May 4.......Everything is looking very nice out there. We've had a bit of rain and some really warm days so the daffs are blooming and some of the dwarf tulips. Very pretty.I have managed to locate one of the clumps of Japanese Iris that I forgot to mark, but not the other two so far.

May 7......The orioles and the hummingbirds are back this weekend. They are both so nice to see. I had just put the feeders out for them a couple of days ago, and not a moment too soon. I always feel terrible if I see them at the window and I haven't done the feeders yet. I feel as though I have let them down since they have flown so far and are looking for the place they relied on last year for food.

I see that the Angelica tulips have begun to flower as well. They seem very pale this year but there are many more of them. They may turn pinker as they age a bit.

I bought a Lady's Mantle plant for the garden that gets a lot of shade. I have seen them in the mags and they look so nice.It's a new plant for me, so I shall have to read up and see if it needs anything special.

I also have to read up on what to do with apple trees. This is the first year that the stray tree in the flower bed has had blooms on it. I have mostly just given the articles on fruit tree care a quick glance, since I didn't have any and didn't plan on any. I think this seed has sprouted from a load of compost or maybe a bird or squirrel put it there. At any rate, the tree is in a good place and I have left it there. I am hoping maybe I will get an apple or two this year. I don't want the tree to get too big either and this might be a good opportunity to try training it into a form that is easy to care for. I have never tried to espalier a tree before. There is an article in the latest issue of Gardening Life.

May 14......The sun is lovely and warm today, but the wind is too cold for comfortable gardening. Yesterday we took a trip toRichters in Goodwood to buy the herb plants for my Teas garden. I have planted the specialty mints in pots that I sunk in the earth, just in case they are like the regular mint and have designs to take over the garden. Richters is a wonderful place to go even if just to look at the plants.......they have them all neatly placed in alphabetical order, so it is easy to find what you want and a whole lot of things that were NOT on the list as well. If you go......take a list for sure. The staff are all very helpful and friendly and know just where something is, in case you can't find it. The plants are in really good condition and very reasonably priced.

This morning when I was out with Sami (my cat) I noticed a cardinal on the deck at the feeder. I can hear them every day across in the woods, but they rarely come over here and this was a special Mother's Day treat for me.

About the only disappointing thing about the hot weather.... is that the daffs do not last very long. They are a cool weather plant. The other two clumps of Japanese Iris have come up and look very healthy.....they are also marked now!! The primulas from my sister's garden are blooming. They are the Cowslip variety and are red with a yellow middle.....a nice addition to the all yellow ones I had before. The lilies are up, and the Solomon's Seal is almost in bloom. The Lily-of-the-Valley are almost blooming and I have discovered a bit of it in with a clump of Phlox that a friend gave me two years ago. This is the first year it has come up there and was a nice surprise.

My next project is to learn how to put thumbnail pictures of my garden on these pages, so if anyone wants a closer look they can click on them and see what the garden looks like as the seasons progress. Watch for that......though it may take awhile for me to figure it out.

May 20........This week, I went to the store for milk. Just milk. That's the only thing I needed!!! As soon as I walked in, I saw the wonderful display of Caladium!!!! And so reasonably priced,too!!! Well of course I HAD to buy some ..... after all..had I not planned last fall, to put Caladium in one of the big pots that I moved under the locust tree earlier this spring?? They are lovely things too.....one is a large leaf..fairly pale in the middle with a darker green border and dark red veins in the leaves. The other has smaller leaves, but they are a lovely ruby red with dark green borders. They will look just lovely in those pots. Now all I need are the Coleus for the other pot.

The daffs continue to come up and the Angelica Tulips are really doing well now. They are still pale this year,but that is alright. The dwarf Iris are starting to bloom. These ones are a deep rich purple, and have a lovley smell. The white ones are blooming as well, but are not as nice to sniff.

I noticed a small tree of some sort out by the stone border in the shade garden and wonder if it might be a lilac. I don't have any at the moment, though most of the neighbors do and there are rows of them lining the road. Perhaps a bird has been kind.

May 24.......We set up the fountain lady in the garden this evening after cutting the grass yet again. Whatever possessed me to offer to help with the cutting, I have no idea. I think I was feeling sorry for him one night or something. If we had more flower beds there would be less grass to cut.....lawns are a man thing!!!

