Last month I took you on a quick tour of the garden in my post Early Spring In the Garden.
So much has happened in just a few short weeks! Some plants are doing so much better than I expected. Others … total fail. The biggest obstacle we have been faced with is the weather. It seems we jumped from a cold, late-white winter straight to summer, and then to spring … well more like a spring/summer blend.
Warning: If you happen to see a bug or two or ten or a hundred in these pics, just ignore them. They are our new summer residents. You’ll be meeting them later this week.
Our first stop is the mini-orchard …
Our fruit trees were hit the hardest with our crazy weather. The only tree that flowered was the green apple. All the others “skipped” that class this year and went straight to Leaves 101. Since our trees are still young, maybe that’s not such a bad thing … not that I have any control over it.
Green Apple Tree … smelled heavenly!
Might just have some apples if the wildlife doesn’t get to them first!
The berries all seem to be doing well …
Blackberries …
Blueberries …
If you remember, I thought for sure all the grapes were a goner. Nope! They are all doing fabulously! I even see the beginnings of grape clusters!
By this time last year, my vegetable garden had already been planted for probably close to 5-6 weeks and all of the plants were well on their way to producing a great harvest. This year? Let’s just say that if it could go wrong … it has.
Early in February I planted trays and trays and trays of seeds for my glorious garden. Tomatoes of four different varieties, peppers, corn, cantaloupe, sugar snap peas, watermelon, and a few more that I can’t think of off the top of my head.. The ONLY, literally the ONLY seeds that did anything were the sugar snap peas.
Nothing else even remotely popped it’s head out. Nothing. Nada. Zero.
Now that we’re in the middle of May, I’m beginning to think that all those seeds knew something that I didn’t know.
A very dear friend came to the rescue and gifted me with 15 tomato plants that she had grown from seed. Why hers worked and mine didn’t? Who knows! I knew that we weren’t quite out of the water yet with the overnight temps, so I waited a few weeks to plant them.
All was good for about a week.
And then it started to sprinkle.
And then it started to rain.
And then it started to pour.
And it rained … and it poured … and it rained … and it poured … and it rained … and it poured.
I’ve never seen that much rain in a four-day period in my life. After day three I thought we would be okay. But no, oh no … those clouds weren’t quite done yet!
The rains came down and the puddles came up!
And my tomatoes … they were no more.
Onions/Garlic (left) … the back of the property (middle) … tomatoes (right)
So what’s a poor girl to do? Head to “Big Blue.”
I’m thinking I’ll plant the tomatoes in pots and put them on the screened porch. That’ll keep them safe from all four-legged creatures and severe weather. Peppers will go in a raised bed … the one that didn’t get buried in water.
Surprisingly, it seems that I have some leftover cucumbers from last year. Once it dries up a little, I’ll get in there and thin them out a bit.
The other vegetable that’s done really well are my potatoes. Now that I’ve learned that you need to continue to pack the dirt up the stalk as they grow, I’m hoping I’ll have more luck than I did last year.
Do you remember the long strip of wildflower seeds I planted last year? They’ve slowly been growing and just this week a few of them started blooming. I can’t wait until they all burst forth. It’s going to be so pretty!
And Grandma’s Bleeding Hearts … HUGE! and GORGEOUS!
One other change we made was in the front yard. We’ve moved a few things around, purchased and planted some color.
Whenever I go to “Big Blue,” I always check the clearance section in the garden department. On this particular trip, I hit the jackpot! They had Azaleas for $5 each (previously priced at $25). Did I care that the flowers were already spent? For five bucks each? Nope! I can wait until next year.
I also picked up seven Burgundy Queen Lilacs and planted them around the side porch. Can’t wait for them to bloom next year!
Thank you for stopping by for our mid-Spring Garden Tour. There are a whole bunch of pictures on Flickr that I didn’t include in the post. I hope you’re as excited to see what the next month holds as I am!
How about you?
Have you planted a vegetable garden this year? Have you had “weather” issues like me?
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Lani, your garden is gorgeous! You will be one of the features tomorrow at the Make it Pretty Monday party at The Dedicated House. Pop on in and grab a feature button. Hope to see your prettiness again at the bash. Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse
Thank you so much Kathryn! I’m a little late … been nursing a bad finger injury. I truly do appreciate the feature 🙂
Hugs …
Lani
I enjoyed your garden tour. Yes, gardening is a wonderful roller coaster ride and always filled with surprises.
Your doing great and your rewards will keep coming. I hope to join your party next week when I can get something going. Thanks for hosting the party. Kathy
Hi Kathy,
Our “surprises” usually have four legs and especially love my tomatoes!
Thank you for your sweet comment 🙂
Hugs & Blessings …
Lani
Unfortunately I never have luck when growing tomatoes, or any other veggie for that matter. Can do ok with peppers but that’s about it. Thankfully there are many local veggie markets close by so I can enjoy the fruits of their labor! (veggies too!)
Thanks so much for sharing at AMAZE ME MONDAY…
Blessings,
Cindy
Hi Cindy,
I don’t seem to have a problem “growing” the tomatoes, it’s keeping them on the vine! Our four-legged country critters get to them while there still green 🙁 Fortunately they don’t like any of the peppers, cucumbers, beans or peas. I’ve a funny feeling at some point I’m going to have to completely enclose my tomato garden at some point … that is if I want to feed me instead of them 🙂
Hugs …
Lani
Wow! You’ve been busy and most everything is looking really good. We put out a grapefruit tree, peach tree, and a lime tree all marked down at Wal Mart and of course every year I put out 3 tomato plants. I so enjoyed the tour of your garden. I’m so glad you joined us this week at Transformed Tuesday.
Hugs,
Peggy~PJH Designs
Thank you so much Peggy!
A grapefruit tree sounds fun! I think next year we’ll add lemons and limes.
Have a wonderful week 🙂
Hugs and Blessings …
Lani