surprise

All it took was a bit of whining. Yesterday I discovered that the peas are flowering after all. These beautiful pink and maroon blooms are slowly popping out and hopefully the pea pods will follow. I also have to share a few photos of the peonies. They are gorgeous right now, especially on a sunny morning after a quiet night of rain. Delightful.

mystery x 2

Another weekend filled with garden work is over. Everything is looking wonderful. The lush growth of roses, peonies, ferns, lettuce, herbs, and hydrangeas is currently overpowering the army of weeds lurking in the background.

I have two small garden mysteries to share. The first is the beautiful redbud tree that we planted in the fall of 2008. Last summer it was happy and healthy, blooming vigorously in the spring, leafing out nicely in the summer. I loved its nice shape and its place in the garden, near the "stump" bed in direct sight from the kitchen windows. This year, after a long and unusually cold and snowy winter it appeared to be dead. The promising buds on its branches dried out, and there was no sign of life until early April, when blooms first appeared on the trunk near the ground, followed by new shoots and healthy looking leaves along the trunk as well. The beautifully branched top part is still lifeless. So what to do? Do I cut the dead branches out hoping for the new growth to survive and take over?

Another mystery is this years crop of pod peas. Or I should say lack of crop. The peas were planted 4 weeks ago, and is growing energetically, almost overpowering their supports. But there are no flowers, and therefor no peas... This has never happened to me before. Granted I am sometimes a bit neglectful, and the spot where they grow is not in full sun, but not one single flower? I am puzzled. Right now I think it is the batch of peas that I planted that is defected.

If any of you have an answer or even a suggestion to fix these problems, I would welcome them warmly. More photos from the garden to come.

best of times

I am in the midst of a weekend devoted to gardening. It has been so long since I really took time to get grubby and sweaty from pulling weeds and digging in the dirt. This is the best of times – bright, not too hot, few bugs. Everything is fresh, green, and blooming beautifully.

The kitchen garden's inhabitants are growing rampantly. The peas that were only a couple of inches tall a few weeks ago, are climbing over their fence. Once budding roses and clematises along the parameter are in full bloom, and tiny lettuce seedlings are becoming vigorous heads.

We installed a fountain in the kitchen garden using an old soapstone sink we bought from the university's surplus sale some years ago and a found rusty old pipe. It is quite magical. Therefore our old adirondack chairs are now moved to the center circle to be on hand for quiet celebrations.