There was a big hail storm go through this afternoon, and I heard on the radio that it had passed through Ennismore a couple of miles to the north of us. I was in a rush to get home from work to see the damage , only to find to my relief that it had passed just below us. Very lucky, as I had just last night put out those Caladium plants with lovely big leaves.

May 27........The weather was finally warm enough for me to feel quite comfortable doing some gardening. As much as I love digging in the earth and planting things, I don't like being cold while I am doing it. Planted some Red Poppies in front of some white Baby's Breath and if they come up will be lovely. I do not have much luck with Poppies for some reason. I also planted some Squash and Bok Choy....... yes, amongst the flowers. Added interest!!!

I had some seeds from a very small Squash that originally came from South Africa. Two or three Squash were given to my brother some years ago, by a Missionary who came to visit their Church. These Squash are very small and sweet and I did grow some the year after. I put the seeds away and forgot about them last year...( should have left them lying around and I would have remembered to plant them ) ....so they may not germinate, but it will be nice if they do as we cannot find any seeds anywhere here for them.

The mosquitoes finally drove me in before I could get any serious weeding done, though I did manage to clear out around some of the lilies and lupins in the shade garden. The lilies are the Stargazer pink and white ones and are lovely. There are also some white ones that are similar though I do not know the name of them. They do well in that garden so I hesitate to move them even though I wonder if they would be better with more sun.

June 6.......Very happy to see that all the seeds I planted are up except for the S.African squash. Well that was not unexpected I suppose though I still hold out hope. The weather has been quite chilly and even though I planted them in full sun against a wall, it may just be too cold for them yet.

My sister has given me a castor bean plant that I shall put near the arbor by the road. They grow very large and fast so it should be quite the thing later in the summer.

Most of the iris are blooming now. The dwarf purple and white are almost finished and the tall purple bearded are in the middle of their cycle. The lovely frilly yellow ones have big buds, and the new ones in orange and white have just started to show buds. I did not get any flowers from those ones last year so it will be nice to see what sort of flowers they have.

I have a pot planted with what I beleive are a Peruvian daffodill. The bulbs seem to do best if they are confined to a pot. The flower stalk is quite sturdy and it topped with four or five white flowers. These have a trumpet with a frilly edge and are surrounded by long thin curling petals, giving them a very exotic look. They have a peppery sweet smell very similar to freesia. I really do need a scanner so I can put up a picture of them.

June 15..... We had been discussing the possibility of taking down that apple tree out side the kitchen window,(NOT my idea , by the way) but I see that there is a robin's nest in it, so there is a reprieve. Also, I can see a few very small apples on it. It will be interesting to see what kind they are and if the are good enough for eating.

The yellow Iris are blooming and are spectacular. Also, the bunches of yellow and pink allium are opening up. We've had so much rain this month that everything is lush......even the weeds. The peonies have fat buds and I am hoping for a good bunch this year. Due to transplanting them the year before last I only had one blossom last year. I have three different kinds.....one pale pink almost white, one dark pink that needs another year before I get flowers and one even darker pink with a big yellow middle that also needs another year. I might get a blossom on the last one this year but it's not likely.

June 24.....Can you believe that this month is almost over!!!!! The time is going so fast.....too fast.
In the storm last week, the poor robin lost her nest and eggs. I think she must be a first year Mom because the nest was not very good to begin with and not anchored at all with small branches near-by. I have moved the nesting box to that tree and hope that she will rebuild, but I am not sure there is time this year. I originally had the nesting box fastened under the deck, and a robin tried building there only to discover that it was a bad place because the squirrels can reach it too easily. My fault for not thinking of that.
My garden is doing well, but not much to report, so a note from my Dad's garden near Ottawa. He and Mom moved to Stittsville three years ago and he has been disappointed that things did not grow as well there as they did on the farm in Bethany. He had to get used to a watering regimen.....something he didn't have to worry about on the farm....but there has been so much rain this year, that he has a really good crop of strawberries and that makes him very happy. He was disappointed that he lost most of the raspberries to late frosts this spring. Happy gardening Dad !!
Upon re-reading parts of this I need to make an update on the plan for the coleus and caladium. I never did get the coleus and that container is full of small daisies looks alright. The caladium are a bit of a disappointment. I think it is too windy here for them as all the lovely big leaves broke and died. Now there are more coming up and I am thinking they might not be so tall and maybe a little stronger too.