Beautiful day today! First June photos....

This lush growth is just about ready to burst into bloom....Penstemon, Monarda, Lilies, Roses, Hydrangea....starting with the Penstemon, any day now.

The area with hay is the inside of that front bed that has vegetables in it. Peppers at the moment. And the rose is Julia Child. It's odd this year. It had very vigorous growth early and now it is floppy and opening up. And the blooms are inside more than out at the moment. Not the way it usually looks, but, still great. Clean foliage, the blooms when they open are nicely formed and better than other years.

The street edge of that bed, where I added Basket of Gold and Candytuft. The yellow in the middle is Basket of Gold AFTER it bloomed. That is seed heads that are coloring it. The top of this slope is where I had the berm I put in 2 years ago. It's providing some nice soil and still high enough to keep the rain in the bed instead of rolling into the street.

I have reseeded Foxglove this year that are gorgeous from all the rain we've had. But I have had a hard time getting a good photo of them. So I just went out and caught them in the end of the day light and it's better, but as Dee has asked before, 'why is the plant in real life always better than the photo?' [g]

Another one from the front bed....

I planted 3 new 'White Swan' Echinacea and the rabbits immediately ate them down to the ground.

This is looking up from under the Elderberry blooms, which I am fascinated with this year. lol

And these are the foxglove which showed up on their own from plants I must have planted over 5 years ago and barely have seen since then. The tallest white one is level with the top of our 6ft stockade fence. They really seem happy there.

From the other side....

The second Elderberry that has less blooms and is not as tall.... you can see in the lower left the corner of our big pile of branches and debris, waiting to make another berm.

Blueberries

One of the only Tiger Lilies the rabbits haven't eaten.

And the area where I used to have my climbing roses with Honeysuckle and Clematis ... this is what we've done so far....

This is last Fall....the old fence. We were surprised when the fence company who originally installed the old fence, told us we installed it 36 years ago! That's a long time for a wooden fence. And it looked it. Penelope rose that was cut back for moving late in the season and you can see the bottom 2ft of the plants were eaten by the rabbits and then we had to dig them out when the fence install was rescheduled for October.

Here was Penelope Rose in a recycle container... we have two of them

Here you can see how long I left the canes, just to keep some leaves on them. It was interesting trying to dig them out ...lol.

Here is the first bloom on the new Honeysuckle along the new fence.... way down the bottom....starting over.

And Penelope now in the corner of the new fence, to give it more room, it can get huge. In the bottom right of the photo, you can see the second Penelope that the rabbits have eaten to nubs. I can hardly believe the rose survived that treatment. It looked so bad in the recycle container, I thought I'd end up replacing it.

Vs. ... what it used to look like....

Prairiemoon a lot of decisions snd work went into your garden. it shows!

next an issue i know youve talked about here before: are you opposed to critter repellent or just an gardener who is very very patient with creatures who eat your plants?

id be in the same situation as you if i did not use plantskydd around the garden. id have no echinaceas, no grasses, definitely no chrysthemums or

young hydrangeas. those bunnies sre voracious and i love to garden so i have to draw the line somewhere.

PM2, gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. I love that you have photos from all around your yard. The front bed is so full and lush. I wonder if Julia got so much rain/water that she pushed out tons of new leaf growth early? Still such a beautiful flower and clean rose.

The foxglove and catmint are a stunning combination along with the elderberry. I absolutely love the photo of the top of the elderberry. Your birds are going to be very happy.

You've done so much work having to prepare for the new fence and then reinstalling the garden after it went in. I'm so glad the rose survived and it's nice you're replanting with the same type of combo you had in there which was amazing and worked so well together. 36 years for a wood fence! WOW!

Your garden looks beautiful and the work you've been putting into it shows. Really enjoy all your planning and combinations.

Marie, I’ve really struggled through a lot of seasons with unfinished projects [which I still have (g)], and results that I wasn’t crazy about, but along the way I’ve had some seasons that were great. I would think that is similar to most gardeners. This year though I’ve found myself appreciating having a ‘mature’ garden. It gets to a point where it’s just about on automatic and you just need to make small adjustments and do maintenance. It’s so different then when you have all new plant material and are waiting for things to fill in. I’m sure you know what I’m talking about because your garden is mature now as well.

