Things are growing here...

Yesterday I promised you flowers, and today I deliver!

I must first admit that the flowers I'm about to show you? I can't take much credit for. I put them in the ground at some point, and by the grace of God (and no skill or know-how of my own), they've managed to survive and flourish. If you know how much of a gardener I am NOT, you'd understand just how miraculous this is.

Anyhoo...the rhododendron on the east side of our house is just all agog with purply goodness...

...and now that I think about it, I can't even take credit for planting this bush. It was here when we moved in 15+ years ago. But I haven't killed it! And neither has my husband, a.k.a. The Mad Pruner. This is actually two rather large rhododendrons, and as beautiful as they are, it is sad that they are where they are because we are in this area of our yard the least. It is right by the stoop at our kitchen side door, a door we never use because the stoop has no steps coming down from it. I'm hoping Kevin is going to remedy that this summer. He's actually talking about moving the one bush down near the bottom of our driveway to fill in a spot on a bank that is a bugger for him to mow. He successfully moved another large rhodo last summer without killing it (though it hasn't bloomed this year), so I've given my blessing on this project.

And speaking of purple...


...check it out! I have Siberian Irises! And yes, I say that with a bit of surprise because I didn't know I had Siberian Irises! LOL A couple of years ago, a friend gave me a bunch of perennials that she'd thinned out of her gorgeous flower beds, and these were among them. But last year, the first full year they were in my flower bed, they did not flower, so I assumed they were just greenery. This year...purple blooms galore! I am so, so happy! You have no idea how much I love these flowers.

Then there is my lily corner...

...holy lilies, Batman! These suckers really proliferated, and as usual, I've missed my window of opportunity to divide them and move them around, so they're just going to be a big mass of bunched up lilies this year. They'll be pretty, though. I've got little Stella D'Oros that bloom all pretty and yellow all year, and then there are tall orange ones (Asiatic? I have no idea. I just know I love them.) And then there are some shorter orange ones, and one white one that my oldest son gave me for Mother's Day (or maybe Easter?) one year. And I just picked up two more lilies tonight when I was flower shopping...they're a pretty burgundy shade I've not seen before. I totally heart lilies.

Then I've got these things...


I put them in last year, they survived the winter, but I have no idea what they are. My friend Peggy told me what she thought they were, but she said they bloom, and these did not bloom at all last year. Maybe because I just planted them? Not sure. Anyway. I'm happy they're alive, and they seem to be getting bigger, so that works for me!

What doesn't work for me are these #@$! things...

...again, I don't know what they are, but they are a prolific, spiky, nasty, f***ing pain in the arse and they have popped up EVERYWHERE in my flower beds the past few years. They are nigh impossible to kill. Kevin has resorted to all kinds of noxious weed killers (all while trying not to damage the plants I WANT), and it kills of the leaves, but they grow right back. This year, he got out early and sprayed them. Ordinarily, I'd go out and pull them as soon as they'd start to turn brown, but I didn't get out there this year. By the time I got around to the first batch he's sprayed, they were gone. They'd shriveled to nothing. So I'm thinking maybe that is the key? Don't pull them after they're sprayed, but let them be until the roots (hopefully) die off from the poison too? We'll see. I've been waiting to yank these guys to see if it makes a difference. HATE THEM.

Back to the happy things. It was a gorgeous -- GORGEOUS -- day out today, and I got myself out and planted my little salad garden...

...yeah, I know...it just looks like dirt now, but there are SEEDS planted in that dirt! There are two types of lettuce, spinach, onions, radishes, beets, and cucumbers (I'm into planting small amounts of a lot of things in this garden...we've got a bigger veggie garden down in the back yard with larger quantities of fewer things...it all balances out). At the far end are a couple of cherry tomato and tomatillo plants. Around the corner are herbs...

...there were already chives (which I planted years ago and they come up every year without fair...probably my biggest gardening coup ever) and mint (which I'd transplanted a couple of sprigs from my in-laws' house a few years ago, and it took off and kept going, and going, and going...I regularly rip it out because it just takes over). These are my seemingly unkillable crops, so I love them muchly. To them, I added parsley, basil and dill.

Oh, and the other thing that is growing around here?

Caricia! I think I finished repeat #7 today, though now looking at the picture, it looks like there are only six. Hm. Will have to go look at it and count. It's too big to lay out flat on the 24" needle now, so it's hard to get a good shot.

ETA: Just counted. Seven! Whew! Would have been rough to have to have reversed my count on this project! I'm enjoying it, to be sure, but still...you never really want to go backward when you knit! LOL

Lastly, Nigel says...

"Would someone please remove these hideous weeds from my view? They are quite offensive!"

I couldn't agree more, Nigel. Hm...Nigel's been a little cranky lately. Maybe I need to find him a friend?