Around the garden

Same. I only removed the tree for being right next to the house, but it turned out to have more benefits now... more variety in sunny plants lol

We pulled out a bunch of small plants sprouting in our flowerbed near the house... looked like mostly maple tree sprouts lol we have a whole bunch in front of the house, so their seeds were trying to take over!

We will likely trim some bushes today. Have to cut away parts touching the house.

We were attempting to grow wildflowers at the mailbox, and it's taking forever for anything to grow. Grass keeps making its way in there instead while we wait lol so I keep having to pull out the grass to keep room for wildflowers. I have only spotted maybe a handful of what looks to be future wildflowers.... I wonder if maybe we didn't sprinkle enough seeds or if the birds ate most of them. We did keep seeing birds pecking at the dirt up there after we added the seeds.

I am always surprised at just how quickly the water butts I have which are filled with rainwater which comes off the greenhouse run out as I use the water for the greenhouse plants. They soon drink lots of water in the summer heat.

I have no rain here, Karen.

Oh no, we don't have that problem yet but I had been through it a few times before.

Beautiful weather today: sunny with a fresh breeze.

You can but it is frowned upon while water levels are low.

Well at least my banana's are still doing pretty good. They are picking up with the increased rain the last couple of days.

My gardenias are flowering profusely. It smells amazing right when you open the front door or a window in our office, as they are next to the house. I wish they lasted longer than they do!

It looks like the dogwood might not flower this year, but we'll see if it does anything in the next month. It is still relatively young, so we might need to wait another year or two.... or possibly more. It didn't come from a seedling at least, which I have read can take anywhere from 5-10 years for the first flowering.

The redbud is doing really well so far, too. The leaves have been changing daily pretty much... a cascade of colors and mixtures (purples, reds, greens, and white). They are large and almost heart-shaped. Some look a little like lily pads... others are shaped like a corgi butt

It looks like more of the wildflowers might be starting to sprout now instead of just grass trying to take over. I keep plucking out the grass. It's still rather empty, though.. so I may need to sprinkle more seeds eventually. Going to just see how it goes, as I suppose this is a trial run for the seeds I bought. It was a different variety than the ones I used last time, which went really well. These are seeds of only native wildflowers to the area instead of a generic wildflower seed bag you can get from anywhere. I have no idea what is even coming up so far... some of them look nothing like what was listed on the bag, so maybe some is truly wild lol

I have flowering plants taking breaks after being damaged or being stressed from poor weather. It's a bummer when plants don't flower or fruit, but as long as they stay alive, then I'm happy enough ;p

I love fresh tomatoes. I am lucky to grow them year round here in Florida.

Ugh... removed a bunch of Japanese beetles off my crepe myrtle. It's the most wonderful time of the year... It's getting a bit too tall for me to even reach everything, so I used a step ladder for some, and the others.. I will need a spray bottle with soap to get them lol

We will be spraying it with neem oil, but it keeps raining, and you must reapply afterward, so might need to wait until the rains are done.

The worst part is they just poke at them and most falls to the ground.