Here are the pictures I took of the garden early this week. The patio landscaping looks great, with the exception of the columbine. It looks find in this picture, unfortunately the rabbits that live under our shed have taken a liking to it and it's not looking nearly as healthy.
The round garden looks fabulous. The deep red peonies opened up last week and the white ones look ready to pop any day now. We also had some giant white irises open up (pictures later this weekend) over the past few days. The tall purple flowers, allium, are no longer purple. They might be one of my new favorite flowers. They were so pretty when they were blooming.
The circle garden also has a healthy crop of creeping Charley. I pulled a significant amount of it last night, but it was exhausting work. I'll have to go back out later this weekend and finish the job. I thought about using borax or another chemical to eliminate the problem, but I really don't want to kill anything else in the garden. The means my only option is to use my hands...
The front yard is looking pretty good, too. The hastas are unfolding their leaves and the poppy looks like it will bloom any day. Have I mentioned it's exciting to watch the perennials open? It is. You can also, just barely, see the hanging basket I put together. It's a wire basket filled with a layer of moss. My family has a tradition of planting red geraniums outside the front door of the house, so that's what I put in the basket. I also put in a delicate little purple flower, but I'm not sure what it's called. It looks better every day.
Lots of change in the vegetable garden. The raspberry bushes are very full. The corn is sprouting (up to 8 inches already). I added a tomato plant that appears to be thriving and plan to add two more later this weekend. The carrots and peas look great, but I think the beans and onions might need to be replanted. I'll give them a few more days before I do anything. I'm really enjoying watching the garden grow. I go out almost daily to check its progress. I can't wait until the plants bear fruit later this summer.
I put up a makeshift fence to keep the rabbits out. It appears to be doing the trick, although I might do something more permanent next spring.
The bricks alongside the fence are to help deter the rabbits. They are so stinkin' annoying. Earlier this week I saw a bunny hop through the open gate in our neighbor's backyard. I checked to make sure no one was looking and then I shut the door. I thought I had locked it in there, but this morning G saw a bunny crawl under the fence that separates our yards. Bummer. Our home's previous owner randomly showed up last Sunday to check things out and when we asked him about the bunnies, he said he shot them and buried them under the garden. Actually, his words were "there are a lot of bunnies under that garden," which just grossed me out. The consensus amongst our neighbors that the only way to get rid of them is to shoot them, but we're hesitant to do so because it's illegal to fire a gun in our city. We like to play by the rules. We've decided to buy a live trap. I'll let you know how that goes...
