Polka Dot Militia

I'm happy to report that our roses are really blooming in abundance this year. The last few years have been kind of ho-hum as we let our rose bushes go a little wild. I am not an expert of plants, so only as a last resort, I reluctantly hacked away in the fall and spring. Fortunately that did the trick. We have beautiful roses of burgundy, pink and peach that you can see all the way from down the street. I've also been staying on top of trimming any wild growth, and watering thanks to newly added drip hoses.

I put  the new hoses along our flower beds in late spring. I've never used them before, but I'm really liking it so far for ease of use and I don't worry as much about wasting water.

The downside to my roses this year is that aphids had arrived. Gross. Early in June I began to notice them munching away at our incoming rosebuds. I tried spraying them down with water... no luck, and I really wasn't wanting to use any harsh chemical sprays.

So....we called in the experts!

Brandon and I found these at Northwest Seed and Pet. I wish I had a better picture. So many Ladybugs! We kept them in the fridge until evening so that it would be cooler and they would be slower to fly away.

Here's some shots from the next morning.

The aphids aren't completely gone, but much more under control. Its been about a month since our lady bug experiment and I'd call it mostly a success, though eventually we may need to bring in some more of our polka dotted friends.

Anybody else out there using natural methods to get rid of weeds or pests in their garden this year?

Flowers in Bloom

As many of you probably guessed, the raised garden beds are probably not going to happen this year. We've been putting the project off for months now because it was cold outside or we were working. Well, now the weather is beautiful and I'm really regretting it. I may still attempt a space for tomatoes and peppers if I'm feeling really ambitious. Spokane has been having a really unusual heatwave this last week with temperatures in the 80's. I'm so glad because spending a little time outside has really pulled me out of my not-wanting-to-do-anything-and-feeling-bummed-because-our-house-is-so-old-and-needs-so-much-work slump.

Of course with the nice weather I've been thinking a lot about what I want to do outside aesthetically. In the last week I cleared out the main flower bed of weeds and transplanted hyacinths that were scattered across the lawn to one of the side beds along the western edge of our property. Brandon and I got two 50ft lengths of soaker hose for the flower beds in the front yard and I'm thinking of adding one more to really saturate the larger bed.

Our bleeding heart that we planted last year is doing beautifully.

I picked up this small trellis from Fred Meyer the other day. Our clematis is already reaching up past the top, no blossoms yet though.

Brandon and I filled our two hanging baskets full of marigolds.

Some of the hyacinth and tulips that I transplanted.

View our back porch this morning. I forgot to mention that we had my cousin Chris come over earlier in the spring to prune our apple tree. If anyone knows what the bush is that has the little pink blossoms, please let me know.
Lastly, this has nothing to do with anything at all, but they are too cute not to share.

I'm not sure if the post office still has these (I've been hording them for a couple of months now) but aren't they awesome?

Also I've discovered drinking sun tea out of mason jars. Hipster? Maybe. To lazy to wash a glass to drink out of? Definitely.

Now for more playing in the yard. Happy Saturday.

A Gardening Post From Someone Who Does Not Garden

I've never been terribly good with plants. I suppose that's a bit of an understatement. I've killed cactus. Though I have been trying really hard this last year, and I think I've finally figured it out. Turns out plants need water and sun.

So far the windowsill garden is going really well. After getting the drainage figured out, the cilantro and dill have really started growing like weeds. I love checking on my plants everyday when I get home. I'm so pleased with the success I think I will have to fill another windowsill and possibly some larger containers outside.

I've been absolutely loving the mild weather we've had so far this year, and just want to spend as much time as I can outside. To be honest, my husband and I haven't done much with the yard since we moved in. We mow the lawn and enjoy the rose bushes that were already planted. We've added a few perennials and some small lilac bushes, but neither of us have much experience with gardening. I'm not sure how that happened because we both have relatives that are pretty much experts. Go figure.

Anyhow, I'm really excited about this book that I found at 2nd Look Books

 (One of my favorite book stores in Spokane)

1951 First Edition Better Homes and Gardens Garden book. Very practical and simple advice for everything garden. I'm sure I could find most of this information online, but sometimes reading print helps things to stay in my mind much better. Plus the illustrations and photos are so much fun!

This book has sections on lawn care, lot planning, pests, soil and all kinds of plants. It doesn't seem to be terribly outdated either, besides a few things I can laugh about while reading. What a find! Hopefully by summers end I will have some things to show off. For now its just fortunate that roses need so little work. These beautiful blooms come back every year regardless of how I abuse them.