Spring in My Garden!

My friend kindly loaned me her husband for the day last weekend, and we got a ton of outdoor projects accomplished. While I weeded, planted tomatoes and bulbs, my friend brought his lawn mower over and mowed the yard, helped pick out termite treatment, replaced watering system parts, and generally overhauled my outdoors. I took some pictures to share with my folks, and to catalogue what had gone where in the garden, so I thought I'd share them here.

The pictures of the tomatoes I planted were taken from left-right in the garden, so in the middle of the summer when I've forgotten which is which I can look back and tell what's what. I like to show how small they were when I started, because by the end of the season they'll likely be ten to twelve feet tall! The first seedling is in between the artichoke and the first climbing rose I recently planted on the fence between our property and the apartment complex to the east.

That first one was "Gardener's Delight," one of two new (to me) experiments this year. It's a cherry type. Next is my one large sized tomato, "Pineapple Hawiian." Since it's the only big one, I wanted to make sure it did well, so I planted it near the end, where it will get the most light.

Then there's the Isis Candy, which is my old standby sweet cherry tomato.

Next to that is "Sungold," my other standard fave.

Then there is a "Sunsugar," which is pretty similar to the Sungold, but I want a nice mix of sweet cherrys this year, so I couldn't resist.

Lastly is "Jenny," my second new experiment and also a cherry tomato. So if it gets too much shade being on the end, at least my other experiment might do well, getting the most sun. It was also the biggest seedling I got this year, being more than a foot tall. I was able to bury it a little deeper than the others, so it'll have a great root system.

Here's the full side garden from the gate end. I had to pull a dead rose that I've yet to replace. And the daylilies look all squished down because I had to power wash them to get rid of a bug infestation that was just starting.

I tried to take some good ones of the daylilies to show my friend Jacque, who sent out huge starts last summer when my folks drove out to see me. This is the first chance I've had to show her how they've taken. And you'll see a couple dahlias that have popped up from last year. I put in about twenty yellow freesia bulbs in this bed over the weekend too. Hopefully those will pop up before my mom comes to visit me in about a month. This is the daylily on the far right:

The middle daylily from Jacque:

The daylily from Jacque that went in on the far left:

The artichoke is much bigger than last year--I actually think it's two of them next to each other now. And the daylily in this one is that "Millie Schlumpf" that I got at the SLC Pioneer Park farmer's market last June.

I've got a couple of great amaryllis blooms right now, and a few more blossoms that haven't opened up yet. I interspersed a ton of gladiolus bulbs into this bed over the weekend.

I replaced this pot....It'd been dead for a long while. It's right at my front door. And since my friend helped me fix the timer on the watering system in the front, I can use that hose to water again, so it stands a chance at survival.

The back bed next to the washer as it looks right now....My calla lilies are flowering wildly this year, after three or four years of dormancy! I think they love the light in this bed.

And my Bird of Paradise has a new bloom after several years of blight as well. I had the BoP in a pot on the balcony of my last apartment but was so irregular in its care that it got some sort of sickness. When I moved to the guesthouse, I gave the Bird to my neighbor, who specializes in cacti & succulents. She rehabbed my tropical then returned it to me, so I put it in the ground.

I put in all the kalanchoe before my parents came to spend last Thanksgiving with me, and they are sure going strong. I appreciate the year-round color they inject to my landscape.

The tower of mulch that I'll have to spread one day this week....fifteen bags of cedar! It will mask the smell of my neighbor's dogs pooping in the garden.

My herb garden today. The sage is flowering. I should have clipped them to promote bushier growth, but I'm enjoying the pretty color.

The nicely trimmed yard after my friend's mowing job....We added an above-ground watering system that hooks to my garden spigot. My friend also helped me re-seat the fountain so that it is more level to the ground. And we put down a bunch of grass seed in the thin spots too.

The berry patch with the newly potted mint. I broke the teacup. ;o(

The new mint pot in bright sunny colors....

Cauliflower doing well....

Strawberry blossoms!

The first ever raspberry (or blackberry?) blossom since transplanting to this garden!

My Babcock White Peach bud!

Panamint Nectarines!!!

The canna bed on the side of the back house is just beginning to wake....

I can't wait to see if I can bring any of the fruit to full term this summer. I'll invite you over for the first bbq!