Spring has sprung a leak!

Don't get me wrong. It is hard to complain about rain, and I am not. I have had no water in the garage (yet) and have waterproof boots that can get me through the lake out my front door. If I can manage to be home and not working when actual precipitation is holding off, it will be a great time to weed, and boy are there weeds. Everything likes to grow in this weather. Tomatoes are escaping their cages, and the grass is begging to be mowed. Or pulled, in all the flowerbeds it keeps coming up in or sneaking into.

It is lovely not to have to add any water to the pond, despite the leftover hose that is laying there. It is more than topped off. The cannas are showing off and the mint has covered my stepping stones between the bog and pond, pretty - but one of the tasks on my list. Bog plants don't need all this rain, of course. They have fish poop water 24/7. Gator is hanging out and you can almost see the color shadows of fish. They get confused with rain - something is hitting the water, but there is nothing there to eat. Where's the koi kibble?

I have so many pictures and so little time. I promise to be back soon and post them, but I have done that before. I would rather spend the time out there before we hit triple digits, and as nice as this spring - actually, as nice as actually having a spring here is - it will come. Hardscape and roots in the ground have been my mantras this spring, and it is paying off. I have new pathways, 2 new retaining walls, new beds, and getting close to a new patio as well.

So many plants have either come out of long overdue 'temporary' pots and made it into the ground, or moved to bigger pots, or been taken from inconvenient locations and put into pots to share with friends. They are all loving this rain.

There are buds and little fruits everywhere. Mostly. I have some tomato plants almost as tall as I am without a sign of fruit yet, and others with clusters of green tomatoes coming along. The peppers are fruiting, the tomatillos as well (except for one...) and there are flowers on the eggplant. The potatoes are so tall, I can't keep up with burying them in leaves.

I was very careful to plant tomatillos 2 by 2 this year, after discovering too late before that the generally do not self-pollinate. The 2 green ones are doing great. And the ground hugging pineapple tomatillo is full of its tiny fruits. But the purple growing above it has empty flowers. Maybe the pollen only goes down? It is disappointing. And probably too late to find another plant to add to the mix. Anyone have a spare tomatillo?

One of the new retaining walls made a large bed behind the pond, and you can see it in the picture. It has grown in like gangbusters. I will, I promise, put up better pictures of it later. The right side has 2 tomatoes, 2 peppers, the purple and pineapple tomatillos, and some herbs and onions, and a green bean that thinks it wants to grow up the tomatoes. Most of it has partially buried tubs with bog and pond plants, surrounded by iris and daylilies and backed by a row of cannas that are already about to hide the fence. I had help to handle the stones of the walls - thank you, David! - but filling it all up was quite a big job for me, and that was all mine. (My cholesterol has gone down 51 points since November. Yeah yardwork!)

Maybe this weekend I can edit and add more pictures. We'll see. I have a couple of social engagements and I am not inclined to miss them. If it dries up enough to mow and I spend time weeding I may not have blogging time. At least until that summer heat hits, and it will be soon.

Cheers! And happy gardening.