Embrace the Mushrooms

We have over 60 of these babies growing in our front lawn.   I don't like eating mushrooms; however, they grow with abandon in our yard and woods.  Fungi are nature's way of cleaning up.  With one caveat--making sure that little ones or pets don't eat mushrooms that are poisonous--I say let them grow!

Flowers Finally!

The cosmos in the garden and zinnias by the mailbox are finally flowering.  I planted them from seed late this spring since the ground was soggy and cold.  This is the latest for my garden that the flowers are looking good. 

The zinnias in pots have been looking terrific since I could control the moisture and temperature and planted the seeds earlier than the others. This is Zowie Zinnia, planted in three pots that border my garden. In pots by the front of the house I had planned on impatiens, but when they died, I replanted with red geraniums.  It's a little shady for them, but they look great.  I hope for a late, late frost so I can enjoy these beautiful blooms a long time.   

Green Beans

This is an early morning photo. We are in a heat advisory today and I might melt.  The green beans seem to love this weather.  I picked lots of beans today, and this photo shows the blossoms of  Slenderette, a variety which is both prolific and tasty.  So tasty!  In the middle of the winter I will occasionally splurge on fresh green beans, trying to re-create this wonderful sensation of freshly picked beans. No garden?  My advice is to visit a farmer's market or beg some beans from a friendly neighbor. 

Visit to Two Public Gardens

This weekend I visited the Japanese Garden at Normandale Community College.  My husband joked that we should both get jobs there, but it's not a good idea.  With a garden like that, I'd spend more time outside than indoors.

I also visited the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum.  The tree is Japanese Lilac Tree, which is the last lilac to bloom and blooms every other year.  I'm looking around my gardening spaces trying to figure out where to put one--along with many of the other plants and trees and shrubs that caught my fancy during this visit.  If I ever move to the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, I want to be close to the Arboretum so I can visit during every season. 

Late Lilacs

This is the latest that I've seen lilacs blooming that I can remember.  This has been a weird gardening season.  Over three days, seven inches of rain fell here. The rain has compacted my garden's soil, and everything is waterlogged.  We were lucky because we lost power for just five hours after strong storms.  My bok choy and spinach plants have bolted before they were ready to harvest.  (I will collect seeds for  a fall crop.)  Many seeds have simply rotted in the ground.  I had grand plans for my garden this year, like every year, but mother nature has the last word.  I chose this photo because if you look carefully, you'll see two bumblebees.  We love lilacs!

Hawthorn Blossoms

Everything is so slow this year--wild flowers, perennials, even cool weather crops like peas.  During this cool, wet spring, I have seen an occasional wasp or bumblebee, but nothing that makes me think many of our pollinators survived this winter.  However, yesterday as I was working outside, I heard a low but steady buzz, as though I were near a hive.  I searched the ground, I looked in crevices, and then I looked up.  Bees covered the wild hawthorn in full bloom. Bees may not have emotions, but they sounded happy.  And I am happy to bring you this garden update with good news.

birds at the feeder

This isn't a good photo of the bird feeder...I took it through a window. See the sticky note? That's to prevent birds from flying into the glass. I have never seen so many song birds at one time! I think this may be a once in a lifetime event. I counted seven tanagers, four orioles, an indigo bunting, and a couple of grosbeaks. This is in addition to the regular line up of our woodland birds--nuthatches, finches, chickadees, and woodpeckers.  I suppose our feeder is on the migration route this year.  And it's spectacular.