I'm Back!!

After an unintended long hiatus, I'm back to blogging.  My last post was in June 2015 and we had just moved into our house in Bolingbrook, IL, Le Maison des Fleurs, which ironically didn't have any flowers at the time, unless you count dandelions.  In the ensuing two and a half years, much has changed, so much so that if I were to try to put everything into this post, it would read like War and Peace. When we moved in, there were two very disused flower beds in the front of the house, and even using that term to describe them is a stretch.  Now approximately 75% of the house is surrounded by flower beds, with several other beds on the property perimeter. Under the trees I've planted hostas and other shade loving flowers, such as columbine.  There's a rose bed in the back yard, with other roses scattered in the beds around the house.  Day Lilies, Rose of Sharon, hostas, a Japaense Maple and a variety of others fill the beds surrounding the house.  All told, there are nearly 20 different hostas, 1 1/2 dozen different day lilies and about the same number of roses growing on our 1/4 acre.

Just because this is Le Maison des Fleurs doesn't mean it's all about the flowers, as vegetables have their own place to thrive, Rusty Rooster Farm. The yard is not fully fenced, and even if it was, unless the fencing was partially buried, it wouldn't keep the bunnies out. And it's not just bunnies, as we have squirrels, possums, raccoons and skunks as well, so my first attempt at a vegetable garden meet with limited success, as the bunnies kept eating things, even chewing through plastic garden fence to get at the rhubarb.  I vowed that I would build a garden that would keep out the bunnies, no matter what it took.  My original plans called for a 24' by 24' raised bed garden with the perimeter beds topped by 3' of 1/2" x 1/2" wire fabric, as chicken wire doesn't come in a small enough grid to satisfy my needs.  Natalie thought that was too big and ambitious and was willing to allow me 20' x 10' and after much negotiation, we settled on 24' x 16'.  In an effort to at least partially finance the new garden, I started seedlings in the house on Valentine's Day, 2016, with the intention of selling them to friends, neighbors and co-workers.  While it didn't pay for the entire project, it did cover the cost of the truckload of topsoil I ordered to fill the beds and take care of some low spots in the yard. 

Seed starting in inverted yogurt cups. with ramen noodle dishes as the water trays

First signs of growth

 

Moved to a mini greenhouse in early April

Ready to sell in early May

Building Rusty Rooster Farm:

The plan was to rent a gas powered auger to drill the 24 post holes needed, but after realizing how difficult it was to use the auger due to the many sizable rocks in the ground, I returned the auger and wound up using a post-hole digger and good old fashioned muscle power to get the job done.  I set the first four posts, built the raised bed  and installed the fencing so that Natalie could see what it would look like, then set about building the beds, filling them as I progressed. Working evenings and weekends, it took me nearly a month to get it all completed and planted.

The first section

Posts are all set

A truckload of soil and 5 yards of mulch

Planting as I built

 

Beds completed and filled

Most of the plants are in

The entry to the farm

Fred stands guard at the gate

 

Built a PVC trellis for vining crops such as cucumbers and melons, plus the center is for pole beans and peas

As you can see, the beds create the perimeter of the garden and those beds are two feet deep; the three interior beds are 10'x 4', include the 2' x 4' beds at the ends for growing potatoes. In an effort to "pretty it up" we'll be painting the beds white this year, which should also help to keep the roots cooler.  This past year I installed a 6' x 8' greenhouse next to the garden, so I'll be able to start all my plants there and it will be a short walk from the greenhouse to the garden.

Settling In at Maison de Fleurs

We're getting settled in at the new place, which I have dubbed 'Maison de Fleurs' as I am doing more flower gardening than vegetables so far.  Found a flea market a few miles from the house and there are several nurseries present each weekend, with my favorite being from Holland, MI.  This weekend I bought two Hydrangeas, one blue and one pink, both 5 gallon sized; the pink has flower clusters 8"-10" across!  I also purchased two rose bushes and three more hostas, as I'm embracing those plants that I always wanted but couldn't grow in Arizona.

 

The blue hydrangea nestled in between the hostas and the Inca lilies.

The pink hydrangea.

The rest of my booty from Saturday's trip to the flea market.

Saturday was also the day the plumbers came to repair a break in the sewer line, creating a bit of a mess in the backyard, but also giving me the opportunity to have a large stump removed from the lawn.

The plumbers hard at work; the line was 7' down.

The lawn took a beating.