As for the rabbits…lol…no, you are right, you’d think I would have found a solution by now. I did try the Plantskydd back in 2020. I still had rabbit damage so I stopped using it. I tried cayenne pepper and that was hit or miss. One season it helped and the next season the rabbits almost preferred the plants with a little cayenne on them. [g]

I thought for awhile that after we had the new fence installed I’d be able to keep them out of the back at least, but that was a foolish idea. The tiniest of new baby rabbits can get through the smallest opening. And we had four out there last week.

Thyme has suggested Liquid Fence and I haven’t tried that yet.

Thyme, yes, I often have so many unfinished projects going on that the front bed is the only place I take photos. I guess there are a few places now that I can take photos of too. Although that bed with the foxglove and catmint, was really just a gift…lol. I did nothing and planned nothing and it just put itself together out of the blue and I am really enjoying it.

Here are some pictures from this morning.

Love these iris in the cottage garden. Got lucky with the purple lupine (i plant them from little 6-packs each year, so never know what color they'll be). I'm patiently waiting the pink peony to open between the lupine and iris. Then the clematis color is a mirror to the kalmia in the background (not planned but a happy accident). The leaning tree is a cutleaf vitex that is not in the best of locations, but I do really like it. Still on the fence on what to do with that.

Close up of the iris.

This is at the top of the slope garden.

I really like this one very shady area coming off my side deck. With the very mild winter the hydrangeas are going to bloom! The one closest is Purple Prince and it will be gorgeous. I'm so excited.

What the heck??? Can you see who photobombed my rhododendron photo???

PM2 mentioned my large daylily bed. Here's a "before" just for fun.

I like this combo in one of my backyard beds.

Another bed in the back that I transformed into a shade bed since the mature trees have really blocked out any sun. There's a jurassic fern in the middle that I hope will get quite large and fill in .

PM2 mentioned the climbing hydrangea up the oak tree. This is from my front porch and gives a pretty good view. It's not one of those WOW bloomers and is not fully in bloom yet, but the fall yellow foliage is awesome. You think it's time for me to change that Christmas flag??? Ugh!

Thyme, your garden looks so cheerful this morning!

I love those iris, they look like velvet. And such a pretty picture with the Deutzia and the white fence behind them. And the Clematis is in a great spot and still blooming. I love the early Clematis. Is your Kalmia blooming?

Top of the slope - Is that a Rose and a Peony? Viburnum in the background?

This is going to be the year for Hydrangea, my neighbor said he also has buds all over his. Is yours actually going to be Purple?

From a distance that Rhododendron looks like a rose. Love the color. Did not get the photobombing question…lol.

The Daylily bed in a photo looks even more massive. Should be a great year for it.

The Jurassic Fern sounds interesting. I don’t see it in the photo but sounds big.

The Climbing Hydrangea in the Oak…the photo does not do it justice! Of course, always better in person.

Looks like you have most of the work done and now can just enjoy your garden this year. I hope we all get just the right weather. Enough sun, enough rain. Not too hot, not too cold, not too wet., not too dry. Not asking for much, right? Lol

Thanks for posting more photos…SO much still to bloom.

Going to do a few posts of same plants blooming.

First one is Iris--sorry I can safely say I do not know the name of ANY of these iris.......

I thought a mama turkey was going to give me what for when I tried to get this photo. She was right nearby and I was chatting with her then I heard many "PEEP PEEPs". Her babies were soooo cute and quite spooked and she started coming over to me. So I hightailed it out of there! Planted these at the top of our cul de sac, however don't remember planting them and if I did transplant they were supposed to be Black Gamecock. Um....exact opposite?? LOL!!

Clematis so far. A couple are starting to fade out. More to come!

Clematis so far. A couple are starting to fade out. More to come!

Thyme, I love that first photo of that very saturated rose color Clematis. Actually, ALL of your Clematis are really nice. I mean really what is not to like about Clematis? [g] Those big flashy blooms and a range of colors from subtle to bright and bold.

Peony season, nice you have room for them. My favorite two are the Karl Rosenfeld - one of my favorite shades of red, and Festiva Maxima, which can often look like a work of art.

Love all your Iris, the first two are such cheerful colors and that 2nd Iris with the Festiva Maxima blooming at the same time is such a good combination.

Beverly is blooming before the Penstemon.

So I have an odd photo or two but after going through this thread I'm not so sure I want to post them haha! I just can't get good photos with my phone, especially wider shots. There's no definition in the wide shots. I really should dig out my old camera one of these days.

