what a gorgeous day

We’re a little late this year, getting the garden in. The trip to Michigan and wet weather delayed us a bit, but this weekend was great. By tomorrow we should have our tomato plants in the ground. And the corn planted (I mean raccoon treats planted, I think).

We enlarged the garden a bit—we need more space for tomato plants that will get some sun and I want to try corn this year. A fool’s dream, probably, since we have deer this year when we never did before—damn things ate most of my tulips and munched down a lot of peony buds and the top of a burning bush.

The climbing roses are stunning this year—and they smell wonderful. The rugosa has barely started blooming yet, but it’s loaded with buds. And the false indigo plant is really pretty—worth waiting for it to really shrub out and bloom.

Roses, false indigo, and Stanley working, May 31, 2009
Climbing roses, false indigo, a peony bud the deer didn’t notice, and Stanley, May 31, 2009. Photo by Lee Fleming Thompson (click to enlarge)

Stanley rototilling May 31, 2009
Stanley rototilling, May 31, 2009. Photo by Lee Fleming Thompson (click to enlarge)

backyard wide view May 31 2009
A wider view of the backyard—looking forward to getting our plants and seeds in. May 31, 2009. Photo by Lee Fleming Thompson (click to enlarge)

We put in several pine trees and arborvitae about five years ago and this year they’re quite substantial—except for the blue spruce. Those are still stubby shrubs. The lilac didn’t bloom this year, though it did last year. I think last year was a fluke since it really has another two years to go before it’s supposed to start flowering. You can see our eclectic sorta hedge in the photo below:

Ruby and Bingo May 31, 2009
Ruby and Bingo had a great afternoon playing. May 31, 2009. Photo by Lee Fleming Thompson (click to enlarge)

Ruby, who was one year old on May 13. 5/31/2009
Ruby is mostly a mellow, sweet dog. She likes sitting in the shade and watching Stanley in between mad bouts of wrestling with Bingo. May 31, 2009. Photo by Lee Fleming Thompson (click to enlarge)

Bingo busy finding the ball, May 31, 2009.
Bingo is a busy dog—always looking for a job to do. Her favorite thing to do is play fetch—and she actually brings the ball back to us! May 31, 2009. Photo by Lee Fleming Thompson (click to enlarge)

We went to Home Depot on Saturday to get replacement tomato plants for the ones from Burpee that croaked—Burpee sent them way too early and we had to leave them in the sink while we went to Michigan. Some survived. Helene gave me basil, and we got rosemary, lavender, petunias, and marigolds. Still need cleomes—gotta have them!

We need to replace the porch boards this year so I don’t want to load it up with pots as I usually do, but we did put the big pot outside and I planted the rosemary, some basil, some marigolds, and put in Bibb lettuce seeds. Whether or not we get any lettuce remains to be seen—depends on how close the deer and bunnies get to the house. If they get up on the porch, well, I guess it’s good to feed the wildlife, but I love homegrown lettuce so maybe we’ll get lucky.

It just felt so good to be outside, get my hands dirty, watch Stanley with the tiller, play with the puppies. We have lots more to do over the next few days and we have the whole front side section to clean up, shade plants to get in ...

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