one of the columbines I have added to the garden. I love these flowers and so let them self seed and pop up all around my garden.
The stone path goes past the 'david' garden ornament and past the little stone wall (1 foot tall of flat stones, no mortar). The water tub sits at the edge of this wall. You continue past this water feature and around the corner to a little circle 3.5 ft diameter) containing a few rock plants and a sun dial. This little circle is hidden by the smoke bush on one side of the path, the california lilac on one side, the cedar hedge on the other side. The path leads around the small circle and opens onto the thyme circle. (7 foot diameter). The garden bench sits at the bottom of the inner garden within the enclosure of the cedar hedge and looking out on the thyme circle. I need to finish edging around the thyme circle to make it perfectly round again. The thyme is starting to bloom. I liberated 3 cement stones that lead across the circle to the bench to use in the back garden. They were mostly over grown with thyme. I replenished the stone spots with sand and compost and expect the thyme will have grown over them by summers end.
This stone path leads off the grass path and you enter the inner garden. The boxwood hedge is at the top of this inner garden and at the bottom there is cedar hedging. Within in this inner garden I have a water feature, a garden bench, a few decorative cement planters, some little rock plants and other special plants that I will show in the next posting. As you can see, this stone path needs to be cleaned up. I will put round up on it, this year. I don't think I will have time to redo the path with weed barrier and a good sand base with pea gravel in between the stones. It looks much better when it is cleaned up and the beds weeded.
As you come around the house from the back you cross the wide driveway of exposed aggregate and enter the front garden on this grass path, or go up the 2 steps to the front entry of the house. This grass path is about 4 feet wide and winds past the tiny rose bed. It is lined with boxwood hedge that now needs clipping. This grass path goes across the top of the garden and over to the neighbours driveway. They have a strip of grass along their driveway, so that it appears that this grass path continues around the inner garden. I have more evergreen honeysuckle hedge along the side of their grass strip. The honeysuckle pilea is rather like the boxwood, but has smaller leaves and a slightly more open appearance than the boxwood. I have planted some cedars for taller hedging within this little hedge. When they grow, we will have more screening from their driveway and from the whole street on that side. If you turn to the left instead of going along the neighbours grass path, you would go along their sidewalk. There is about 5 feet of their sidewalk and 5 feet of my plants between our houses.

I mowed the bit of grass today. I really like my little rechargable mower. No stinking gas, no cords to drag around. Its light and easy to handle. I did not mow the grass where the crocuses are along the front grass strip. The crocuses need to go brown and dormant before I mow them off.

I took the axe and chopped the runners of the black bamboo out of the rectangular flower bed. The hollyhocks and peonies are just coming up in that bed, with a few other perennials. This grass strip along by the front of the street contains the crocus field. I have some perennials, a current bush, the plum tree, the spirea, and a small woody shrub like perennial along a 5 foot strip right across the front garden, next to the crocus field grass. Next to the perennial strip there is small hedging. The form of the cedar hedge makes two rectangular beds on each side of this front garden. In between these two rectangles is the block where the bench sits, protected from the street view by the cedar hedge. The perennial strip has daisies coming into bloom at the moment. I will need to do some renovation in this bed, as I seem to have clover and lemon balm taking over.

The garden hose you see in some of the photos leads across the inner garden to the far side rectangular bed. This year I put fertilizer spikes around the plum tree and will be watering with this hose set to drip. I really want to see this tree produce. I have planted it in the worst possible place ... near the street and the neighbours driveway. Hopefully the fertilizer and better water supply will help it produce fruit. It had lots of blooms. The yellow plum tree at the back is forming tiny green plums. We will have the usual abundant crop from it. I have used up the last of the plum sauce, so will be looking forward to the plums this Fall.

I weeded a bit in the woodland garden. This area is getting a surprisingly good tilth, considering it has been the most neglected area. The weeds pulled out quite easily, after the rain we have had. The blue bells are not all blue... there are pink and white ones, so I have not gone after them to dig them out or mulch them over. I will try to keep the trilliums area clear of them, but otherwise, I think they can spread in the woodland area.

A few days ago I saw a yellowish bird in the back garden. On looking it up on birding sites, I think it was the female of the yellow warbler. I was hoping for a gold finch. So, since finches and I think this warbler like thistle seeds, I left a couple of thistles in the back corner of the woodland. But I really must get rid of the morning glory back in that corner.

There have been dandilions going to seed everywhere. I was not out for a few days because of the rainy weather and the car show... and now I see the dandilions have got right out of hand again.