Our Garden

Last week I finished planting flowers and putting down wood chips for the season. My flower beds have been a real challenge for me over the past four years. The previous owners of our home had planted something with a lot of roots, plus the house is surrounded with huge old maple trees. Each year I have battled roots and I am still learning what grows best in our soil.

Dianthus have grown beautifully here! Each year I add a few new dainthus plants, and I always have some plants that return from the previous year.

Last year my mom suggested that I might add some potted plants for extra color. Plus it would allow me more control over the soil. I added a few pots of petunias, one of my favorite flowers!

I hope that as the summer progresses my petunias will grow fuller, as they are wave petunias. I just loved this soft lavender color.

I also added an Asiatic lily this year. It is so pretty and vibrant!

Here is another one of my favorites! Wild roses grow everywhere this time of year. They smell so sweet. I can actually smell the wild roses as soon as I walk outside. There are a few large plants growing along the edge of our property and even more growing across the road.

This particular rose bush is growing near the stream. We now also have elderberry bushes growing along the stream! Adam planted eight plants this spring, they were actually eight sticks. To tell the truth I was a little concerned as I watched Adam go to so much trouble planting his eight elderberry sticks. : ) However they are no longer sticks, they are beautiful flourishing plants that have grown taller than Jemimah. The elderberry plants have just begun to blossom. We are delighted!

Our vegetable garden looks quite a bit different in comparison to the photo above, which was taken a week ago. Last week we enjoyed some lovely days in the 90's, as well as, plenty of rain. I am thrilled to see little tomatoes, zucchini and cucumbers forming. Plus everything looks so green and healthy!

In front of the raised beds Adam has planted black raspberries and red raspberries. The black raspberries are growing quite quickly this year and each plant is full of berries. Adam also planted two red current bushes and four blueberry bushes.

Our strawberries are beginning to ripen. Jemimah is excited to visit the strawberry patch each day and pick as many ripe strawberries as she can find. We don't have enough for jam yet, but it is fun to enjoy a few fresh strawberries each day.

One of Jemimah's favorite songs this spring has been "Bullfrogs and Butterflies", so when I spotted these books recently I knew she would enjoy them! Each book describes the life cycle of a butterfly/frog in a way that is easy for little ones to understand. Plus they rhyme, something I love in children's books.

"Many, O Lord my God, are Your wonderful works
Which You have done;
And Your thoughts toward us
Cannot be recounted to You in order;
If I would declare and speak of them,
They are more than can be numbered."
Psalm 40:5