Christmas snow

The veggie garden on Christmas Day. We had 7 inches of snow on Christmas Eve and December was the third snowiest on record for Peoria.

Apple harvest

This is our one lone apple from our two apple trees. It is a Wolf River apple and a single apple from this tree can weigh more than one pound. I believe that this is the third year since we planted the tree.

Late season plantings

Planted more seeds today hoping to get more veggies in before the end of the season. We planted one 4'x8' and one 4'x4' bed of flat podded green beans, one hill of patty pan scallop squash, 2 hills of zucchini, and one hill of yellow crookneck squash. I would also like to get some broccoli planted before too long also.

Harvest

Yesterday we put up 4 quart bags of black eyed peas (harvest from one 4'x8' raised bed)and today are canning 5 quarts of green beans (also from one 4'x8' bed). We are going to replant two 4x8' bed of green beans in hope of a second crop.
The tomatoes are not turning red very well again this year. Lots of green tomatoes though.
The cucumbers on the other hand are doing terrific....I have probably picked 20 so far this year....and pickling will be starting likely this week.
I am going to go through my left over seeds and see what I can plant for fall....

Sunday's walk about

Coral bells
Glowing Embers Hydrangea

Robin egg shell...I hadn't realized that they were still nesting.

This is what happens to a newly planted oriental lily when a rabbit gets hungry....needless to say, I don't think he will be back.

This hosta is so pretty this year. I like the leaves on the flower stems.

Side yard hosta bed

Another hosta bed

Black eyed susan

Baby bug...grasshopper??

My ailing pepper plants...something ate a few of them. The others are coming along.

Raspberries

Tomato blossom....I wonder if there is a certain time frame from blossom to fruit?

Italian green beans...a little spotty germination. My overgrown sage plant made it in the pic also.

Black eyed peas....for the southern girl @ heart :)

Oriental lily

Knock out rose

Lavender

Lavender

Stella d'Oro daylilies

Potatoes that have been beat up by our stormy weather here recently

Our lone Wolf River apple
Annabelle Hydrangea in full bloom

Purple coneflower just starting to bloom....funny how they start out cream colored

Oriental Lily

Purple coneflower plants

Purple coneflowers....because of these plants, I am learning how to throw away living things...they border on being invasive!

Latest window box picture

Oakleaf hydrangea starting to bloom

Looking like there will be a lot of daylilies this year

Bumblebee on the Delphinium flowers

This week in the gardens

My backyard Oakleaf hydrangea....this guy has almost been moved because of not doing really well under this maple tree. This year seems to be a turn around year for it. I will leave it for one more year to see how it does.
For the life of me, I cannot remember the name of this flower. I'm sure that I have the tag somewhere in my shed.

Lauren's very own raised bed. She loves it! Last year it was over run with her gourds. Actually the gourds over ran most everything around them!! This year...no gourds...just some flowers and some veggies.

The very first red raspberry of the season. Not quite ready yet. We have had a fair amount of bee activity which is encouraging with all of the talk of Colony Collapse Disorder.

Baby red raspberries :)

The remainder of my tomato plants...total of 40 this year. Many different varieties.

Volunteer dill....love the way it smells just by bumping into it!

My pepper bed. Something is making my plants on the left side of the picture all wilt. I think that something is eating them just below the soil line. :(

Roma tomatoes

16 Roma tomato plants....hoping for lots of canning and some salsa!!

Potatoes poking through the ground

Potato bed with plants just breaking ground
Annabelle Hydrangea This plant has become huge! I received it in a gallon pot for Mother's Day about 10 years ago, have transplanted it when we moved to this house and it seems quite happy where it landed. It gets some pretty punishing summer sun from the west. I think that next spring I will be dividing it.

Black raspberries...will have to net these very soon. The birds will think that they have dessert otherwise.

Same black raspberry bush. We transplanted this from a start near our compost pile that was probably deposited from a bird. Last year was a great year and we got a lot of berries from it. Quite a bit of the plant died after this past winter.

Yellow primroses

Oakleaf Hydrangea. I have quite a few hydrangea bushes...six actually. This is the best that this one has ever looked. As you can tell, we are in the process of remulching the flower beds this year....as well as getting ahead of the darn weeds.

My rogue Delphinium among the Columbines. I started all of these perennials from seed and this one got planted in the wrong place. It seems to like it here though, so I hate to move it.

Close up picture of the Delphinium

My pride and glory Jackmanii clematis. I have had others of these and they have never lived past the first year. Thought I had found something that I just was not going to be able to grow, but persistence paid off with these pretty blooms!

Believe it or not, this is actually a Glowing Embers Hydrangea. You would never be able to tell by looking at the flowers. They are supposed to be red. Mine are white with a pink tinge to them. I nearly killed three hydrangeas one year by liming them to try to change their color. They didn't bloom for a couple years after that. This year is the first year that they seem to have come out of it.