Moving Into Summer

Clematis bloom

This is the time of year that everything from spring starts to falter a little, and all the summer bloomers are just getting started. It is tricky to know when to call it quits for the spring blooms, especially the sweet peas, and take them out as needed. I started that process yesterday, so it’s a good time for an update.

Some cilantro is blooming in the mix

We visited Tilden Park in Berkeley for the day.

The ducks were great lettuce eaters.

We didn’t have anything left for the pig, but I think they have the biggest one I’ve ever seen in person.

Love the bachelor buttons with this native wooly sunflower (Eriophyllum lanatum).

Rena made a Mother’s Day creation for me. I loved it.

A long view from the back

The lighting was so beautiful that evening. The sweet peas look especially good in morning and evening light.

We set up a space for the Guinea pigs outside for a little bit. I think they had fun. They loved trying out the grass, but we have too many foxtails, plus the hawk that comes by occasionally, for it to be a self directed event. I think we will do this again though, it was fun.

The grass around our house is tall. It looks like wheat fields.

My white sage is tall too.

The sweet peas are starting to take over. They start to run when they know they are almost ready to dry out for the summer.

This was the last day I kept up with the daily picking.

So many blooms

I love how this penstemon, snapdragon, sweet pea combination turned out.

The dianthus has started booming.

And the Clematis is in full force 

This sweet pea grew despite being next to the sidewalk and getting mowed down a few times. They grow so well here they are almost weeds.

More dianthus with a chrysanthemum starting to bloom in the back

Flies like carrots I guess.

I’m letting this carrot bloom and hoping it will reseed itself.

This succulent bloomed for me for the first time, and it’s blue! It looks even odder/more beautiful in real life.

A few of my violets from Annie’s held on from last year. They were super shaded out by the sweet peas.

Here’s the pile of the ones I took out yesterday.

This is the space I cleared. It was the first to start blooming, so it’s the first to go.

I mowed as well, so I took some long views of the garden.

The strawberries are producing, but mostly just for the slugs right now. I haven’t had a minute to get some traps going.

I forgot. The foreground here has some sweet peas that I had to push back on themselves earlier in the season because they were taking over, but they never recovered from that, so I pulled them out and am leaving them as mulch for now. Lesson for next year is to remember to thin them out earlier before they get all twisted up together.