My newest blueberry additions.  They were 1/2 off at Home Depot so I couldn't pass them up.  Here are Bluecrop and Jersey.

 My Golden Delicious had a bad case of rosy apple aphids.  Lady bugs to the rescue.  There is also another underneath a nearby leaf. I love these hungry beauties.

 My Dwarf Honeycrisp apple tree from Stark that I planted last Fall.  She's branching and leafing out nicely.

 Fat N' Sassy peppers are starting to bloom.  They are thriving in the crazy heat we've been having.

The "shell" garden.  Petunias, impatiens and nicotiana line the back edges.  Onions are the large patch in the front.  Freshly planted geraniums (a gift from my mother-in-law) are near the birdbath and front center.  One Cherokee Green and two Celebrity tomatoes are staked behind the birdbath.  Scarlet Nantes carrots and 3 Salad Bush cucumbers are to the right of the birdbath.  I may hate this heat and humidity, but the garden is thriving so far.

 Pretty combination.  Double Knockout rose, Maynight Salvia, daylily, and heuchera.

 A surprise volunteer.  I haven't grown coreopsis in two years.  I used to grow Tequila Sunrise.  A lovely dwarf variety with variegated foliage.  It only survived about 3 years.  Two years later...surprise.  What a fun plant to pop up in the crack between the house and sidewalk.

 My dwarf Alberta spruce has had issues since I planted it last summer.  Lots of browning along the bottom and huge sections died off.  Since we had such a severe drought last season, I figured that I must not have been supplementing it enough with moisture.  Turns out, mites are most likely the continuing problem.  Check out all the webbing.  Ugh.

 Guacamole hosta shaded with pink and white azaleas.

 My Golden Delicious apple tree had some funky leaves.  I peeked inside to find lots of ants and aphids.  Yum.

 After unrolling the leaf, here's what was inside.  Where are the ladybugs when you need them?

 Felix Crousse peony with my new birdhouse in the far back (left side).  We just put the birdhouse up today.  I can't wait to see if we get some curious renters.

 Fat N Sassy peppers are loving the heat today.  The Kennebec potatoes are doing well in their containers.  I will have to fill them up the rest of the way with soil now that they are tall enough.

 Reliance grapes are starting to form.

 The entire vine.  Now I only hope I can keep the birds away from them this season.  They ate EVERY grape OVERNIGHT last season.  EVERY GRAPE!

 Ville de Lyon clematis gracing the porch.

 Navaho blackberries are blooming their hearts out.

 Raspberries are already in bloom!

Double Knockout Rose.

Bumblebee on bolting Golden Acre cabbage flowers.My bed of Yukon Gold and Red Norland potatoes. There are two Mucho Nacho jalapeno and two Fat N' Sassy pepper plants in the bed. Yesterday I added more straw mulch around the growing potatoes to keep them from turning green. Then I added even more straw around the strawberry plants to keep the berries away from the soil.
I purchased seed for Common Milkweed. Asclepias syriaca. Only one of them germinated. I hope it not only survives, but thrives and multiplies.Nepeta Walkers Low. It may be low but it sure isn't petite. This ONE plant that I added last summer is at least 4 feet wide. This is after I used a shovel to slice off a large chunk to plant out front. The bumblebees are absolutely loving it!Yesterday I placed some clothespins on the dwarf fruit trees I planted in the fall. It may not be attractive, but it will help with maintaining wide angles for the scaffolds. This is my dwarf Golden Delicious apple tree.I found apple aphid clusters on the new foliage of this apple tree. Their buddy, an ant, was hanging out with them. I didn't want to dig out the hose and haul it around the house to blast them off with water. I couldn't find my spray bottle either. What to do? Improvise. My kids' squirt guns came in handy. Not as good as a hose, but it slowly worked.

Mini Home Orchard

From left to right: Red Haven peach, Stanley prune-plum, Stark Honeysweet pear, and Golden Delicious apple.
.
My mini-home orchard. That's my clothesline cutting through the picture. All but the pear are "supreme" trees from Stark Bros. They were delivered in very good condition. The roots were still moist. Unfortunately the trees were not marked with chalk for the proper planting depth like expected. I have been doing a lot of reading about growing dwarf fruit trees properly (and they came with a planting guide), so I think they will be just fine. Just be sure not to allow the grafted area to come into contact with the soil or it may root you may loose the dwarfing aspect of the tree.
.
MULCH: Keep mulch several inches from the base of the trees so that rodents can't find a place to hide. They like to eat away the bark at the base of the tree. If they completely eat their way around the trunk, the tree will likely die. In the pictures it appears as though I mulched all the way to the trunk. I did not. There is a dark brown, recycled rubber tree ring around the tree. Starting around 5-6 inches away from the trunks are thick layers of mulch on top of the tree rings.
.
TREE GUARDS: I also ordered some tree guards to protect the young trunks from rodent damage and, in particular, sunscald. Since there are no branches or foliage to protect the young trunks from bright winter sun and reflections off of snow, the guards will help protect the vulnerable trunks. I've also heard of people using an outdoor, latex, white paint on older trees.
Above: Dwarf Stanley prune-plum. Self-fertile. European. Purchased from Stark Bros. A "supreme" tree.
Above: Dwarf Red Haven peach. Self-fertile. Purchased from Stark Bros. A "supreme" tree.
Above: Dwarf Golden Delicious apple. Self-fertile although having another apple or crabapple tree in bloom at the same time will increase the harvest. Purchased from Stark Bros. A "supreme" tree. It's a slightly curved tree, but it was the thickest with an excellent rootball.
Above: Dwarf Stark Honeysweet pear. Self-fertile. Purchased from Stark Bros. The only one that wasn't a "supreme" tree.