Week 8 - Peonies Please!

I'm not gonna lie.  There are still plants I dug up last week that haven't found a permanent home yet.  I've been busy with other stuff in the yard and I've been waiting on some compost before I can plant them.  If you need to get caught up, here's what's been going on:

April

• Week 1 - A Still Sleepy Garden
• Week 2 - Looking Forward to Some Nectarines
• Week 3 - Cute Little Garden Helpers
• Week 4 - Getting to Work

May 

• Week 5 - Planting Gladiolus 
• Week 6 - Rainy Days in the Garden
• Week 7 - A Garden by Garden Tour

This week I FINALLY came to terms with the fact that no matter how hard I wished for it, the crazy mint that  has taken over my raised bed was NOT going to dig itself up. :(  And neither was anyone else.  So I went to work.  Before I started digging I sent out a text to 7 girlfriends saying "Last call for mint.  It's ready to go.  Come and get it."  I was in the zone, digging away, when my first friend pulled into my driveway.  "Do you have any mint left?"  I thought she was joking!  But apparently 6 of the 7 friends had already text back saying they were coming over.  Too funny!  I love my neighborhood.  

There were 4 or 5 varieties planted in there.  You can see the mint is coming through the wood on the sides.  That's even mint coming up through the gravel.  :(

This is what was left for the last friend to pick up.

Much better! Ready to plant my tomatoes.  Those are my strawberries growing in the background.

From now on I will only plant mint in pots.  I will only plant mint in pots.  I will only plant mint in pots!  Lesson learned!

On to more exciting stuff... Check out my peonies.  The purple ones are in full sun, while the white ones get a lot of shade.

I love the "natural" pine needle mulch.  Of course it is real, it just doesn't really fall right like this.  I send my hubby out to gather pine needles year round!

These are actually going to get a lot more shade now that the giant Photinia are planted next to them.

Our strawberries are now in full swing!  The kids love to pick and eat them.  I never thought I'd enjoy HOT strawberries, but boy, when I am out there watering I pick as many dark red berries as I can find.  I give them a rinse under the hose and pop those suckers in my mouth.  I've never tasted anything so good.  They are hot from the sun and feel like they are really melting in my mouth.  Yum!

And here's a preview of the new deck railings I'm putting on.  I was trying to have this done for our Memorial Day party, but it's not going to happen.

The bleeding hearts love it here!

Thanks for visiting!  See you next week,
          Smart Girl