Coral Begonias

Front-of-the-garage decor. Found the pot on the clearance shelf at K-Mart. It was a mucky color, so I gave it a spray-paint makeover.

Snow Pea Harvest

Eating out of the garden tonight: Snow peas. This handful is just the first of a plentiful harvest this year. I'll saute these in just a bit of butter and salt.

Raspberry Harvest

If we stop eating everything we pick, I might make freezer jam. Make room in your yard for a few raspberry canes. We have "thorn-less" raspberries. Easier to harvest, but they only produce for a few weeks, instead of summer-long.

Zinnia Patch

They're coming along nicely since the temperatures warmed up. The zinnias struggled in the cool weather, partly due to slugs. Below is a photo of the babies, planted one month ago.

Cosmos Volunteers

I planted a packet of seeds 8 years ago. Cosmos re-seed generously. It can be a good thing, and it can be a warning.

Hummingbird Candy

One of my favorite flowering perennials: agastache, also called hyssop.Just starting to flower and it's a favorite with hummingbirds and butterflies.

Honeysuckle. It's What's for Dinner.

My daughter and her friend picked honeysuckle flowers for eating. They know how to find the sweet nectar treat, and the flowers are yummy, too.

Pink Zinnia

Another year of zinnias, as I continue my ban on petunias and geraniums (because of bud worms). The pink and yellow zinnias are blooming now.

Oriental Lily

This lemon sweetie blooms just once a year. There used to be several to pop up, but I only see one this year.

Flamingos in the Potatoes

These two potato plants are russets - the "standard" Idaho tater.

Grapes

Yes, in pots. That keeps them under control. The trade-off is a smaller harvest.

Lavender

Lavender is blooming. This is Hidcote.

Peas Love the Cool Weather

 The spring has been cool, so the snow peas and sugar snap peas are happy. We should see a bumper crop.

I Will Win the Hops War!

Hops are weeds that I constantly battle in my yard. Here they are climbing over the fence into my yard. Yeah, I know, people use them to brew beer, but they are invasive. They will choke other plants to death, they spread by seed and tough-as-nail roots, and the vines and leaves are caustic. Touch them without gloves and you'll have an itchy rash for a while. I've been trimming this threatening set once a week to try to keep them way. I swear the vines can grow three feet in a day.

Basil in Pots

Growing all my basil in pots this year, hoping to keep on top of plucking off the flowers in order to encourage more leafing. This basil was grown from seed - started indoors during the third week of March.

Climbing Hydrangea

The blossoms aren't much of a show compared to regular hydrangeas, and in some years, there are hardly any blooms.

Dahlias

Let's see if I'm ambitious enough to try to over-winter these in the fall. In the meantime, awesome color for the summer months.

Fairy Flower

A perennial tucked into pots and garden beds. Tiny flowers on tall stems. Plant is compact.