A couple of people asked for pictures. Since it wasn't raining yesterday, I went out and took pictures. I didn't realize it at the time, but yesterday was the four month anniversary of my taking possession of the house. Fitting.
These gloves have seen a lot of action in four months.
Let's start with the before - the day I took possession. I didn't even know where the patio stones were under the snow.
The north end of the backyard now. The little greenhouse, which my cats didn't destroy, a new trellis and planter, and more new trellises are against the fence. According to condo rules, I'm not supposed to attach anything to the fence.
I would buy taller trellises, but I have serious doubts about being able to fit them into my car.
I cut the grass last weekend and it looks terrible. I'd let the grass and wallflowers grow, waiting for the wallflowers to bloom. They didn't. I decided to cut it all down and start over. Mini-wallflowers are everywhere. Meanwhile, the grass hasn't seen sunlight for a while. I've been raking it and laying down seed.
The little greenhouse. I forgot I'd bought one of those "Grow your own salsa" kits and only just started the seeds last weekend. We'll see if I was too late.
There are also pots of sweet pea and cilantro and morning glory seeds. Today, some of the morning glory is sprouting, yay!
Last weekend's major craft project, inspired by Pinterest. Everything in the coloured pots are sweet pea plantlings that I bought. They're already reaching out to each other. Mint peppermint is in the vase. There is also a dill plant and another pot of sweet pea seeds, since I had a lot. I planted morning glory seeds in the planter, and they also started sprouting overnight, yay!
This weekend, I want to get another trellis and planter, for visual balance, and also I think it looks cool. And I'd have even more vertical room for more plants ...
The wallflowers are all droopy after I cut the long grass that was holding them up. I had this trellis in the planter before, now I'm not sure what I want to do with it. The lights are solar-powered and blink at night.
More recent purchases, in a hanging planter. A cherry tomato plant is in the middle, surrounded by heather, chamomile, and onion chives. I just planted sweet pea seeds in the empty spots.
I'm allergic to strawberries, so I actually bought this strawberry pot to put bell pepper plantlings in. Some of them are surviving, but I wouldn't say any are thriving well. I recently put sweet pea seeds in the spots where the plants died. You can see some mini-wallflowers around the pot.
This is the stepping stone that my sister made for my last birthday. I sprayed it with acrylic sealant before it went into the garden.
I poured hot water over a patch of ground to kill the grass and weeds there, then laid down peat moss and perlite, then a whole bag of potting soil. And I planted radishes, to great success.
Some of the grass and weeds poke through, so I keep plucking them out. I didn't cover up the plot while cutting the grass, so it's covered with grass clippings.
I remember growing radishes in Grade Two, so I figured if I could grow them when I was seven or eight, I could certainly grow them now.
My first planter. There is a rose bush thriving between two petunia plants. The rose bush is full of buds, and I can see that one is about to bloom. Yay! The border plants in front are White Nancy.
This is a lilac bush, safely planted away from the gas and power lines. I doubt it will bloom this year, but it should be awesome next year. The constant rains have been very good to the bush, and it is thriving.
Looking east - this is actually the same view as the before picture. I had to move the planter off the post I had it on, as it has become quite heavy. I bought a bracket and put it on the fence, but didn't screw it on.
This is one catnip plant. It's growing like crazy. And probably part of the reason that Charlie is so desperate to get outside. :-)
I have two chives plants doing quite well in the planter, plus French thyme, bee balm, and a surviving bell pepper plant.
And at the bottom - a green zebra tomato plant. I actually thought the plant died after a frost, but didn't want to dig it out. It's making a recovery.
Along the border of the east wall, I planted flowers. Of the climbing variety. That aren't morning glories. No, I don't remember the name. :-)
This is the gate. And the little step stool I need to open it, because the latch is on the other side of the gate and I'm 5'1" tall.
I haven't done much with the south part, other than cut the lawn and lay down seed. I did buy two ferns that prefer shady areas - Athyrium Lady. Maybe next year, I'll do a rock garden or something.
When it isn't raining, I water the plants from here - it comes from the roof and has some pigeon poop in it for terrific fertilizer.
On the left side of the steps - a lavender plant, one of the first pansy plants to survive, and a grapevine.
And on the other side - more of the first surviving pansies, a pot of parsley and pansies that I got at my housewarming, and petunias.
Behind them is what I've been calling "Pigeon Hollow", because that's where I found
a dead pigeon and learned that home ownership isn't always pleasant. Every time I dig up ground to transplant something, I take the dirt and put in Pigeon Hollow to fill it in, then put down more grass seed. Someday, I'll get the image of the pigeon out of my head.
And this is my patio furniture. I scored the table for $15 at Ikea's Midnight Madness last week, and I already had the chair. I also bought a lawn chair at Midnight Madness, I'll assemble it this weekend, if it isn't raining.
I forgot to get a new picture of the tomato plant that's flowering - it has four blooms now. I'll get a picture later, as well as pictures of the front garden, that my sister gave me for my housewarming.
And that is how my backyard looks for now!
