lillies

With deck renos fast approaching, we haven't done much of anything in our garden this year. But the lillies made an appearance regardless...

ready, set, go

So, this happened today...

One side of the gate fell off it's hinges. Actually, the hinge broke. So the gate is now just leaning up against the planter. I think the deck wants a makeover as much as I do now... it's falling apart all by itself now.

Deck reno

The last few weeks we've been dealing with trying to find someone to redo our back deck. We've had quotes, negotiated contracts, picked out what type of materials we wanted, applied for credit, and are currently waiting for engineering studies, drawings, permits, and the work to start. Here are just a few pics of the current deck...

I can't wait for the new one to be installed, but at this rate, I feel like it's going to be late into the summer before it's all done, and I get to enjoy it.

Damn racoons!

The racoons tried to get into our deck again on Friday night. They like to nest under the bench, but we've put chicken wire all along the back edge, so they can't get in anymore.

Although, it looks like they tried to chew their way in through the front this time. We pulled it apart to make sure nothing was sleeping inside. Then nailed it all back together. Again. I can't wait to get our deck replaced!

drying herbs

I'm drying some of the herbs from the garden.
We have a bit of lavender, some parsley, and tarragon...

... and mint, sage, and (my fave) basil...

I love fresh herbs, but when the summer is over, it's nice to have some home-made dried herbs to use. They are so much more flavourable than store bought ones!

The garden

As summer comes to a close, I took a few picks of the garden to remind myself of how much I love spending time in my back yard.
The mint and basil are doing wonderful this year despite the dry weather...

The corner of the garden that we cleaned out this year keeps changing, but is slowly coming together. I love that most things are in pots, so I can move them around to change up the look...

This is the corner that we need to work on. Probably next year, we will gut this and start over. Mostly because of the dead Japanese Maple in the corner...

When I fertilized the veges and herbs last time, I also put a bit in the flower pots. This is the best they have looked all summer!

Even the strawberries are still growing...

I'm looking forward to the fall, but am going to miss the summer!

The beans

The garden this year, has not been growing great. Mostly because of the long very super dry summer. In fact, my beans look absolutely hideous.

I thought about taking them down, but they are still producing about a handful a week.

It's not much, but enough to use in a dinner for the two of us.

Hummingbirds

Just a few pics of the hummingbirds in the backyard. They are so used to seeing us hanging around, I was able to get really close. And with the telephoto lens, I got some awesome pics...

So cute!

New Chairs

Today, we both had a day off work, so we went and picked up new patio chairs. The old ones came from a set given to us by my Mother-in-Law...

The table and umbrella are still good, despite being over 20 years old. And the chairs lasted a long time. But about 2 years ago, the first one ripped. Then the second. Early this year, I broke the third, and then hubby sat on the 4th and it split too. We talked about getting a new set, but found these chairs, and ended up picking up 6 of them...

Perfect!

Spring is just around the corner

Spring doesn't officially start until next week, but my Christmas cactus is blooming like crazy (has been since I got back from New Orleans)...

And my daffodils are up...

And a lot of my other bulbs are starting to bloom too...

And I've even been out in the garden once so far this season weeding and cleaning.

apricot roses

The apricot rose bush is starting to bloom again...

They smell so good!

Clean up

Hubby took my advice yesterday, and took down most of the trumpeter vine along our back fence. Also known as the "hummingbird tree", we really should cut it back every couple of years, so it doesn't get so out of control. He cut it back, but was so tired and sore after that, he left the mess in the yard....

Today, we tackled the cleanup and now the back yard looks a lot better...

eating from the garden

I have so much lettuce growing that I can make lunches all week from the garden, and not have to buy lettuce from the store anymore.

Also, the strawberries are coming along -- a little late this year because of the weather, but will be ripe soon.

Unfortunately, my beans and tomatoes are not doing so well. Hopefully, they will pick up when the weather turns hotter and drier later on.

Victoria Day Long Weekend

This weekend was the long weekend, and we spent most of this weekend planting. The garden is all planted, and the flowers have all been purchased and planted.

Bad Winter results

It was a brutal winter this season. As a result, my rosemary plant died. My parsley plant died. My mint isn't coming back like it used to. And all my lavender plants don't look like they will make it either.
Today, I replanted the rosemary

parsley,

and mint.

Hopefully, they will survive and do well.

Peas!

I planted peas. And they are doing well.

I've tried in the past, but they never really worked out. I found out that I've been planting them too late in the year. So, they never really grew or produced much. They also always turned brown and dried up. Which I thought was either over-watering or under-watering. Turns out, it's because of a fungus that can grow in the ground. To help this, it was suggested that I plant peas in pots with fresh potting soil. Which I did this year. This is round one. I'm going to plant another round in a couple of weeks, so hopefully I'll have lots of peas this year.

gardening in the mud

My car had to go to the shop to get the snow tires off and change a leaky transmission seal. So, I took a rare day off work, dropped the car off this morning, and am "stuck" at home today. Not a bad thing! I put on my new gumboots that I picked up at Walmart last week (don't you just love them?! - so cute!)...

waded out to the garden (yes, the garden is one big mud puddle right now!), and planted my seedlings...

I have no idea if they will survive. They look so tiny and fragile! But, I wanted to plant more seedlings, so I needed to get these into the dirt. With the brutal winter we had, everything is so late this year!

Gardening the right way

I decided I wanted to do things a little differently this year when it comes to my garden. So, I picked up the West Coast Gardening Catalouge...

It's a catalogue to order seeds from West Coast Seeds, but it's full of planting guides, and tips and tricks on when to plant what, from seeds to transplanting to direct sowing outside. I got frustrated last year because my garden did not do well. This year, I'm hoping things will be a bit different. Although, it's a little hard to think about spring and gardening when the weather is still cold, and more snow is in the forecast.

Hummingbird tree

We have a trumpeter vine that we call the Hummingbird tree (because the hummingbirds love it). It starts to flower around the middle of August, and usually means that summer is coming to a close soon. The problem this year? It's only the beginning of July, and already the vine has flowers on it!

Global warming?

My Garden this year

We have basil (and mint in the container in the background)

We have cherry tomatoes

We have beans

And, wow!, the "great potato experiment" is actually growing!

We have a couple of pots of strawberries

And peas!

The weather has been super weird this summer... really, really hot in April, super dry in May, and cold and rainy in June, so I'm worried about how things are going to grow this year. Although, so far, things are doing fine.