Your gardens are lovely. Thyme, just spectacular as always! I just love your color combinations!

PM2 you've done a lot of work and it shows!. I was starting to finally transform an entire corner of my yard. Got tired of the electric company repeatedly saying they were going to clear the sassafras trees and brush out of there over the last 30 years. Last fall I finally took down what half-dead (and some completely dead!) sassafras trees I could (i.e. those NOT in the wires), about a half dozen, and started clearing the space. Luckily I only planted one shrub, a winterberry holly.

Because, this spring, once again the electric company is spreading death and carnage amongst the trees. I hear they made a deal with the state that they got help about five years ago with a major storm but promised to clear 8 feet in all directions of the wires. They came through three years ago (which is when they promised once again to clear that corner and didn't) and now are coming through AGAIN. It's heartbreaking. Trees that must be 300 years old and are 5-6 feet in diameter are coming down, as well as tons of not-quite-so-old but still beautiful trees down. What used to be tree-lined streets, where you'd drive under a canopy of green, have turned into streets lined with cut trees lying like bodies on the side of the road, front and back yards exposed, and nothing but a long line of telephone poles to be seen. I swear I had more trees on my street where I grew up in the inner city than now in the rural suburbs, at least right along the street.

Not only is it ugly, and harsh and barren looking, and hot, but now all the invasives that were kept in check are thriving. Japanese knotweed, euonymus, Russian olive, bittersweet, garlic mustard- you name it, it's loving all the newfound sunshine.

Sorry for the rant. It just really bugs me. And so they chop down a tree 8 feet away when a 50-70 foot oak across the street can just as easily fall and take out the wires. And one of my trees they wanted to trim, I couldn't understand and asked why. They pointed out lower branches and said, those are within the 8 feet distance - underneath the wires! I said what? Are the branches going to fall UP if there's a storm?

Ok so sorry! The reason I brought all that up in the first place is they will be coming out to clear out a dead cedar and an oak that used to be a small sapling but somehow is suddenly 40 feet high, all in the wires. Once they take those out I can finish my project there. I just may have to go back to the drawing board, as I had planned a bed for mostly shade and now it will be sunny!

Here are my sad pics lol

Okay, confession, a few of these are actually from May, but time flies and I didn't get to post them lol. My weigela, from a cutting from a friend 25 years ago. I planted this in the wrong spot as a beginning gardener but don't think I can move it. It's huge!

My leggy Zephrine Drouins. The ones closer to the camera are saved by the lush foliage of a rooguchi clematis in bud. I am thinking of replacing the Zephies with Eden.

My Festiva Maxima. This is only a first year plant I think (pretty sure I planted it last fall) but it is doing great. Was the most floriferous of my new peonies although there was some kind of damage to many petals. Perhaps too much rain early in the season.

A little patch of nigella reseeders. Really quite a tiny little spectacular patch in person. Couldn't capture it on camera.

Calycanthus - I think Venus. I always want to call it Aphrodite but I think it's Venus. This is a lovely shrub, only wider than tall and slower growing than I had hoped. Also, every year it gets black spots on the blooms. Not sure what it is. Here's a few blooms before the spots take over.

One of my sunner beds in progress. Unknown yellow iris that bloom forever! Some purple Siberians I think in the foreground, from a client's garden, far right is a sambucus Lemony Lace that was one straight tall stick in spring; hoping it branches out some. Shrubs in back are unfortunately the neighbors euonymus, with my rather bare philadelphus that I've been thinking about removing for at least 15 years lol. And the reddish tall foliage to the left is an Autumn Sunset rose that is now in bloom (photo from a week ago). I removed that raised bed in the lower right and extended the bed where it was. This year will just be annuals there but this whole side of the yard will be mainly a shrub border.

Closer shot of the yellow iris.

Alright I'm sure I've said more than enough for one post! And that's all the pictures for now lol. Thanks for putting up with my rant (or politely ignoring it lol!)

:)

Dee

Dee, How did I miss this post? [g]

Well, you should not let your opinion of your own photos influence how many you post. Most people now use their phones exclusively to take photos. I happen to not have a smart phone and sometimes I think I am making things hard for myself. [g]

And lately, my vision needs some attention and I’m not sure my own photos are even in focus half the time. Lol Thankfully my camera has an automatic setting and I use that almost exclusively. And I take a lot of photos because I know I’m only going to b happy wtih a small percentage. Wider shots? Don’t you just need to turn the phone horizontally? I used to have a small Minolta that took excellent photos and it stopped working right. I still miss it.

