Thanks very much Becky - this is a portion of the Front Entrance Garden in full bloom:

Have read comments in passing about Black Walnut trees. What is it about them that make it such a challenge for other plants?

Catherine - You have a GREAT bird habitat there! Seriously, it looks like a great place to sit and do some bird watching. I like places like that in my garden that are partially hidden (like a Secret Garden). You've also got a LOT of terrific bird loving plants there too. Perfect!

From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J...

"Toxicity:
The roots, nut husks, and leaves secrete a substance into the soil called juglone that is a respiratory inhibitor to some plants. A number of other plants including apples, tomatoes, and white birch are poisoned by juglone, and should not be planted in proximity to a black walnut. Horses are susceptible to laminitis from exposure to black walnut wood in bedding."

Catherine, I love your beautiful acreage. I would love to see a picture of your pergola. Do you know where to find plans for making one?

There are many things that I want to get accomplished this year. Here are a few of them:

1.) I want to place some new plants in my many different flower beds and add a new layer of mulch. Along my back wood fence flower bed, there is a lot of empty space between plants so I want to fill them in with sun loving, humming bird, butterfly, and bee attracting perennials.

2.) I want to move my garden shed closer to my 2 rail raised garden area so that I can build a pergola or something similar. We have a beautiful view of the Mississippi River and WI hillside from there. I would like the pergola to have a porch type swing hanging in it so that we can sit there and admire the view. Once the pergola is built, then begins the planting project around it.

3.) I have a bank running along the road that I want to plant with flowers. I have started it but the weeds take over and I usually get busy doing other stuff. I think I will lay down some type of plastic or heavy fabric type material and then cut circles in it to put in plants. The only problem is that it is a ways from the house and is in the summer and gets very dry. I think I would run a soaking hose all the way along the top and try to keep it watered occassionally that way.

4.) Next, but not by any means last, I have plastic edging to get put around a long flower bed in my front yard that I completed last year. I am going to try to get DH's help with this.

Well, I guess that is enough for one year. I still need to find time to get back into the saddle (I haven't ridden a horse in about 4 years). We also need to find time to do some fishing on this great Mississippi River we live close to.

Jeanne - I took a peek (actually a long look!) at your blog and WOW! you have really been collecting some very cool items for your garden beds! I think you should be able to complete your to-do list for 2015. Please post some photos as you work on each area and also finished project photos. Photos speak a 1000 words!

In case others want to take a look at Jeanne's flower beds:
http://garden.org/blogs/entry/...

Free Pergola Plans:

http://www.diygardenplans.net/...

This is my dream Gazebo plans! No room in my small residential yard, but I can dream ....

http://www.theclassicarchives....

SSSOOOO much Becky. I love your Gazebo plans also. I looked at the Pergola plans and they are just what I need. I want to hire the Amish to build it for me and I am thinking that they need the plans in order to know what I want. I have a couple hay loft doors from our old barn before it got tin siding put on it. I have been thinking about having a swing made out of them for the Pergola with extra reinforcement added. I will be looking for swing plans also.

I am so glad that you went to my blog and that you liked what you saw. It is so sad.....I live on a dead end road so not many people get to see my projects and hard work. This website is so great because I get to get pictures of my yard out there for others to see and enjoy. Thank you all so much. I will post pictures of before, during, and after completion with future updates as the flowers grow and mature. I totally enjoy seeing all the pictures that everyone shares.

Some of my yard art projects include: Bowling balls decorated with pennies, frogs, lizzards, etc., painted like lady bugs; dragonflies made with table legs and fan blades; tin flowers; glass flowers, suncatchers, totems/stacks; and it goes on and on.

Here is a picture of one of the hay loft doors that I decorated and a dragonfly my sister-in-law and neice gave me for Christmas a year ago.

This is where my Pergola is going to be located. These pictures are the stages of this area getting to what it is now. But won't be for long. The garden shed needs to be moved to the left close to the 2 rail fence that is now around my raised garden area.
Taken 6/2/2011


Taken 9/15/2011


Taken 9/18/2011


Taken 6/15/2014


Below is a better picture of the hay loft door I decorated.


Below is a picture of the area that needs the black plastic edging put around it. Any ideas on what I could use as a decorative border that isn't too costly. This is a pretty long area.

Oh, my gosh--what a clever idea with the ceiling fan blades!