The stump is out of the ground, but what to do with all 4' of it?

Surveying the aftermath.

As anyone who reads my blog knows, wherever I go gnomes will surely follow, and Maison de Fleurs is no exception.  The wee folk have discovered the gardens and are making themselves at home.

Looks like he's ready to do some weeding.

This guy's on permanent vacation.

Guardian of the hostas.

Mistress of the lilies.

Of course, Maison de Fleurs must have plants in bloom or it wouldn't live up to its name, so here are some pictures of what's in bloom.

Turns out the 'Stella de Oro' was in fact a "ditch lily" but it's still a welcome addition.

This hosta has been blooming nonstop for several weeks.

This lily was here when I moved in and is still making me wait for blooms.

I was fortunate enough to discover that there were already fruit-bearing plants in the backyard when we moved in and the mulberry has been very productive, while the grapevine that was hidden in several trees is developing lots of clusters.  I'm working to extract the vines from the tress, since the power company will be trimming trees soon and I don't want to risk having them cut down my grapes.  While I don't know what variety they are, I'm confident that they are table grapes and not wild ones.

Grapes growing in the sun.

Mulberries.

The evening's mulberry harvest ready for the freezer.  Jam is in their future.

I'll end with a couple of photos of some of the daily visitors to the feeders.

A beautiful male cardinal.

House sparrows come by the dozens.

Back at Last!

Feeder/planter filled with mint from the front flower bed.

Wow, hard to believe I haven't posted in almost a year, but a lot has been happening that kept me out of the garden.  I recently moved out of the apartment and into a house on a 1/4 acre, so I'm starting to play in the dirt again. The landscaping here is basically nonexistent, so I have a blank canvas to work with.  The first thing I had to do was take care of some unwanted trees; a couple of fruited mulberries, Morus albas, which were in the way of my planned vegetable garden.

One of the Mulberries that have to go.

I wound up with nine bundles like these.

Stumps waiting for the chainsaw.

Thankfully, the company that collects the trash picks up yard waste weekly, so I wasn't stuck having to deal with bundles of branches for more than a few days.

I've started to rehab the flower beds at the front of the house, digging out a tree and a couple of stumps, digging out the mint that was trying to take over one bed and trimming two rose bushes that were slated for removal, until I found new growth emerging for inside all of last years dead wood. In the bed to the left I wound up digging everything except the daylilies (I think they're Stella d'Oro) up, turning over the soil and replanting the roses, one of which is yellow, the other, unknown, then adding a Queen Elizabeth rose, a flat of Salvia 'Victoria Blue' and two flats of mixed Asters, plus more daylilies 'Stella d' Oro' and finished it off with a solar powered address sign.

Daylily 'Stella d'Oro'

More 'Stella d'Oro', Asters, Salvia 'Victoria Blue' in the back and the roses.

The solar powered sign, with an unknown rose behind it and asters on the sides.

In the bed to the right I planted a trio of hostas, all of unknown varieties, two yellow and one red Inca Vito Princess Lilies, Alstroemerica sp. and also laid out 20 feet of preseeded flower strips that contain a mix of different flowers to attract butterflies and hummingbirds. I've never tried this type of planting before, but for $6 each, I figured it was worth a try.

Hostas; the one in the upper right hand corner of the picture is the one I bought last spring at a yard sale.

Inca Lilies, with the seed strips in the background.

For my birthday I received three hanging baskets to add to the back porch that were purchased from Lisle High School's Horticulture Department.  They hold a sale each Spring and I will be putting in my order next year.  One is full of petunias, one of my favorite flowers, without which my garden is incomplete, one with Million Bells, Calibrochoa sp. and the last is a wonderful Boston Fern, Nephrolepis exaltata.  I also got the flat of salvia from them.  I bought a three-tiered planter at Aldi and put violas in the top and moss rose in the bottom two.

Petunias thriving on the back porch.

Million Bells also thriving; this is my first time having them.

Boston Fern sitting in a vintage concrete planter.

Plastic three-tiered planter.

Of course, Mr B's wouldn't be complete without critters and we've had our fair share here.  Plenty of skunks, squirrels, cottontails, birds and even an opossum.

Trying to raid the bird feeder.

Even bunnies like bird seed.

Grackles come to the feeders all the time, unlike their cousins in AZ.

Even Northern Flickers join the crowd.

Bailey, Lord and  Protector of the Backyard.

That's all for now, and I promise not to wait so long before my next post.