That sounds like you’ve been going through an ordeal with the Electric Company. I would find that very upsetting to see 300 yr old trees taken down. I just noticed yesterday on a drive, that there was a new installation of plants and trees along a renovated roadway. Someone had planted a line of trees directly under the wires and I thought…what is wrong with people?

My neighbor has a big Maple that is planted way too close to the wires and the electric company or the town, not sure which, has routinely made the rounds to trim branches that are interfering or in danger of bringing down wires in a storm. We were just noticing the other day how carefully they had trimmed it and the tree looks great even with the severe pruning. Too many times people [companies] take what seems like the easy way out and in the end it makes things worse and not really easy at all. I know I’ve done that myself a time or two. [g]

Sorry to hear about unchecked invasives, you have my sympathies. My neighbor has Bittersweet and Poison Ivy growing unchecked on his property and I’m always on the hunt to dig them out of my garden before they get a foothold.

I hope you can concentrate on finalizing a plan for the space. The only way to look at it, is that now you have an area that will take more sun loving plants! You have said you have a lot of shade, right?

I love your Weigela! I don’t have one and this time of year, I always kick myself. My neighbor has a small one, maybe 1/3 the size of yours, and it’s planted under the drip line of a Maple so I am surprised when I see it thriving and blooming it’s head off.

I’m always impressed by any gardener that manages to raise a climber on a structure like that. Nice looking rose too.

Good choice, Festiva Maxima has to be a classic peony.

You have Venus Calycanthus, I have the burgundy color bloom, I forget the name. I think the white flowers show up better. Very nice.

You must have good soil Dee, everything grows so full and tall in your garden. Look at the size of that Rhododendron in the background and the Weigela! It’s a lot to garden though. I can’t even keep up with my small 1/4 acre…lol.

Thanks for the photos - keep them coming!

I'm posting photos of 'Beverly' again...lol. It's the first year, I've attempted to give it support for the vertical growth it seems to want to give. This should be the end of the first flush and will be the best it will look the rest of the year. Julia Child has been a little strange this year, opening up in the middle and flopping, but as usual clean foliage, lots of flowers. And it will usually give a better 2nd flush than Beverly does.

I'm really missing my usual June display of roses and clematis on my fence. And July and August, I have a lot less to post photos of.

This is 'Prairie Sunrise' - another healthy rose that produces big fragrant flowers and this year in particular the form of the flowers are unusually attractive. Not sure they have looked this good before. I'm kicking myself that I haven't moved that into better conditions yet. It has afternoon shade and is way too close to that Itea behind it.

I had a post then, POOF gone when i thought i was hitting submit. Bummer! Here goes again!

Dee, that is so sad and heartbreaking that there is just a clear-cut of all the trees. Does this leave you with any part/full shade beds that are now full sun?

Your pictures are awesome!! I think i have the same wegelia but no idea what it is called. My mom got cuttings from a friend and we always just call it Patsy's Wegelia! LOL!

I think I have same calycanthus and can never seem to remember which goddess graces my garden.

Love that yellow iris, and you have me intrigued about nigella........

PM2, those roses! So lush and the blooms! WOWZA!!! Your front path must smell heavenly!

Here are some pics from past few days;

Fringetree with Calycanthus Hartlage Wine. Wish I could send you the smells!

Looking down from top of front slope.

Climbing hydrangea

A snipped from the front bed with slope in background.

Oso Easy Paprika roses. The dwarf mugho is one that turns yellow in cold and then greens up for the summer season.

Mother Nature does a wonderful job. Never could I have accomplished this.

A bit messy, but sambucus, physocarpos, viburnum, wegelia....that all needs to be pruned but kitties are living behind it all!

Ahhhhh.....my mountain laurel in an "on" year.

This wegelia is stuffed in a small space, I'm a dope, but I'll keep it pruned back.

