Sunday, May 20, 2012

Milestones


We had a very busy week at the Garden Spot, culminating in two real mile markers.

Miss Elinore graduated Pre-School at John's Lutheran Church and is enrolled in kindergarten at a charter school in Ft. Collins that teaches core subjects. Congratulations, Elinore. You are off to brilliant start and a bright future.


And that moment passed.

 On to the next milestone: Ellie and little sister Lucy are getting a new baby sister, due June 22.


So we showered the new baby with pink. Lots and Lots of pink.


I had a bit of milestone of my own: I learned how to crochet flowers and leaves. (I love youtube).


And there are milestones in the garden too.


The roses are blooming. 

And there are other milestones in the garden:

Two new columbine that just appeared on their own. Actually I transplanted them as volunteer seedlings from other spots late last summer and waited all spring to see what they would look like, so I don't know the variety of either one.  Upper right, a stick. A sickly stick. Actually it is a red japanese maple that has new growth at the very bottom, so it didn't die over the winter after all. Now, I'd say that is a milestone. We'll see how the little tree fairs over the summer. Heather gave me the meadow rue from her garden, not a very good likeness here, but it is healthy and happy.  And of course, another iris. This one we moved from the old house. It was a Dike's Award winner that hubby bought years ago. I love the lavender and yellow together.

By the end of the summer, I had also hoped to show off the pink dinner plate dahlias that I planted; unfortunately, we won't be seeing them. Some critter has dug up all four tubers and I suppose had a grand feast.



Here's what happens when you neglect a garden, when you leave it to come up with its own grow plan. When you leave a garden to its own devices,  stuff grows and grows and grows. Close up, it looks grand and even pretty, but there is an underbelly of thistle, bind weed to no end, and every other noxious weed that can find its way in. A milestone for this week: get the weeds under control. 

The Head Gardener went fishing for the weekend,  leaving me on duty for chores. So I called for back up.


He comes in the dark of night, egg basket in hand. Silently, bravely, on a mission he heads to the Hen House.


Superman from the Big City (Denver) carefully removes each egg (even the fake ones meant to encourage the hens to lay their eggs in the nests, not on the floor).


His basket full, he disappears once again into the night.


I hope you all had a good week with your own special milestones. I am enjoying reading all of your blogs, eager to see what milestones are happening in your gardens, enjoying the beautiful flowers, wonderful photography, and the good stories that you all share, loving the trips that some are taking, enjoying the home arts and projects that my blogging friends share.

With the baby shower out of the way, the fishing trip wrapped up, the Head Gardener and I will tackle weeds, and hopefully come up with a plan and get started building our main water feature that will be about 750-1,000 gallons. Now that will be a milestone.

I hope you all have a great week and that you meet all of your gardening milestones.


10 comments:

  1. You will be happy to know that the weeds cannot be seen in your pretty photo! The feverfew? looks perfect with the iris. I have lots of weeds too, but I hide them behind all the flowers!

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  2. Hi Ann,
    Congratulations to Elinore, and the new little one that's due! What a cute little egg collector.
    The garden looks wonderful, though I really don't envy you getting rid of the dreaded bindweed, and (my horror) thistles :o(

    Thank you for your sweet visit and comments. I will attempt to answer your two questions, but I warn you that one is rather complicated and a long reply!
    Firstly, the easy one - hedgehogs :o)
    They should never be kept captive in a garden unless, in very rare circumstances, they are blind or have lost a limb and natural foraging would not be enough for them to live by. Though at the moment there are two that live in the garden they do have a completely free access to the outside world. Naturally they will roam up to 2 miles each night in their search for food. Last summer I had as many as six in the garden at one time, most were visitors and disappeared after filling their tums :o) I'm more than happy to put out food each night to help and encourage my little neighbours and inhabitants, and they bring a great deal of joy to me.
    Now, the complicated one.
    Bovine TB.
    There IS a vaccine available for cattle, but cannot be used in the UK because EU law enforces TB testing three or four times a year, and if a cow had been vaccinated the test would come back with a 'positive' result; that would mean the cow would HAVE to be destroyed. Around 26,000 cattle are destroyed each year that have had a positive reaction to the test.
    It is understood that badgers do carry bovine TB, and although there is NO PROOF that they pass it back to the cattle, (and indeed the cattle themselves are probably the chief carriers and disease spreaders amongst the herds) the government have decided that by destroying the badgers (around 130,000 of them) it will help to stop the spead of the TB. It is a ludicrious situation, badgers are a protected species in the UK! The vaccine I mentioned in my post is one that is being developed for the badgers, which surely is the way to go.
    Sorry for the long reply...
    Best wishes
    Rose H

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  3. Best wishes as you tackle the weeds, Ann. Yikes!
    I had plans to go to the garden store on Saturday but the rain stopped me. My neighbor had almost all her beds plowed under because of the nasty bind weed.
    Your garden looks lovely and that pink sweater is SO CUTE! Well done!

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    Replies
    1. Pom Pom excuse me this is the only way i can leave a comment For Ann :)

      Hi Ann,
      You will LOVE James Galway it is pretty and smells divine like old English garden roses,your garden and roses are looking pretty as is Elinore what a sweetheart and the young egg collector has stolen my heart,very cute.
      The columbine flowers are pretty i have them wild all over the cottage garden,do you know in England they are known as 'Granny's bonnet'? which i think is such a pretty cottage flower name.
      I left you a reply on my blog comments on your last comment i am not sure if you read it or not?
      Have a lovely week xxx

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  4. That crocheted flower oh so darling....makes my heart sing. And the littlest egg collector, such a sweetie.

    Yes, PSE, textures, and some tweaking in Picassa for the the blog photos. No recipe, just trying different things each time.

    Shadow house creations, and Kim Klassen have some wonderful free textures.

    Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

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  5. Lovely post.
    I love the superman stealing the eggs in the night! My garden is in so much need of attention...next weekend...promise!
    xxx

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  6. Oh Ann, I do love this post! So many sweet, precious milestones you've shared with us. Are Elinore and Superman your grandchildren? They're darlings. :o) And your garden makes my heart sigh. I love your roses, columbine, and the lavender and yellow iris -- just beautiful! By the way, I'm following your blog now; I apologize because I thought I was already a follower.

    Thanks for your kind comments on our kitchen; we are really excited about it. It just seems like it's taking forever at the moment, but I know it will be worth the wait. It's so good to hear how much you liked your granite counter tops; I've heard nothing but good things about granite.

    I appreciate your visits and hope you have a great week!

    Denise at Forest Manor

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  7. Ann, I forgot to mention that I'm so impressed with the pink baby sweater you crocheted. It's one of the cutest I've ever seen.

    Denise at Forest Manor

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  8. You have sweet and precious grandchildren! I love the little crocheted sweater with the flower. That is just too cute! Wish I could crochet. Your flowers look beautiful and I especially love the yellow and purple iris.

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  9. Nathan was very proud to see himself on your blog. He is a very proud egg gatherer. He takes the responsibility very seriously. I am going to get my blog back up and going tomorrow evening. We are going to the mountains for the day. The roses are just lovely. I would love to plant some David Austin's.

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