Well, I missed my chance to photograph the peonies - they bloomed beautifully right after my last post, and then several torrential downpours in quick succession shredded all the petals off. Next year I plan to relocate the peony bush, as the roses grew up in front and almost completely blocked them from view. I had no idea the roses would be so vigorous - I haven't pampered them at all. And even though I'm not too fond of roses, I have to admit they're quite beautiful - a very rich red.
All the mulching is complete in the front, all of the seedlings I've planted have grown well (recent additions in the past two weeks: coral bell, decorative green clover, hens & chicks, bachelor's buttons, blue perennial sage), and I've planted a number of seeds for perennial herbs (chives, tarragon, sweet marjoram, lavendar) and annual flowers (nasturtiums, california poppies). I also transplanted a miniature rose that was getting lost behind the backyard forsythia.
I'm experimenting with putting a few pieces of the leftover wood from the retaining wall in the ground - not really deep enough to hold back any dirt, but I like the contrast between the geometric and organic shapes. The clematis is in full bloom and is amazing. I wish I had a place to plant clematis on the other side of the porch - it makes such a beautiful curtain of flowers as I go through the door.
I've finished some pruning in front - the forsythia needed another trim, as it was starting to sprout up as tall as the house. The front hedge got a full trim. And the purple-leaf sandcherry has been thoroughly pruned for what looks like the first time in years - I took out a number of dead and tangled branches, and have reshaped it so that it's more tree-like, and stands out above the fairly tall perennials around it. The white daisies look like they're almost about to bloom, and there are some tall spikes of a mystery plant with tiny mauve flowers. The yellow evening primroses are a bit lost in this bed of tall plants - either they should be moved elsewhere, or I should break up this bed with some more variety of plant height.
In the back we've been battling earwigs on the kale, although we've still been able to enjoy eating it (a recent omelette had kale, arugula, sage and chives from the garden) - a plan to trap the earwigs is in development. Some animal stole my one, beautiful, almost-ripe strawberry and then abandoned it largely uneaten in the middle of the lawn, so I've taken a photo of the others to enjoy, in case they're stolen too. I've had a few raspberries to eat so far, and the gooseberries continue to ripen. The beans are all climbing up past their trellises (which I've expanded with more fishing line), and the tomatoes, squash and zucchini are starting to tumble out of their planter.
I've mulched over all of the dirt and sod that I trucked back from the front yard - it forms a raised bed along the back of the yard. I plan to re-plant a number of vegetable seeds that didn't make it before (only the arugula and nasturtiums came up) - this time they'll be at the appropriate depth in their own little starter pots with lots of compost, instead of lost in the mulch, and hopefully they'll do well as fall vegetables.
The clematis in the back looks fabulous too - I should actually get a bigger trellis for it next year, as it looks a bit cramped as a densely carpeted square of flowers and leaves. I've also had a small mystery bush blooming next to the shed - white flowers with a very strong, sweet scent.
The sweet peas and morning glories that I planted in the one tiny patch of dirt along the side fence have sprouted up - it's a tough place to grow, but they seem to be doing fine. I may fill up the rest of my containers and group them in that area, as it's rather a long, boring stretch of mismatched concrete and garbage/recycling storage.
It seems like the big heavy work (digging beds, leveling and transporting dirt, eliminating sod) is finally done - now I get to fine tune the placement of plants, work at maintaining their growth, and enjoy the fruits of my labour!
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