An evening on the deck

Last night B and I sat on our deck looking at the sunset. Most days this is hard to do because of the 'supper' winds. We always burst into song here....think Frank Sinatra and the Summer Winds.  The weather takes a nasty change around 6 o'clock everyday and sends wind howling down the 9th fairway leaving us hanging onto umbrellas and chasing crockery.
But last night was unusual. We could smell the blossoms on the May tree and enjoy the bulbs which are up and in top form.  I have frilly scarlet tulips and sculpted pink and coral tulips. I will soon have daylillies and iris. The oriental lillies always bloom on July 7th. and not a moment before.

I have been beating a track to the nurseries and have a good supply of rabbit food waiting to be planted. Coral bells, yellow mimlus 'monkey magic', poorman's orchid schizanthus ( which looks like it already has bees in it), and bright blue nolana. Plus of course the ubiquitous herbs and evening scented stock.


The rabbits are waiting with their napkins tucked under the chins and their cutlery at the ready. I am getting tired of dragging these bedding plants in and out. There is still the threat of frost everynight but by June 1 we should be in the clear. However the temp hasn't gone down below 9C at night. A sneaky trick that natures plays is luring me to leave them out waiting to pound them to mush with a killer frost, but I haven't left the tomato outside yet. In and out and in and out.

Hail will take it out eventually but hopefully I will have had a tomato from it by them...a $10.00 tomato.

Tree Strangling and Child Wrangling

I finished picking all the rocks out of the flower bed in the front and then offed them to a very kind friend who actually came around and loaded them into her truck.
As I cleaned out the bed I discovered that the ignoramous who planted the tree had ringed it with bricks and red rock and tightly wrapped it with landscape fabric...when it was a sapling!! It grew to maturity with an hourglass figure where the fabric strangled it,and it grew inspite of the idiots that planted it, but it suffered a split trunk and black virus. I I dug down deeper to free up more red lava rock I discovered that they had surrounded it even more with old pavers virtually burying it in a coffin of brick trash.
We had it innoculated and pruned by an arborist last year and after days and days of rock picking it is free  at last. I hope it doesn't keel over in shock.






This little person doesn't have the same sense of gardening that I do. I am not saying who is right but one of us ended up in the tub. She helped spread new loam in the old bed and carefully sprinkled it around and tasted it and stuffed it down her shirt and in her pockets.  and filling up the bird bath....