but soon realized that would take me too long and I was burning daylight.  And being that the wheelbarrow was in the shed, loaded with hoses to store for the winter, I needed to come up with something more efficient.  Duh...the Kubota tractor!  So I had Kurt pick up a bucketful with the front end loader and drive it on over.  I shoved most of it right out of the bucket and then had him dump the rest.  Worked like a charm and saved me tons of time.   I figure the bucket holds about two wheelbarrows full. 

Another trip around the sun

Yep, it's my birthday.  11022011.  Another 365 days come and gone.  Another year closer to retirement.  Not that I want to wish my life away but that day can't come fast enough.

Sometimes, I Am Startled Out of Myself,
by Barbara Crooker

like this morning, when the wild geese came squawking,
flapping their rusty hinges, and something about their trek
across the sky made me think about my life, the places
of brokenness, the places of sorrow, the places where grief
has strung me out to dry. And then the geese come calling,
the leader falling back when tired, another taking her place.
Hope is borne on wings. Look at the trees. They turn to gold
for a brief while, then lose it all each November.
Through the cold months, they stand, take the worst
weather has to offer. And still, they put out shy green leaves
come April, come May. The geese glide over the cornfields,
land on the pond with its sedges and reeds.
You do not have to be wise. Even a goose knows how to find
shelter, where the corn still lies in the stubble and dried stalks.
All we do is pass through here, the best way we can.
They stitch up the sky, and it is whole again.

This poem arrived today via the Writer's Almanac. I love the idea of hope on wings. Isaiah 40:31.  New hope through grace...and another trip around the sun!  Happy Birthday to me!!!

One More...

This is one of my favorite birdbath pictures. It was taken in June, 2006. The anenome are in bloom and the chives are budding. At the time it was kind of a dark corner with all the dark bushes and the spruce tree so the anenome really popped. Sadly those dogwoods didn't make it but some of the anenome are still growing. My mom told me once that this was her favorite view of my garden. My how things change!

You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding. Me! How to deal with garden eyesores

This, my friends, is my latest challenge/ opportunity in the garden and the subject of this post...how to deal with a landscape eyesore. Apparently my neighbors are not so fond of my dog, Roxy, and have erected this "fence". Oddly enough, they are rarely outside and Roxy rarely ventures out of our yard, but that is neither here nor there!  Needless to say this fence would hardly stop a 70 lb. Yellow Lab! And it wouldn't bother me so much if they had erected it properly. But, look at it, people! It's a disaster!

This corner/side of the yard has been a problem since day one. Orignally that entire side of our lot was covered with big beautiful Elm trees. When the neighbors built their house and began landscaping they immediately took to chopping down all the trees on their side...along with a few on our lot. I still remember coming home from work to the sound of the chain saw. I asked them if they would please stop until we could determine exactly where the lot line fell. Sadly this led to angry words and our relationship was off to an unfortunate start. Recently the original neighbors moved away but have opted not to sell the house so we now have new, renting neighbors. Through the years we lost the remaining elms due to Dutch Elm disease. :-(

Over time I've made several half hearted attempts to landscape this area.  Following the chain saw massacre we planted a Blue Spruce but it died shortly after planting and wasn't replaced.  Two remaining large pines are on either side of these pictures. Wild honeysuckles were allowed to grow large, hiding the electrical box in the corner.  Unfortunately their root system squeezed out the red twig dogwoods I planted. Chives growing around a bird bath reseeded themselves like crazy. I tried various other things...purple iris from Pat Buechs...Anenome from Donna Walsh...perennial Geraniums...day lilies...Phlox, more.  Nothing seemed to work.  An unwelcome patch of snow on the mountain was encroaching further and further. Not to mention the weeds!  The back corner was a mess!

So, last weekend the plan was to till it all up, ammend with compost, redistribute the mulch and relocate some Iris and Lamb's Ear. In Spring we would plant a few more Red Twig Dogwoods and a Juniper of sorts to hide the electric box. And then I came home from work one day to find this! You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding. Me!

A new challenge!  We proceeded with the tilling and mulching around the pine tree but now, what to plant!???  Spring/Summer/Fall isn't a problem beause there are any number of things that would grown tall enough to hide the fence.  Concealing the fence in the Winter is now the issue. At this point I think I may proceed with my orginal plan but maybe add a few more junipers or yews as they grow well in Zone 5.  Something evergreen will shield an eyesore year round as will a large pot or large-scale garden art.  I have a birdbath which I'll reposition, maybe replant the chives and anenome...I will just have to keep control of them this time!

