Late post

I've been neglecting my posting here, so in order to catch up a little, this one will be essentially a picture dump from last month (again - I'm falling into a habit here).

February was a horror. Not just for Missouri, but all over the states. Even Texas froze, leaving millions of people without heat or water for days (that's another story about corporate greed and political unpreparedness). It was miserably cold here, and finally March gave us a break from the freezing weather. The early plants started coming up, and just as it has done every year for decades, a late March freeze snapped at them.  And as if that weren't enough, another freeze in late April (!) went at them again.  Against all odds, nothing suffered damage - not even the magnolia.  

December and January were relatively mild, and a number of plants stayed green, if not growing heartily.   

And then came February.  The only things that made it through that were weeds (of course), lettuce and, surprising to me, the 'Phenomenal' lavender in the rose garden...

...and the perennial poppies.  This is how they looked mid-March:

But then came the rains, and I found another low spot in the garden, next to the tulip beds.  Seems like every year I find a spot that needs to be built up.

Spring bulbs (alliums, hyacinths, daffodils, tulips, crocus, bluebells, muscari, mountain lily) all started coming up the first two weeks of March, along with the rhubarb.  And now (the first of May) things are looking up.

First, though, here's a picture from Easter when a baby squirrel decided I was at least better company than none.  

It followed me around for two days and then disappeared.  I hope it found a new home and not a predator.

The new tulips were beautiful during the month of April.

'Guinevere'

'Guinevere' and 'Red Matador' with 'Thalia' narcissus

'Tom Pouce'

'Slawa'

'Shogun'

As were the previous year's daffodils...

'Orangery'

I planted peas along a trellis in the same spot as last year.  I don't usually plant things in the same plot two years in a row, but I had put up that trellis and thought I'd go ahead and use it.  Besides, last year's pea crop was a bust because what the moles didn't eat as seed, the deer ate when they sprouted.

And...guess what?  The same exact thing happened this year.  I got something called TomCat Mole Killer and plan to pre-flood this area next year before planting anything.  Only I tried flooding it this year, and the water never stopped running, so I'm assuming the run is very, very long.  

I've never heard of anyone having much luck with mole baits or traps, but I'm desperate.  There are acres of yard for them to tunnel - and they do.  I just want this little plot of garden.  Is that too much to ask?

A decent bit of lettuce overwintered through that frigid February when the ground was frozen, along with walking onion and wild garlic, so I've had salads for weeks.

And, speaking of frigid weather, we got a late freeze (and snow) in late April, so I had to bring all my seedlings indoors for two nights.

Amazingly, the only plants to be damaged by the freeze were the potatoes, but they've come up from different "eyes" since.

I also cut a bunch of tulips and daffodils thinking they'd freeze anyway.  

The ones I left weren't even fazed, so I could have left them all and enjoyed them outside longer.  Oh well, I enjoyed them inside.

I saw a recipe for dandelion jelly a while back, so, having a bumper crop of dandelions (as every year), I thought I'd try it.

It was way too much work for something that tasted only of the lemon zest in it, and sugar.

Lilacs, magnolia blossoms, and dandelion jelly

 

The lost post

I see I set up images for a post last August and didn't get it finished. So, out of place, here it is without a lot of explanation.

Aztec zinnias

late tomato harvest ripening under cover - 'German Johnson' variety

too-late-planted cabbages (didn't get large enough to harvest)

perennial garden in full glory

I wish I could remember what this is:

It has pretty red stems, whatever it is.  It looks like zinnia leaves, but it might be a weed!

Monarch butterfly larva

ground cherries

I planted ground cherries thinking I'd make some jam from them, but it turns out they're like tomatoes, and once you boil them down, all you're left with is gajillions of seeds.

I don't know the name of this little black bee.  We'll call her Shirley.

Top: 'Yellow Butterflies' mullein;

Bottom: 'Cardinal' basil

The perennial garden was lovely...

It was the first time I planted tall verbena (Verbena bonariensis), and I absolutely love it.  Especially interplanted with the Russian sage (Perovskia).  It's not truly a perennial in this zone, but I hope it reseeds itself.  It may not, so I'm starting more seed indoors in March in case it doesn't.

dark purple = verbena; light purple = Russian sage

The old mimosa tree at the west end of the garden lost a couple of limbs in the winter storms, and  I think you can see why...

The August garden before a rain: