Bunch of yard/garden/flower pics

[K9soul]

I figured it has been quite awhile since I last posted pictures of our yard and the plants so I gathered a few to share. Hopefully I won't bore you all too much but I know at least a couple people have enjoyed looking at my garden pictures before ;)

This is just a shot of the back yard, if the flower garden in the middle looks bare it is because we plan to put a trellis up there eventually with a path through the middle.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/k9soul/Tasha%20and%20Tommy/Garden%20and%20Dogs%20Aug%209%2004/backyardaug9crop.jpg

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My flowers, all started from seeds :)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/k9soul/Tasha%20and%20Tommy/Garden%20and%20Dogs%20Aug%209%2004/flowergardenjuly24.jpg

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The garden.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/k9soul/Tasha%20and%20Tommy/Garden%20and%20Dogs%20Aug%209%2004/gardenjuly24.jpg

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Butterfly bush, I started those from seed last year, this is their first year to bloom. In the left corner is yarrow.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/k9soul/Tasha%20and%20Tommy/Garden%20and%20Dogs%20Aug%209%2004/butterflybushjuly24.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/k9soul/Tasha%20and%20Tommy/Garden%20and%20Dogs%20Aug%209%2004/butterflybush2july24.jpg

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Purple cone flower
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/k9soul/Tasha%20and%20Tommy/Garden%20and%20Dogs%20Aug%209%2004/coneflowerjuly24.jpg

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Some closeups of the painted daisies I started this year.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/k9soul/Tasha%20and%20Tommy/Garden%20and%20Dogs%20Aug%209%2004/painteddaisy1july24.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/k9soul/Tasha%20and%20Tommy/Garden%20and%20Dogs%20Aug%209%2004/painteddaisy2july24.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/k9soul/Tasha%20and%20Tommy/Garden%20and%20Dogs%20Aug%209%2004/painteddaisy3july24.jpg

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More coming.

[K9soul]

Black-eyed susans and butterfly bush
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/k9soul/Tasha%20and%20Tommy/Garden%20and%20Dogs%20Aug%209%2004/bbushandbeyedsusan.jpg

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Black-eyed Susan
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/k9soul/Tasha%20and%20Tommy/Garden%20and%20Dogs%20Aug%209%2004/beyedsusan.jpg

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Casterbean plant bloom. The neighbor behind us started a bunch of these and gave us a couple. I really like the blooms.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/k9soul/Tasha%20and%20Tommy/Garden%20and%20Dogs%20Aug%209%2004/casterbeanaug9close.jpg

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Geranium and sweet potato vine
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/k9soul/Tasha%20and%20Tommy/Garden%20and%20Dogs%20Aug%209%2004/geraniumpot.jpg

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Some carrots and cucumber from the garden. We're also harvesting green beans and green bell peppers now.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/k9soul/Tasha%20and%20Tommy/Garden%20and%20Dogs%20Aug%209%2004/carrotscucumber.jpg

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Strawberries from the strawberry patch David made me this spring.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/k9soul/Tasha%20and%20Tommy/Garden%20and%20Dogs%20Aug%209%2004/strawberriesjuly19.jpg

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Moss rose bloom.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/k9soul/Tasha%20and%20Tommy/Garden%20and%20Dogs%20Aug%209%2004/mossrose2.jpg

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Baby acorn squash
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/k9soul/Tasha%20and%20Tommy/Garden%20and%20Dogs%20Aug%209%2004/squashplanaug9.jpg

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And last but not least, I had the pups pose in front of some nasturtium and purple coneflowers

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/k9soul/Tasha%20and%20Tommy/Garden%20and%20Dogs%20Aug%209%2004/tommyandtashaflowers6.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/k9soul/Tasha%20and%20Tommy/Garden%20and%20Dogs%20Aug%209%2004/tommyandtashaflowers2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/k9soul/Tasha%20and%20Tommy/Garden%20and%20Dogs%20Aug%209%2004/tommyandtashaflowers1.jpg

That's all!

[bluekat]

Wow you have such a beautiful garden!:eek: All the flowers are GORGEOUS!:D And the strawberries and carrots look very good lol. And of course, Tommy and Tasha are very cute:D

[Lillycat]

how lovely everything is.....dogs included!....smile....however do you start from seeds and have such mature healthy plant growth? i just never have that much luck w/seeds.....too spindly....will you share your secrets?

[K9soul]

Thank you :D. I really don't do anything special, I think the secret to our vigorous plants is that David composts and makes the soil rich with it. He mows and composts all the clippings etc in a bin he built, you can see it by the garden in some of the pictures. We really don't use any chemicals or special fertilizers. The soil here in central Minnesota seems really nice for gardening/growing too. Where I grew up in the Missouri Ozarks it was rocky and clay soil devoid of nutrients.

[tatsxxx11]

Oh Jess, the yard's looking gorgeous! What a harvest:) the strawberries are so big! And the flowers are spectacular! Of course,T&T posing in thier garden was the best:D Great job, friend! Hope you're taking some time to just hang and out in the yard with David and the kids and enjoy the fruits of your labors:)

[DJFyrewolf36]

Very pretty! What a lovely garden, looks like a nice place to escape the heat!

