Started off with a bike ride, found this lovely little pond just around the corner ( I really need to get out more!)
A local turf farm
with a nice view of the mountains behind.
I found a trail going into the woods ,
so went for a walk and found a few cool things like this wood fort.
A big stash of berries, will have to come back when they are ripe!
and this cute little fairy door, propped up over a large hole in a tree.
Back on the bike, I came across a herd of Llamas, they were very curious about me and all herded over to the fence as soon as I stopped. Altogether, I bike and hiked for an hour and a half, very enjoyable day! The great part about living around here, is I only saw 6 cars the whole time, very nice having the road to myself!
Back home, I decided to take a few pictures of my garden. This is the third year of my grape vine, we haven't had any grapes yet, but I noticed these very tiny growths on the vine which I am hoping means we will be eating grapes this year!
The grape vine really grew a lot this year, the first year it was just two small sticks in the ground, the 2nd year it grew a few feet. This is only May 1st and it is already at the top of the container.
The last of the cherry blossoms, I do so wish they would turn into cherries, I mean what's the point of a cherry tree without cherries? Vancouver has thousands like that, just think of all the food they could produce.
Strangely the last few branches on both our cherry trees, have these branches with very different white flowers, apple maybe? Anyway, they don't produce any fruit either :(
The peony came back strong again, it should be in full bloom in the next few weeks.
The purple Columbine is a good showing.
The pink Columbine which was the same size as the purple when planted is less than half the size for some unknown reason.
The lavender is really starting to spread and fill things in now.
The white lilac in full bloom
I was hoping to move the gooseberry bush into the garden area but it has really grown and sprawled this year. Maybe I would be better off taking some cuttings and starting another one?
That's a small pot of rhubarb at the bottom that is waiting for me to plant in the garden. I also bought a blueberry bush and a black current bush and was donated about 10 raspberry canes. Can't wait to get it all in the ground. I am still waiting for the landlord to come over with his tractor and fill in the low areas before I can start building beds.
My neighbor had dug up a few small bunches of these blue flowering plants a few years ago and gave them to me. They didn't do well the first year, shriveling in the heat wave, but they really rebounded this year, spreading quite a bit and much taller flower stalks.
All I have done to the beds, is spread a bunch of crushed eggshells around the plants last summer and a bunch of leaves for mulch in the fall. I wonder if that was enough to make the difference? We did have a very mild winter, hardly any freezing days and a mild damp spring so far.
Sadly, I lost most of my bulbs for some reason. All the purple flowers came up, like Hyacinths and Muscari, but most of the tulips and all of the daffodils and bleeding hearts never showed. I just left all the bulbs in the ground since I planted them two years ago. Should I be digging them up every summer?
Our local geese became parents a few days ago. Spent some time watching them be proud, watchful parents.
And my favorite part of nature, the sunsets!
We just got this boat the other day. We traded it for my Honda scooter that I was never able to get running. We have a small electric motor for it, so we can go for little rides around the neighborhood without polluting the water or making noise pollution. I will definitely be going out in her during this challenge!
Looking forward to tomorrow, I wonder what I will see?
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your garden is shaping up beautifully, Rhianna
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful area to call home. Thanks, and keep up the 30 minute challenge.
ReplyDeleteWhat a glorious hike/ride you had in your beautiful area. Keep it up. Your plants are thriving, that's great to see, and I'm envious of your lilac. I've been nursing mine along for years without a flower but I suspect the temperature is wrong for it here in East coast Australia. Hope the grapes do will for you.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why, but I once bought a lilac that I planted in a large pot on my balcony. I had it for 3 years and it never flowered either. It fell overboard one day in a big storm, so I will never know if its a waiting game or a defective plant. The last two lilacs I bought , I made sure they had the start of blossoms on them already and planted them in the ground. So far so good, they have bloomed every year, although I am not too impressed with the smell. I have a white one and a very pale purple one and neither smells very strong. I am not sure if its the plant itself or something lacking in the soil perhaps?
DeleteSounds like a good challenge. I've been up at the cabin so much lately I haven't been on the Internet much. I'm getting caught up on our posts. I've left my daffodils in the ground in my float garden since they were planted in 2002. They don't spread, but they do come up every year. I don't even mulch them. - Margy
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