I am guilty of taking lots of photos documenting what is going on around here and not taking the time to post them. We don’t have any cell service out here so I can’t take photos with my phone and upload them. When we invest in a signal booster I will be able to post to Instagram and Facebook which will help in keeping our social channels more current.
Three things in this photo make me very happy: rain barrels, a trailer and MANURE! We found out our neighbour is the ‘connoisseur of manure’ around here and they were nice enough to put us on their ‘sh@t list’. We are letting them pasture their horses in the field and getting loads of beautifully aged manure in return.
We bought the trailer from our friends last month. I have a hitch on my 4Runner so I get to learn how to maneuver it around. It needs some work but will be great for taking loads to the dump and other chores. The rain barrels also came from the neighbour. We are going to figure out a water storage plan using the downspouts because it looks like we are in for another really dry summer.
These photos are from 2 weeks ago when the weather started getting warm and clear. The fig cuttings in the greenhouse are coming along at the same rate as this mother fig tree.
The hostas in this bed at the front of the yard are filling in nicely. The vinca in the background is 2 feet high and perfect for this dry bed.
Irises come and go so quickly that I knew I had to shoot them the same day. Someone is following me around.
I don’t know what this plant is but I have always thought of it as a weed. I recognized the leaf when it first came out and decided to let it do its thing. Nice surprise to see that it shows off very well against the lambs ear.
Last August all the rhodos that were here were so desiccated by drought we thought that most of them were dead. We spent the winter mulching and watering in the hopes that we would get good flower buds this spring.
This rhodo is by the patio so it is getting more attention. I have put coffee grounds around it and it gets watered more often than the others.
Dark purple rhodo by the driveway. Getting photo bombed again I see….
I took this photo because there are 3 azaleas here and they are not doing well. It is hard to see all the plants because of the ivy on the fence. The one in the middle isn’t flowering at all and the 2 on each side have flower buds but they are not coming out and the leaves are wilting. You can see that we amended this bed with lots of top soil a few weeks ago but I am afraid that it is so dry here that the azaleas are not getting any water.
I am determined to grow these azaleas because I had beautiful specimens at the house I used to own on Pine Street. They was on the north side of the yard and were absolutely stunning in the spring.
This week I moved all the top soil away from the plants and watered them deeply. The next day the leaves had perked up but the buds are fading away. The rhodos on this side of the yard aren’t doing as badly as the azaleas so I will have to think about moving these azaleas into a sunnier spot this fall. Or I am going to have to invest in more soaker hoses for this side of the yard.
I bought this rhodo from an elderly gentlemen at the Nanaimo Rhodo Society sale about 5 years ago. It was growing in a pot until last fall when I finally transplanted it to this spot. Again, some of the buds aren’t coming out because it is so dry. We really like this dark red colour.
I just bought these 3 rhodos from Costco. Purple one is Catawbiense Boursault, right front is Golden Gate and right back is Capistrano. Here is the start of my evil plan to create a new bed under the firs and cedars in the front yard. Also planted are hellebore, Epimedium and hardy geranium. Eventually all the grass will be dug out.
Flora blends in well with this wall. We finally put the patio furniture out.
Oh look – there was someone else hanging out on the wall. Handsome boy!
