Veggie gardening

This year we moved our "Veggie Garden" from a small wet area next to the driveway, to a large dry and much sunnier area just below our deck......I am not sure if I knew what I was getting myself into with all the veggies I planted...but sure will find out in the next few weeks.......last year we had hardly any warm summer....and this year is the EXACT opposite....it has been 85 to 90 degrees consistently for weeks now...which is really turning up the growth of the garden...I took this pic from the deck on June 16th....



And barely over 2 weeks later I took this pic July 2....look to rapidly all the plants shot up!



This year I am growing:

Tomatoes:
Sweet 100
Tangerine
Grape
Yellow Pear
Beefsteak
Roma
Rutgers
and a few that I am unsure of, but something that came back from last year....the surprise tomato...will figure out in a couple weeks.

Peppers:
Red
Jalapeno
Cayenne

Bush Cucumbers
Zucchini
Summer squash
Butternut squash
Brussel sprouts
Potatoes (red , purple and White)
Eggplant, (Traditional, Round Purple and White)
Basil
Garlic
Lettuce (mesculin mix and Black Seeded Simpson
Cantaloupe

I have also started Asparagus, for hopefully next year harvesting.
Also at the end of the garden, because I needed to fill it up...I have 3 cutting gardens of flowers... Gladiolas,Sunflowers and Zinnias.

So as you can imagine, between this garden, my flower gardens, and travel baseball, my summer has been really busy....hmmmm maybe that's why my pool is green :)

Iris's!

I have 3 garden favorites (ok, I say that, but every time a flower blooms, I find myself calling it my favorite)....but really, I do think my 3 favorites are the Iris's , the Hydrangeas and the Peonies....all of them in every shape and form...and I have complied quite a collection over the years.....and continue to sneak more in :)

Today's pics are the last of my early May iris's (this one was mostly in the shade which is why its just blooming now)



The iris that opened yesterday...from my friend Brian, its just an old fashioned iris, might even be of the same vintage as my Mother's Grandmother's iris's, they look strikingly similar.




And this is the 2nd year in my yard for this gorgeous purple and white iris ..just opened this am..

Half Way though MAY!

May has been an odd month....one day its 90 degrees and two days later you have your heat on because its 40 with a "wicked" New England Wind chill.....last weekend was really bitter cold,and I was sick, so it was pretty much a lousy weekend...this weekend, I am still sick, though I feel somewhat better, but it's a gorgeous sunny day, a little too windy,but ust so nice out... I have been puttering around the yard all day. I should be cleaning, but I am really behind in the garden beds, and we are moving the vegetable garden this year....so there is lots of work to do.

I was kind to peeking at the progress of all the perennials, taking a photo of a new "classic" iris that a friend shared with me last year, when one of my little humming bird friends showed up, and hung around long enough for me to take a few pics......there will be so many more sightings as all the plants start blooming, but the the first couple of times they visit I really enjoy them.

The prettiest Lilac!

I have been waiting 10 years for these blooms.....took a cutting from my brother in laws yard 10 years ago because I loved the color... and after about 3 1/2 years in my yard, when it was about to start to bloom, we decided to move, so I took a cutting to my new yard....after 4 years we got 1 bloom...so I am so happy that finally this is a multi bloom year...I think I counted 11.....still not enough to cut (maybe next year :)

Ahhhh the smell of spring!

Blossoms everywhere...... and that unbelievably wonderful sweet smell !!!

The blooms are so pretty I had to take a break from my mulching to take a few pics.
Enjoy!

14 days till Spring!

I can't wait....it hasn't been a bad winter, in fact, we hardly had a winter...Just one week of snow, and a few storms that never happened, they just ended up in Washington, DC with my Va. Cousins, and even in Ga. with my Sis.......we did have a whopper of a wind storm a week ago though, winds up to 80 MPH that took down trees everywhere..and power to some poor folks for up to 5 days. We were lucky , we never lost power and any trees that fell were in the woods behind us, the most notable damage was the lattice (that houses my beautiful clematis's) was ripped off my porch...an easy fix, and those clematis's get cut every spring anyway, so I am not anticipating any loss. So today is 3/6/2010, and it feels like April.....I was so excited to do a yard crawl and remove some of the dead brush........it was 55 today...sunny with blue sky...this could change my thoughts about March...my least favorite Month...no green grass, no leaves, no flowers, not even any snow...just brown everywhere....and lots of salt and sand.....but today? Sunny skies, emerging green grass(sort of)....and the hints of flowers to come in 6-8 weeks.......






I know these aren't the prettiest of photos, but I saw the signs of spring, and I felt it was time to try to blog again....last year turned out to be a bust...I will try harder this year!

Missed Half the Garden Season in Blog....

So the entire month of June was raining and about 50, July started out promising, but still has not been able to shake the rain, seems we get 2-3 days of sun then 2-3 days of rain...which makes for taking pictures a bit soggy......so I have missed a lot of bloom shots, but the flowers are still growing and are not parched, and I haven't had to water hardly at all, so have to look at the glass as half full :)

The hydrangeas are gorgeous this year...still have 2 that have not bloomed in years, and am really thinking that they are not meant for this area (zone 6) so, this year I will burlap them , one last try, and if they don't bloom in the spring, they will be dug up , potted, and garaged over the winter (one last try!) to see if I get blooms in 2011.....I am one determined gardener!!

So anyway, here are a few photos of the hydrangeas currently blooming in July.

Here is a light blue hydrangea....



My newest hydrangea, really just starting to bloom, should be a deep pink, this is a dwarf, does not get more than 2 feet tall, and blooms all summer, good for a small hedge I would think.



My "Sweet Chris" hydrangea (otherwise known as "big smiles". How could I not have this in my garden?.



My "First Red" hydrangea. Only had 1 bloom last year so was excited to find 6 this year.....love how this one ages to a cranberry color.



And lastly, my favorite colored hydrangea, My "Nikko Blue" hydrangea...second photo complete with nesting grasshopper and frog, how cute!.