Little bugs everywhere

 Bugs are everywhere even after a rainy day.  With the right type of camera you can get up close and personal with them and see what they really look like.  Each bug is either good or bad....finding out which they are can help with a good close up.

 Like this ant.  He is on the peony bud and is very good.  They do something to help the buds...not sure what but I know they are supposed to be there.

I believe these are aphids.  The jury is still deliberating on what they actually are as most aphids are green.  But what ever they are they are on my Rose of Sharon plants and not good.  And as you can see there are lots of them.

 Not the clearest picture in the world sorry but these green winged guys I also am not sure if they are good or bad.  They are on my roses.....personally unless you are a ladybug you don't belong on my roses so I say bad.

A Daddy Long Leg on my Rose bush......not sure where to put him in the good vs bad category cause he is pretty harmless but in my opinion like above isn't a lady bug and there for should not be on my roses.


So what kind of bugs do you see hanging out around your gardens?  Ever think to take a picture of them up close and see what they really look like? Click on any of these pictures to get a bigger view of it.....you may be surprised as to what you can see.

HEGT - May 2012

It's already that time of the month....the 21st....Harvesting Edible Garden Tour.  The time when we post about what we are harvesting in our gardens.  Inside or out if you can eat it and it's harvesting lets see it.  This month or rather today I decided that I am going to focus on one garden at a time and harvest what really needs it then go back to other gardens and harvest.  Well today it was one garden, one herb.

 So here is Strawberry Fields.  Can you see the strawberries?  Nope cause the Chocolate Mint has taken over.

 Now here is Strawberry Fields can you see the strawberries now?

See how much Chocolate Mint I cut out of there?  Lots and lots.  And the smell is so heavenly too.  So is there anything in your gardens that you can harvest?  Post about it and let us know.

Add your link below and visit the other links as they are added.

How my gardens have changed.

It seems every year I add a new garden bed to my collection. I am not saying this is a bad thing as if I add a new one that means that I was able to handle last years load.  Now when I say add a new garden I usually mean for edibles......but this year it wasn't just 1 new garden it was 3.....Take a look

2009:  Lets start when we bought the house.  The front yard had minimal gardens...but some

 Here there is no Butterfly bush garden or my boarder garden full of Iris

 The poor Pussy Willow in a small little circle....

The back of the house where the greenhouse is now.....certainly makes the yard look bigger with out it.

 And the kitchen garden....a cleaned up version of it but this is the shape it was in....


That brings us to 2010:  Where the first of many new gardens were added to the yard.

 The beginnings of my blog started right here with my greenhouse.

 Later that same year this is the completed greenhouse and extension garden growing away.

The kitchen garden got a bit of a make over.

Then comes last year 2011:  Where gardens were added again and some were given new life....like

 Yup the kitchen garden again....a new flower bed area was added and the rest was straightened out a little more.

 The now bigger Pussy Willow tree now has it's very own shade garden....granted it provides the shade.

 Hard to see but here is the Iris boarder garden just after it was added.....

 Unhappy with the first try the Kitchen garden had more added to it....now I could harvest all of the garden.

 Then back by the Greenhouse the Strawberry mint garden was added.....sorry Strawberry Chocolate Mint garden.

 As was what became known as the vine garden....

   Another view of the Greenhouse for reference  as here comes 2012:  This year.....

The first of the gardens to be added this year.  One for the gardening class and one for Shannon.

 Remember back in 2009 that picture of the front yard with the Forsythia on the left?  Well to the right of that is now this guy....the Butterfly Bush garden.

Oh and that Boarder garden back from 2011 the one I promised was full of Iris.....well here it is.

And finally the last of the gardens built so far this year was added on to the new one at the back of the greenhouse.  One has plants for Aiden guy and the others are some of the veggies.

So my gardens have changed a lot over the last few years.  I imagine they will continue to change not only in what is planted in them but in how they look in general....then again I hope not too much....hard to name the gardens when they keep changing.

GBBD May 2012

Ahhh it's that time of month again here around the blogosphere.  Time to post about whats blooming in our gardens.  After this crazy winter and beginning of spring things are blooming earlier than usual.  I don't mind much though as I have lots to show off today.....so here goes.

 I'll be honest not sure what this guy is.  His leaves look like that of a columbine but he is so tiny I am just not sure if that is what he is.  But sure is pretty.

Growing wild all over my vegetable garden.....why? Well because I haven't weeded in there yet.  And this guy is right in the middle of some parsley....crazy.

 This gal I bought this year.  I liked the difference between all the others that I have....the white and yellow are very delicate and quite pretty.

 I love snapdragons.  They just look so neat.

 What interesting designs on the pedals don't you think?

 More snapdragons.

 My columbine....I know what this one is....

Even the coral bells have finally come out and bloomed.  Ok so they were out before but now the flowers on them are actually starting to open.

 Strawberry buds are all over the place.

 My blue Iris just opened up today....I love this guy he stands out next to his buddy below.......

 .....that would be this guy the purple Iris.....who is showing off all over the yard this year.

 Although not open yet the peonies are out and ready to go.....the ants are seeing to that.

 Two different views of my Iris in what I now call the Iris Lane Garden.  I transplanted these here last year when I created the garden and they didn't bloom but they did multiply a little.  I just think it's cool that all of them are the same color.  I couldn't have done that even if I had tried.  As I have yellow, blue, and these purple all growing in the same area (these were from previous owners).  Either way I think it looks cool.  Just pay no mind to the truck ....it's full of wood that needs to be piled up.

So now you've seen mine let me see yours......or rather stop over to Carol's blog and see others and post a link there so I can see yours.

Calling all Gardeners......HELP!!!

Ok fellow Gardeners.  I know your out there.  I have a bug problem.

 I found these....

....living on my Rose of Sharon plants.  Some on one plant in the front yard, some on another in the back yard, and yet some more on another in the side yard.  None of the infected plants are close to another one but are next to other Rose of Sharon plants....they seem to be fine though.  In fact I have two babies right next to each other but only one is infected.  They don't look like our normal green aphids but I am unsure as to what they are.  Are they good or bad?  If bad please someone help me find a chemical free way to get rid of them.

Happy Mothers Day....to me and everyone else

So for Mothers Day I decided that I wanted to be outside working in the garden all day. Did I get that wish?  Actually yea I kinda did.

Take a look at what I made

 I took a open space in the front yard.

 Fenced it in and covered it in fabric,,,added plants

 My Irish Gardens sign and mulch

A new garden.  Full of 8 different butterfly bushes and 2 Apple Tree's my son started from an apple core.

What do you think?  I know I am happy with it...other than the fact that I am now very tired and need more mulch.  A great weekend and two gardens to show for it.