I haven't had much time to work in the backyard this past week. Wednesday I had a curling banquet that turned out to be an allnighter. Thursday I had to drive to Rochester for a union convention. Friday and Saturday were both eaten up by the convention. And today Mother Nature decided that we needed rain. In any case I was able to step out for a bit and grab some photos. As you can see I'll have a bumper crop of Dandelions again this year.

Memorial garden

The Memorial garden is coming in nicely and I can start picking Rhubarb any time now.

Tulip, Hosta, Iris and Peonies

The plants along the garage are looking great, at least the ones on the West side of the garage. The North side does not looks so good. It gets too much shade. I think I'll need to do something else with that area soon.

Tulips, Hostas and Peonies

The Lilacs are just starting to bloom, the backyard will be smelling good soon!

Lilacs

Once again the Forget-me-nots are coming in strong!

Forget-me-nots

More Lilacs, these are the ones that run along the East side of my property. They are super old and each year I cut them back with hopes that they will come in thicker.

Lilacs

Ran out of daylight

Spent several hours working in the garden tonight. I was able to finish two beds and half of the third one before I ran out of daylight. 

The rest of my week is pretty full so I don't know when I'll get the rest done. Maybe I'll have a couple hours Thursday morning before I leave for Rochester. I know I sure have some sore muscles tonight!

These three beds will be used for vegetables and I'll be adding one more to the left of these for cut flowers. I still need to decide where I'm going to put the compost bin but I think I have it figured out. I'll make the final decision once all of the beds are built.

Now it's time for a hot shower and a glass of Merlot :)

New Trees!

The new trees arrived today! I'm so happy. The City came and removed all the Ash trees on the block, ground out the stumps and said they would replace the trees. When I got home from work today the new trees were planted. Now I can get out there and put my plants back. I'm excited to get that job done. I'm hoping to have energy enough to remove all the grass from the boulevard and put in plants. That way I don't have to cut the grass anymore.

Northwood Maple

Redmond Linden

Tulips are blooming!

YAY! The Tulips are booming!




The Hostas are above ground as well




You can catch a glimpse of the Peonies behind the Tulips




The Daffodils have been blooming for about a week now.


The beginning of this year's vegetable garden. This has become a big chore.

My dad and his neighbor Russ came over and tilled the beds. I spent quite a long time pulling nails out of the cedar boards.

Now I just need a free day to get them assembled. I might need an extra set of hands as well so I'm hoping to talk a friend or two into coming over for a couple hours. It shouldn't take long. If nothing else I know I can do it myself I did it the last time. It's just easier with a second set of hands. In any case they will be done soon and the plants will go in right away. This year I did not start my own seeds, I'll be heading to the farmers market for plants. I did receive some seed potatoes from my dad, those will go in tomorrow. I've never grown potatoes before but he had extra so I decided to toss some in the garden. When all is said and done I'll have three 6X6 vegetable beds, one 6X6 cut flower bed and one loose area for the potatoes and compost bin.

I have to keep telling myself "it's only April in Minnesota."

Before and After

It wasn't until I was looking through the pictures that I realized what a dramatic difference it made by painting the house last year. WOW!

BEFORE:


AFTER:

The City has recently removed all the Ash trees on my street. You can't tell by looking but there is a big tree stump just behind the Black Eyed Susan's that has been there since the last time the City removed trees. This time they allocated stump removal and asked if I wanted the stump removed from this area. At first I thought, no, I didn't want to dig all the plants out. But then decided that yeah I'd like the stump removed so I dug up as many plants as I could find and transplanted them. The City also said they would plant a tree in it's place! The stump has been removed and now I'm just waiting for the City to plant the tree then I'll put the plants back and cross my fingers that they will survive.

What's Happening in the Backyard

What's a backyard without a dog sticking his nose into everything. Jake wants to be everywhere that I am.



The Magnolia tree is in full bloom, absolutely beautiful! We had a pretty big storm this morning and I thought it might knock off all the flowers but they held on strong!




The Lilacs are budding nicely




The Sugar Maple is just starting to get it's leaves




The Peonies are way ahead of last year!


Rhubarb is also ahead of last year, I think we'll be eating it by the end of the month.


The Prickly Pear Cactus is coming in nicely, I'm hoping to get those great yellow flowers again this year!


The Tulips have a few more days I think before I'll see any flowers.




The Daffodils have been blooming for a few days now.


And what's a backyard without a baby? RJ was not happy that I sat him down with the flowers.

Note the yellow Mohawk RJ is sporting; I think he looks great with the yellow daffodils!

Lots of Work

I have lots of work ahead of me this year. I've expanded the garden to more than twice the size of last years space

I plan to have at least 5 possibly 6 raised beds. Initially I was going with 8' X 6' but now I've decided on 6' X 6' instead

These boards used to be a fence but now they're are on their way to becoming my new raised beds!

 

Spring Fling

I've officially called it Spring in Minnesota, I don't give a hoot about what the calendar says. When we get 75 degree temperatures in March and NO snow; it's Spring!

So last night Rhory and I had a Spring Fling party in the backyard. It was so much fun. Great friends, food and lots of laughter.

I have a feeling KV's backyard is going to see a lot of action this year!

I fenced off the entire veggie garden area so no dogs can get in there and eat all of the veggies this year. One of my dad's neighbors is going to come over and till up the garden area and in the mean time I'm going to build my raised beds. I'm also working on a design layout; very exciting.

I decided this year I'm taking orders from friends and family, if you want something grown in the backyard veggie garden you need to put in your order and agree to take the veggies when they are ready. Well, at least a share of the veggies. Last year I hated it every time I had to toss something into the trash because it was going bad.

As for the rest of the backyard; the tulips are up about 3 to 4 inches, the daffodils are almost ready to bloom. The Rhubarb it peaking out of the ground along with the Peonies and Irises. I'm very excited for my gardening adventures this year. I'm expanding more than double the size of last years veggie garden and adding a "cut" flower garden. I can hardly wait, fresh cut flowers in the house all summer long!