Here are a few past pics of the back corner...

October, 2005

This is a great shot of the spruce to the left of the bird bath.  You can also see how the chives have taken over and the anenome are in bloom behind the birdbath.  It looks like the dogwoods were still living too.  If you look closely you can see the yellow blossoms on the honeysuckle.  This was the back corner at it's best.

Spring, 2005

This Spring shot shows the dogwood and the chives just starting to come up.

Early Spring, 2011

This shot really shows how the chives have taken over.  They start out looking great but after they bloom they flop over into a big mess.  You can also see the patch of anenome coming up but the shrubs are long gone.

Evil Dog, 2011

Roxy and the Asters, October, 2010

And so now my challenge becomes an opportunty...and I'm off to the garden center to see if anything strikes my fancy.  Oh, and Roxy, by the way, is the best dog on the planet!!!

Kubota!

My new toy! This is what I get after 30 years of marriage!!! Kurt thinks it's his but little does he know!

Moon over Blue

It was the last pontoon ride of the year with Dick and Ann. The sun set quickly but we were able to get a few cool moon pics. The colors have turned fast and today almost all the leaves have fallen. The temps, on the other hand, have been perfect; hitting low 80s over the weekend. So happy I took off today and tomorrow!

Summer's End

Reluctance

by Robert Frost

Out through the fields and the woods
And over the walls I have wended;
I have climbed the hills of view
And looked at the world and descended;
I have come by the highway home,
And lo, it is ended.

The leaves are all dead on the ground,
Save those that the oak is keeping
To ravel them one by one
And let them go scraping and creeping
Out over the crusted snow,
When others are sleeping.

And the dead leaves lie huddled and still,
No longer blown hither and thither;
The last lone aster is gone;
The flowers of the witch-hazel wither;
The heart is still aching to seek,
But the feet question 'Whither?'

Ah, when to the heart of man
Was it ever less than a treason
To go with the drift of things,
To yield with a grace to reason,

And bow and accept the end
Of a love or a season?

Autumn Joy Sedum and Lamb's Ears

  I really like the look of the Lamb's Ears with the Autumn Joy Sedum.  This pic was taken earlier in August so it was nice to have the Black Eyed Susans blooming to add some color. (They are volunteers, by the way!)  The Autumn Joy is blooming now and the color looks great with the silver leaves of the Lamb's Ears.  More pics to come.

Rain Barrel

Recently one of our YMCA camps offered a workshop to make a rain barrel.  I couldn't make it but they were kind enough to make it for me and send it inter-office mail!  Imagine the couriers surprise when he had to pick up this baby!  Kurt, of course, thought I had lost my marbles but he has since embraced the idea.  He came up with the solution to place the barrel on a galvanized tub.  The height creates a little bit of water pressure but not enough to run a hose.  The first night we had it installed it rained and filled it up.  We didn't have the overflow hose attached properly so it overflowed from the top...no big deal but it is now fixed.   Yesterday I attached a soaker hose which now waters the coneflowers in the garden just to the right of the pics.  The water pressure isn't great but I'm hoping it's adequate enough to keep the soaker hose going.  I've found some pics on line of painted barrels...hope to paint it to look like a wine/whisky barrel...I find the white plastic a little unsightly!

Spring in the Garden

The Bleeding Hearts are growing like crazy. Moved them to the big raised bed a couple of years ago and they are doing great. They seem to like a little bit of morning sun. They get shade in the afternoon.

The front garden is doing well too. I took these pics on Monday and have they ever grown in just a few days. The little white Iris' are starting to bloom.

Today I did a little clean up in the back bed behind the family room. Lots of thistles popping up already. I dug up a cransebill geranium that was being smothered by the lamium and moved it to the front garden. It's a little spindly but will hopefully do ok with a little TLC.

Then I dug up some Coral Bells from the front V garden. They were being crowded out by the Obedient Plant which is anything but! I ripped out a bunch of those because they just can't stay put. I then moved the Coral Bells to the front lamp post bed.

There were TONS of little Lupine seedlings. I dug up a few and put
them in a pot for Krista. She and Pete happened to walk by and she was thrilled to get them.

I whipped up a couple of batches of deer repellent and sprayed all around the yard. Not taking any chances with those darn deer. There is a herd of about 9 roaming the neighborhood. Lots of bunnies around too.

