Another Beautiful Day in the Garden

Today was a beautiful day to be in the garden--not too cold, not too hot and not too buggy. We had plenty of visitors today as well. Stop by and see the garden yourself next Sunday, May 5, for the garden meeting at 11 am, followed by a work day.
Someone inquired about the crabapple trees today. It's hard to reconcile these beautiful trees with the crabapple that haunted my yard when I was a little kid. It was sickly, and it didn't bear shriveled, tiny fruits so much as hurl them at you. It was the bane of my grandfather's existence for at least the first 5–6 years of my life until he finally chopped it down. These crabapples are much friendlier.

I'm pretty sure I got a little carried away with the tulips in my plot this year. I had no idea what I planted, but I have some cool double-tulips. I'm not sure if I should dig them up and save them or try to leave them be and plant around them when they're done blooming. Thoughts?

More blooms throughout the garden.

 A study in purples.

I love to garden, but I'm afraid of bugs. I'm constantly shrieking. My boyfriend reminds me, "They live out here." So I was a little wary of cleaning out the spot next to my plot, full of leaves and berries. I unearthed worms and some Morlock-looking bugs. Here it is afterwards, with my garden hat shadow.

Meeting and Workday on May 5 at 11 am

Interested in Becoming a Member of the Summit Street Garden?

It's easy! Simply attend one of our short meetings and sign up!

April Garden Photos & Don't Forget About the Summit Street Garden Blog!

Spring is finally here! To celebrate, I've taken some photos of the garden. I'm not much of a photographer, so for the best view, stroll down to the garden and have a look!
I'd also like to remind everyone about the blog. I'll be posting, and Abigail also has volunteered to write posts and put up photos. I'm going to try to keep this updated with garden news and events, as well as Claire's garden tasks. Also, if anyone has anything they'd like to promote outside of the garden--community events, plays, concerts, news, etc., don't hesitate to contact me for a post! My email is rubio.josie(at)gmail.com. And don't forget to join our Facebook group as a way for keeping in touch with members.
Below are pictures and my random thoughts.

The forsythia is in full bloom.

This is my garden plot. When visiting my mom in suburban Cleveland last fall, we visited a garden center, where they were offering 25 bulbs for $7. Being surrounded by all that space, coupled with the bulb sale, made me momentarily forget the size of my half box. So I spent a December afternoon haphazardly planting a bunch of unlabeled bulbs.

I like hyacinths, but they always seem to fall over when they're in full bloom, so I planted only a few. It's like they get so excited about spring and enamored with their own beauty, they pass out. Random fact: When I was in 1st or 2nd grade, we made faux hyacinths for Mother's Day out of pine cones and colored tissue paper. The base for our flower pots were aerosol can tops before we knew about the ozone layer. 

Since I'm not a very good photographer, I sometimes take extreme close-ups to make my photos look vaguely artsy.

The garden wall in the morning.

More photos from around the garden. The garden wall during the afternoon.

Some bleeding hearts already are in bloom in a shady garden spot.

Spring is here!

Doves and more

 While helping with the vine removal, I noticed this dove hanging. I was told that a member put these doves around the garden. I'd never seen any of them before.

But sure enough, I found another while weeding the path.

Of course, there's plenty of real wildlife in the garden, such as this black and green caterpillar

...and the bees in the marigolds.

Vine Removal Update

After vine removal on Sept. 9

A big thanks to all gardeners who helped with the ivy removal this past week, notably Robey, who painstakingly scraped off some of the most stubborn vines; Claire, who braved what looked like an impending tornado; Amy and Rob, who lent the garden their ladder, and Megan, who fought off a nest of spiders.

Before

We're not sure when the stucco work is slated to begin on the wall, but this should make the project easier for the contractors.