One of the great things about living where we do is we get to enjoy nature’s beauty every day. There are many plants growing wild I’d like to learn more about. In an attempt to do that, I’m going to pick a plant each month in 2017 and write a post about it.

I’m starting the year off with my nemesis, the Canada thistle, Cirsium arvense. The next 11 plants will probably be ones I actually enjoy, but I can’t do this series without mentioning the plant I think about most.

It is my very least favorite plant… ever. It is extremely invasive. It grows everywhere. It grows in places in my flowerbeds that the only way for to get rid of them is to pull them. I can only pull a few hundred at a time before my hands just can’t take the poking anymore.

Have I mentioned how much I dislike this thistle?

They start out like this. Smallish thistles clustered in a group.

Then they get a little taller. Now is the easiest time for me to pull them. However, we have so many I can’t pull them all. But, I do what I can. And, they always come come back. I pull the same thistle multiple times a year. I keep hoping eventually I’ll win. Certainly don’t till them back into the ground. These bastards can regrow from the tiniest discard of root.

There it is. The flower. All the pretty purple flowers laughing, knowing they are going to go to seed. I didn’t pull them in time.

They get tall and gangly. By the time they are this big, they are difficult to pull.

The seed. Look at all that glorious fluff wanting to make more thistles. Blech!

A deer down in a field of thistles. A FIELD OF THISTLES!

At least the deer eat the damn things.

Other creatures enjoy the thistles, as well. I am confident, though, that there are plenty of other things for them to graze on. The thistles can go.

The thistles grow like crazy in our fields, too. For years we didn’t use herbicides. However, I’ve given up. I don’t think there is a way to get rid of them without an herbicide. So, this year we will have to make a thistle removal schedule – and stick to it. Then do it again next year and the year after. They have got to go!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoONBIB0S3o

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Every year at this time I have mixed thoughts about our flowerbeds. I love all the blooms. The flowers are beautiful. But, as a whole, the beds are very unkept and overgrown. It is impossible for me to keep up with the weeds and deadheading. Too many flowerbeds, too little time. I’m working on coming up with a solution to this dilemma. Unfortunately, the solution will take a lot of time and a complete overhaul of at least one flowerbed.

Here are the majority of plants blooming now, amongst all the crazy.

This is the time of year when the shasta daisies really show off – and we have a ton of them.

The lilies/day lilies are also taking over the flowerbeds.

Every year I throw new wild flower seed in the meadow hoping for a little variety. And, every year the same ol’ daisies and blanket flowers take over.

The weeds are in full swing right now.

Stinking Chamomile, or Anthemis cotula. I acutally don’t mind this weed, but it does stink.

Top left: White Clover
Bottom left: Canadian Thistle
Right: Lady’s Thumb, sometimes referred to as smartweed

Queen Anne’s Lace

The butterfly bushes just started blooming, but they seem to be fading quicker than I remember in the past.

Potentilla ‘Goldfinger’
I don’t love this plant. But, it’s hardy and is a reliable bloomer each summer.

The lavender in the Bird Village, Lavandula ‘Jennifer’,  is looking lovely.

There is a little section near the pond in the front yard that I enjoy. Purple lavender growing next to the pink flowers of what I believe is a Potenilla plant. Nearby is also yarrow in a darker shade of pink.

A few other random items in bloom. This year the nasturtiums are putting on a poor showing, which is a bummer. I love nasturtiums in my summer gardens.

Left: Mallow. It’s pretty. But, I don’t recommend it. It grows like crazy… in all the places you don’t want it.
Right: Hardy gladiola. I adore the chartreuse color.

Calendula

We struggle getting plants to bloom in Farm Kid 2’s flowerbed. It is a favorite place for our chickens to take dust baths. This year, though, we don’t have many free ranging chickens, so the wildflowers actually have a chance to show off. I love it.

Pansy’s and viola’s are looking great in the shade garden. This is another place we struggle keeping flowers alive due to the chickens, but not this year.

We also have flowering going on in our food garden – like this tomato.

Flowering in herb pots. This is the first time I have grown tarragon and I’m loving the golden flowers.

I have to make our flowerbeds a priority. In the winter, there isn’t a lot of interest, but in general they look ok. Everything is green and vibrant in the spring, which is my favorite. By mid summer, though, there is just too much going on for the flowerbeds to look nice. I like a cottage, informal look. But, I’ve been struggling with making it informal, without looking unkept.

With a lot of work, maybe next July’s bloom day will have the whole effect I’m going for, not just pretty flowers.

To enjoy more Bloom Day posts check out May Dreams Garden

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• A pile of feathers is never a good sign. Somethin’ got one of our free range roosters. From the way the feathers were spread out, I’m guessing it was a bobcat. They tend to leave piles of feathers in various places as they’re carrying the bird away.

• Lots of goodies are off to an early start in the greenhouse – like the Mexican Sour Gherkins.

• The swallows are still busy darting around. Love them.

• A few weeks ago Farmer John cemented posts in a bucket for me. However, once he learned I wanted to plant herbs around them he decided the pressure treated boards weren’t the best option. So, he redid the buckets with metal posts.

• The first mowing of the year was needed.

• We had a four legged visitor this week while our friends were off soaking in the rays in Hawaii.

•  A number of our hens are going broody. When a free range hen goes broody, we don’t tend to disturb her. However when one goes broody in one of our coops, it tends to throw off egg laying for many of the ladies. So, the broody’s have been relocated to the chicken tractors.

• I’ve been pulling weeds by the bucketfuls. I am never caught up, but every little bit helps.

• 2 white leghorns just chillin’ midday.

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This is about a month earlier than our normal, but we planted the garden. At least, part of it. I had many plants started and ready to be moved outside and the weather seems to be cooperating, so we gave it a whirl. So far, so good.

Even with the pigs being in part of the garden for awhile, it is still a weedy mess.

Farmer John tilled a small section in the garden for our first phase of planting.

Many of my tomato, kale, and herb starts were planted. The kids also planted a few things like radishes, beets, and watermelon.

The good news – 2 weeks in the garden and all my plants are doing well. The bad news – the weeds are doing well, too.

The post How Our Garden Grows – April 2016 appeared first on .

• I’m fighting with Canadian thistles in all my flowerbeds. They are definitely my least favorite weed and unfortunately are quite prolific around here.

• Meanwhile the garden is battling with a broadleaf weed. They are just as difficult to get rid of as the Canadian thistle. They just aren’t pokey, so they don’t tick me off quite as much.

• Farmer John tilled a section in the garden, so we moved a few of the seedlings I started to that plot. Also planted were onion starts and a few seeds.

• I gave the rye grass fodder to the chickens. They devoured it.

• The ajuga is blooming in my favorite color.

• Bugs are coming out like crazy. The kids & I spotted a bug we haven’t noticed before. I thought it looked similar to a dragonfly, except it looks mean like a wasp.

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