Midwest Gardening 2018 Part 2

 Part 2---Looking good!

Our side yard is a long strip of concrete ten foot wide with a three foot garden bed on the east end. It gets lots of sun as it is on the east side of the house. 

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Part 1 ended with our colorful dragonflies on the fence and

 I had added an OLD enameled chair for a planter. 

Despite our 90 temperatures  now---the Tiger Lily has not yet bloomed, 

but the orange blossoms will be welcome. 

Purple Russian Sage is another perennial in the lower left.

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This side of the house is also a working garden, partially with a little fence to protect our Eggplant and Red Lettuce. We have Squash and Pumpkins mounded here and there along the fence which has green fencing added for climbing. 

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We did buy Lettuce plants, but I will add seed as soon as these are eaten. It's so wonderful to have fresh greens 12 feet from the kitchen.

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Our Spring record rainfalls for the last two years forced these bushes to grow huge around the back porch. My Fairy and her pond have been displaced. I will have to find another spot for her. The wooden base she has sat on for 8 years had to be moved as it totally disappeared under the bushes.

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I moved the box of green wood over to the corner of the patio---and now it lifts and protects my pots from the constant hoses being pulled across the deck. 

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The vegetable garden itself is my hubby's domain. Here we have tomatoes, peppers in pots and Swiss Chard. We have eliminated the weed barrier and the mulch this year, and are crossing our fingers we won't have drought. We are sticking close to home all summer, so watering will not be an issue. We eliminated the old lattice which had been up since 2009, and was the remnants of my Art/Craft/Antique shop in Volo, IL, which I closed in 2008. 

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The entire garden is fenced now with a narrow mesh. We are still far enough into the country that Bunnies, Woodchucks, and voracious Squirrels and Chippies are an issue. These pics were all taken on June 14, 2008.  Our tomatoes were all started from seed, as were the peppers.

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Golden squash planted along the fence, you are seeing the older fence top rail. We have ladders and trellis that we will place when they are ready to take the area over.

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This is the overflow from the greenhouse of our seed grown plants. Family and friends are picking them up over the weekend.

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The Marjoram plant on the lower right is huge this year. We have seeds going and perennials. Everywhere are frogs that my family has gifted me over the years. 

The water trough pond is a favorite of the local birds.

 I have a stack of patio blocks placed inside to give them a place to stand under the shower.

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I'm so excited the climbing rose is blooming to replace the morning glories that terrorized the yard. Amazing the damage one package of seeds can do.  

We have Indian Corn and Fairy Tale Pumpkins planted behind here, Much of the green on the ground is from Morning Glory's self seeding. Lots of weeding to do.

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Up close the roses are brilliant. This was a cloudy day---taken around 10 am.

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This rose looked like it was dead there was so much frost damage on the canes. 

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Behind the Greenhouse the forgotten Chives blossom. No worries, I will cut them back and they will be fresh again in a month.

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The north edge of the yard, perennials, Tomatoes, Rhubarb, so delicious. The cart in the back left is full of cut grass destined for the compost pile.

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Center of the yard is a badly listing trellis, but birds are in both houses, so I just roped it to the Grand's play house. We will redo something in fall, since the birds still have at least 2-3 sets of babies yet to produce.

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Here's my urn on top of the well pump surrounded by Day Lilies. 

Can't wait for the color to come.

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Here and there we have planters with annuals. I still have a few to plant...but it's so HOT!

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I'll garden post again in a month, good or bad weather to see our progress or failure. 

Last year was fair to poor. But, today is another year.

HOW DOES YOUR GARDEN GROW?

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