SALAD DAYS

the garden is both productive and beautiful in july...

squash and blossoms for dinner

the proverbial "salad days" are upon us

nasturtium 'alaska'

it's lovely to enter the potager to select dinner produce

the sugar snaps stand at attention, waiting to be picked

i'm letting the potager go wild this year... not pruning the tomatoes... let's see what happens

ALL WORK AND NO BLOG...

why have i been too busy to post?

(clematis 'kingfisher')

not because the flowers have stopped blooming...

no, because of 3 yards of sweet peet mulch! with rain the day it was delivered, i really had my work cut out for me...

above is the potager before mulch, below is after...

and the potager this evening...

vase with bi-color deutzia, allium and peonies...

rock wall before mulch....

and after...

south border before mulch...

and after...

and there's still more left! yikes!

below is vase with rose 'heritage', my favorite...

DAVIDIA BLOOMS AFTER 18 YEAR WAIT

my brother's davidia bloomed after an 18 year wait. my brother writes:

"1n 1995, I was given a 2 year old seedling of Davidia by a friend.  Davidia is a very rare tree, and it is famous for taking up to 20 years to bloom.  Every year for the past 18 years I've been looking in vain for buds and flowers.  I looked just this week.  It's been a running gag that I won't let us even think about moving until the dang thing has bloomed.

Today I was showing another friend around the garden, and he remarked "Oh, your Davidia is in bloom."  WHAHOOOO! " 

above is a long-established davidia at the arnold arboretum

my brother's tree with it's 4 flowers, above, and below...

(brother lives and gardens in massachusetts)

HAPPY MOTHER'S MAY

a wonderful time for flowers! 

the center of the potager a few weeks ago... since then i have removed the dwarf albert spruces and put tomatoes in... the narcissus put on a tremendous display and are done, now the clematis are blooming...

magnolia 'daybreak'

in the woodland garden, omphalodes' little faces are smiling...

epimedium 'bandit'n (imo still not big enough that i can divide)

fothergillia... doing better now that neighbor's got rid of a tree...

dependable camassia

this purple akebia vine is trying to kill my cherry tree and take over the entire house!

the white akebia is no less vigorous! it climbs onto the deck...

1st harvest - baby lettuces

we finally had some nice rain after a bone-dry april

tree peony... so beautiful, but the flowers only last a few days

in the center you'll find a cardinal... i was so excited to see it in the redbud while i had my camera with me - but i had my macro lens!!! so that's why this photo is sub-optimal (aka crummy)...

close up of the redbud...

purple fringe tulip... i never tire of these...

COOL, CALM APRIL

camellia 'april dawn' was frost burned this spring

but still put on quite a show...

magnolia 'leonard messel' had its most floriferous year...

i don't take photos of it because the neighbor's house behind it is the wrong blue...

various daffs from the garden...

magnolia 'ruby' on the left, still showing storm damage from 2  years ago, cherry on the right...

ruby has spectacular large flowers...

the potager... gearing up... camellia on the left, dwarf peach on the far left... i'm about to move the dwarf alberta spruces into the pots (the larger spruces went to good families...) i'm going to put tomatoes in the center this year.

dwarf peach...

survivor! a lone tulip has escaped the hungry deer...

colton before his spring shearing...

colton & luna after colton's shearing...

a buckeye from my brother... who sent me bunches of plants this spring! thanks, bro!

orange clivia my sister gave me, with yellow clivia my brother gave me & orange star my mother gave me in the background...