[K9soul]

Thanks Sandra :). Calling it the dogs' garden was probably pretty accurate... Tommy "waters" the nasturtium every time he comes out, and Tasha helps to "weed" by gnawing on the grass along the edges :D. Glad you saw these, I was thinking of you when I posted them!


*edit, posted while you were posting DJ. Thanks! It actually has been a pretty cool/mild summer here overall, at least the bugs aren't as bad this year as they were last year. Makes being out in the yard a lot more pleasant! :)

[popcornbird]

BEAUTIFUL!!! I just *love* your yard Jessica! The flowers are gorgeous! And those strawberries!!! They look sooooo good!!! Our nectarines are all getting ripe now, and they are SO good. We have hundreds on that one tree, so we're giving a lot to friends and neighbors. My mom's thinking to make jam out of some of them because they're so many, we just can't finish them. Doesn't it feel so nice to eat fruit from your own garden? I really enjoy it.

I have never had much luck with seeds either. We always buy plants because seeds just don't work for us. :o

[GoldenRetrLuver]

Wow, Jess. Your yard is beautiful! :D I wish we had a huge yard like you guys have; the pups would love it. Are yards usually as big as yours in Minnesota?

GORGEOUS flowers! WOW!! Your grass is soo green too!! Those vegetables and strawberrys look yummy! I'm jealous. I remember you had posted pictures when you first started planting, and the results are amazing. :D

My favorite picture was the first one of Tommy and Tasha. :D

The flowers are just stunning, and Daisy couldn't stop drooling over Tommy. ;)

[Toller 42]

Your yard is beautiful!

[K9soul]

That sounds so good Poppy, I absolutely LOVE nectarines. The berries really do taste wonderful straight from the plant. I had a couple that I put in the fridge for a few days and I could tell a difference between the taste in one I just picked and one that had been sitting for a few days. The fresh ones are so sweet and and flavorful.

I took a picture of the biggest berry we got. We didn't get tons of berries but this is only their first year in the ground so I suspect we'll get more next year. Ignore the ugly discoloration on my thumbnail... that's where Tasha accidently chomped me this spring when she was jumping for sticks I was holding and I foolishly was holding my thumb along the length of the stick one time. :o

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/k9soul/Tasha%20and%20Tommy/Garden%20and%20Dogs%20Aug%209%2004/largeberryjuly19.jpg

I ate it after I took the picture :D.

[Logan]

How beautiful, Jessica!!!! Of course, I love the ones with the perfect models more than any of them!!! ;)

[K9soul]

Originally posted by GoldenRetrLuver
Are yards usually as big as yours in Minnesota?

Our yard is actually really large for an in town lot. The house is close to 40 years old so we ended up really lucky with a large lot size. The newer housing never has large lots. Since we are outdoorsy types, the yard was the biggest attraction to us when we were looking to buy a house. I hardly go out front since there is a pretty busy road that runs close to the house, though the house itself is actually on a dead end frontage type road, but the major roadway is right across the ditch from that.

I actually took this awhile back when a storm was moving in during the evening and it looked really weird outside, all yellowish (even though there was no sun). This is taken from the front porch so you can see what I mean, there is a gas station/convenience store right across the street. It took me awhile to get used to living so close to a busy road but it's not too bad, it's not a major highway, and the back yard makes up for it.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/k9soul/Tasha%20and%20Tommy/Garden%20and%20Dogs%20Aug%209%2004/stormyevening1.jpg

Anyway it looks weird cause the storm that was moving in. The truck is an old 78 Dodge my hubby bought for $300 to haul with for all his yard projects.

Thanks all. I'm really a chatterbox this afternoon. :o

[dappledoxie]

Wonderful pictures!! I love those painted daisies!

[KYS]

Your yard is beautiful. It looks like behind your property
are woods?
I am jeolouse over your vegetables.
If you ever saw mine you would be rolling
over in laughter.
I love gardening pictures. :)

[AmberLee]

What a lovely garden. I'm so impressed that you got such lush growth from seeds. WOW!

[Kater]

A feast for the eyes, a feast for the tummy and a feast for the soul! Your garden is wonderful, as always! :D Now I think I will close my eyes and pretend I'm in Minnesota....

[K9soul]

Thanks again so much for all the wonderful compliments. The yard is a lot of work but is our pride and joy, we've forgone any indoor remodeling so far in order to focus on the yard, though we do hope to do more indoors "one of these days."

Karen, it does look like woods back there but actually the yard is surrounded by evergreen trees and there is a neighbor who lives behind us. When we got the house, the realtor's description of the yard was listed as a "wooded lot" due to all the trees. It does give a nice secluded feeling back there, a little haven :)

[RobiLee]

Wow, everything is so pretty! I love all of the flower pics. Close ups of flowers are my fav. Thanks for letting me know what each one was also. Those strawberries look so yummy. I'm going to have to go get some now.

I'm glad you have been keeping us posted on your lovely yard and garden. Fantastic!

Robin :)