I thought I would walk through the yard today. Not all the photos are lovely, but as I’ve been occasionally been posting pictures of pretty flowers, I also want to document that this is very much a work in progress, with far more that is undone than in any way ‘finished’. Not that I believe a garden is ever finished. This one is, however, still very rough.
Walking out the front door, looking across the driveway to the front circle. Those tall things behind the wall are very much weeds, in a future flower bed that has not yet been designed, much less prepped.
But in front of the wall, the ‘max frei’ geraniums are starting to bloom, even though they are still quite small. It has been a cool spring. I don’t yet know how the Siberian iris behind the geraniums will fare, but at least they are up, and there is promise for the future.
To my right (east) is the Japanese maple (previously posted to instagram) and more landscaping in waiting.
Walking toward the back we see the tomatoes, which i staked the other day. A deer had made a romp through the garden — I could see the deer prints in the soft soil — and had broken one of the tomatoes, a costoluto genovese tomato I cannot easily replace. I wrapped it and hope it wills survive.
The peas and favas are finally blossoming. I hope not to late. It has been a long cool spring, but this feels more like Hudson Valley timing than Tennessee, and I hope the heat will not set in too soon, giving these cool weather crops a bit of a chance. It could just be that I got them in too late, and the shade came out too early in their development. But then, I have known all along that this, my first vegetable garden in decades, and the first one in Tennessee, is a bit of an experiment.
I am starting to plan, dig, and prep the back beds. There are a few dwarf sedum in the front bed along the driveway. They will spread. I planted bloody dock seeds which have not yet sprouted. I wonder if they will, or if I have to start over. Still much to clear, but the bunnies (and the cat) love to hide in the weeds. And so far the bunnies prefer nibbling on the weeds over my veggie garden, so I am loath to uproot their hiding and dining spots.
First bloom on the fringe tree.
Various things have been transplanted to this bed by my small back patio. So far, they seem to be settling in, but only time will really tell.
The peonies are blooming profusely in my secret garden behind the garage. I decided to keep this cozy space and transplant them after bloom, probably after the blueberries bear fruit as well, as they will go up in that bed, where everything needs to be dug up and rearranged, as the landscape crew could obviously not follow a planting diagram and I was not here when they showed up to do the planting. Never hire a landscaping crew who sneaks in and plants when one is away. (although admittedly that was not my intention)
And there is Moises, walking along the eastern pathway. The oak leaf hydrangea has leafed out, the established hellebores are doing well, and there are plenty of areas that were dug up and need to be replanted. Much space for dreams and imagining along with getting hands dirty.