Now that oaks were cleared out in backyard trying to get some gardens back there. Viburnum in foreground and some nice, little hydrangeas I just found that echo it nicely. I think they are called early evolution....don't have tag right in front of me. Added two very sad carpet roses that I rescued from a scraggly part of my slope. I think/hope they'll survive. But to the right is the goddess who will bloom white, so i'm almost thinking I might not want color back here. When my other roses in the back beds come into bloom I'll post a picture. I'm thinking now of keeping all color in foreground with a white background. I'll post for opinions! We still have a bit of cleaning up to do back here and will be chopping more leaves......And the petasites.....well, it does worry me since it seems pretty happy in dry, dry, dry soil when this should want wet......I know i'm going to regret it......(planted years and years ago and now finally growing like crazy)

And for fun, 2 kitties thought they could take a couple turkeys! They were actually stalking them!

ok, i've tried twice to post pictures and both times GW has not saved my post....... ugh!

Thyme, You have turkeys too…lol. Your kitties certainly have an interesting time there. That is a red Wegelia? It’s paired nicely with that Japanese Maple and a wave of Hanoki grass and the grass mirrors the flow of the Maple. Very nice.

Isn’t that a pretty Mountain laurel. I had one that was just a watery pink, when it bloomed and it was not happy here. That’s striking and looks very happy.

I don’t often see red Lupine and those are so large! And there’s the bloom on your climbing Hydrangea. I think the blooms are quite large and abundant too. Quite the dressed up Oak tree trunk. I love it.

The Fringetree with Calycanthus is delightful. I would enjoy sitting under that.

For some reason I’m not really smelling the roses this year. Even after having a vase of them on the counter over night. I wonder why that is? Maybe cooler temps? On the other hand, I am still smelling the Kolkwitzia after 2 weeks of bloom when a lot of the petals are already on the lawn. And now I can smell the honey smell of Itea. There must have been 100 bees on that shrub this afternoon and I’ve been worried that I wasn’t seeing bees, so I am relieved.

Ok, so i guess GW just took long time for me to see my post. I had done it twice and when i went back they weren’t there. Glad you enjoyed the photos.

the turkeys have become such a nuisance this year. They are so tame and practically hang out with me in the garden. they scratch everything/everywhere. Fortunately not too much damage to the borders yet this year (one year they reallt destroyed my shade garden), but all the mulch and pathways are being scratched up with mulch and stone and dirt flying! This year they are even venturing into cottage garden multiple times per day. They have never gone into that area. And, we have soooo many babies chickies in the woods. They better all fly the coop when their grown! 😀

I do like that wegelia and the weird thing is red is not my favortie color AT ALL in the garden. Yet somehow red is the main color of the roses on the slope, the wegelia is gorgeous red and the lupine were a fluke but gorgeous. I buy 6-packs every year and see what I get. 2 of them were this red color. So I guess I DO like red!

The yellow rose might be Yellow Submarine. It was planted in my front and would bloom and then get blackspot and gross leaves, etc.... I moved it to more sun and it's so lush right now, I'm curious to see how it looks after blooming. Fingers crossed. I'm starting to really like these Knockout roses. Although I had a white in this border just planted last year and it didn't make it which is odd, since I revamped last year and all the other roses made it. Oh well.

I liked this combo of Bartzella and the alchemilla and bleeding heart.

Someone's comment on a post I made years ago reminded me that I had forgotten about this wonderful group of gardeners. my husband and I got old and neither of us have the stamina we once had. today I hope to get potatoes planted finally. i usually plant late to avoid Colorado potato beetles. we also finally had a real vacation together in Maine near Acadia. i loved the Charlotte Rhoades Butterfly Garden and all the lupines blooming everywhere.

my husband cut the invading sprouts on our lovely weeping crab which bloomed the same time as a well coordinating pink azalea. yesterday I finally pruned the halo dogwood which was hiding a pereniall boad leafed chive. our second grandd's graduation party was here last weekend and the rhododendron by the barn was on gaudy display. Rain threatened so we partied in the two car garage although I had offered the house. A bouquet of lilacs added fragrance to the kitchen. my husband found a vase so I didn't have to use a mason jar.

The good news: a viburnum I planted temporarily years ago started overwhelming my vegetable garden. Our newish neighbors actually related were willing to take the now mature shrub which my husband dug out with heavy equipment and delivered. i think he dug a hole for them, too. They have beautified my parents' neglected property and now even have a zero turn mower. they also got a spindly gold leaf spirea. My husband also dug out a honeysuckle that may have been the invasive kind. discovered a new small patch of Japanese knotweed which is the only time we use Round Up. my husband has spent years trying to kill a single plant. it seems to be gone and comes back. i suspect the town mower blessed us with these. Further up the road, same side,mthere's a large stand of knotweed.

