i got a request for more pictures of my “garden.” today and yesterday were actually fairly decent weather so i was able to snap “a few.”

first, the general layout.

this is part of my “herb garden.” coriander is on the left, and fenced in by some lameass bricks (2 bricks deep) is the oh-so-unruly spearmint (which by the way seems to be recovering nicely after two applications of slugg-o, thank you very much!). the empty space in the middle is apparently the basil graveyard. i’ll try again as soon as i’m sure there won’t be any more lakes in the backyard.

the rest of my herb garden is on the left in this picture. yet to grow is some rosemary (i planted it next to the coriander). along the fence on the left is also where i planted the extra flower bulbs (gladioli and zantedeschia). that greenery in the bed along the fence is my flower garden proper for this year.

closeup of the flowergardenproper. gladioli in back and around the edge, daylilies in the middle, zantedeschia (yet to come up) at either end, and geraniums in the front. though i’m seriously starting to doubt the ones i planted later (the ones i left in the bag and that started getting rooty) are geraniums. totally different leaves. very confused, but then i bought them at costco so what did i really expect?

this is the south vegetable bed. so far all i have here is the red bell pepper plants on the left (they’re not looking so great; maybe too much rain? maybe earwig delicacy?) and what is supposed to be spinach on the right (see the four row markers- 2 sticks, a brick and another stick? i’m so inventive and poor). you can also see the looming ivy in the back.

i’m actually torn between getting rid of it and keeping it around as a “wildlife refuge.” actually, the lawn next door is smaller because for some reason their back ivy is fenced off by itself. maybe that can just be the refuge 😉

and this is what came of the one-foot tall creeping charlies (i think that’s what they are?) here and there in the yard– they congregated and grew taller than ken and the fence! i’m tempted to just keep this part mostly wild– maybe thin it out and add some other rambly stalky plants. every time i clear out more weeds the birds get mad at me.

i unfortunately didn’t bother to take any pictures of the western bed yet, mostly because it doesn’t look like much yet.

ok, here’s some closeups of what is going on.

the coriander is starting to get its characteristic leaves! i’m excited.

hopefully the broccoli will recover from the midnight munching. some seeds sprouted, some didn’t, and some seem to have been bitten completely back by the slugs. but it looks like i might get SOMETHING out of this…

the beans are coming up! i thought for sure they’d drowned. they’re goddamn adorable, aren’t they.

remember the green buds a while back? here’s what they turned into. mom was right.

more on the way ^_^

tonight i realized that with all my focus on what i’d planted, i totally missed what was going on with the vines on our patio roof thingy. last time i paid attention they had some sort of dorky droopy froofs going on, like cat tails, but worse. i totally missed the flowering til now!

here’s some inhabitants and transients in our yard

say what you will about jays, i love ’em. check out the 2nd picture- i think it was getting nesting material. there were a couple days where they were just carrying sticks back and forth from ground to tree.

a pair of yellow-billed magpies makes daily visits to our yard.

HATRED FOR THE APHID-KIND