Born to Rock

Justin is nearing the end of the landscaping project. Last night he finished securing the fabric over the soil. This afternoon he brought home two loads of rock, borrowed the neighbor's wheelbarrow, and spread the rock! It looks so pristine and clean. I appologize for the photo being sideways. . .tilt your head to the left!

The flowers we planted over Memorial Day weekend one month ago are flourishing in the planters. I love this one! It is perfect for 4th of July!

I love bright geraniums!

These lillies are so beautiful! More blooms open every day and they smell very good! I sit on the front step at night just to smell them. You can even smell them when coming out the side door! The scent reminds me of our wedding because there were similar lillies in the bouquets.

I love the orange-y tones of this pot.

When I planted these Impatiens they were spindly little things. They have filled out quite a bit.

Marigolds never disappoint! They are huge in this pot! Well, I shouldn't say they never disappoint. . .I put some in the ground to fill in the flower bed in front of the house and they are not doing very well at all. They are not dead, but they aren't growing or blooming. Maybe the soil isn't the same as the "valley" soil I am accustomed to.

Once again, tilt your head to the left!

OK, last one, I promise!

The vegetable garden is doing OK. The potatoes, peas and carrots are flourishing. The onions look horrible and the leaves are flopped over. I pulled one out and it was soft and squishy. Hmmmm...at least we tried. The string beans that actually grew are doing well, but only about half of them grew! I thought beans would grow no matter what! The zucchini and cucumbers look small, but I've been told they really start to grow later in the summer. The tomatoes and peppers look fine, but of course they came from a greenhouse, already growing! I really don't enjoy weeding. I didn't mind weeding when I was growing up because the weeds were "field" weeds like mustard and marsh elders that were large and easily discernible. It is a huge pain to pull countless little blades of grass, dandelions, and this very annoying weed that grows out and not up and spreads over the ground. After being around farming for so long, it is hard for me to accept that there is not a chemical solution to this problem. I wish we could just spray it and be done with weeding! Unfortunately, there is no herbicide that won't kill all the vegetables. Come on, Monsanto, when will you invent a round-up ready garden assortment? An organic garden was never my goal...