Holiday thoughts & garden journal

Thank you veterans!

I hope all our veterans receive our nation's sincere gratitude for their service to our country. All servicemen & women give up their lives to enlist, some never return. On this Memorial Day remember the fallen and be thankful, their ultimate sacrifice has promoted freedom and thwarted oppression around the world.

Lone honeybee on scabiosa

Today there are more thunderstorms, after several hot days. The garden is really starting to bloom. I find myself continually drawn to the yard for a few minutes of weeding or a stroll and hours later I return to the house! I'm just puttering, pruning or camped on the porch with a cuppa tea. Irises are done, the roses are starting to peak, the viburnum is in full bloom and the gladiolas will soon be budding.

A hummingbird has been frequenting the feeders, others probably won't arrive until June. One baby cottontail rabbit has taken up residence in the stump garden and as yet, there isn't much damaging nibbling occurring (only a few stalks of parsley). With all the rain, peeper frogs can be heard in the evenings now, a sound we haven't enjoyed for several years. Our lack of honeybees is worrisome, my garden plant choices are meant to favor bees and butterflies but neither seems prevalent.

The box gardens are doing well. The tomatoes are eight inches tall, some with flowers. The beans sprouted although something nipped a few leaves off a couple of the plants; I am thinking caterpillar, not bunny. I added two pepper plants to the raised garden where beans are missing. All the strawberry plants have berries and I have even harvested enough for one cereal bowl from the backyard containers! There is something almost magical in the newly picked beauty of a strawberry & the sweet, tart, juiciness is nectar on the tongue. No store bought strawberry can compare to those homegrown.

The dogs have gotten flea sprayed and a bath with Dawn (blue original) dishwashing detergent. Dawn kills fleas on contact... I didn't believe it until I tried it, but yahoo it's true. Add an all over vinegar spritz and the pets are set. Wendy, the cocker spaniel, also got an haircut with the clippers and is now sporting her summer shear. The cuteness never ends with those two beasties. Can you tell they love their dog cookies?!