Let’s talk about something I’ve been largely avoiding since we moved into our house almost three years ago…  the yard.  We did do a massive amount of work on the front gardens a couple of years ago, because I didn’t enjoy being greeted by a weedy mess each time I came home.  The youth group at our church was hiring out labor for a fundraiser and we took that opportunity to get this job done and support them in the process. The greatest challenge for me was gardening in rock.  I had never worked with landscaping like this.  How do I plant my annuals in a layer of rock and landscaping fabric?  I just had no idea.  So, we removed buckets and buckets of rock and pulled up the landscape fabric… With a clean slate, I put in some new plants and mulched.  It’s still a work in progress as

Well, things in the garden are finally blooming and looking much better after a harsh winter and a late spring.  A couple of weeks ago, I wasn’t sure that this garden was ever going to fully wake up, but the cycle of the season is carefully built into each plant and they know what to do even if I don’t. The petunias and vinca vine in the concrete urn are starting to spill over, just as I hoped they would and the hostas are filling in nicely around them.  I can see I might need to split them again in a year or so, which is fine with me since I have some other places I’d like to plant them. My Annabelle hydrangeas are blooming and beautiful!  I was nervous about them, since I just planted them last year and the winter was so cold, but they are doing great.