Bad news: maybe two years ago I thought I dug out spiderwort from walkway border. last summer was a summer of neglect. it's now back again more than before. Not sure if I should offer it free after warning of invasiveness or consign to hades.

Well out to get at least two hours of slow but steady garden work done.

Defrost - You and your husband are getting old, like a lot of us. [g] I can identify with having less stamina. Although really it doesn’t sound like you are slowing down all that much! You’re still keeping up with vegetable gardening but in the past two years, that is an area I’ve needed to take a step back from. I’m still trying to fit it in and adjust to lower expectations.

I’m constantly trying to figure a way to get stronger but it feels like a losing battle most of the time. Lol But I remember my Mom always saying, ‘Use it or lose it’ when she was a little younger than I am now. So I at least try to keep that in the forefront of my priorities. It sounds like that is what you are doing too.

I’m having to adjust my list of garden projects and whether I’m ever going to get to them. But, it is surprising how the garden carries on in ways you don’t expect when you are forced to take a few steps back. It keeps me thinking, if I just do this and do that, we’ll still be on track. Right or wrong, at least it keeps my head in the game. LoL

I really enjoy the group of gardeners here on the NEForum too. Not only gardeners who are in the same boat I am, but younger gardeners who have amazing stamina. I love to see how much they can do! And everyone has such beautful gardens.

We have wanted to take a vacation to Arcadia for years and haven’t yet. How far a drive was it for you? If we ever get there, I’ll have to remember the Butterfly Garden. Were you just there? Did you enjoy the ocean drive?

So you’ve gotten around to some projects you’ve had on your list for awhile. It feels good doesn’t it? And a family party for a graduation, sounds so idyllic! You certainly seem to be staying busy, which is always a good thing. Glad to see you posting, I hope when you get some time, you’ll post some photos of your garden!

Thyme, Love that Bartzella!

I find it surprising that the turkeys hang out with you there. They are usually hostile and aggressive when I’ve seen them in our neighborhood. I haven’t seen any this year though.

I really like that red Wegelia too. I don’t feel I have a large enough garden to fit in red. I love red, but I love it with a limited palette of purples and violets and not with pinks and yellows. So I avoid it all together. You have the room to use it and it looks good.

Our dog found this Rabbit Hole in a raised veggie bed. She was acting suspicious and not coming when I called her, in the pathway next to this bed. When I went to see what she was doing there was a baby on the ground. I think she picked it up in her mouth and dropped it. After I got her back in the house I went back and when I touched it it reacted by wriggling and it turned over on it's side and had a little scrape on her hind quarter that I assume was from the dog. I went in the house and got an old piece of towel and picked her up with it and put her back in the rabbit hole. It was tiny, looked just born, blind, closed eyes, no ears, no fur. The hole was deeper than I thought and it sort of rolled down into it. And I left it alone. Later I came back and saw the rabbit fur covering the entry and I believe the Mom must have come back and put things right. Now we're having to escort the dog out to the yard every time to keep her away from the hole. [g] *sigh*

The top of one of the Elderberry blooms that is finally developing berries since the bees apparently have shown up.

I was quite shocked to see a pepper on this plant. This is 'Ace' variety. I am just trying it for the first time and only have the one plant. None of the others have more than flowers on them. This is very fast! I will be growing more of this variety!

Penstemon and Julia Child ..

Getting ready to start cutting off blooms that go by and shaping the bushes. I've already given away bouquets and have a couple of nice ones on the counter.

And there is one of the little buggers making himself at home in the garden....

Thanks, PrairieMoon. Acadia is about five hours from Concord NH area. the butterfly garden is in Southwest Harbor. On our way back to the cottage we also stopped at Seal Cove auto museum which I liked better than most because ofmtheir display about woemn and cars that was part of a larger display in 2020 celebrating the 100th anniversary of getting the right to vote. we avoided Bar Harbor area due to cruise ship crowds and did not want to buy a ticket to visit top of Cadillac which we'ce done before. back in 1997. we usually visit midcoast Maine and prefer the free drive to top of Mt Battie. the ocean drive we took was onmthe Schoodic Penninsula which is still part of Acadia National Park but less popular but very beautiful.

