The danger of frost is past. The main task these days is planting seedlings and purchased plants. The shrubs have been pruned. The lawn is now in need of regular mowing. There is broad leaf weeds in it and the cool season grass poa annua. The poa annua will disappear as the temperatures rise and the broad leaf weeds will be choked out by the increasing growth of the turf grass.
The next most urgent task is watering. We are in mild drought conditions now. I am watering by hand and hose. Mostly, I want to reserve the irrigation for when it will be most needed in August and September.
The main show this week are the irises and the pair of nesting bluebirds that I introduced last week.
Tomorrow, I will be joining the SixOnSaturday group. Gardeners who share 6 photos at this link hosted by Jim Stephens. https://gardenruminations.co.uk/
The Iris virginica on the left is a shade of purple. It is a very reliable bloomer.
The bearded iris in the middle is part of a group I planted last year. They are large, showy and brilliant white.
The flag iris, Iris pseudocorus on the right love their location near the splash of the fountain pool. Their bright yellow blooms are visible from quite a distance.
The Tradescantia sp on the left is a native. Sorry, it’s a little out of focus. The stamens are golden in color and really stand out.
The Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly milkweed) on the right have been grown from seed. This will be part of a fundraising plant sale in 2 weeks.
The blue birds do not live in a blue house. It is an aberration of the photo editing software that I used.
Both parent birds were very busy today. They seemed to be finding ample food in the lawn for their obviously ravenous hatchling.
I hope you are managing to spend a lot of time outdoors. May the weather and your garden please you.
Happy Gardening!
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Those bluebirds must have been far away or very active for them to be blurry in the photo. Nevertheless, you managed to get 2 on the nest box. I can also see that the milkweed seedlings are much further along than around here.
The bluebirds were far away but I was eager to show them together.
So jealous that you are frost free! I have heard reports of potential snow in a week – too early to take that seriously, but Charlie Shortino, my morning weather guy, is usually pretty good at assessing the models. Be a while before we see any of the things you are showing! Love the bluebirds. I saw one once in Minnesota when I lived there, but how lucky to have a nesting pair!
We are blessed with bluebirds. I have built several nests with Eastern cedar that my friend gave me.
A lovely selection of Iris and those butterfly milkwood seedlings look very well – I hope the fundraising plant sale goes well.
Beautiful Irises