Driveway surprise

This is my driveway behind the house, as seen from the bedroom window. It's the messiest part of the space because it's where plants are being repotted, things are waiting to be relocated, etc. Just a general working area.

There's something special about it though, don't you think?

Opuntia attack!

No, I didn't finally get around to cleaning the leaves out of the cactus bed -- it's the Opuntia that was being attacked, not doing the attacking! The attackers looked like this:

Kinda cute -- as many insect nymphs are -- but still...

Fawn Sighting

It's fawn season, so I'm not too surprised when I spot one in the garden or in a neighbor's yard.

I am surprised when one stands in the road for ten minutes to nurse though!

Fathers Day is Mantis Day again

For some strange reason, the mantis egg cases that I keep in the refrigerator all winter almost always hatch on Father's Day. I'd say at least 80% of the years that's when it happens.

It happened again this year!

Garden sculptures, for you?

Well, it has taken a little while, but the "cube" series of garden sculptures that I've been working on are finally available...

That's right, you can now purchase these for your own garden from my Etsy shop!

Sneak Peek

Something I've been working on lately. You may have seen these if you follow me on Instagram (hint, hint).

I'm not going to say much about these yet...

Going overboard: new planter creation

So I made myself a new planter recently. Here it's shown with some plants still in containers to try and figure out what to plant here (and what deer won't eat right at mouth level):

This project happened only because I've been storing our old kitchen sink in the garage for several years and have finally cleaned things up to make more workshop space. The sink had to go and I didn't want to just throw it away (even though somebody would probably have rescued it from the curb).

Late emergence

It's almost summer (feels like it already at least in St. Louis) and most plants have already pushed out most of their new growth. Sure a few bamboos are still shooting, but pretty much everything else have finished their spring growth spurts.

Except for the tropicals that is, the plants that overwintered in my garage or basement or living area. Those are just getting started!

Exciting, the deck

Actually, what's exciting is not the deck, but what is going on just past it -- and on it. First, the boxed bamboo (Phyllostachys virella) has had a big size up this year...

...and the tops of the new shoots are strikingly visible just past the deck railing. (This plant is in a box next to the stream.)

Nightmare gets better without me

So nightmare area number two (aka my cactus bed) has gotten much better...

...without any help from me!

Siblings

A quick look at some siblings of the wild variety in my garden right now.

Starting with chipmunks. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking "Hey, there's only one chipmunk in this photo!" You have a good point, but this is just a teaser.

Nightmare area number two

Continuing the theme from yesterday, here's the second nightmare area in my garden right now. It's my "cactus bed".

There are so many things wrong here, I almost don't know where to start. The sad, sad yucca, the sweetgum sapling, but the main thing is the leaves. Yes, those have been there since the fall (if it's not obvious).