Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Well, in the course of the last week we've seen the rise and fall of Weinergate, Sarah Palin rewrote history, and Lulzsec had fun with numerous sites including good old Sony...  Meanwhile, I'm still trying to grow vegetables.  Not nearly as thrilling as a meat tweet BUT it certainly has its rewards.  When looking back at the last post I am stunned to see how much the garden has grown - see for yourself:

Did I happen to mention that the pumpkins also went nuts?  They have all officially spilled over the edge of the mini patch.  What's interesting to me is the plants on either side of Audrey III are seeds from the same pumpkin but they are growing very differently.  As you can see one is super long but the other one is rather bushy - only time will tell I suppose.

More exciting news: LILIES HAVE BLOOMED!  There's 8 or so currently open and more look ready to burst.  They're mostly a surprise to me since we bought them on the cheap last year ($1.65 each I think) - after they had bloomed.  Wasn't sure what colors I'd be seeing this year, but so far it's mostly white with one yellow.  I won't recognize the yard when we come back from vacation!

Mmmm, sunflowers

Well, I used to have 15 sunflowers growing until something munched about 95% of the row.  I do believe I have found the culprit:

It's impossible to be angry when he's so cute.

In bloom

Lots of cheery looking flowers blooming through the yard.

Petunias

Spiderwort

Sweet William

Pansy

Marigold

Foxglove

Columbine

Bubble stuck on the lambs ear

Photos Galore

We seem to be out of the mega rain we've had for the last few weeks, ending in a big way with confirmed tornadoes in our area.  The neighbors will be finding a new place to live since a tree fell directly in their living room - thankfully everyone (including the cats & dog) is OK.  We were very fortunate, no damage to any of our stuff.  Shawn had made tomato cages the night before the mega-storm hit on Thursday so we did not have a single veggie casualty.  The plants have really enjoyed all of the rain and have flourished.  It's amazing to me to see how much the garden has grown since my last post - we even have some micro cucumbers out there!

The mini pumpkin patch.  Audrey III is in the center.

The left half of the garden:
Onions, radishes, carrots, tomatoes, and some lettuce.

The right side:
Pepper field (19 plants, 4 varieties), cucumbers, cabbage, and beans.

Cucumber flower

One of many micro cukes

The herbs:
Cilantro, basil, dill, parsley, chives, and catnip.

Rain, rain, it's kind of OK.

I know sometimes rain is a pain (sorry about the awful rhyme there) but often times it offers a good photo opportunity .

I'm delighted to see these violets all through the yard

Lovely bleeding hearts

Just a weed.

A fly...  probably pooping on the pansy.

Ew, hairy fly.

Misty lobelia

Outdoor trials

Last week the plants made the transition from bath tub to the great outdoors.  I wanted them to spend a week getting used to the elements before they ended up in the garden.  

Of course I couldn't leave them that exposed so they were temporarily housed in some open boxes for the next week.  Shawn put a net over the top to further protect them from any sticks or other debris that may be floating around.  Everything did quite well - no plant casualties & lots of rain followed by sun.  All in all a great week to start the plants outside.  

Dance of the fuzzy bees

Twenty days have zipped on by since I last posted anything.  Not a whole lot has happened in that time frame...  Lots of rain, and I do mean LOTS.  Which sort of sucks the motivation out of ya - well it does to me at any rate.  I have managed to do some things out in the yard, like add this little flowerbed out front:

There are quite a few types of flowers housed in that little bed.  daffodils, hyacinth, astilbe, coral bells, bleeding hearts...  all of which are doing pretty great.  

The first daffodil

Hyacinth - on clearance @ Lowes - 3 bulbs for $2

Bleeding  hearts are starting to bloom!

The yard is becoming very well stocked with plants, mostly because of friends and family giving me pieces of their yard.  This year I have received (and planted, in some cases even shared with my neighbors) daffodils, ornamental grass, hostas, daylilies, foxglove, bee balm, sweet william, helenium, lily of the valley, plus the spiderwort liberated from a previous residence.  The flowers are certainly enjoying all the rain even if I don't because as we know April showers = May flowers.  I am seeing a great deal of bumblebees cruising around outside, too.  I watched them for several minutes two days ago; pairs of bees chasing each other doing a funny little dance of sorts.  I found myself captivated by the bees and wondered if this happens every spring and I am just noticing it or if I have some goofy bees residing near me.  Perhaps they are just checking out the sweet new pots on the front of the shed:

$1 clearance Lowe's pansies & some lobelia

Lovely azalea bush - $2.50, clearance @ Lowe's

Dandelions, they're just unexpected flowers.
Seems harsh to label them as weeds.

Rocks Ann also got to go outside for a bit today.  She was, as always, beyond delighted.  Visitors are often surprised at how well she behaves outside without a leash.  She just goes out to do her two favorite outdoor activities: eating grass & rolling on concrete.  Once she's done she'll walk right back inside, such a good (and smart) kitty.  

nom nom nom nom nom

Meanwhile, Forrest is inside.  He is not so keen on the outside world.  I carry him out and walk around the yard but he starts to meow after a few minutes - gazing at the door to go back inside.  He's the type of kitty that hangs out at the central A/C vents- clearly the outdoors are not really his thing.

 

O yes, let's check in on the veggies...

Peppers

Cucumbers

Tomatoes

Cabbage, daisies, snapdragons, & pumpkins

Audrey III, right, with other Big Max pumpkin

Shawn is planning to put the garden fence up this weekend while I rake in the big bucks (ha) with a yard sale, and next weekend the veggies will be in their permanent  homes.

< $5

One of the jars from the flea market was aqua colored glass, taller than the others, and already has a wire handle of sorts so I wanted to do something different with it.  I painted it with the same rolling-in-water method as the others, and used only silver and the weird pink.  I really like the way it turned out and decided to use it for a springy vase.  I got two bunches of fake daffodils from Michaels for the low low price of 79¢ and split them apart to arrange them.  I stuffed the bottom of the jar with the remaining Easter grass and poked in the faux flowers, and voila!

$1.58 flowers + $1 jar + 50¢ spray paint + leftover grass = rustic spring centerpiece