The garden in pictures. It is so pretty right now.

Last year in the garden my nasturtiums were tiny and had few flowers. This winter a plant came up in the greenhouse from the compost I put in the greenhouse bed. It grew and grew and is now about three feet across with lovely pink flowers. I thought it was a bad type of nasturtium that grew super small. I stand corrected...my formerly crappy soil strikes again. 

Need to move this beautiful dwarf iris into the garden. It is much brighter than this looks. 

Alice by the fuchsia. 

Strawberries looking pretty good. 

Fall rye cleaned out totally and beds ready to go. 

Rainier Cherry blossoms.

Blueberry walk in full bloom.

My sister titled this picture "once a gardener, always a gardener".

I was going through my sisters facebook pictures today and stumbled on this picture of me. It was the 80's...can you tell? Everything has changed, yet nothing has!

A weekend check list...

Now that the Japanese Maples have been moved out of Garden Central, I am inspired and anxious to get things moving along. It was pointed out to me recently that a plan is just an idea until you put a date on it. Because of this simple, yet extremely wise piece of advice, I have become fanatical about scheduling myself at the store instead of going in each day and just plodding along getting the insurmountable tasks, orders, taxes, payroll, and on, and on...underway. Now I have a task, maybe two, each day and then just do whatever else strikes my fancy, but without the panic of deadlines looming. It all gets done. This new way of viewing work, has rolled over into my home life. I cannot believe the amount I can get done!!! I highly recommend it. 

        Compassion Farm Sunflowers. They are HUGE!!!

So, my garden tasks:

-remove tags from Japanese Maples.  DONE

-spread manure in the perennial flower bed.  HALF DONE

-more manure on blueberries.  DONE

-manure on asparagus and rhubarbs.  DONE

-mix a big batch of organic dry fertilizer.  DONE

-prune rhodo at front after flowering.  DONE

-feed citrus trees.  DONE

-remove grass from around fruit trees.  ALMOST DONE

-plant Compassion Farm sunflower seeds.  DONE

-clean up the last bed full of fall rye.  DONE

-start weedwacking the back yard for cardboard and lasagna beds.  DONE

-remove strings from Jonagold.  DONE

-tie down the ambrosia tree branches.  DONE

-plant pansies.  DONE

-figure out where to make a tiny hedge of six lavender Hidcote  DONE

-pot up the cuttings from the fall.  DONE

-transplant cymbidium orchid.  DONE

-divide the mint and oregano.  DECIDED THEY CAN GO ANOTHER YEAR!!

Had to stop...plain old exhausted.

Summer is just around the corner...here's the proof.

Here is the roof of my greenhouse. Look at the vent. It is solar powered so it opens automatically when it gets hot in the greenhouse. Today is the first day this year that the vent has opened. I knew it was going to be a great gardening day. It was almost 17 degrees celcius. 

Making more garden room...

At some point last year I realized that my Japanese Maples were planted right in prime gardening real estate in the back yard. I dreaded asking Allan for help. He grumbled the whole time we were planting them several years ago. I told him I was going to move them to the front garden and I thought he was going to burst a blood vessel in his temple. When he went inside I grabbed the shovel and got to work. It took me about four hours to dig out the four maples and move them to the front garden.

Three of the four holes where the maples were. See those three fruit trees to the right of the holes. They are now called "My Orchard". 

Here are the maples in the front garden sitting on the soil while I place them. 

And here they are...planted. I am so happy with how they look. I know they will be happier here. The soil in the back is rock solid clay. I am happy and oh so, so, so, so sore.