2024 Garden Tour

 

I'll start the tour with January and snow.  Today, July 31, was in the upper 80's, which for us is hot enough, but the humidity was pushing the heat index into the mid-90's.  In other words, step out of the door of an air-conditioned building and feel as if you stepped into a warm bathtub.  Amazing how our temperatures change in a few months' time.

So, here we are in the last week of July:

We've had a very wet spring and summer this year, so wet that many of the farmers were not able to get fields planted for our short growing season, and the hay crops were difficult to get off the fields, too.  

Gardening is nothing compared to farming, obviously, but does have frustrations as well.   Days of rain kept us out of the garden, and cloudy days didn't provide the light the annuals needed to grow well.  Weeds, on the other hand, have been exuberant and irrepressible, reappearing seemingly overnight.

Early May:

 

 

Moving on to June:

Martagon Lilies

My geranium favorites

More Martagons

The plant stand was crafted by Carl's late father, Don.  This year I decided to forego flowers and add birds instead.
 

The hostas have flourished with all of the rain, so at least they have been happy.

Our deer population has been steadily increasing, which is starting to become annoying.  We have a large garden, to be sure, and a few bites and nibbles here and there are to be expected, but grazing to the ground isn't nice.  I guess we'll have to look into a deer fence if things get worse.

Once July arrived, we saw more sunshine and hotter temperatures, which brought on the blooms.

And let's not forget the weeds.  Carl, above, sweating, swatting and pulling garden invaders.

We've had one garden group tour this year, the Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Association, very nice professional people who were kind enough to pay us compliments on our completely unprofessional landscaping efforts. It is always fun to meet people who are passionate about gardening, and they definitely were.

We have one more tour coming next week, and then the summer will begin winding down.  (Too soon!)

There are a few interesting additions to the garden this year which I'll talk about in my next posts.

Until then, stay colorful!
 

 

Merry Christmas 2023

 

The weather has been very mild this year, at least so far.  We've had some snow, but as of last week, most of it has melted.  A white Christmas was always an ideal of mine when I was a child, but now I'm just fine with the way things are.

The baking is done along with the candy-making, neither of which was necessary, but yet somehow comforting to accomplish.  

We took advantage of the warm weather and decorated outside in mid-November.  I admit, it's far easier to decorate urns with dried hydrangeas and greenery when the soil isn't frozen solid.  Tips to remember for next year.  Copying some trends on urn decorating, I cut down some saplings and spray painted them white to mimic birch branches.  The nice thing about them is they can be reused for years.

 

I've sat out on the front porch almost every night this month listening to the owls in the woods and enjoying the sound of the wind in the pines.  

All that is left this year is to give the house a good cleaning, wrap presents and welcome family and friends to our home for Christmas.  Another year almost over; it was a year filled with many different joys and sorrows, but overall, we were blessed.

 

Merry Christmas!