We did some fun family things today, like going for a long bike ride to the park, having a picnic with all the kids and playing frisbee. But I also got some time in for gardening.

I put the Grubex on the lawn today to protect it from grubs. I hope it works well. I also sprayed some Otho Max on the rose hedge to knock down some aphids.

I had a little trouble in the vegetable garden, because we had near-freezing temps and some hail on Sunday morning. I lost both the tomato plants I put out on Saturday. Also had damage to three or four young cornstalks, but not too bad. I bought two more tomatoes today, but one got broken in half dropping it out of the car. I think it’ll still live. Plus, I have a volunteer tomato out there from last year’s fruit falling on the ground and dropping seed.

We bought some big pots to put the tropical hibiscus and the angel’s trumpet bush in. Ran out of potting soil, so I’ll have to go back for more tomorrow.

I did some pruning on the Chinese elm and the two Japanese maples. Wow, all the Asian trees today, eh? I think it’s all the pruning they’ll need this year. I still need to do some minor pruning on the flowering plum, crabapples, and the sycamore. I think I’m going to take some lower branches off the sycamore.

I dug the trench some more for the city irrigation water hookup. Still got a ways to go.

Here are some cool photos from the yard today. First, the lovely view off my back deck, looking first to the northeast where I have the Aspen corner, and then to the southeast where my arbor and roses are:

Then, some bloom photos. First some Saponaria, then a Coreopsis, and then my lone specimen of Rocky Mountain Penstemon, complete with a bumble bee that was going in and out of the flowers.

And finally, a few shots from my shade garden. One of my hostas and some purple Lamium starting to bloom:

Gardening is fun!