Wanna go white water rafting...in our back yard?

I keep telling myself I am not going to post a blog every single day, but it seems there is always something new to write about! So I hope you find them interesting!

It has been a rainy day to say the least! The front 3/4 of my yard is probably loving it, while the back 1/4 is a mess. Flowing from one end to the other!

It starts here, where the previous owners tried to build some sort of make shift dam! Uhg! It is a mess! It is actually poured in concrete about a foot deep.

Flows down the back of the yard!

Into the neighbors yard!

A view from the upper window.

Now, the neighbors yards are pretty pooled with water too, but not like ours. They have grass or weeds and smooth pools. We on the other hand have a white water river. It flows fast and hard around all those rocks they put in and erodes everything. Under the rocks are two solid (not perforated) parallel drain pipes running the length of the yard.

We have all kinds of ideas about how to fix the problem. One I like is Dave's idea for a rain garden on his blog, The Home Garden: Gardening in the Home Landscape. I am wondering if we could do something similar between the fence and the shed. It is gonna take a lot of work though.

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We have been working on trying to clean this up for two years now. When we started, that whole area from the rocks back was covered in ivy. It was full of bugs that ate you alive and junk. You wouldn't believe the stuff we found buried in there. 5 full unopened bags of topsoil. Some pretty edging bricks, plastic edging and fencing. Lots of broken yard ornaments, and toys. Landscaping wood. None of this you could see until we killed it all and mowed it all down. Boy did the lawn mower like that. We totally needed a new blade after whacking all those metal ornaments we couldn't see. We had no idea what we were getting into when we moved in.
**Before pic of one corner. Doesn't look too bad till you are standing in the middle of it. It is deep.

We tried to save some of the plants that were buried out there that were worth save. This is where some of the hostas came from that we moved to the front and sides.

This is a major project with lots of ideas for impovement. Right now I am just waiting on freecyclers to come pick up all this rock! They never take it all, it is just too much. I have six ppl scheduled to come tonight. Maybe between them all it will mostly be gone!

I'll keep this project updated.

Lily blooms and Hosta's

Last year, my lilies bloomed once in the spring and once in late summer. This totally contradicts what I have read and been told. This year, all the petals have fallen off the blooms and I have this:

This is where the buds started to swell last year for a second set of blooms later in the summer or early fall, can't remember when. So I assume that this will happen again. Now I am confused. Maybe they are some kind of hybrid, but I am gonna have to keep researching and see what I find. And watch the lilies to see if they swell and bloom again this year. They are all the same, they all came from the same bulbs, I separated them myself after finding them hiding in the yard behind a bunch of grape vines and blackberry vines (which we gave away.)

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I also decided to do an experiment for myself. I found these on the hosta's last year and thought they looked like seeds. I wasn't sure since most hostas are not sold by seed, but plants and crowns. So I researched a little and learned these are in fact hosta seeds and I let them go to just the right point. Now I hope that I have not waited to long to try to get them to grow. I put some in some sterile potting soil and have them under the grow lights and I will see what happens. It will be nice if I get some, I have tons of seeds. I bet my mom would like a few!

I will have an update on the hostas as soon as I can.

Vegetable Garden in Progress

We have been working in the garden today, even though the kids and I have been sick. I just got it last night, they are getting over it.

Last fall we transplanted some hostas from the back yard to around the front tree. Some did not make it so I transplanted some more, that would be the smaller ones. Hopefully they will catch up with a little care and fertilizer.

We finally put some compost down on the side bed. Now it just needs and edge.

The pumpkins, melons, and flowers are doing well, as long as the cats and bunnies stay away. One has been nibbled on already.

On the left is one seeded and one seedless watermelon and Lemon and American Slicing Cucumbers. In the back is tomato and oregano, I trimmed the oregano down. Hope that helps it along. In the middle I have some cilantro and habanero peppers. And a Serrano pepper on the right side.

Here I have bell peppers in the middle. Cabbage in the left bottom corner. And some Acorn seedling just starting to come up in the right bottom corner.

Tomato, Broccoli, cabbage, catnip, and another Acorn seedling. There is some more tomato and Serrano pepper behind the big tomato plant.

This was the first bed started with tomato, beans, lettuce, chard, spicy bush basil, and I just added some summer squash to the left. It all appears to be doing well even though most of it was late getting going.

An overall view. Still haven't got the paths in yet. Maybe when we don't have so much other work to do in the yard. It isn't a top priority as long as the garden is growing!

Happy Mothers Day (moved)

We have been working hard on mothers day...this mother included!

I got all the front and side flower beds done. Now maybe after I catch up on some energy the next couple of days, I'll tackle the back flower beds!

Maybe you want to see a before pic

(If you click on the pic you can see bigger more detailed pictures)

You'll notice that we have painted the door and the shutters, removed some bushes and trees (and lost a few to the storms!) It really is looking much better and less cluttered! At some point we want to replace these bushes and replace the garage door and fix the porch (crazy ppl clued CARPET to the front porch, talk about bug heaven).

This is our new Dynamite Crape Myrtle that replaced our Blue Spruce that fell. I hope it gets flowers this year!

Red and white Impatients, euonymus, and White Andgelonia fill the front beds, with my new mothers day kitty! And Fuschia plants hang in pots by the door.

This is the right side of the house. Hostas and Impatients. Needs a topping of compost!

And the left corner next to the garage.

Turned out really nice I think!

And this is just a pic of my pretty flowering Weigela shrub.