I think I had first seen one of these dragonflies made with ceiling fan blades on Pinterest.

Jeanne - That garden and patio area was quite the undertaking! Looks great!

No trees around for a shady spot?

Nope No trees around. That's why we don't get Cardinals and other birds to visit the feeders. All I get mainly are Sparrows but they are hunger too.

WOW such great ideas going on here.
Jeanne, really like your fence and the area in front of the shed looks great.
Catherine, Your gardens are just lovely, I had an injury last year that has changed my ability to garden as I did before but I too am learning to deal with the new reality and finding out just how much I can do, this spring has been much better than last year.
Becky, Going to checkout those Gazebo plans, I still haven't gotten up the big gazebo in the utility area. We did get the wisteria propped up last year in preparation of building the Gazebo but then never did get it built. I have hopes for this May when we return from our trip.

Holly - Oh! I can't wait to see photos of the Gazebo area if it does get done this year! I am so sorry to hear you had an injury that now has put some limitations on you. I keep telling myself I need to be careful, too! I do all the gardening by myself, so I really need to watch how I am lifting things. At my age, I shouldn't be lifting 60 lb. bags! (sigh)

Holly, sorry to hear about your injury last year. Wish I was close by to help out with your gardening chores. After sitting around all winter, it is taking me a while to get back into the groove of walking, bending, twisting, lifting, etc......

Not much progress outside going on here. I did get out and started cleaning up some of the flower beds but it is still cool and very windy. I hope to get a little more cleaned up today and tomorrow cause we have rain predicted for almost every day next week with temps in the mid 50's. I am still hoping to get my pergola built this summer. I will keep you posted on that major project. I will post pictures of my flower beds as I get them cleaned up. Happy gardening!!

Happy Easter tomorrow to all!!

So far this year I have been getting the beds cleaned, just need to realize that what would have been a 1/2hr job and then move on to another bed is now a 1/2 day job and no moving on. Last year I was very limited and very frustrated, I finally broke down and hired the lovely neighbor a stay at home Mom with 3 children her 10 yr old son really enjoyed coming with her and helping. They house sit for us when we travel and I asked her if she had any interest in doing some of my garden work, they weeded and mulched for me I could do the planting. I have high hopes for doing most if not all my gardening this year.

I hear ya! No more "getting it done and moving on" for me either. No injuries (that I know of), just getting a lot slower in my old age. One of my biggest regrets is that I didn't start gardening earlier in life. I waited until I was in my 50s. (sigh) I think of what I could have accomplished by now if I had started much younger.

It does take longer to do the clean-up now but I do find joy in seeing how each plant is progressing and haven't spotted any disasters yet. No more heavy bags for me either and no digging up established plants. I now let my recently hired guy (as needed) for all jobs I no longer wish to do. He can dig up and replant a hydrangea in five minutes that would take me most or all of a morning to do.

Ditto to Becky about starting late but...better late than never.

Can't do what I once was able to do. But things do get done just a lot slower than before. Here are some pictures of my flower beds last summer and what they are like now that I cleaned up the dead flowers. I hope it will look the same if not better this summer.

This is my flower bed in the center of the front yard. It is the flag pole flower bed. One side is in memory of my dad and the other side is in memory of my mom.

The first pic was taken on 7/2014 and the 2nd pic was taken on 8/2014


Same bed taken today 4/2015


This first picture is of my dad's side and the 2nd is of my mom's side taken on 8/2014.


The 1st is of my dad's side and the 2nd is from my mom's side taken today.


Boy, isn't there a total difference with and without flowers growing. I am sure everyone's flower beds look the same before everything starts growing.

Here is another bed that is cleaned and ready for things to start growing. This is the front of my house on the north front side of the front door. This is what it looked like on 8/2014.




Here is what it looked like today.

LOL Becky, I didn't really start late but when I was younger I worked full time, had 4 children and a small barn full of animals. I didn't have much time for gardening, I had a few small flower beds and got the big stuff, trees and shrubs planted, had great time with house plants. After I retired 8 years ago at 55 I had all the time I needed and just went wild out there in the yard. Bringing years of ideas and planning to reality. With Ric being a gardener there is no voice of reason here. Anything either of us come up with the other jumps right in too.

WooHoo, I just scored free bricks from a Freecycle post. They sent me a pic of them and there are a lot of them and they are looking really good. I should have them picked up by Monday at the latest.