We've been cleaning the pool -- a bigger job than last year because the winter cover blew off and then into the pool, dumping all the stuff in.  Also, the sun hit the water and created lots of algae during the time before Dale came to open it.  Rob and I've spent two days vacuuming it --a very slow process.

It's a nice day today, 77 degrees and sunny, and the smell of the locust trees just permeates the yard --it's wonderful!

Yesterday I got the rest of my tomato plants in.  One of the cloches had been knocked off this morning, but the plant wasn't eaten --I think squirrels were just digging in the bed for some reason known only to them.

It finally rained!  I haven't checked the rain gage, but I'll bet we got an inch or so.  Perfect for all the plants, especially the new trees.   I'll have to get out there and spray for rabbits this afternoon, since the rain might have washed the smelly stuff away.  It's gray and 58 degrees.

Mowed again today, since it's supposed to rain tonight . . . and tomorrow . . . and Wednesday.  Still, things are pretty dry for spring, so it will be good to get some rain.  The garden is looking so pretty --by the birch trees it's mostly green but it still looks great.  Two rose blossoms opened to day, they smell wonderful.  The baptisia is just beginning to color up, although it's not a very bright blue, and the garlic chives are really bushy and flowery.  The purple iris have been blooming for a few days, and now the yellow and orange ones are starting to open.  I've staked the tallest ones, hoping the rain will leave most of them standing up.  I also staked the delphinium that has the most flower stalks, by using two bamboo stakes and wrapping it with twine.  

It's a nice cool day today (I had to wear my jacket while mowing), and Rob and Emma have removed a lot of things from the garage in order to clean it.  The deadline is the rain tonight :-)

The last days of May

The garlic chives are blooming, the purple iris is looking gorgeous, and the columbine has lots and lots of flowers.  I hope that the humming birds are visiting.  I've been watering and fertilizing --it's been a week or so since we had any rain, and the new trees really need water.  The cardinal flower seeds have germinated, so by August we should have some flowers from those.

The gnats are still horrible.  And I really should mow the grass again.  Maybe I'll do that on Monday.

The purple iris started blooming by the propane tank a couple of days ago.  Most of the spring flowers are going, with only the bleeding hearts hanging on.  I've managed to keep the rabbit damage to a bare minimum.  I got an email telling me my tomatoes have shipped, and hopefully to the two trees will ship soon too.

The gnats are awful so far --it's always one bug or another :-)

Blue Spruce

Yesterday, on Mother's Day, we bought two cute little blue spruce trees, and planted them at the end of the driveway, one on each side.  They're just 2' high right now, but they still look nice, and I think they'll make a nice entrance as they get bigger.  I think we're going to need to protect them from snowmobilers during the winter.

We also bought a little dwarf alberta spruce, which Emma named "silky" and planted it between the privacy fence and the swing bench.  It was a nice day to plant, because it was relatively cool.

The lilacs are blooming and smell wonderful.  So is the Korean spice viburnum.  With just three little flowers, you can smell them from a couple of feet away.

This morning, in nice comfortable cloudy conditions, I planted the three purple asters in front of the two goldenrod in the birch bed, and planted the new penstemon against the privacy fence, and the anemone at the base of the beautiful oriental lily near the rose bush.  

This afternoon, after school, Emma and I planted the cardinal vines in three places:  under the privacy fence, and at each of the green trellises leading to the garden.  I don't honestly know if they'll come up either place, but I figure it's worth a try.  I still have zinnia and cosmos seeds to plant, but I haven't figured out where I want to plant them yet.