My garden this spring

 My garden is starting to fill out so I thought I would post about it. I love this time of year. It's so delicious! I slept with all my windows open last night. It was so wonderful to feel the cool night air over my face. It smells so good. The cats just love having the windows open at night. keeps them busy and quiet so I can sleep. Peaches slept curled up against me. It was a good night. And just look at my pig! Maggie the Magnolia is in full bloom! Isn't she cute? I love that pig. I have a little piggy on my back porch step too. 

 I don't know what this bush is called. I call it my "orange ball bush" for it's flowers. I got a tone of it from my brother when he ripped it out of his yard to make room for his hen house. I love it. This is the first year it has started to flourish. Up till now it hasn't got many flowers. It looks nice this year though! In front is my white rugosa rose. I started that from just a half dead stick. it's hard to see it clearly in this picture but it's big and healthy now. The first year I planted it I was not sure it would survive. I have three on this side of the yard. A white one, a hot pink one and a yellow one. I just got the yellow one last year and it is still tiny and looks a little delicate. We shall see. I like to give things a good three years to get their feet under them. 

 This is my Raspberry patch this year. Isn't it glorious? It's spreading out. I love that. It cannot get big enough as far as I am concerned. I hope it is twice this big next year. It is coming up through my lawn which I love. I'm not super attached to having lawn. My yard could be all plants and no grass at all and I would love that. So I am encouraging my Raspberries to spread themselves out. I love how they look too.

 This is my little fire dish. I am so excited about this. I have a chiminea too but this will be better for having fires in for sitting around in the evening. In the background you can see my arbour with my Honeysuckle growing on it. It is really getting big this year! I am so excited. I love it so much. I can't wait until it starts blooming. I will post pictures of that too. We shall see if it gets lots of blooms.

 These three pictures are of my shade garden. I am so happy with how it is coming along this year. My bleeding hearts are amazing! I dug these up on the side of the road. Last year I thought they might not make it. This year they are flourishing. I am trying to create a shade garden that combines indigenously sourced plants with things I have brought home form the nursery. So the white bleeding hearts are from the nursery. As are the Hosta, Periwinkle, and Solomon Seal. The Forget Me Nots were started from seeds I bought. The Dead Nettles are naturally occurring. I did not plant them at all. But I encourage them. In the background you can see my Rhubarb, and beyond that my Mint patch. Off to the side you can see the Raspberries. And of course the three little shrubs. They were there when I moved in. They never do anything. They have stayed exactly the same all these years even though I water and fertilize them???

 My Blueberries are flourishing in this location. All except the closest one. It is always a little feeble. But the other three are huge with tones of berries. My tiny little purple Lilac is finally getting to be a decent size this year. In the pots are tulips and the tall yellow flowers are Kale blossoms. I think they are lovely. They are wintered over from some lettuces I planted last year. I also have some Brussel sprouts I wintered over that are covered in lovely yellow flowers this year. 

 I just put down this mulch a week ago. Here you can see the buttercup that is taking over everything. I rip at it but it comes back so fast I cannot keep up. My garden is scruffy I know. I have been working so much on other things my garden does not get nearly enough attention. The blue pot is a fountain. In the foreground you can see my white French Double Lilac. I just got that last year. It need some building up! I took the compost I made in my compost box and filled the raised beds. They have Tomatoes in them so far. I'd like to add some more things and get some bedding plants to fill out my planters with flowers. I usually do hanging baskets on my front porch too. We shall see what I can get to this year. It is already getting late for starting pots of flowers now.

Look at my climbing rose!!! I transplanted him to this spot last spring. He liked it instantly. This year he is over ten feet tall! He is covered in rose buds. I am so excited! His name is Don Juan. He gets heavily scented blood red blooms. I can wait! Below are some plants I wintered over from last year. I am not sure what the bush with the white blossoms is called but I love it. And I have a tone of snap dragons I wintered over. Plus some Fever Few. I love Fever Few. It's a pretty weed basically. The large plant behind my rose is Lemon Balm. For some reason I grow massive Lemon Balm plants. I always seem to do well with them. Thats my little herb garden. It is flourishing this year. Oh and I know there are lots of Dandelions. I grow them as spring forage for the Bees. I have tones of them. Thats effortless. 

Guess what I saw for sale on Swap and Shop today that I want desperately. BEE HIVES!!! God I want to keep Bees. I probably should not do that though as I am a bit allergic. But I want them SO BAD!!! I have the perfect spot to put them. If I am careful and wear a suit it should be ok right? Just two or three hives... I love Bees.