Fruit-Stripe Gum Flower

This sweet little "million bells" plant reminds me of Fruit-Stripe gum.

Caprese Salad Planter

Patio tomatoes and basil - half of what I need to make a caprese salad. Hopefully by the end of June?

Fairies Live in My Garden

Accidental garden home. This lantern fell from its hook last year. Kenilworth ivy has moved in...I know fairies will, too.

Lawn Mowing Service Damage

I wish I had been paying attention last year, when the guy who mowed my lawn added a single-wheel stand-up attachment to the new giant mower he purchased. It's a commercial mower and is not suitable for residential lawns. The wheel he stands on has killed the lawn in stripes and compacted the soil, especially along the fence and in areas where he turned. I fired him this week and will be working on repairing damaged areas, including some ruts. Arghh. And I am going to learn to mow my lawn, using a battery-operated mower. Details on that later. First step in repairing was to take a pitchfork and work it under the damaged areas and lift them up an inch or so. I will keep repeating this and avoid stepping on the areas for about a month. Just putting soil on top won't fix the problem of compaction. We have to be kind to our turf :)  He also bumped my trees with the new giant machine and that made me sad. Poor trees.

Strawberries Next Month

I don't grow enough for jam-making, only enough for eating immediately out of the garden.

New Garden Beds

Two more makes eight. Yay!

Illegal Onions

Well, I did have an onion in this location last year, so somehow, it reproduced itself? BTW, these are "illegal." Only approved onions can be grown in Idaho gardens. It's really a law!

Hello Peas

Snow peas and snap peas are growing up. The purple netting helped protect the plants when they were small and tempting to birds.

Lipstick Pink Strawberry Flower

Lipstick Pink is the name of this ornamental strawberry plant. I use it as a groundcover. It does produce berries, just not as many as regular garden strawberry varieties.

Helicopter Season

Maple tree seeds are everywhere, thanks to two days of wind. 

Salvia

This salvia has been in a pot for about 5 years. Neglected each winter, it returns in the spring and blooms until frost.

Blueberries! Don't do it

Yes, we will have a few handfuls of blueberries soon...but that's all. Blueberries are very challenging to grow in our alkaline soil. You can add amendments and elemental sulfur over and over again, and the alkaline water will wash them away. Containers are the best option. I will be moving these plants to containers later this spring. And while blueberries are yummy, there are many other things we can grow in our soils to make up for their loss in the garden.