June Blooms

While I wait for my vegetable garden to get going, I'm enjoying a few floral blooms...

This is the best my Endless Summer hydrangeas have ever looked. The plant is healthy and I love how the petal colors go from pink to purple to blue. And I think I finally figured out the secret to getting them to look this good--I left them alone! We've gotten so much rain that I haven't bothered to water or obsess about them, and I think they are thriving now that I'm not loving them too much.

My snapdragons have snapped back too.

And here's a nice surprise: the yellow snapdragons reappeared this year! I didn't see them last year and thought that plant had just died. It's so nice to see this bit of yellow in my flower garden that seems to consist of a lot of pink right now.

The blooms are gone now, but in mid/late May the rhododendron was blooming. This variety is called Besse Howell and she's mighty cute. Besse was accompanied by a few pale pink Gerbera daisy blooms.

Lastly there's the Red Mill Andromeda (Pieris japonica 'Red Mill'). The white blooms are gone now, but what I really like about this beautiful shrub is that its new leaf growth is red. It's a nice addition to my garden.

I'm linking up with May Dreams Garden's Garden Bloggers Bloom Day. Check out the blog to see what other gardeners have blooming in their gardens this month.

June Berries

First harvest of 2013!

The last few weeks have been so busy, but in a mostly good way. My new job is going well. I like what I'm doing and I like the people I work with. It's amazing how much better my attitude is in the morning now that I'm going to a job I like. I'm not a work-aholic or someone who can't separate her work life from her personal life, but when you spend 40+ hours a week on something you don't like, it can be difficult to leave those negative feelings of frustration at the office. I have found that my mental state has been more tranquil and positive now that I like both what I do and who I see at the office.

On to the garden--I was finally able to spend some time in the garden on Sunday. We've had a cool spring, which was a nice change from last year when we went straight from winter to summer. The days are long and hot now, but I think the gradual change in temperature helped my strawberry patch. Finally, after a few years, the plans are producing berries of a decent size and not just tiny one-biters. I'm glad I was able to pick these sweet little strawberries before the garden critters got to them.