Fragile lace

Saw these berries/grapes hanging from a vine near Harriet Island Park in St. Paul, MN on Aug 14, 2011. We enjoyed the day at the MN Irish Fair...and these were draped over fences behind large warehouses and parked cars. It's obvious they've been the choice of feeding insects like the Japanese Beetle.
The beetles have been quite a nuisance to homeowners and gardeners alike. I have been lucky so far and my roses don't seem to be hit by them at this point in time.
But, I'm watching out for these predators, and hoping they don't come near.

Don't look at my yard

No, really. Don't look at it. Don't examine it, or wonder why there are large brown patches and extremely dry sections in such a higher than normal rainfall season. Don't tell me that no one else really notices the crabgrass except for me, because I know that's not true.

Last year the neighbors would walk by and say how nice my garden looked. This year I don't get to hear that much. I can barely step foot in my garden (which I haven't done much of this year anyhow) without a neighbor and their dog walking by on the sidewalk and saying "hello." Not only are my weeds overgrown, but so are the perennials that need trimming and flowers that need to be dead-headed.

We've barely fertilized the lawn - certainly NOT what the lawn care experts would tell us. Certainly not what my mother would tell me. My front lawn is almost completely covered in crab grass, and my back yard is crawling with the Creeping Charlie galore. So much so, the neighbors ares look at us funny when we show our faces on the deck.Yes, I sprayed them with an herbicide earlier in the year. It was obviously not enough to maintain it through the season. I'm just waiting for the second season of dandelions to show up and scream to all my neighbors to take just one more look.
Really, I mean, who has a garden blog and doesn't take care of their yard?

Ok, enough about how horrible it is. Let's see what I can do with this lawn now. I'm hoping to start watering, yes,  I said start. I have watered the front lawn a little bit, but not enough aparently. I will also promise to get some fall fertilizer, and even rake the mulch out of the lawn to let the nutrients get down deep to the roots. We're hoping to get a little aeration done this fall, if our budget will allow.

There's a fine line between finding rest - and being lazy. My yard is beginning to call me on the carpet. Perhaps a little more attention to the watering and fertilizing is in order.

Gardening neighbors

Last year was a thrill to bring in veggie for my co-workers and I really do miss that piece of gardening this year. Although I love to snip fresh basil from the herbs I've planted in a pot on the porch, I have had to rely solely on the neighborhood super center for groceries, or my mom's weekly visits to the Minneapolis Farmer's Market every Saturday. She brought me some tomatoes and sweet corn today.

My neighbor, Renee, has only been in her home for a year now, and this is her second year of veggie gardening.Under the shade of a towering cotton wood tree, her little 9x9 garden gets mostly sun during the daytime. And although she is not keen on eating tomatoes, she grows romas and some beefsteak tomatoes to make into sauces. She also has been very kind to hand out cucumbers as they spring forth from her garden. 

The one dose of color that has come early is some hot red chili peppers. She's not sure how hot they'll be, or if they'll even eat it...but it's much more fun to watch these plants grow than it is to eat.

A gift for the lazy gardener.

Wildflowers are one of the most loveliest things to a perennial gardener. I love my echinacea and black-eyed susans, and really love the bright pink flox that grows even without much care. They got a bit of fertilizer and weeding in the early spring, but I've really only kept a few thistles out of the way so they can soak up the sun.

Thank goodness we've gotten a good amount of rainfall this year. I've barely turned on a sprinkler to help these beauties along. They are indeed wild, and indeed a gift from God to the lazy gardener.