Today it's clear up the litter around the garden, stacks of pots, pieces of trellis, weed piles, then rake the gravel paths and get back to getting the heeled ins in their permanent homes.
I doubt if I'll get it all done, the sky looks threatening :(.

Annette

oh i have been killing myself sunday and today. i did alot of trenching, which is what I call putting a shoveled trench around each bed and border. pulling the grass that got into the beds. watering. deadheading. mulching the veggie garden. harvesting some beans, strawberries, tomatoes. yesterday mowed also. staking. whatever I see, I get sidetracked alot too.
My daughter-in-law is from homer alaska. as a youngster she worked at a nursery where peonies were grown.
Laurie

Weed, weed, weed! That seems to be how I spend most of my time these days. I usually get up around 5:30, and it's light by 6am, and somewhat cool outside. By 9:30 or so it's back inside the air conditioning to cool off and "supposedly" get something done in the house.

At age 70, I just can't handle the heat and humidity like I used to, and usually take a nap in the afternoon, yes!
Life is good...

My goal for today was to lay mulch down in the edging I did the other day. Three quarters of the way through, I got company. A friend had visitors in from out of state and stopped to show them my garden. I was dripping with sweat, arms covered in mulch dust, and hair soaked, but I needed the break. The grass needed mowed but I was holding off on account of the dry weather and weeds had popped up everywhere after yesterday's downpour. They said they were gardeners too and understood. ha.

After they left I finished, just got in the house and cleaned up when a thunderstorm began to move in. It didn't let loose until about an hour ago - high wind gusts and heavy rain. I was standing at the pantry window and watched one of my redbud trees blow over and fall into the field. It's still raining pretty hard, we needed it that's for sure; but I wished I had put down leaf mulch in the beds and borders before it rained. With temps in the 90's the rest of the week, I doubt I'll be working outside.

I'm so glad I'm not alone. I need to get something done in the house before I go out, or nothing gets done...so throw in 1 load of laundry, empty the dishwasher, vacuum one room...head outside and gather tools I'll need and the pots of flowers to transplant. Put them all on the cart so I won't waste time going back and forth. Don't even get to the peony, #1 priority, when I hear a horn honk. That means Mom and Dad just pulled in the driveway. About 3 hours later I head back out and think I hear thunder...surely it's my imagination, as it's too early in the day and I can't see black clouds. Get the peony staked and one delph...it starts sprinkling...big deal, I don't melt. 5 minutes later the mosquitoes come...okay, get jacket so only your hands and face get bit. Another 5 minutes and thunder claps directly overhead. Grab cart and head for garage. 20 minutes later, here I am, waiting for the downpour, but it looks like maybe it has skipped us...I'll venture a peak out the other side of the house and see if it's all clear!

Finish staking the delphs, and get the edging plants in the ground.
At least yesterday I got the dahlias in the ground before being interrupted again.

Due to our strange spring, all the weeds are maturing at once, so I have to get busy doing my best to get rid of the Vicia cracca. It's way worse than normal this year.

Today it was watering. I wanted to get it done because it was stinking hot and some of my "water" lovers (like hydrangea and astilbe) were looking a little down in the dumps. I got out there just before work and watered up a storm. Everything got a good soak. Very pleased with myself

Right up until just after work......Thunderstorms rolled in and I guess I didn't do enough.....GRRRRRR. Why is it like washing the car?!?!

Drove Aunt to her doc.appt, and then I had one myself in the afternoon so basically I stayed indoors most of the day. Very, very warm. A good day to spray Roundup on stubborn weeds between stones but there was only a little bit left in the bottle which I did manage to use up just as the sun was its hottest. No need to water, we got a whopper of a storm yesterday. It blew down some hollyhocks in addition to the redbud. I staked them but they are so ugly I should have just pulled them up.

Tomorrow the temp is suppose to climb to 99. Not sure if I should mow early in morning or not. The grass itself isn't terribly high, but the buckthorn and other weeds are the real problem. If I mow I'll raise the deck a little higher and maybe just cut off the weeds. Don't want the grass underneath to bake in the sun later tho.

Not getting much done here. Early last week I had tendonitis in my right wrist, so no real gardening got done. Then on Thursday my back went out and missed work on Friday and Monday. Back to work today, but still not moving real good. Visits to chiropractor every day but Sunday. Roses and a few other plants still sitting in their pots on the patio waiting for me to plant. Hoping that by the end of the week I will be able to get them planted.

I keep telling myself that I wouldn't have planted them this week anyway. Too hot and dry. We have only had 1/2 inch of rain for the entire month of June. The past few days have been in the mid 90's with heat indexes reaching close to 100. So all I am getting done is some watering. It is supposed to cool off into the 80's by the end of the week.

Water, weed, water, weed...that sums up my day.

I finally was able to do all the mowing this morning - or should I say mowing off the weeds. Grass underneath doesn't look too bad, but I set the deck higher so as not to cut so short. Orchard has more shade so that wasn't bad either. Then I hit some areas with the weed eater.

I just came in at noon, and the temp is 86 - suppose to hit 99 later this afternoon. There is a breeze tho so that helps.

LOL, if I had to garden in the heat that many of you have, I wouldn't be so keen on it!
Yesterday reminded me of my definition of a weed vs. a plant you want to keep. A weed, when uprooted and left laying in the sun for 3 days, will still be alive and growing. A plant you want to keep, when left in an 18 pack, with water, in the sun while you go to lunch, will have several (cue music--who did this song anyway) "dead, dead, and gone."
Sometimes getting around to a chore too late results in a new method. At least one of the delphs is too advanced for much staking, so while nosing around H.D. I might have come up with something I'll like better than my current hodgepodge of methods. I'm only going to try it on one in case it's an utter disaster!
Today I'm helping my parents move, and here I am 3 days later with 1/2 my list still intact: stake the rest of the delphs and plant the lobelia (before it dies, too!) At least while I've been working on the priority list, I've gotten a little weeding done.

Me, too, with the watering and weeding. Funny, mytime and sadly, true about weeds vs. plants you want ot keep.

Today is my first day of summer vacation and, of course, we are suddenly in the upper 90s after lovely cool weather the last two weeks that let me have windows open and would have been perfect for getting outside. Alas, end of school year is always crazy (even went in last Saturday), so I put everything off. Garden is not looking good and things I bought to put in are not happy campers today!

Tomorrow, I will run get more mulch and some dirt to help fill in the holes DH dug last weekend for the shrubs-backyard is mostly filled with river rocks it seems, so we never have enough dirt to backfill the holes. :(

Congrats on getting even part of your list done!

Cyn427--I never have enough soil...I frequently wonder why, when you dig a hole barely large enough for what you're planting, there is never enough to refill the hole...especially since I'm usually digging in packed soil, and refill loosely...definitely one of the mysteries of life!
I'm a retired teacher, and one of the things I looked forward to before retiring was springtime in the garden...I fantasized about actually being caught up. 8 years later, I'm further behind than ever (and that goes for the housework, too).

I finally bought a lawnmower and got the grass cut. I've been working on the big mulch pile and have gotten through about 2/3s of it. Sprayed and dug the weeds between the back patio and shed for a bed in the fall and got it mulched. And slowly clearing the overgrown area behind the shed. And got stung by a yellow jacket. Most pain I've had in awhile.

Forgot to say that was the before pic. Still alot of work to be done, but it looks much better.

Sandi, I love before and after pics...I sure wish I had taken a "before" shot of the backyard after the septic system was replaced! That would serve to remind me just how much I have accomplished in a few years.
Be sure to post updated pics once in a while!