Scenes from the garden

The garden is coming along now. We have irises & a pretty new pink peony!



I love it that there are so many spring flowers that the deer don't eat.



They also don't seem wild about the new pool fence. And I'm getting used to it. We're eager to do a little more landscaping around it, though, and I'm hoping to talk H into a trip to the nursery today to gather ideas and perhaps a few new plants, too. There's two beds that we won't be able to tackle properly until the end of the summer (they are ridden with a really aggressive weed problem that is best treated at the end of the season). Sometimes these are good problems to have - it limits the areas we can focus on now, and makes it all a bit more manageable (which in turn leaves a little more time for lounging - reminder, I should do more of the latter).



Of course, I'm also little nervous about planting too much until the gates are installed. Like so many projects, this one has carried on a bit longer than anticipated. And we're still waiting for the new pool cover, too, which is slowly urgent, if we plan on swimming over Memorial Day weekend.

Across the lawn, the orchids loved their first week outside, and I replanted another yesterday and added it to the collection out there.

 

I also cleared the old troughs and popped some nasturtium seeds there this morning, as well as in a few other places, like the old whiskey barrel planter that looks like it's been here for ages. I hope the seeds take. Last year, the nasturtiums went in the vegetable patch and were almost too aggressive, so I thought I'd keep them separate this summer.



Speaking of which, the raised bed is the next step -it's cleared, but I need to put new stakes and deer fencing around it - it's another rudimentary solution there this summer. If it goes well, maybe we'll look into something more solid next year. I'm dreaming about a split rail solution there, too. So many projects, left right and center - like replacing this bit of fence, too! This is another bit I hope will be fixed by tomorrow.

And of course, there are still animal friends galore. We've seen more bunnies this year, and Otti's friend was curled up in the wood chip pile this morning.



I worry there are snakes in there, too (there certainly were last summer), so I am afraid to take the chips out to mulch.

And then there are the deer. They are so graceful and lovely (when not eating the plants or bringing pests into the garden). The stream is still running strong, and our local herd was busily tromping around it today.



And H is relaxing in his new outdoor tub. I didn't take a picture because he's shy & I don't think the tub is so pretty, but that's another story for another day. Nothing a few more plants can't take care of though, yes, more plants, more planting, more later.