Finishing up the edging

Lots of activities happening today. We focused on the front garden, finishing the edging and clean-up now that May is here. The rain stopped this morning so we were able to make some headway. Poor David wanted to finish the edging and I had just fed the front garden with Mills Magic Mix. If anyone uses it, you know the terrible smell. But the roses love it!

David putting the edging in....

Lots more to do. But those things go in so easily it only took about 10 minutes to finish.

At the end, we have a ton of bricks for the future front path. Now...just where to store them.

This is how the front garden looks now with the new edging. You can see it a little bit on the ends but hoping that will sink down. Also, on the right hand side of the garden, those are all baby plants so they will hopefully fill in and lop over the side.

A few other exciting things happening in the garden...I don't know if I've ever shared our climbing hydrangea on the side of the house. It's a beast. It hasn't bloomed quite yet, but just about. This was here when we moved in, I'm not sure how many years ago it was planted. We have to cut it back or it tries to get in the house.

Still waiting patiently for Spring roses to bloom, but I'm very excited to see my first Mr. Lincoln bud. I planted him last year with no activity to speak of. This year looks to be a good one for him. This bud is huge and stately, just as everyone says.

First tall bearded iris, Immortality is in bloom.

What a Peach looking peachy.

Soggy Wednesday

We have a few first blooms around here. Of course it rained all day, so they are nothing spectacular. Small, soggy and droopy. I was trying to wait until the rain stopped to snap some pics but it literally rained all day. But, still fun that it's May and the roses will start their first flush in the next week or so.

Graham Thomas. Always my first David Austin to bloom.

What a Peach, sopping wet.

Cherry Parfait.

Double Delight bud looking less than delightful and that's my old friend blackspot in the background on my Moondance. It's here already and May just started!

I promise to have better pictures in the future, but right now have to cope with the hand Mother Nature deals...

On a separate note, the street redo has begun full force. Today we lost the bricks lining the side of the street.

But, not to worry. New bricks await!

Dogwoods and Peonies

Now that the cherries and pears are done blooming, it's time for the flowering dogwood trees here in NJ. Dogwoods are my favorite flowering trees and there are some wonderful specimens at Reeves.

The tree peonies are also in bloom at Reeves.

My own peonies won't pop until Memorial Day. Can't wait!

Lilacs at Reeves

We popped into Reeves to check out the Lilacs today. A wonderful scent was in the air and we were the only ones in the park for awhile. I love it there. So peaceful. The dogwoods and tree peonies are in bloom too which I'll share in a separate post.

There's a misty quality to the air at Reeves which gives it a secret garden kind of feel...when you're the only one there it's pretty magical.

I'm trying not to overreact

I mean there are much worse things happening in the world. But honestly, we had something horrid happen today.

So, one of the main reasons I love our little house and our street is that it is tree-lined. Or, I should say, it was tree-lined. These were my beautiful trees that sat right in front of our house.

We came home tonight and they were gone.

The city is doing work on our street and they are taking down a bunch of trees after the October storm of 2011. I get it. That storm was really scary and the amount of trees lost and damage done was immense. But really? Did they have to take our beautiful trees?? They made it through the storm just fine!

David has no problem and is happy that the leaves will no longer litter his lawn, but I'm so sad. This will completely change my front garden. No more shade. I need to rethink what's planted there.

Sigh....R.I.P. pretty trees....

First bloom of the season

Granted, it's a knock-out rose bloom, but still...it counts, right?

Lots of gorgeous buds....won't be long now.

Aphids already here

Pretty pink azaleas still in bloom too.

What's Happening Now

All of this hot weather has brought on an early summer over the last few days. Plants that don't usually wake up for weeks are up and about! Here's what's happening now in my garden....

Beauty of Moscow Lilac has started to bloom.

I own 1 bright pink fuchsia azalea. It was here before we arrived. All the azaleas are blooming around here. Kind of like how we have Forsythia everywhere, we have azaleas everywhere too. 

Sweet white anemones that I saved last year from the dead pile at the local nursery.

Tulips just about bloomed out. Maybe 1 more week?

My Cinco De Mayo's aren't blooming yet but have dreadful yellow leaves. They are in desperate need of some iron. Will need to grab some this weekend....

Some of the iris are thinking about blooming already!

As I was taking these pics tonight I turned around and had a visitor watching patiently. We have a bunny burrow under a big forsythia bush so get ready for lots of baby bunny shots....