Spring is sprung, errr? springing!

Yes I know, it has been a while, but honestly I have excuses! Lots of them, really I do. They range from we're still renovating, to I've been working on curtains, to my favourite which is my garden calleth! Yes indeed, the snow is gone except in the woods and the melt is draining and leaving things dry enough to begin digging in some places and today is simply wonderful. I started out wearing a turtle neck, a sweatshirt and my old ski jacket and by the time I'd been out there an hour I was down to the turtle neck sweater and feeling a bit overheated. So I have been having fun, digging and moving and contemplating, not necessarily in that order of course. It is a bit daunting starting a garden on what is basically a blank slate. Especially when the "canvas" that I'm working on feels so expansive as you can see by the photos. The previous owners did nothing here except mow the grass. But in a few years, this place will look terrific.

We have a deck on the back of the house, where it is a little more private from the road. But it is mostly in the shade and we've found that as the summers are a little cooler here than in BC, we tend to spend more time sitting on the side porch. Unfortunately, this is also where we have a huge expanse of driveway right in front, and so it is going to take some work to soften it and make it more appealing. While I did plant a number of small plants around this porch last year, as well as marigolds which do wonderfully here (no slugs to raze them to the ground overnight!), I have found over the years that I arrange gardens like I arrange furniture. Try it here, then if after a while you don't quite like it there, it gets moved until finally it finds the right place to actually grow in for the next few years. Unless of course, I change my mind again. Anyway, that is what I was doing this morning, rearranging the "furniture". It doesn't look like much, but after all, it's a work in progress. Later in the summer I'll take pictures again and show you what's been accomplished.

One thing that I am going to do, is build a trellis to grow honeysuckle on just about five feet from one corner of the porch. Last year we had the ruby throated hummingbirds beginning to visit our feeders and apparently they love honeysuckle so we'll lure them to the porch in droves! At least that is the plan. Anyhow, must go and check the blueberry muffins that I made before I started this. So have a nice day and I hope you have sunshine wherever you are.