This blog has suffered with neglect because I am outside almost all day.. everyday. I am so happy we are having a couple rainy days. It gives me time to catch up. Tulips are in full swing. The color on the right does not do justice to this vibrant gold, orange, yellow all in one. The sticks are marking the many new daylilies that I have in that area. I have tried so many different kinds of markers and find the sticks hold the names written by marking pens. Seems the sun fades the plastic markers no matter what I do. I have some metal markers with names on them done by the Dremmel tool. It itches in nicely but takes a lot of time.
Days pass, into memories but nature just pushes on. The picture on the left shows breath taking tulips taking the lead of the spring parade. The few dafidills that shared the glory are now fading into their past tense. They will be dead headed as the term describes their existence as of now. They would naturally try to set seeds as their next duty but I want all the energy the leaves produce to set new balbs down below where no one sees how they will develope. By deadheading I simply pinch off the dead flower like the yellow spent blossoms in the picture at the left. You can use a cutting tool, but I find in my walks around the gardens, it so simple to just snip them off with the tipps of my fingers. And throw them into the compost. That saves the gardens looking seedy with spent flowers taking away the glory of the recent bloom of other plants. 
Colts Foot down by my babbeling brook has now grown beyond the flowering stage which I pictured in my last blog, and is developing fast. It will tower over my height of five foot two inches. It loves wet feet and is very content with the wet area along the creek. The trees in the area will shade it during the hot summer. I will continue to take pictures of this fasinating plant..throughout the summer and by August you will be amazed by its spectacular show. I bought the plant in Milwaukee, Wi. at a nursery I believe to be Reeds Nursery. One of my passions is visiting new garden nurserys especially the ones that have lots of unusal plants. I have just about
every kind of plant there is that will grow in Wisconsin. I use to have a small business that I sold my extras and also the seedlings I grew in my two greenhouses. The greenhouses do not hold anything but storage now. The high cost of fuel forced me to close them down. I can buy a lot of plants for $1,000.00 which it cost me to run them. I am hoping to use one this fall and winter with plants right in the ground and using remay cloth to cover them as fall enters winter. I learnt a lot from the blog: Fast Grow The Weeds which I have listed on the bottom of my blog. She is very interesting and full of low cost ideas for gardeners and Hobby Farms
Another Time Saving Device That Dick Made Me
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This is a picture of an outdoor sink and wire counter. It is right in my vegetable garden where I can rinse the vegetables with cold runing water and let drain on the wire table top. Dick is so clever that when I wish for something he produces it in no time. It just happened to be large pick up day where our township offers a big truck to go around all the country roads and pick up things like old refrigerators etc. that people do no want. Many of the residences will have large piles of throw aways which people go around and scavenger for free. The sink was on the curb that Dick picked up and hooked the water up to a garden hose that is conected to a main water pipe in the gardens. The two half barrels catch the water that goes down the drains and then goes out the side with more plastic pipe he put in. The water drains into the gardens away from the sink so there is no soggy ground by sink. There is also a hose in which I can water the vegetables if it get too dry. We live on a hill and our home is up on top of the property and the lower gardens along with the horse barn and Chicken coop, are below with the vegetable garden fenced in so the chickens won't destroy it. It is so great to be able to rinse and clean the vegetables right out of the garden and no longer bringing the muddy mess into the house to clean. No more mess in the kitchen!
Before we had that nice rain, gardens were awfully dry.
A New Addition To My Fairy Garden
For my birthday my son Larry gave me an outdoor picture that is weather proof for my gardens. I walked around the many different areas that I have, and decided to put it on the wicker screen which I purchased at Goodwill for $6.00. It is a child's headboard original but when I saw it I knew right away where it would be perfect in my gardens. The area it is in is in the process of developement. It was a low spot which we redid last fall. The round concrete object is a water fountain that bubbled over the top and is recycled through a water pump in a half plastic barrel in the ground below it. River rock surrounds the ground to accent it and the garden on both sides is now mulched with a leaf mulch which I get from the city and let lay for a year which makes it almost like soil when added. It inriches the soil and the fiber loosens up my clay like soil. Makes it loamy and a rich subsence for planting delicate roots. I allready have purple thyme, purple siberian iris, and purple sage in this area where the wicker screen is placed. So the picture will be perfect when the plants reach their maturity. The three pots on each side will have annuals to match the picture, yet to be choosen at the garden shop.
Another area with comical items to smile your soul is the white soldier in picture below which was originaly a Christmas decoration disgarded and reused in my Fairy Garden. It has lights all over it which we disconected and use it just for show. A Robin makes a nest in the head each spring and then spends half of spring scolding me for being near her precious gift of nature. Just love it! The red is an antique garden shelves found on junk day which holds birdhouses little fairys and pots of flowers as summer progresses into it's glory. As you can see in the picture none of the plants are up yet, but I will continue to show more pictures as the time goes on. The mushrooms are bought through a neat catalouge Kinsman Company http://www.kinsmangarden.com/ "There discription is Tinkling Toadstools and they make a tinkling sound when the wind blows. They are colorful glazed ceramic caps and are separate from unglazed mushroom-colored stems so they can sway and tinkle in the breeze."
The pipes are topped with antique telephone pole insulation and I use as hose gards so when watering my plants won't be crushed as I move about the many beds. I also use the antique glass door knobs on top of them too.
The flower bed with the mushrooms in the lower right area is also getting a makeover. It has a lot of hostas that are not up yet. They are a late comer in spring along with the Hybiscus. I have to take great are in those areas when I am into a vigorous weeding mood so I do not rip up the plant by mistake. Some of the many glass saucers I use for the path edges are put up which give all the different beds a seperation from the grass paths I use in this special fun filled garden.
Last summers pictures so you can see what they will look like. 
Update on Chickens.....Blondie has a new chick, and the silkies have hatched a few chicks too. The silkie hen is a foster mother to who knows what chicken was laying eggs in her nest when she was off it a few weeks ago. It has been fun checking in on them to see what characteristics will give us a hint as they grow their regular feathers.
ARE YOU MY MOTHER? is what these chicks must be saying as they look out the window
HAPPY RAINY DAYS TO YOU, don't work too hard, the joy of today is never what happens tomorrow.
till next time......Kate
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