Keep Smiling

Keep Smiling

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Early June Garden Tour

I was so excited when I saw my Hollyhocks
 starting to bloom this morning.
 I planted five bare-root plants last year.
Only two lived and never got above a foot tall.   
In fact I was doing all that I could just to keep them alive.
Then this year they blessed me with these
glorious blooms. 
 Not only that, but they are about seven feet tall :)
After hanging sheets on the line . . .
I walked around with my camera.
This is the onion bed.
I would show you my tomato and pepper
garden, 
but it is full of weeds.
I weeded it less than a week along.
Boy, weeds can grow fast!


Peas :)
 Squash :)
 As you can see I have been collecting pallets
and turning them into compost bins
and our carrot bed is starting to grow.
The bed on the left is black berries.
Morning glories are starting to climb
up the side of the potting shed.
 Snap Peas :)

How exciting . . . my first tomatoes!
It's 94 degrees outside and climbing . . .
I'll be staying inside the rest of the day :)

That's the tour . . .
  I hope you enjoyed yourself.

Keep Smiling! 

Your blogging sister,
Connie:)


49 comments:

  1. I loved the roses in your last post.
    Your garden is growing so well, and I enjoyed the tour ... thank you.

    94 degrees and climbing - now that is HOT!
    Keep as cool as you can

    All the best Jan

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    1. Hi Jan, it got up to 101 one day this week, but we are having a few sprinkles and the sound of thunder in the back ground, so whether we get a down pour or the rain by passes us . . . the temperatures should start going down again. I loved the heat when I was young, but now it drains me.

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  2. You have Hollyhocks and Morning Glory blooming already!! Lucky you. I can hardly wait until mine get that far but in the case of the (self-sown) Morning Glories it will be a while. They're only 6" high. My Hollyhacks are nice and tall but only a few buds yet. Your veggie beds are doing great!!

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    1. The reason I have morning glories blooming is because I started seed inside in peat moss pots and also because I purchased a couple plants at the nursery. I do have some self starters coming up in the backyard. They are slower to get started, but much healthier and will probably out shine the others in no time at all :)

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  3. Connie, your garden is an absolute credit to you.I LOVE orderly veggie patches- so homely AND healthy!Good on you being able to grow those Holly Hocks!!Wonderful Cottage garden plants.

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    1. I have loved hollyhocks since I was a little girl. I used to invent the blooms and make dancing dolls out of them. Did you do that when you were a little girl?

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  4. Well, it's all looking so fresh and good - great growing, Connie! PS Love the Hollyhocks!

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    1. Thanks you, Hollyhocks are so old fashioned, kind of like me, LOL.

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  5. everything looks wonderful. I never seem to be able to keep up with the weeding

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    1. It's a chore alright . . . I get past the work by calling it my gym membership, LOL

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  6. I love hollyhocks. Mine are about 6 inches high. We are later here in Eastern Canada. I have black and pink ones. Your red are so pretty.
    I hang my sheets on the line also.
    We've been having a lot of rain and the weeds are plentiful.
    Your garden looks nice especially the tomatoes.

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    1. Thank you for stopping by :) Before I replied to this I visited your blog and took your garden tour. Your garden is so charming. I love the cottage feel and the cheerfulness it exudes. Have a happy day :)

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  7. Looks like it is all coming along quite well!

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  8. Love your garden beds.. and your hollyhocks! Enjoy your growing weather. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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    1. Hi Teresa, Hollyhocks take me back to my childhood. Did you even made dolls from them when you were a little girl?

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  9. The flowers are beautiful but I love seeing the pictures of the veggies growing. Our bad weather has put me way behind with planting veggies. My squashes, beans and peas have only just gone in. This week I am playing catch up with planting so tomatoes, strawberries and lots of seed sowing yo be done. I tend to eat a lot of the tomatoes before they even reach the table, you cannot beat homegrown ones xxxx

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    1. Hi Fran, I totally agree, there is nothing in the world like a homegrown tomato. Summertime is the only time our daughter will eat them . . . she just cannot see buy them off season when they have no flavor. I have truly enjoyed gardening since we moved here. This summer will be my third garden :)

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  10. You took us on a wonderful tour. You have a very productive garden, a lot further ahead of mine.

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    1. I started my tomatoes and peppers from seed in the mudroom in March. Then I re-potted them and took them out to the potting shed through April and into May. So, they got a good head start :)

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  11. Hi Connie - I envy your consistent high temperatures, we got rid of our green house and now we're trying outdoors tomatoes which may or not do in our cooler climes! Fingers crossed. But we are doing well with herbs and salad veggies in my raised beds (Yesss - MY raised beds!!) Your hollyhocks are blazing away ahead of mine too… we planted a couple, some years ago; some years they come up, some years they don't. This year they have seeded ALL OVER the place! Great huge clumps of them! I'm looking forward to seeing them bloom. Isn't this a wonderful time of year in the garden? Lxxx

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    1. I love getting outside and digging in the dirt. Even pulling weeds can be therapeutic. I am loving my raised beds, too. They are so much easier to weed and keep clean. Half of our garden is beds and the other half is tilled land. I was out at 6 A.M. this morning weeding and hoeing my tomatoes and peppers (while it was still cool outside)now I can take a picture of them, LOL. I am already looking forward to seeing all of your hollyhocks. I love that sweet old fashioned flower :) Have a happy week!

