Garden surprises.

It's July 5th which means Summer should be officially starting here ☀  The forecast for the week calls for it to reach up into the 80's, I'm so ready for some real heat.  Our July 4th was a lot of fun.  We walked down to our town's parade and then home for a barbecue with my family.  Unfortunately it wasn't very warm again and a bit drizzly, but we just ignored it. 
While I was outside earlier in the day doing a little cleanup in the backyard, I made some nice discoveries. 

 We have an apple on our tree!  I thought we wouldn't have any, so maybe there are a few more hidden amongst the leaves.

 This may not look very impressive, but just below the water's surface are TWO water lily buds.  They normally would have been blooming for a good month by now, they are really behind this year.

 The slugs left me a few Daylily buds!  These were planted this year, but the slugs have continued to chew the flower stalks off.

 The self sown Larkspur are now taller than me and starting to bloom!

 I didn't plant Peony Poppies here, must have been Sweet Pea... no matter how it got here, it's about to bloom.

 A favorite Hydrangea whose tag is so faded I can't read it anymore is starting to bloom.  The reason I'm so happy is that it hasn't bloomed in several years because of late freezes.  This year was it's last chance to bloom or it was going to be moving on.

 Sweet Pea 'April in Paris' is actually going to bloom.  A couple of days ago the two pots of these were looking very yellow, and I was debating just dumping them in the compost.  I'm sure glad I didn't.

Behind the Blueberry bushes and under Clematis 'Etoille Violette' is a decorative birdhouse that has been hanging here for many years.  We discovered a few days ago that a pair of Wrens have started building a nest inside.  If they decide to stay I hope they'll let us pick Blueberries when they ripen.

I've decided not to give up on anymore of my plants this Summer, and I'm not giving up that we will still have Summer weather.  I'm going to believe that we will have sun and heat and that Zinnia, Cosmos and Sunflower seeds will all begin to sprout.  It's still not too late!

The January pond.

Each month as I've gone out to take pond pictures I think that there won't be much new to show. Anytime you see something everyday it's difficult to notice the small changes taking place. These monthly pictures have really helped me to see the little changes occurring.
The Heron hasn't returned lately and so the little fish seem to feel safe swimming around again. The fish left are mostly all white that were "born" in the pond. I'm sure their color isn't as attractive to birds flying over.

When I stand back and look here I mostly see sticks, rocks and pond liner. But when I got up close I could see new growth coming up from the Marsh Marigold in the pond. Yesterday I finally re-potted the poor thing and hopefully I'll get lots more flowers from in this year. It always blooms in very early Spring.

Rusty the bird on the pond edge.

Rusty's view of the pond. I've got to do something with that pond liner this Spring.

More bulbs making their way above the ground.

Looking closer at the ground behind the pond I found lots of Larkspur seedlings as well as some Breadseed Poppy seedlings.

A view of the pond from the end of the path. My poor Acorus gramineus 'Minimus Aureus' container cracked during our December freeze. For now it looks okay. To the right of it are more plants in a makeshift holding area. Along the fence I need more "winter interest", but I have added Bergenia and once it gets larger should help some.

By mid February there should be more green showing around the pond. But who knows, maybe there will be snow then?

A little seedy around here.

This is the weekend it got a little seedy around here. I had started organizing all the seeds I've collected over the past few months from trades or gifts from other bloggers. I also put in my first seed order and bought a few at the nursery. I just couldn't help myself!
The seed order was put in to Select Seeds. I haven't used them before, but had read good things about them. I also liked that a lot of their seeds are Heirloom varieties.
These are what I ordered:
Sweet Pea 'Chatsworth' - "frilly pale lavender flowers"
Tobacco (Nicotiana alata) 'Lime Green' - "Lightly scented green trumpet-shaped flowers"
Cornflower (Centaurea cyanus) 'Emperor William' - "Lapis blue single flowers... an heirloom variety referenced in many an early seed list"
Cosmos 'Rose Bonbon' - "a showy new double Cosmos from the Double Click series"
Poppy (Papaver somniferum) 'Imperial Pink' - "Pure pink petals with pale lavender marks near the center of the flower"
Primrose (Primula veris) Cowslip - "fragrant, tiny nodding yellow flowers bloom early in Spring... Listed in an 1827 seed catalog"

Next came the Winter sowing which was first tried last year with great results. I follow the directions on wintersown.org, very easy and fun to do. You can also now follow wintersown.org on Twitter and Facebook. Sweet Pea and the Littlest Gardener helped me with them. This year we put them together outside instead of the kitchen counter, much less messy that way!

We will be putting together more as the Winter progresses, there are some things such as Cosmos that need to be started closer to Spring. Today we had beautiful weather, perfect for getting outside and playing in the dirt.

What we started so far (most of these were from other bloggers or seeds we saved from our own flowers):
Pink swamp Milkweed
Dwarf Morning Glory
Rose Pink Nicotiana
Cleome 'Rose Queen'
Nigella 'African Bride'
Canterbury Bells 'Cup & Saucer Mix'
Veronica 'Lilac Fantasy'
Tall maroon Hollyhocks
Red Salvia
Milkweed
Verbascum

These are Cosmos I started last year with Winter sowing. I've never had them get as gigantic as they did last year.

Larkspur that was started with Winter sowing last year.

The lavender flower in front is the Veronica 'Lilac Fantasy'. I've never tried these from seed before and so this year will be my experiment. If they do well I'll save lots of seeds to share.

Finally while out looking at the seed racks I picked up a few more seed packets:
Sweet Pea 'April in Paris' - "perfect match of intoxicating fragrance, lovely form and captivating color with the most intense perfume of any sweet pea I've ever grown... large ruffled blossoms are a soft primrose cream, tinted at the edges in dark lilac that deepens and increases with age."
Sweet Pea 'Heirloom Cupid' - "short vines grow 8 to 10 inches tall"
Amaranthus / Love -Lies-Bleeding - "brilliant red seed heads dangle from the tops of bold plants... 3 - 5 feet tall"

Where all these will go is a good question, because in addition to these I still have many more seeds that can't be sown for awhile, not to mention I know I will see more I "need" at the nursery. It was so fun getting ready for Spring by starting some seeds.