landscape and garden update – the good, the bad and the ugly

clint and i planted our landscaping this spring.  it then proceeded to rain….and rain…..and rain.  for about 2 months, and then when we left for vacation,  the. rain. stopped.
the hydrangeas we planted loved the rain; the rose bushes you won’t even notice in the pictures because they hated the rain, and refused to grow.  i actually think they shrank in size as i keep cutting out blight and dead twigs.  blah, but if they can just survive the winter, there’s always next year.

we lost 2 good size trees, which was very sad;  clint and i have come to really appreciate a good established tree.  it’s pretty normal for us to be driving down the road and say, “oh, look at how nicely shaped that oak (or maple or pine ) is!  something we definitely didn’t notice before building.  there really is nothing like an established home place.  

these pics were taken after we got back from vacation, so not exactly at the climax of everything, some things are dried out and were half dead, but i wanted some pictures while the hydrangeas were still blooming, and before i became buried in school books.

(lime light hydrangea, boxwood, sweet autumn climates, arborvitae, wisteria tree, rose of sharon tree, bottom ivy, english lavender, helen von stein lambs ear)
(hydrangea trees, espalier crab apple, boxwood, english lavender, helen von stein lambs ear)

(viburnum trees, boxwood, blushing bride hydrangeas, little lamb hydrangea, white impatient)


(english lavender, sweet autumn climates, annabelle hydrangea)

the outdoor to-do list has seemed never ending to my dear hubby, but he has persevered with the above hose holder (x3), clothesline and weather vane – yup, he’s a keeper!

i was so so excited to plant the garden this spring; apparently all the rabbits in the neighborhood were quite happy as well.  once we figured out how to keep the greedy varmints out, plants did seem to grow better.

i made the mistake of not marking things thinking that i’d surely remember – don’t do that – it’s really dumb – did you know that onion, garlic, leeks, shallots, green onion and just plain ol’ grass look a lot the same when it’s coming up?  it’s true!

success:  lettuce, edamame, beans, strawberries, radishes, cabbages, pickling cucumbers, herbs, potatoes, onion
failure – cauliflower, english cucumbers, leeks,  shallots
just so-so – sweet corn, carrots, kohlrabi, pumpkin (huge plants, just a few pumpkins) broccoli 

oh well, here again, there’s always next year!  

note to self:  find a better way to support tomatoes