Harvest Time

 It was a pretty good year for flowers at our house, but not such a great year for vegetables.

 This was by far the best crop of cucumbers we got all season.  They were strange shapes this year, and some had skinny places in the middle.

The jalapenos did pretty well, but I never got around to doing much with them.  We had some delicious homemade jalapeno poppers when we camped, so I'll have to get that recipe if we grow them again next year.

Into Every Life, A Little Rain Must Fall

The past few summers, our yard and plants have suffered due to drought.  We've had much more rain this year and things were looking pretty good.  Until last Saturday that is.  

 While we were driving to St. Louis and enjoying a lovely outside lunch in St. Charles, part of our town was getting 9-10 inches of rain in 3 hours.  It was just a very small part of town, but it happened to be our part of town.

 When we got home on Sunday, the plants were looking a little rough.  We were thankful for a dry house and no limbs down, but a little bummed about the state of affairs of the green things that grow.

 A week later, and things are already looking better - especially the hydrangea.  Despite a few broken branches, the cucumbers, tomatoes, and pepper seemed to have survived.

 The hostas look a little worse for the wear, but a few of them have already grown new leaves, and others are beginning to bloom.

Just like Gilda Radner wrote, it's always something!

Garden Odds and Ends

This picture of the hosta was taken a while ago.  The jar has a solar light in the lid so that it glows a little at night.  Or it did, before the hosta got larger and shades it too much to get sun to charge it.  A few years ago, I had a coupon for $1 hostas (limit 5) at a local greenhouse.  Of course I bought five hostas - that was too good to pass up!  This is one of those, that I couldn't figure out where to put.  It ended up in a pot and has done really well.  I divided it last year, so I guess that makes it a 50 cent hosta! 

 We have iris leaves every year, but the flowers rarely make an appearance.  I was surprised to see these when we got home from vacation.  Pretty!

 Also while we were gone, this Autumn Fern had a growth spurt.  It's bigger than it has been - I think it's enjoyed the rain we've had this spring.

Columbine

Last year I bought a little Columbine plant, not sure whether it would return or not.  It came back, quite a bit larger than last year, and with lots of blooms.

 It was so pretty!  I think I would like to add a few more.

It had past its peak by the time we returned from vacation, but I look forward to it blooming again next year.

Visit to Hilltop Farm

We see the Hilltop Farm booth every year at the Lawn and Garden show in February, and I've wanted to go but just haven't done it.  I needed a hosta for a particular spot this year, so we went to check it out.

 This picture is of a small part of their beautiful gardens.  It was cool and misty the day we were there - perfect hosta weather!

I thought the orangey-red poppies were so pretty against this fence!  I will definitely go back next year, and will probably go earlier.  The prices were good, there was a nice selection of all sorts of plants, and the plants looked so healthy.

Spring Planting

I got a slow start to planting this year due to our trips.  I hated to plant a bunch of stuff then ask Patty to water all of it.  This past weekend, David and I made a trip to Hilltop Farm to look at hostas.  They have over 1000 varieties in their beds, and sell over 200 varieties.

 I bought a few things there, including the garlic chives (above), coreopsis (below), and a hosta (not yet pictured).  The prices were very good and it was a fun place to shop and look around.

 I've tried coreopsis in this spot before, but not successfully.  Hoping it will work better this time!

 Sunday morning I headed to my usual seasonal greenhouse and picked up a few things that weren't available at Hilltop, like the Million Bells Calibrachoa.

 At Hilltop Farm, I bought two little tomato plants and a jalapeno plant.  I'm not sure why I keep trying to grow tomatoes, as out of the 6 or so times I've tried, I've probably had about three edible tomatoes.  But I love even the smell of tomato leaves, so we'll try it again.  The pepper already had some little peppers growing, so hopefully those will be ready to eat soon.

 Also got a couple of cucumber plants.  I wish I'd started with the vegetables much sooner, but there's a lot of summer left.

 My favorite combination for the front porch is this White Christmas caladium, which doesn't have even a hint of pink, and red impatiens.

 I like this little corner of yard with the shed, soon-to-bloom hydrangea, and last year's daisy.

 This little chair used to be much whiter, but it can still do it's job of holding a pot of impatiens.

Glad to have things finally planted!

Not Spring...Yet!

As a reminder that spring hasn't sprung quite yet, this is the view out the door nearest my office.  It wouldn't be any big deal if that white stuff was snow, but it's ice and sleet.  Ice and sleet makes for some yucky driving conditions, plus it builds up on trees and power lines.

But waiting at home is something for spring...new cushions for new chairs!  I think these will be more comfortable than the old, so maybe we'll sit outside more.  I have great hope that the drought will end soon and that we might have a nice, green summer!  Hope springs eternal!