An Old English Bulldog enjoying her backyard.

Pretty red tulips and happy yellow daffodils enjoying the morning sun.

Day lilies, peonies, mums, asters, and hollyhocks greening up.

Began the morning praying The Morning Office in the backyard and finished it cleaning out the front flower bed and fertilizing it. It's so good to be working in my garden again and seeing all of the new life greening up! #MidwestGardeners #GardenSky #amgardening

Peony bush waking up in my front flower bed.

Two hollyhocks starting to grow.

24 milk jugs with seedlings.

Spent a very satisfying afternoon in the front flower bed starting the spring clean-up. My peony and hollyhocks are already coming back, and almost everything I winter sowed has germinated! #GardenSky #MidwestGardeners

#gardensky #midwestgardeners what apps are great for logging & keeping track of gardening? i used GrowIt last year but don’t love it. looking for something that helps with growth progress, watering schedules, & diagnosing possible issues. any helpful advice is welcome! #zone5b 🌱

Today is garlic planting day! I will use cloves from this year's harvest. Sadly, I am having to cut down the beautiful zinnias that are in the way.

Who else is a garlic grower?

#midwestgardeners #garlic #autumngardening

Sunflowers from the garden 🩷 😍#Gardening #MidwestGardeners #Sunflowers 🌱

Pollinators are flying around my backyard! Bumblebees, butterflies, and our first monarch butterfly feasting on one of my zinnias! I was too awestruck to take a picture. I'm so happy! And here's today's harvest.🌱 #midwestgardeners #GardenSky #backyardgarden

Food mills are awesome! And we have more carrots. 🌱 #midwestgardeners #GardenSky #canning #tomatoes

First carrot 🌱. #midwestgardeners #GardenSky #backyardgatden

Of Migraines, Cucumbers, and Making Choices Last week was a week to say the least.

The latest article from Creative Midlife Resistance is out. It was time to learn how to can dill pickles🌱. I also had thoughts on keeping Sabbath. #GardenSky #midwestgardeners #sabbath #episcopalian
open.substack.com/pub/satteber...

Last two days cherry tomato harvest. They made some killer Pasta Puttenesca for last night's dinner. 🌱 #gardentotable #backyardgarden #midwestgardeners #GardenSky

🌱 #midwestgardeners

Today's garden haul. 🌱 #midwestgardeners #GardenSky #gardentotable

Veggies and flowers from the garden! 🌱 #Midwestgardeners #GardenSky

Sweet potatoes. They love this heat.

#midwestgardeners #gardening

First cucumber of the year! 🌱 #midwestgardeners #gardening #backyardgardening

My zinnias and hosta are blooming! 🌱 #gardening #midwestgardeners

A close-up of reddish-purple serviceberries (Amelanchier canadensis) hanging from a branch in a cluster with purple-wine cups (poppy mallow, (Callirhoe bushii)). Some blue-green poppy seed pods (Paperver somniferum) are in the background. The June Osborne berries and winecups are native and should be moved to a sunnier location.

Serviceberries and poppy mallows from a different angle. The June Osborne tree is so full of fruit the branches droop. The birds think they should have all the berries. In the lower right corner, purple-pink winecups are intermixed with black eyed Susans (Rudbeckia), which have bright yellow flowers with a dark brown center. Tucked into this blas of color are Coreopsis tinctoria, dainty yellow flowers with a red center. In the background are opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) seed heads from flowers that have dropped their petals.

Colorful in this part of the garden. Poppy mallows are blooming in concert with the ripe June Osborne berries (Serviceberries, Amelanchier canadensis). I just ate a bowl of berries. So good!

#Midwestgardeners #zone5b

My boy hugging his gnome of a grandma under a crazy kiwi vine. We also have yellow daylilies, firecracker, marigolds, and a raised bed full of lettuce and pepper plants. My garden is an explosion of colors and textures.

Grandson and I conquered the clove currant bush. Clove current is a native and is therefore considered desirable by people. But I never liked it all that much and it went rogue. Became quite invasive.

So Beckett dug that thing out along with a lot of other stuff in that area.

#midwestgardeners

Four red poppies with fringed edges and purple centers. They love the heat.

The poppies are still going strong. Papaver somniferum.

#bloomscrolling #midwestgardeners
#zone5b

An opium (breadseef) poppy in bloom. This gorgeous flower has fringed petals of bright red with an inner circle of purple surrounding the pistal. Amazing!

Woke up to the bloom of my fist opium poppy of the season. They are so beautiful.

#midwestgardeners #bloomscroll #zone5b

First harvest of herbs and leafy greens with roasted salmon. 🌱 #gardening #midwestgardeners #amcooking

Close-up of a newly emerged iris blossom. Nestled in among green plants, the flower is purple on the edges with a white center. out of which the yellow, pollen-covered stamen emerges.

My first iris opened today! I love her.

#midwestgardeners #zone5b #flowers #iris

Feathery columbine with red and yellow flowers next to dark green plant with fragrant white flowers—sea kale.

The sea kale is blooming next to a native columbine.

#midwestgardeners #zone5b

This is a ground level close-up of my famous Aronia Bush. A big snake of a root is prominent in the lower left-hand corner. Blooming daffodils are in the middle, and the base of the Aronia bush is in back.

I remember these red and yellow tulips from my childhood. They’re a favorite of mine.

I very much value Woodviolets. I am happy to say they are spreading all over my property, which is excellent. In addition to being beautiful with their bright purple flowers, this plant is edible as well.

We are getting some color now. Tulips, daffodils, and violets.

#midwestgardeners #zone5b #earlyspring

Squirrels or rabbits or both have eaten or moved a great many of my tulips.

Who has advice on how to deal with squirrels?

#MidwestGardeners #zone
5b