Your mother was right, use it or lose it. Thanks for commenting.

Great tips on an Arcadia and just a Maine trip, Thanks Defrost. Have to try a little harder to get there.

Okay, we're getting to the end of the month. I didn't post these photos yet. Remember I said I was collecting all the branches that came down over the winter? Here's the pile still there, that I'm still procrastinating making a berm wtih it all. Meanwhile a rabbit has moved into it....and Babs figured it out....lol

And Dee, I wanted to send you a message back channel but you have them turned off. Thank you SO much for your support earlier and I hope you will recover from such an unpleasant thread. I'm over it and I hope you are too!!

Hey PM2! Yes, let's leave that thread in the past lol. Still shaking my head though....

That bunny is heartachingly adorable! I had the exact same thing in one of my cinderblock raised bed several years ago. I used to grow a winter cover crop of vetch, and one spring I was horribly delayed in getting it cut back. I found an area that was flattened and was quite perplexed - I was thinking, did a deer fall over into the bed?? The bed is two cinderblocks high so it was odd. Then we noticed all this gray fur. My husband gently poked it with a stick - and it poked back! LOLOL we must have jumped a mile high we were so startled. Then we saw the babies and they were so small we didn't even know what they were. All this smack in the middle of my veggie garden. I thought I was doomed but thankfully the bunny family all moved out!

As always, such lovely photos everyone! I'm still waiting for the electric company to come so I have stuff in pots waiting to be planted. Yes, I will have more sun there which is nice - although I had expected them to be done by now and was hoping my tomatoes would have more sun by now. Oh well.

I mostly have daylilies starting, daisies, some hostas, and annuals - my reseeded QAL are well over my head, and the purple larkspur I love so much is in bloom. My cosmos are gearing up and some rudbeckia as well. And I have a few roses starting. My completely defoliated new Iceberg is trying to make nice and has filled out again and is in bud. She must know I can't make a decision so she's making it harder to pull her out!

:)

Dee

Hi Dee, agreed, moving on. :-)

The photos I posted are of our daughter’s dog Babs who is looking for the rabbits hiding in the branch pile. [g] They have nests in the brush pile AND a raised veggie bed! This is not the first season they have picked a raised veggie bed to build a nest in. They are gone now and I’m going to be dismantling my raised beds, hopefully this season, so maybe they’ll find another yard to build a nest in. It’s really not safe here with Babs.

I have pots I haven’t planted yet too and this week I am going to either have to do that or pot them up to the next size. I had Hyacinth bulbs I had in the house late winter and after they died, I kept them in pots outside and kept watering them. I've been waiting to add them to the beds, and I got them in the ground yesterday before all the spring bulb foliage disappears and I wouldn't know where they were. That frees up about 10 pots that were making a mess! And hopefully these bulbs will come back for me next spring and increase my inventory. And now I can get rid of leftover dead bulb foliage.

My one NOID daylily just started blooming yesterday. Same time as red raspberry Monarda and they look good together. That is a really tall QAL?! Either that or you are shorter than I guessed….lol. I didn’t know they grew that tall.

I have eliminated the cosmos that has been reseeding because it had just become weedy and not very attractive. I may start over at some point. I did add a couple of six packs of Violet Queen Cleome and that is blooming. I have a little Dill that reseeded, although small still.

I don’t have Rudbeckia any more, I ended up having to divide it too often. I bought a Coreopsis last year - Cream something? - and the foliage was mildewed by the end of the season last year and I thought I might lose it or have to dig it out this year, but it has come back fine with lots of nice green foliage and buds that haven’t opened yet.

I’ll have to take some photos of roses for the July thread. The first flush is just about finished up and some of them are pushing up new buds already.

Lilies/Hydrangea/Butterfly Bush/Hibiscus will be next. Right now I’m trying to get rid of pots hanging around and just clean up in general. We walked around Rockport MA yesterday and each little shop has a postage stamp of property on BearsNeck and they do such creative things with plants. I was inspired to come home and get rid of any messes. Including scrubbing the front steps that were a mess from wet pots on them all last season. I’m going to need to use saucers on the steps.

Okay, that’s it for me. I’ll post the July thread hopefully on Monday.

