Happy Memorial Day

(excuse the blurry phone photo)

It's been a long busy weekend!

We were out on the boat on Saturday, so I didn't get much gardening done.  On Sunday, my dear husband cut down four huge juniper bushes in the backyard understory and we managed to plant 57(!) plants.  Some were from Bluestone and some were from a local plant sale.

My goal of not buying plants for a whole year kind of went out the window, I guess.  If I had planted bulbs last fall or if I had started planted seeds/annuals in March, or even perennials in April, I could have run into problems, for sure.  For the most part, anything that's going to come up is up.  And if I had waited until July...well, what is plantable in July?  I would have had to wait until September or October.  That would have just been cruel!



I believe the spirit of my goal, to purchase plants in a more methodical and thoughtful way, was achieved.  Mostly.

*Quickly changing subject*


I know I complain about deer constantly, but sometimes I forget how close we are to the woods and how many other animals are out there.  Over the course of eight hours on Sunday, we saw: several lizards, a turtle, a fox, a gigantic bird of prey, and a raccoon.  Of course, I didn't have my camera on-hand to catch any of them.

I'm pretty sure the raccoon is what's been chomping on the strawberries.  We caught one on the deck about a week ago and shortly thereafter, something dug up three quarters of the pots on the deck.  I think next year, we'll be building a raised veggie garden with a fence and netting.  We can always use the strawberry pots for herbs and flowers...

Today wasn't much of a gardening day -- I spent about 30 minutes outside early this morning taking pictures and seeing how many of the plants we put in yesterday day were dug up this morning (only one!) and then the heat and humidity got to be too much.  I have a feeling we'll be focusing on weeding and watering for the rest of the summer.  Tomorrow is supposed to be even hotter.

Stay cool, everyone.  Have a great week!