Summer's Here

In typical Cincinnati fashion, we've gone from cool and comfortable to sweltering overnight. I've been trying to get a few plants in the ground and some others moved, but I'm having to work in short bursts alternating with sips of gatorade and rest in the shade. Phew! At least the pools should be warming up for their Memorial Day openings.

Leafing Out!

As spring heads toward summer, there is much work to be done. My busy bee surveys the side of the house, contemplating the balance of weeds and desirables. If only we had more time to spend in the garden!

Meanwhile, out back, the baby trees begin to leaf out: redbuds, a maple, and a smoke tree, as well as a couple of forsythia that will be added to the east screen. You can see the peony in bud behind the tree seedlings.









The fountain grass is starting back nicely. This was lovely all through the winter, too, with its long, tall leaves floating in the breeze. I'd like to add a few plants each year until I have a long swath all along the drainage swale... For now, I've got a Russian sage to go in the line this weekend.













The ferns are happy to be back outside as the weather warms. This is the before picture. I'll show how nicely they fill out through the summer in their new, larger pots, following a long winter hanging in the basement windows.

More on Poison Ivy

Check out this site for lots of pictures of poison ivy and imposters: http://poisonivy.aesir.com/, then stay alert!

Try to avoid it, but if you don't, see http://www.kidsource.com/kidsource/content3/fda.poison.ivy.t.p.k12.3.html for immediate response tactics.

Or once you've got the rash, see http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/poison-ivy/AN00539 for how to soothe safely.

New Additions

Thanks to all the rain, digging and planting is easy! I planted a new knock out rose near the bat house last night. I hope to get the hydrangea and weigela in the ground tomorrow. I will block out the neighbor's propane tank eventually! Also, I got a compost bin at the County's sale last weekend. It still needs to be assembled, though. I bought some landscape fabric to help keep down the weeds in the planting beds and to circle the smaller trees and shrubs. I'll place a few pieces tomorrow, too.

It is about time to place the herb seedlings. The tarragon, oregano, thyme, and basil are doing quite well, the fennel and parsley are doing okay, but the cilantro and dill are not growing well at all. Also, some of the mesclun is doing okay. I should have segregated them by germination time. I'll do better next year!

Basil goes in a hanging basket to protect it from the rabbits. I've got some grape tomato plants that will go in a basket, too.

The peonies aren't new, but they are starting to bloom. I got a couple more pieces of ornamental garden fencing that I've wrapped around the plants to keep the branches off the ground. I saw the peony rings, but I don't see how you get those around the plants once they're up to full height! Yeah, yeah, I should have set them up before the plants got so big, but I didn't. Anyway, I can use the little fences for other things once the peonies are done blooming.


I have a beautiful patch of irises this year! After cleaning out the scrub (thanks again to the former owners), there are easily twice as many irises visible than there were last year.


Turns out a bunch of the weeds in the iris patch and in some of the other planting beds were POISON IVY. Ugh. Fortunately, I had done most of the spring cleaning before the evil ivy leafed out, so I didn't get a rash then. But I have it now. This is my first experience with the rash. (Typical in my family not to get it until adulthood.) Now I am spraying anything I suspect...

Spring Rains

The recent rains have slowed work on the garden. Of course, mother nature is hard at work--the grass is growing like crazy, the worms are near the surface so the birds are feasting, and the weeds are taking a foothold. While stuck indoors I've been planning...and shopping. Now there is a backlog of plants waiting to be placed in their new homes, along with a big pile of mulch!

I still have a considerable swampy area. I guess I'll have to get someone to come improve the drainage one of these days. It's not too bad once the rain eases off and the temperature stays up, it's just this time of year when it stays a mud hole.

Lots of branches, even limbs, down from this week's storms! The dead apple trees in the back are coming down slowly on their own. My brush pile is plenty large--the birds love it--so I suppose I'll have to start putting some of these out for pickup by the city.