It Won't Be Long And This Project Can Be "Put To Bed"

My hard work in the garden is beginning to show some nice results.

From this - - -

The weeds were spilling over the rock wall and across the path and into the iris bed. In the upper left corner you can see some of the iris. This was in the spring and the weeds quickly turned to dry and brown.

The weeds were dug up and I covered the rocky ground with a lot of garden soil that I had delivered. After that I planted the Gomphrena (Fireworks) that I had transplanted into those green pots until I had the flower bed ready for planting.

Gomphrena (Fireworks)

The Fireworks plants are planted in the nice garden soil and I am hopeful that they will flourish and produce a riot of color next year. I have a lot of small Stella D'oro Daylilies that I may plant along the rock border. Can you see all those fall leaves that have started to fall?

And now the other side of the path - - -

In this photo you can see the neglected iris garden that has not bloomed in several years. It is hard to flourish when your roots are sitting on rock! When keeping the weeds controlled most of the planting mix that I used when planting the iris has disappeared.

Oh, and how do you like the huge rock boulders that surround my gardens. I think they are magnificent.

This photo shows when I was almost finished removing all of the iris with their old long dry rhizomes.

Here is the large pile of cleaned and trimmed iris rhizomes ready for replanting in the new garden soil. There are at least 32 different iris species. It will be fun watching the different colors popping open next summer!

I have had a total of 3 cubic yards of fresh garden soil with mushroom compost delivered. The sun is shining on the pile making it look half the size of the actual pile. It's like "Black Gold".  And, I love it. I didn't know that I could get so excited "about dirt".

Since I have some scalloped cement borders that had been used for another purpose (in another life) I decided to use them along the edge of the pathway. And, since I saw these lovely Yellow Chrysanthemums for $2.48 each I decided to border the flower bed with them to give some nice fall color when the iris are past their blooming season. 

In addition, I have been able to rescue and divide some Purple Chrysanthemums that I had previously planted some years back. They are being planted at the top between the yellow mums. I hope they will thrive in the new soil.

Putting in the cement border has been very, very, very labor intensive and very hard work for me. This is how I have to approach it. Sitting on my little stool and digging in the ground with my hand tools that on occasion requires a "crow bar" to remove all sizes and shapes of rock.

I think it is coming along nicely. I have started to replant the iris. And, I have only one more cement border to put in place. Hooray!

 This is the one and only iris that bloomed this past year amongst the weeds. So sad!

And, this is what I am hoping for next year!

Are you having a good week? I hope so!

Blessings.

Mary

Still Working In The Garden

I am making progress. One cubic yard of  garden soil has been delivered and that has helped a lot. However, I  need to order more. I try to work a couple hours every day. Yesterday it started to rain while I was working. Our first precipitation since May. It didn't last long but it was heavy enough to cause me to pack up and go in the house. Before I knew it the sun was shinning again!

I will take photos soon and post them.

Are you adjusting to the change of season?

Take Care.

Mary

How Do You Get Your Exercise

For many weeks I have been working very hard on the front of my property with hopes of having beautiful iris as well as some new plants and color to enjoy next spring. This is the section that I showed previously that was filled with weeds because gardening was NOT on my list of things to do when I was trying to survive through many loses in my life.  This is a very long post!

In all the years that I have lived here my garden has never looked like this! HORRORS! Weeds - Weeds - Weeds!

Let the work begin. All of this is done with me sitting and using hand tools and chopping away on miserable clay bedrock ground. Can't really call it soil.

This is the other side of the pathway where I have already weeded but left the Iris Bulbs that will be lifted, trimmed and cleaned in preparation for planting in freshly prepared garden soil.

Also, there are a few chrysanthemums (purple) that have barely hung on. Their roots were only about one inch and dry even though I have watered almost every day. There is very little drainage. It is horrible.  I removed them and put them in a big bucket with water. Now look at how they are growing. 

There are still a few more Iris for me to remove as well as a few Stella D'oro Daylilies that I had as a border all around the iris bed

This large bucket is almost full with iris. At least 30 different colors with some re bloomers. I expect it will be fun to see how the colors show up  since I have no idea what the names are until I see the bloom. I have a record and photos of all of them. I can't wait to see them, hopefully next summer.

ROCK ROCK ROCK.       It's EVERYWHERE!

But, I will say that I have a lot of fun building dry rock walls like in Europe.

On the other side of the pathway I will be planting the Gomphrena Fireworks plants that I bought mail order back in April. They have been growing crazy. I just trimmed them back. I hope they turn out as I envision they will.

Just a little reminder of the plants from April.

So, if by chance you have wondered why my blogging has been very minimal now you know why. It is very exhausting and I can only work for about 2 to 3 hours a day.

I envision a beautiful riot of color next year!

Until next time.

Mary

Let's Do Some Cooking

Aren't these lovely looking figs that I just picked today from my tree. By the way, they are very sweet. I also clipped some fresh oregano from my garden. So, now I'm all set to make the Chicken and Roasted Figs that I mentioned a couple days ago.

The sauce is made with "good quality" red wine vinegar, cornstarch, honey, shallots, garlic and oregano. The figs get nicely caramelized with the garlic-honey sauce during a few minutes of baking in the oven at the end of preparation.

I would say that the recipe was a nice success and I look forward to making it again next year when I have fresh figs again. In the next few days I hope to bake the Almond and Fig Cake.

Happy Weekend.

Mary

Can You See What I See

This is the nicest crop of figs that I have ever had on my little tree that I planted a few years ago. I love to hand eat them from the tree. And, this year there are enough for me to do that and still have some to bake or cook with. Not sure what it will be, but I am leaning toward a Fig And Almond Cake.

 Or maybe, Chicken and Roasted Figs.

I hope that I will make something before I eat all of them straight from the tree. Hopefully, posting about it may help me to "get to it, girl".

Since I was taking photos this morning of the fig tree, I thought I would look around and see what else in the garden I could photograph for this post. And, I found a few. With the summer weather coming to a close there isn't a lot to share from the garden.

Until next time. Hope you are enjoying each day!

Mary

And On The 9th Day

It has now been six months since my precious Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Lily left this earth and joined my other furbabies, Pixie and Puff.

Each day continues to be difficult for me especially when I awake in the morning and my automatic mental response to the new day starts with "Where is Lily?" Oh, how I loved that little heart filled with so much love.

When I saw this video on Youtube this morning by happenstance I knew I wanted to share it with you.

It pretty much sums up what my little bundle of love meant to me.

The words are a spin-off from the 1978 speech, "God Made A Farmer", that was given by Paul Harvey. More info at God Made A Farmer.

And,  Oh, how I miss her!!!!!

Mary

I Must Take A Break From My Break

It is killing me. I have been working so hard outside as well as inside. I've been pushing myself to the limit and my body is talking loudly to me! I have not had the time or energy to post on my blog. I guess I am trying to "Make hay while the sun shines" as the old saying goes. It won't be long from now and my Burning Bush will start to change colors for its fabulous Autumn display.

Just wanted to check in and say I am still "kicking up my heels" and I will be back before too long. I really am "on a roll" and don't want to lose the momentum.

I hope all is well with everyone. I have been reading blogs when I have a chance and when I am NOT falling asleep in my chair. We will catch up with my activities next time.

Mary