Stratford CT - Everyone’s gardens are so pretty! I’ve got the largest tomato plant ever (maybe cherokee?) taking over the herb bed

The first flowers on native prickly pear I still cannot believe it grows here

Our front pollinator bed - 2 monarchs so far but early

Hydrangeas are spectacular this year

Late blooming magenta poppies and I tossed the envelope without noting variety. I will collect seeds for next year.

And lastly a visitor today- somehow what I believe to be red tail hawks, kicked out the ospreys that have nested on cell tower across the street for 6 summers. You can see cat ears at the bottom of this pic. She is obssessed with sparrows - so this blew her mind!

Brdr1 - That is one healthy looking tomato plant! You’re off to a great start! That’s a nice patch of Butterfly weed. Yes, I agree the hydrangeas are spectacular this year! Must have been a warm winter.

I used to have that poppy - The name is ‘Lauren’s Grape’.

That is some big Hawk!! And wow that must have made your cat’s day….lol!

Thanks for posting your photos. Love to see how everyone is doing this season. Hope you’ll post again when that tomato has some ripe fruit on it!

I am very late to this thread! A question for Thyme -- how do you deal with autumn clean-up of fallen leaves on your beautiful gardens?? I am loving the look (and sensibility) of chopped leaves as a mulch and actually bought myself a leaf chopper thingy, which I have not used yet. BUT the fellow who comes in the fall to clear off my mainly-oak-leaves-mess just uses a blower and would blow any mulch into the woods. Not what I want, but it seems NO-one rakes by hand these days (and I no longer can).

So what is this elderly gardener to do? What do YOU do when the leaves are off the trees? Oak leaves are notorious for not breaking down quickly, so leaving them on the gardens in their whole state is a no-go, really...

le sigh. A really BIG sigh....

Ugh, I posted HOURS ago but apparently my post never posted!

brdrl, I LOVE that photo It is hysterical - those little kitty ears in silhouette as the hawk sits there! And what a beautiful bird.

I was thinking of you the other day. I was driving through Stratford in the area where you said you lived and I was wondering how your garden was this year. I see now it's doing quite well!

roxanna I use shredded oak leaves as mulch too. Was just out the last two days mulching. A slow process as my husband dumps them in the woods so I have to walk to the back of the property, fill my one little canvas bag, trudge to where I'm mulching, spread the leaves, trudge back to the woods, refill the bag, and so on. This weekend was particularly tedious - the trigger on my hose sprayer won't shut off, and I was doing some larger beds with shrubs so in those bigger areas I put down newspaper under the leaves. So I had to walk across the property to turn on the hose, walk back to the area I was working in to wet down the paper I had put down (and hope it didn't blow away in the minutes it took me to walk back and forth lol - very windy weekend with the storms and all) Then walk back to turn off the spigot, then walk back to the woods, then to the beds - oy vey, did I get my steps in this weekend lol!

Anyway, could you have your guy blow some leaves into a pile for you, instead of the woods? Then you could put them through the shredder. I LOVED my shredder. You do have to pace yourself and not let it run too long or the motor will crap out, but I had mine for years. Then my husband got a riding mower that can mulch the leaves, so it's much quicker and easier, but truth be told the shredder did a much nicer job! But ask your guy about blowing them into a pile or into a specific area where you can access the pile and shred them. He may be happy to do it.

:)

Dee

I use a lot of shredded leaf mulch. We get a lot of Maple leaves from lots of mature trees around us. I let them stay where they fall under the trees for the most part, but we mow them up on the lawn and to me that shreds them sufficiently. We just empty the mower bag into a big pile and I go and fill up a 5 gallon bucket with that when I am ready to mulch. I use the leaves on my shrub borders in the back except for about a 2ft edging of bark mulch along the front edge. I still haven't finished doing mine for the season and I'm way behind. By the time it gets hot, [now], I like to have it all done.

I also loved our Sunjoe leaf shredder.there were a few ways to use it, but bringing the shredder to the leaf pile was the most efficient. However it takes stamina to keep bending down and getting the leaves into the shredder hopper. When our 3 rd one died we did not replace it. We bought a self propelled Toro shredder mower and just shred everything in place. My garden helper still wants to bag everything and take to the curb and i keep intervening. It is getting to be a lot and my ”get done by dates” get later and later. Same thing in spring. Im trying to adjust my thinking to a continuous calendar of activity because i just cant get everything finished by a certain date whether it is June 1 or July 1 or August 1. i understand how a garden becomes neglected now.