The Buzz Around the Garden

After our weekend in BG/Toledo (see Mike's blog) we came home to lots of growth in the garden. I've included some pictures (I just took them and it's raining out). Here's the buzz around the garden:

I've seen several bumble bees in the past week. Last night I knocked down some type of stinging insects nest that they were building on the shed. I try to be selective about killing things but this one was a no brainer - I don't want the boys getting stung.

Mike rigged up the bird feeder with some old wire hangers. This is much better than it's previous home (a hook on our porch). It hasn't been knocked down (yet) and the squirrels are having a much harder time getting to it.

When we came home on Sunday we noticed our Lilly of the Valley has really taken off! It's even starting to bloom. The few hostas that are mixed in have popped up too. The tulips however, have a sadder story. They all popped up and had buds that were about to open last week but then were gobbled up by rabbits and/or squirrels. They didn't make it last year either so, I am considering moving them (maybe to my neighbors yard where her dogs keep the animals from eating flowers).

Mike also trimmed the front bushes last week. This makes the house look so much better! I planted daffodils and sedum between the bushes. Last night, I planted a border/strip of Marigolds (Jaguar variety) in front of the bushes. In 7-14 days they should be starting to come up (I guess that's why we always planted them in little cups at school and I feel just about as impatient as a preschooler to see them!). The large Taxis bush at the corner of the house that we had planned on ripping out will have to stay a little longer. I found at least two birds nests in it. I can't in good conscious get rid of it now no matter how ugly we think it is!

I am becoming more and more happy with the garden just off our back porch. Last week I picked up a bag of rocks (they are guaranteed for a whole year*) for where the rain water pours into the bed. Paired with some rocks Sam and I found this weekend (big rock pile in my Mom and Michael's sub division because of construction) I hope it will serve it's purpose of not creating a huge mud puddle. I may eventually add a rain chain as well and have a little concrete turtle or frog waiting for me at Mike's parents. New additions to this bed include: daffodils (I divided my huge clumps and spread them everywhere, seriously had about 100 bulbs and still more to go!), Rhubarb ("Victoria") that I planted last night (you may see the red plastic knife sticking up in the picture that I used as a plant maker), and one small Lily that I took from my Mom's flower bed (it had strayed from the rest of the flowers).

Last night I was in my neighbors back yard admiring all the work she had done over the weekend to her flower beds. I commented to Mike that I wanted to get a trellis similar to one that she had in her yard to put our Clematis on. It has already outgrown the stakes I put up for it a month or so ago. Well, my neighbor was actually looking to get rid of it because she didn't have anything growing on it and it is slightly broken so, we hoisted it over the fence! She (neighbor) is excited about this because she loves when the Clematis grows up and she is able to see it and she got rid of some "trash". I taught her the term: "Freecycling". We officially broke the broken part on purpose to get it to a more desirable height - win, win, win (me, neighbor, and clematis).

In the back of the yard wildflowers are starting to pop up, I have an area where I am going to have a herb garden (in containers so they don't spread like crazy but sitting in a bed), and the veggie garden is being tilled at a slow and steady pace (Mike is supposed to help me this weekend with this).

* Stay tuned for the "Dumb Blonde (-ish, reddish, brownish) in the Hardware Store" blog.