Garden Dreams and Dirty Nails: They're Here!

The first monarch to be seen by me, here in Minnesota, was today in our garden. Larry spotted it first, and we didn't see it land on any milkweed, but I'll probably start checking the milkweed for eggs and caterpillars.
So, I really cannot believe it is June already, summer has decided to fly by again, but I'm determined not to miss any of it!
The crimson clover I planted last Fall survived the winter, even though it is an annual, and it looked gorgeous, so I scattered more of the seed. The bees really love it, although most of it is done flowering now, I hope the new seed planted will bloom before a frost and maybe most of it will survive the winter again. Quite a few plants did not survive the winter, or came back in poor condition. Even my Pasque flower which is an early prolific bloomer barely survived and no flowers have bloomed, but it seems to be rebounding. The trumpet vine is leafing out earlier with more shoots from the old wood so I'm hoping for more flowers. My new grape vine is slow and I'm sure most of that is my fault for not pruning it this winter, but I'm sure it will survive. The snowsweet apple tree has quite a few apples this year, and the cherry tree is loaded with cherries. All the tomatoes, peppers, summer squash, cucumbers, brussel sprouts, peas, and beans are planted, and look pretty good. We've been enjoying lots of salad greens, a few strawberries, a bit of asparagus, chives, and dill so far this season. I planted more asparagus but if it doesn't improve production within a few years I may pull it all
out.

Woodland Phlox

The projects for this year are to fill in the redbud circle and add a bit more to the quaking aspen area. I've already divided and moved some perennials and strawberry plants and added some more native plants. A couple of surprises with woodland phlox and a pretty red daisy. Time for photos!