the garden

The peonies in our front yard have finally bloomed. They are drooping from the weight of their own magnificence, but wow, are they ever magnificent!

This week while my dad was in town, we accomplished several household projects, the most significant was landscaping. We (Dad mostly) took out the apple tree that was threatening our sewer line and one of the overgrown azaleas. We'll see if the other azalea does ok with the major pruning it received. We added a mountain laurel that will be blooming any day now, and a brick edging that gives the whole space a very polished look even though it's not completely planted yet.

Before (particularly bleak looking because it was before anything bloomed)

Our little helper!

Epic azalea battle.

Brick edging and a clean slate.

We also repainted the front door and got started on the shutters. On the back deck, we planted tomatoes, zucchini, (ghost!) peppers, strawberries, and a small herb garden in containers. One tomato plant perished in the weird late season frost this week, but everything else seems to be going strong.

Spiffy new door color.

Veggies and herbs on the back deck.