Tons about the garden...

Today is a beautiful day. Absolutely gorgeous...clear blue skies, temps around 65F. The twinkies and I have spent the entire afternoon in the backyard planting the plants I bought last week-end. Our herb garden now has: sage, rosemary, oregano, mint, dill, parsley, pineapple mint, basil, lemon verbena, spanish lavender, fat spike lavender, provence lavender, and two raspberry bushes. (some of this was already there from last year) The raspberry bushes amaze me. They are growing so fast. With one of them, I was convinced it was going to die. When my dad was here at Easter, he said it wouldn't. It hasn't, and actually, it has already sent out a new runner about 4 inches away from the original cane. I dug out the pinks that were in the herb garden, separated them, and replanted them in the new flower bed. I also put in three snap dragons today. A hosta went into the shade garden and now that bed is looking better. I'm hoping the seed mats will sprout and fill in those big empty spaces. Glad it is still early enough in the season that I can fill in with plants, should I need to. Oh, and the irises I planted last fall are up now. I think I got those at the Dollar Tree or somewhere and they look very promising.

Nothing too exciting about today. I took the twinkies with me to Wal-Mart (we needed blank VHS tapes and a gift for the baby of a friend) and then to Kroger for a few necessities. I'm making Giada's fish & veggie pockets again tonight but this time I'll be using tuna instead of salmon. Tomorrow I'm going to try her Verdure al Forno. I couldn't find fontina cheese at Kroger so I might head out to Farm Fresh tomorrow. Love that store because they always have what I'm after. Anyway, I'm going to be stealing Liudwih's copy of Everyday Italian because if not, I'll soon be fined by the library for ruining this one. I can see this is quickly going to be my favourite cookbook...especially for summer when fruits and veggies are fresh and local. Yummmmm!

Here are a few photos...


Pear Galette I made as a thank-you for Harry for helping me with my mower. This recipe is in "Baking with Julia" as a berry galette.


Shade garden is coming along nicely.


Herb garden.


Irises, almost ready to bloom.


This plant...


is the child of this plant! The baby has been moved to the backyard flower bed to see how it fares there.


Queen Elizabeth is as beautiful as I could hope to expect!


Heirloom is doing well, too. I have already deadheaded two blooms. Look at all of the new buds! This plant smells heavenly. I want a garden full of this smell.


Does anyone know what these are? Daisies? Do Shasta daisies get this tall? I guess I'll know in a week or two as there are a few buds waiting to open.


Azaleas in the backyard.


Azaleas at the edge of our property.

Spring has definitely sprung in Virginia and I love it!