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  12. Connie, your garden is full of goodness!
    The veggies will be delicious...mmm, new green peas..
    I'm glad your hollyhocks 'took' okay, they really give an old~world, cottagey look.
    I love them too, but I currently have none in my 'new' house...you've inspired me!

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    1. I love it when someone says that I inspired them . . . that's what blogging is all about. Sharing ideas, inspiring and encouraging. I get back much more than I give out. Thank you for visiting and do come again.
      My welcome mat is always out :)

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  13. Iv'e planted two hollyhock this year. One is thriving and one wilting. Hoping they will both keep going. Yours look great. Hugs Mrs A.

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    1. Mine were a mess last year. They looked sad all summer, but this year they surprised me. So, do not loose hope. They must be pretty hardy or I couldn't grow them :)

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  14. Beautiful - all of it! I really love the hollyhocks. I have one about to bloom for the first time. It is a really deep and unusual color. I have trouble with the slugs "enjoying" the leaves but finally have found a safe bait to use so think I might have that solved. Your garden tour was such fun!

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    1. Hollyhocks are such an old fashioned flower. I'm so happy that yours are blooming. As for slugs, in the forty plus years that we have lived on this side of the mountains, I think I have only seen maybe two and they were little. Move on over to the sunny side of the state. We could be neighbors and no slugs :)

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  15. I am in love with your hollyhocks.

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  16. We are going to be getting into the 90's this weekend, oh my, have to get up early and get all the weeding done in the morning. So glad that a couple of your plants did well they look just beautiful and your garden is coming along beautifully, I agree those weeds have no trouble growing

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    1. If weeds were beautiful flowers, I would have a massive and colorful dream garden, :) No work either, I could just let them grow, LOL.

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  17. Hi Suzie, I do hope that you decide to join my lovely followers, I would love to count you among my creative sisters. It is always fun to make a new friend and to enjoying blogging visits.

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  18. Your gardens are beautiful! Those Hollyhocks are amazing...I think I need to try growing some of those. :-) I love your signs in front of all your garden beds and how you turned pallets into compost bins. So clever and resourceful. It's going to be in the 90's here today and tomorrow (and very humid) - I'm staying inside both days, too!

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    1. I remember going back to Indiana in June for my brother and sister-in-law's 50th wedding anniversary. It was in the 90's and I thought I would die. The thing about dry desert heat is that it is much more tolerable than all the humidity. It takes a couple of years for hollyhocks to grow big enough to bloom, but well worth the wait.

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  19. Connie, your garden is gorgeous!! I have hollyhocks I put in last year also but no sign of flowers yet. They are still alive and super huge, though! Your garden is way ahead of mine, my peas are just starting to creep up. Of course it didn't help that the darned slugs were eating every single thing in the veggie garden!!

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    1. Oh, I am sorry to hear about your slug problem. We had peas for dinner tonight. I love eating fresh from the garden :)

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  20. So many healthy plants, veggies and flowers. You must be so proud of the work you've done. Beautiful tour, Connie!

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    1. Thank you Brandi, it has been hard work whipping this old place into shape, but I've loved very minute of it, and it feels like "Home" :)

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  21. Your garden looks soooooooooo BEAUTIFUL !! You should be so proud!

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    1. It's a lot of work, but I love doing it and better yet, I love the rewards of fresh from garden to table food.

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  22. Ok I'm getting the gardening bug again watching your posts! I used to love finding the seeds in the plants, or making cuttings, to start new plants. Every hollyhock flower will turn into a little ball full of seeds! You are going to have lots of seeds that will make new hollyhock plants! Enjoy!

    Cindy Bee

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    1. Oh I Know! I will have to find some other places to plant some :)

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  23. What a great idea for a compost bed! I love seeing laundry hanging on the line... reminds me of childhood. Your flowers are beautiful and boy!!! you sure stay busy! Since I'm going backwards on reading your posts... I already read where you pulled those weeds from the tomato beds. I need to weed my tomatoes too. My husband has this old worn out hoe that is the best weed getter upper :) My tomatoes are still small and green. It's been a job just keeping up with the suckers.. I love fresh tomatoes though! okay... enough about tomatoes, moving on ;)

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    1. Oh, you can never praise the tomato too much . . . can you think of any other taste that just screams summer more than a fresh garden grown tomato? I can't :)

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  24. I'm jealous of your hollyhocks! I have wanted to grow some so last year i planted some seeds. This year they are still quite small but one does have some buds. Maybe by the time we get back from our trip to FL it will be blooming. We moved from TX to OR w yrs ago and I always grew morning glories in TX but the seeds didn't sprout last year. I will try again. Because I love them too. Thanks for the tour.

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    1. Most areas of Oregon have wonderful growing soil and climates. I would try again. My hollyhocks were young last year and didn't look like anything to brag about or even to be worth a photo. It takes them two or three years to get showy, but then I think that they seed themselves and you have them for life :)

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