Time for work to begin!

May and June.  Soft syllables, gentle names for the two best months in the garden year: cool, misty mornings gently burned away with a warming spring sun, followed by breezy afternoons and chilly nights.  The discussion of philosophy is over; it's time for work to begin.  

          ~Peter Loewer

It is hard to believe that it is the end of May already. The year is almost half over... After a long, cold, snowy winter, spring was most welcome. And it has finally come! I am a novice gardener, and with three acres of land to do with as I please and a willing, helpful husband, I have been busy...

This weekend is not only Memorial Day Weekend and the start of the summer season, but it is Race Weekend in the Indianapolis area. Above all other things, Indy is known for it's five hundred mile race. And for us, it also means that Matt and his family will be coming for a visit. So... with the goal of having the yard look great for their arrival in mind, Lanny and I set to work on the yard. Lanny started the season early with fertilizer and weed killer applications on the lawn. He is the tree, shrub and lawn expert... I focused on getting the weeds out of the flower beds. For the first time in my life I mixed up and applied Round Up, and got that done about 2 weeks ago. I also uncovered the roses and applied their first fertilizer. But the yard still looked a bit shabby... and we decided we needed to edge the flower beds and put a layer of fresh mulch on them. In the past we'd paid a professional to do this, but since we're retired we thought we had the time and could do it ourselves...

So three days ago Lanny rented the edger. A large, gasoline powered garden device that required a great deal of arm muscle to control... Lanny edged all the beds in about half a day. His arms took a beating too. He was miserable! My job was to rake up the little hill the edger makes as it does it's work, and even that over time caused my arms and shoulder to ache. I was miserable too! However, we both wanted to get it done, so the next day off Lanny went with his truck and little trailer to get the mulch. He came home with 2 yards of beautiful black mulch... and he and I shoveled and raked and spread that mulch over one of the beds. Well, almost one of them. Off Lanny went for load #2. We finished the first flower beds, put in a total new one by the new garage and covered it too. And did half of a third one. Then off Lanny went for load #3. This time we completed the beds by the front entry. It was 5:30 in the afternoon and we were exhausted, sore, hungry and a little grouchy...

Then yesterday morning Lanny got up again and headed back to the mulch place for load #4. With it he was able to do one side of the house and around the rose garden by the back deck. It looked wonderful. The most visible of our garden spaces were done and looked almost professionally landscaped-- we were both pleased. Lanny added an exclamation point to it all by mowing the lawn-- the grass had grown in lush and green despite last year's draught.

There is still a lot more to do... but for now we are kicking back and enjoying the long weekend with our family. The grandsons are here now, and we're hoping the coldish spring weather that has descended on us will warm up enough that they can play in the yard. I have a sense of great accomplishment every time I go outside and see our work. I also have aching arm, shoulder and back muscles to prove I had done the work. Lanny doesn't complain like I do, but I know he is still pretty sore... but also just as pleased as I am.

Here are some photos of the spring flowers that were in bloom this afternoon in our yard:

This is Indigo-- the plant known for making blue dye

This is a corn flower... one of several native prairie flowers I have in one of the beds

Mock orange blossoms adorn both sides of the garage

Miniature carnations - yes, they really are that vivid a pink!

I can't remember the name of this flower-- it has lovely lime green foliage and purple flowers. A perennial that I transplanted this year. It still bloomed!

One of Lanny's favorites-- a Kousa dogwood.

No Indiana garden is complete without a peony bush-- I have two in this lovely vivid pink color and love them!

And of course, there are the roses... all of which came back this spring after a long, cold winter. They are just starting to bloom and I can't wait to see them all!

Princess Diana... just lovely!

My personal favorite-- a rose named Peace, named on the day Japan surrendered during World War II. 

These are Knock Out roses-- they have grown into huge, colorful and beautiful shrubs. Lovely!

This is a sundial Lanny gave me as a birthday gift. It reads, "Come, grow old along with me... the best is yet to be!"

Forgive me for showing off a little, but it really has been an exceptional year for the garden. Now if I can just get the vegetables to bloom and produce like the flowers, we'll be in good shape!!