Getting a little gardening (and then some) done

Despite winter seeming unusually long, the mild weather finally showed up this past week. I think this week provided us the most consistent fair-weather days since last fall. So we made the presumption that the final frost is behind us and the gardening season could begin.

Last week, we very quickly attacked the front border. Jen Nichols came over and helped prep and plant the flowers. Funny, I don't even remember the name of them--I always plant something different for the front border. Cate and Max got into the dirt as well. As one can imagine, Max had a harder time keeping the dirt in the bed than on the walkway.

(everyone helping prep the border)

(Jen, our guest gardener)

(front border complete with solar lights that don't work, but look fab in the daylight)

Then last night, I was able to get over to Kyle's parents' house and got some hosta. We have a shady tree in the front yard and the grass is quite patchy and we needed a simple solution to improve the look. I have been inspired by Ken and Katie's creative landscaping in their front yard, so I decided we should give it a try as well. We also hit Bachman's for our backyard garden needs as well, so we could avoid using the car for the remainder of the weekend.

The morning came and while Kyle took Cate to her swim lessons, Max and I went outside so I could start prepping the rear gardens for planting. We bought the same assortment of flowers that we had last year for the big hole: cleome in the center, snapdragons for 1st ring, celosis for 2nd ring and moss roses? for the outer ring. It turned out so fabulous last year with the varying heights and burst of color, I couldn't resist replicating the look.

(the back garden--before)

(Max investigating the ant crawling on his hand--nice duds!)

(Cate and Max watering the back garden)

(Soaked Max with the weapon)
(the final result--back garden)

While Cate and I worked the backyard, Max somehow managed to keep himself busy for the most part (whattagoodboy!), and Kyle dug up the grass under the tree. I had only grabbed seven hosta plants from Ken and Katie and we had three plants of our own to include. I had in my mind how big the plot would be, but apparently didn't share the information with Kyle. I eventually walked up front to find a much larger space to cover than I imagined. Kyle rounded off the edges and I walked to Mass leaving him to plant the hostas (which he was probably not too pleased about).

When I got home, Kyle had finished planting everything. It looked great! It will be a nice enhancement to our front yard and it will be minimal maintenance (right, Katie?).

(the final product--front yard)

We also planted some new seedlings Cate brought home from Tiny Tots: Sunflower, Peas, Carrots, Marigolds. The radish seedlings did not make it. Boy, they were a struggle to separate from the cotton balls they started from, so it will be a miracle if any survive. You might be able to see the white garden markers. We set them in the garden so we didn't inadvertantly pull them out thinking they were weeds. My prediction is the sunflower has the best chance of them all.

(the seedlings are there, I swear!)

We still have some other little projects to do, but we decided to call it a day and after supper, we went up to the park. Cate rode her bike and did a really great job watching for cars at the intersections before crossing. The kids ran around, played in the sand and hit the swings for a good amount of time.

(swinging so fast, they're a blur!)

Effectively blowing off their final dose of energy, we got them home and into the tub. They went to bed really, really well.

(the lead gardeners at the end of the day)

What fun will we have tomorrow?