Random Garden Shots in May

We generally don't plant new garden material until all danger of frost has passed - around the end of May.  However last week during a summery, warm spell, I bought some plants to get things going.

We have lots of perennials but the severe winters and dastardly rabbit have eaten some of them down to nothing. This English daisy is one replacement. I don't know how long it will bloom or if it will spread but it's a nice bit of colour right now.

One of my Facebook friends inspired me to haul out a tiered planter I had stashed away and load it up with useful herbs. I will be able to transplant many of them into the garden at the end of the season.

There is parsley, garlic chives and 'mojito' mint. On the bottom tier is some rosemary.

On the other side is thyme and more mint for mojitos.

I have two of these squarish pots, so plopped a little citronella geranium plant into one of them. I don't know if it will keep the mosquitoes away but I like the scent when I rub the leaves.

This third tier got a basil plant and some oregano that I dug up from the garden.

Skip has a cold frame for the cool weather edibles. He planted a row of lettuce which will need to be thinned out. The other lettuce plants were already in leaf when he bought them. There is a kale plant and a pepper plant still waiting to be planted after the danger of frost has passed. Bottom right is some cilantro.

In the morning, I look out the window and can see the feeder (the bottom spins and flings off any greedy squirrels) and the birdbath. Mr. American Goldfinch is one of many we have nesting nearby.

We have several resident cardinals as well. In the background, you can see the domed item in the birdbath. It is a "Water Wiggler" - a solar powered device that twirls around, making gentle movements on the surface of the birdbath. This thwarts mosquito larvae and attracts birds to the water.

Beneath the feeder, 'Chippy' scavenges for any seeds the birds drop from above. We have had to put a baffle  on the hook that holds the feeder to discourage Chippy from continuously filling his pouches with seeds and hiding them.  There is more than enough seed that gets dropped to keep him fed.

The purple sandcherry is in bloom. Skip cut it almost down to the ground last year so it is sending out shoots again.

We only have one of the spurge plants. It is yellow like this for a couple of weeks then just provides nice texture to the garden for the rest of the summer.

Our first lilac (of the two bushes) is in bloom. These are gently fragrant.  I cut this particular bunch of blooms off

and brought them inside. The other lilac bush we have will bloom next month and is much more fragrant.