June 5, 2009...The sunflowers are growing rapidly now. I did have to replace the hybicus yesterday, but kept the old one that shows new growth, but looks poorly. I don't through out any plants until they're definitely dead (s). I had a problem with part of one of my blueberry bushes. All the berries went into some state of deformity, where they were stunted already turned blue so I had to prune that section off just in case they were exposed to some chemical I have no idea what of??? (usually they don't turn blue until the 4th of July). The yellow roses are starting to bloom and I have one pink rose bud starting to open. The dahlias are growing real well & all the other plants we put in the gardens, except a few zinnia's died  for some reason. Almost lost an allysum from a cat using my garden for it's bathroom & dug up a plant when it burried it's waste. I better not catch him/her! Will try to get some photo's uploaded today too. The flowers on teh phlox below the bradford pear tree are almost all gone. The sweet peas are germinating well now too.

May 23, 2009... Bought all our flowers today for the flower beds around the house. We got zinnia's, white allysum, red salvia, lemon drop & multicolored marigolds, 4 different colored geraniums for the beds. Our pink & yellow climbing roses are looking great as well as a miniture rose that usually doesn't survive MA winters is also full of blooms/buds. I forget what color they were from last year. Had a nice surprise...my dusty miller survived this past winter and is also looking great. Also planted two large pink "Minnesota" dahlias. Never tried growing these, this is a first for me. Always wanted to plant them, but never bought them plants in time for spring planting. Just forgot & when I remembered it was too late. Also planted some "sweet peas" seeds for the first time. Beth's hybiscus survived the winter indoors, but looks like it went into shock after planting it. May have to replace it. The sunflowers (mammoth, mexican, evening sun, & summer cutting variaties) are starting to germinate. Planted a row of bush beans too behind the garage. Did alright there last year, so tried it again this year.

 May 16, 2009... My son graduated from Salem State College today with a BS in English. My lilacs are at peak & the smell of them almost knocks you off your feet! The yellow daffodils, forcythias and Bradford Pear tree have lost all their flowers. The phlox below the pear tree are at full bloom.

April 17, 2009..."Garden Observations"...The Forsithia Bush is in full bloom. My Daffodills are finally starting to open up and I noticed the Lilac blossoms are starting to show a little purple color on them and the Flowering Bradford Pear Tree is about to burst open it's blooms within 2 weeks I guess. So far all the pansies have survived the cool nights, have not had anymore frost! The purple Phlox is really filled in this year. It should be real pretty once it's flowers open in about a month. I spent about 3 ours in the yard earlier this week cutting back all the dead wood on the Hydrangers & other perannuals nowe that I can see this years growth coming out. All the crocus' have come & gone. Time to transplant them before I forget where they are in the front garden. I want to put them in the back garden in front of the Daffodills for next springs growth.

April 13, 2009...Still waiting for my daffodills to blossom. Hasn't been warm enough I guess. Also waiting for warmer weather to plant the pansies I bought for my wife 2 weeks ago for her birthday. Getting them ready by taking them outside during the day & giving them some fresh air & sun, then taking them back indoors over night until the night frosts are no longer a threat. The other perannuals, such as Sedum, Tiger Lilies, Peonies & others are getting larger every day teling me that spring has deffinitely arrived here in MA. My lilacs & the flowering pear tree also had buds just waiting for warm sun to burst open. The sunflower seeds I started a few weeks ago only took a few days to germinate. Guess I'll have to start them later next spring because I'm affraid I loose many of them before it's time to transplant them outdoors in 6- 8 weeks depending on the temps here in MA!

April 1, 2009...More yard work today. Only took about 1 1/2 hours to get all the dead leaves & winter debris out from behind the garage. Also cut up the huge braches I trimmed off of my "rosa ragosa"... Beach Rose. The daffodills continue to grow daily. Also see some flower buds this year! Didn't get any flowers last year because I trimmed off the green leaves before they died in spring of '07, so the nutrients didn't go back in the bulb as needed.

March 28, 2009...Well, I did get out & get most of the flower beds wedged today before the rains come in tonight or tommorow. Also transplanted soem of the perannuals that were too close to the beds, edge & needed to be moved back towqard the rear of the flower bed. Will try to get some pictures to post here before the colors fade too much. Too cloudy out right now to do it today. Saw a poair of Downey Wooodpeckers in our Flowering Dogwood today. Always noticed just one at a time during the winter months. They seem to ove the suet I put out there for them.

March 26, 2009...the few crocus' I have left are in full bloom in the front yard. Started getting the summer lawn furniture out from behind the garage to get cleaned this weekend. Still too cold temp-wise to work for long outside. Hopefully this weekend will get flower beds edged & a bit of raking of the dead stuff all over the lawn. Now if I can only catch those damn cats that are useing my flower beds for their cat box!

March 14, 2009...Just a little clean up yesterday. Removed all the dead leaves & debri off of the daffodills and other perannuals growing in my gardens that were showing some greery. Praying we don't get any more snow, even though I know they are hardy enough to withstand it.