I finished up the day by mulching the front bed with compost from the NB recycling center.

Another good day in the garden!

Beautiful Compost!

My compost bin! Beautiful, isn't it? Well, it will be once it decomposes. I acquired this bin through the City of New Berlin when they had a sale about 25 years ago...actually right at the beginning of the big composting craze of recent years. My mom always had a compost pile "brewing" in our back yard. She was clearly ahead of her time. This bin has served me well...I relocated it here last fall when i was doing some rearranging in the back raised bed where it's been since I got it. This isn't the best spot so I'll have to figure out a new home for it...although it's not so easy to move when it's full! I filled it up yesterday after doing some more of the Spring Cleanup then topped it off with some kitchen scraps this morning. I'll take some more pictures later to show how quickly it decomposes and sinks down into the bin.

I took a ton more pictures of the garden too but will post those later...need to get outside before the rain comes!

Daffodils

Just got back from a vacation in Florida. So happy to find my daffodils finally blooming when I got back. One good thing about cooler Spring weather...daffodils last longer!

I planted these bulbs several years ago...at least 5. This is the first year they bloomed this profusely. Gorgeous!

Mom

Mom, a photo by gardenlife on Flickr.

Happy Mother's Day!

An Afternoon in the Garden

This was the result of last week's afternoon in the garden. The weather was cool but I couldn't let the weekend get by without doing something. I completely cleaned up the raised bed and started to divide some of the Iris. It took me awhile because they were really compacted. Also divided up some of the sundrops and potted them up to take to the lake. I like to divide/transplant in April because the weather is cool and the plants haven't leafed out much...so it is much less stressful on them and they seem to do better.

About Bloomin' Time!

These tiny crocus' are blooming at the lake. So pretty!

Roxy and her shoes

DSCF1163, a photo by gardenlife on Flickr.

This photo of my dog doesn't really have much to do with gardening except for the fact that she occasionally likes to dig in the garden. She's wearing shoes on her hind feet because she has managed to scrape her paw pads raw. These shoes are made by Ruff Wear...they stay on great and she can run like crazy!

Whole Foods

I decided to venture into the world of Whole Foods today.  Just needed to see what all the hub bub was about.  The place looked huge from the outside and I suppose it is big but the isles are so small you can barely get a cart around in there.  Sure the produce looked good..nice that it's all organic but it's also alot more expensive than my trusty Pick 'n Save.  Really, most of what can be gotten at Whole Foods can be found in other grocery stores...I wasn't very impressed.  It's unlikely that I'll venture the trip back there.

Next grocery shopping adventure...Woodmans!

Growing!

So excited that the seedlings are growing so well.  I really need to plant a few more but the weekend just got away from me.  Had an awesome time at Art in Bloom this afternoon.  Will load the pics to Flickr tomorrow. 

Today was a bizarre weather day...it hailed like crazy this morning and actually accumulated to the tune of about an inch on the ground!  Crazy!  Tonight it's thundering and lightening to beat the band. 

Mother Nature...what's the deal????



Let the Sprouting Begin!

I was so excited this morning when I went downstairs and disvcovered that some o f the seeds I planted on Monday had sprouted. I knew they would but I'm still always in awe of the miracle of it all. The Cosmos are the first. I still have lenty of seeds to plant this weekend.

I read about a method of sprouting seeds using a moistened paper towel and a plastic zip loc bag today. It sounded like a good way to test sprout the gazillion seeds I have in my seed box that are old. I'll have to spend some more time searching the web about it.

In the meantime, let the sprouting begin!

Garden Shoes

I do believe my quest for the perfect garden shoe has ended. I will know for sure when I actually get an opportunity to try these out in the garden. I ordered these Sloggers from Amazon.com.

Only $19.95!

I was considering the new BOGs Burnside shoes but the Sloggers were considerably less expensive. Figured I had nothing to lose. The quality appears really good and they fit well with lightweight socks or without socks. I'm thinking they are a winner!

Seeds

I dusted off the old plant stand today. Kurt made it several years ago using directions I found in a garden magazine. I haven't used it in quite a while so I was happy to find that the lights still worked. The seed trays were prefilled with soil...a little pricey but well worth it as it saved me a ton of time. I still have some seed starting mix and more empty trays so I will plant some more this weekend. Today I planted the Kallio tomatoes as well as two other tomoato varieties, Cosmos, Delphinium, Larkspur, Cosmos and Basil. The seeds will be under the lights 24/7 as they grow.