  September 8, 2008 ...Added some pictures of the Zinnias and Mexican Sunflowers we grew for the 1st time this year and a pink hydranger flower we got for the 1st time out of the bunch of plants we have growing along the front fence (they're usually all blue in color?). The bees are buzzing like crazy in our beach rose (rosa ragosa), I uploaded a few pictures of them last year. My tomato plants are doing so bad I hate to admit I even planted them (argh!). Continuing to get a few bush beans to eat on a weekly basis. They are even great to eat raw! Getting more sunflower blooms every week this month. I trimmed the forsythia bush that was getting out of hand once again. My concord grapes are doing well, but too young for any fruit yet, I think.

Still trying to run/jog 3 miles 3 times a week, but temps last week were too hot, so I FINALLY got a run in today. My weight seems to have leveled off to 196 lbs from 215 since starting this running/jogging, but still enjoying it & looking forward to cooler temps come fall season & hopefully increase my milage or the amount of times I jog/week.

August 9, 2008 ...I really wanted to keep this "garden journal" as up to date as possible, BUT I got into jogging/walking & taking care of myself a lot better. This started on April 21st, when I couldn’t even run 1/10th of a mile w/o stopping for air or to get my heart rate down. By "Fathers Day" I finally could run 1 mile w/o stopping and on July 4th I finally made it around the pond where I live w/o stopping, about 3 miles long and have tried to keep up with that! I’ve lost about 15 lbs and dropped from a 42 to a 40 waist, which makes my darling wife very proud & happy for me. We also hiked up to the top of 4 mountains this summer all in NH. Mount Major, Manadnock, Chicora and Washington. You can find these all on the internet.

So, this garden journal as been lacking updates and I apoligize to those that were looking forward to my updates. So.........today I will TRY to get it all up to date? I finally convinced my dear bride to get rid of the spreading yews that have been in front of our home since we bought this house almost 24 years ago. They were so out of shape, even though I tried to keep them in shape & trimmed them to our liking. As soon as we removed them (about 3 weeks ago) the Zinnias & Petunas took off like crazy, filling in the area where those pesky shrubs were over powering them & the Rose of Sharron. We also have been visited by many Monarch Buttterflies in our yard sucking the nectar out of the Zinnias, Butterfly Bushes, and other plants around the yard.

I was disappointed in the tomato plants I bought at "Home Cheepo" this year. They never really took off and they are smaller & scronier than they were when I bought them in May! Only got about 6 tomato’s off of the 3 types of plants I bought. I planted them in the same spot a slast year but they didn’t grow to a 10th of the size they have in the past. Also the bush beans I planted seemed a bit on the skinny side too, but have had about 4 meals out of the small row I planted behind the garage.   

The pink & yellow climbing roses have had many bouts of blossoms all summer. Seems one will fill with blooms, then when they die the other one fills with blooms. Beth’s Hybiscus took a long time to flower. We think it was because of the cool/wet spring we had here in MA. We had another bumper crop of blueberries all during the month of July. The marigolds didn’t do as well this summer, but the allyssum did well around the beach rose (rosa rogosa).

I will try to post more pictures from my garden for you to enjoy. That’s all I can think of to write today. Hope you enjoy this little update.

  June 3, 2008 ...Cut all the flower remnants off of the lilac bushes to make sure I have pleanty of buds next year. I can’t believe they have come & gone already! My bush beans & sunflowers are getting bigger by the day. Had to apply slug & snail bait around the flowers & veggies. The SOB’s are eating the leaves off of the marigolds I planted out front of the house! Cut the lawn aging this past weekend. Found out I have a hernia yesterday, so I’m not sure I can continue my running. Will see Dr. on the 16th, but I don’t want to wait that long! ARGH!!!

May 24, 2008 ...Walking around the yard this AM after my 2 mile run/walk, I noticed my azalias are in full bloom as well as the lilacs. Also this week my beach roses (rosa rugosa), are starting to open it’s flowers. Last week my dear wife & I planted romain lettuce, dusty miller, different color gerainiums, a mini rose & hybiscus plant she got for Mothers Day and some white & purple allysm. Also transplanted some beesbalm that was getting crowded in. No sign of the bush beans or sunflower seeds I planted 2 weeks ago. The flowers on the Bradford tree are all gone, just leaves now but the phlox underneath it is in full bloom. The tomatoes are looking healthy as well as the wild grape vines on the side of the garge. The lawn which has been mowed twice this season is looking wonderful all green& thick since putting on some "weed & feed" & NO dandilions!

  April 30th 2008 ...After 2 days of a good rain, my tulips are blooming as well as the blue Phlox under the Bradford Pear Tree, (still no blossoms on the daffodills). The lilac flowers are getting bigger every day. Great new growth on the climbing roses, and the perannuals are growing fantastic too. Mowed my lawn this past Sat. for 4 the 1st time. 

   April 15th 2008 ...My Forsythia, Bradford Flowering Pear tree, and my Lt. Purple Rhododendron PJM are in bloom. The lilacs have a lot of buds on them. Disapointed that my daffodills didn’t bloom at all this spring, just a lot of green leaves. I must of "trimmed" the leaves off too early last spring so the nutrients didn’t go back in to the bulbs so they would flower this spring :( ! Learn by the burn!