Enjoy this photo journey of my garden. I'll take you on a tour of everything I have been busy growing at my house.

These photos I took on #Memorial Day, May 28. It was really warm and sunny all day, and the sky turned slightly cloudy, allowing for me to take some vivid shadowless photography. Any time I want to show close-up details in a photo I have learned that colors and edge details show up better when the sun isn't glaring out full blast.

First up, my #azalea #bonsai tree is going through some exciting changes. One of the blooms has opened up, with several more buds storing up energy, ready to pop open any day.

Brilliant #fuschia or hot #pink in color.

Interesting that the farthest branch has the most energy to open up flower buds first.

Now back to the vegetable garden areas...

So far these two grow bags are growing almost everything according to plan, despite the chaotic look.

In past years I had specific clear spaces for tomatoes and peppers and sunflowers to grow, and it seemed a bit of a waste of space, and I really had to nurture those plants along constantly with extra water, shade, and protection from harmful insects and birds.

This year I added cover crops (clover, vetch, and arugula) to help conceal and shade young seedlings. This low level shade will also keep the ground cool enough to protect roots and retain more moisture. It should also bait the insects away slightly, providing hiding places for beneficial insects, and also strengthen the soil surface from being dug up so easily by squirrels. If the cover crops become overgrown, I can always eat them, or chop and drop to further feed the soil.

Here is a batch of seedling I planted a week ago. I can't remember what these are. Most likely these are the #parsley or #cilantro I sowed on Mother's Day.

Here are the same seedling growing in the opposite grow bag. This plastic screen has been very effective at preventing animals from scratching up the soil.

Flowering #tobacco has been kicking back into gear. The last few weeks it seemed to be adjusting to being transplanted outside. Now it is swelling up and developing larger leaves.

Above, this is another variety of flowering #tobacco. I have a really good feeling about this being an effective companion plant. See those fuzzy little hairs? They are supposed to get hot and sticky, and also release a perfume. That should deter many scent-focused problem insects like ants, aphids, and caterpillars.

Beside the tobacco is growing wild #arugula. This is my new favorite green to grow and eat fresh. Peppery and nutty in flavor. No bitterness or chalky, fibrous texture.

Various types of #sunflower growing between the #peas and #arugula. Something always eats the first leaves off of the sunflowers. A shrimpy #pepper plant grows in the hole in the screen, where it was recently transplanted.

More #sunflower #seedlings pushing out true leaves in the upper side of this photo above.

Once the true leaves start pushing out and the stem gets taller, I have more faith that the plant will survive. If I see stems completely bitten off, I start planting more seeds to see if they can grow faster than the animals eat them.

This #pea plant has white flowers and a pea pod. You can eat the the pea pod young like this, and eat it whole, or you can can wait for it to get bigger and save the peas as seeds, or eat the peas inside the pod. Most people probably already know that, but some people have never grown peas before. They are very easy to grow.

Here is one of my Rapunzel cherry #tomato plants growing. It is wrestling with a pea plant for dominance. This is part of my crazy plan of growing tomatoes without a cage. The peas will help the tomato to grow up with a much stronger stem than normal. Since the peas grow tall and fast very quickly, the tomato can benefit from the dappled shade until the peas dry out, and then the tomato will be ready to set forth flowers and fruit. By then it should have a strong enough stem to support more fruit. I don't stake up tomatoes. I let them grow natural like a vine bending over the ground so they can produce more suckers and more flowers.

#Orange Asiatic #lilies and #blue flowers in full bloom today.

They are throwing flowers out very densely together. This is technically my mother's garden area. These #lily flowers only show for a few weeks every year.

The anthers can stain skin and clothing orange. Otherwise they are a beautiful flower to admire.

This is my #yarrow I started growing about four years ago. It has been through hell and back, and it just keeps on going. We've had to dig up and relocate these plants various times. Even after thrashing the roots, throwing salt in the soil to kill a vine nearby, and almost never watering them, they produce more leaves and flower heads than they have any business producing.

I am expecting multiple flower heads this year. More than I have ever seen before. I love these plants. They have extremely soft, luxuriously green leaves. When everything else in the yard looks yellow and dying on a hot day, this plant is always emerald green and thick. The leaves have many beneficial medicinal purposes. It does a good job of preventing dandelions weeds from growing nearby too. A great ground cover.

This is my mother's #lavender plant. It recently went through some upheaval too, as I had to pull out the entire plant, and probably damaged many of the deeper roots, in order to dig out an invasive vine root underneath. By the looks of the stems and flowers, you can't even tell the plant was bothered so drastically.

Maybe it is still early in the year, but this is supposed to be my #corn and #bean garden. I had about ten corn plants growing here last week. Now we are down to about five. I soak corn seeds and sow them in every couple weeks.

These are the one that look the healthiest. The youngest leaves must grow very fast or the bugs will shred through them. Sometimes the corn will get the tips chewed off, and it will continue to send up a new shoot if the root is strong.

The #grapevine is throwing out larger and larger leaves every day. The stems are growing so long now, they are starting to sag in the areas where they have nothing to hang onto. When they get long enough to reach, I can direct them towards the trellis or the fence.

This it the first year it has produced #fruit. Will I get #grapes? This variety of #grape is called Venus.

This crazy tree growing in my grow bag is the remains of my #brussels #sprouts.

It is covered in seed pods, aphids, spiders, and beetles. I spritz it with soapy water every day to help get rid of the aphids. It seems to be working.

Once the seed pods turn yellow and brown, those seeds should go jumping out in all directions. The seeds are ball shaped. I will be happy if I can save a few dozen brussels sprouts seeds. I may end up with a few hundred. I wouldn't mind getting a few volunteers to self sow in this area too.

This grow bag always seems a bit harder for me to grow things in. I think it is because of the shrubs nearby. They provide thicker shade and shelter for birds and insects that probably feast on my plants.

There are also some conifers towering up above this area, and I always suspect that those trees drop a chemical agent that make it harder for vegetables to grow nearby.

The #roma tomato growing here was transplanted in. It is starting to grow new leaves from the crotch of the stem where I had pruned it to keep its height down. That is a good sign that the roots are starting to set in.

More of those seedling growing here we saw earlier. I am glad they are filling in this bare patch of soil. Looks like something was scratching through the soil here. A couple of my smaller transplanted tomatoes here did not survive. Always grow more than you need in case some of them fail. I still have half a dozen pepper in my garage waiting to be transplanted in but they are too small right now.

This is my #coreopsis plant. It is about four years old, and used to grow in a hanging basket. It does much better when naturalized in the soil. It will produce daisy-like orange flowers and many seeds. The seeds do not seem to self-sow very well though. It propagates better by producing stems from the old roots.

The only #onions that are growing well in my garden are these #chives I started from some produce I got at the grocery store. They are looking quite sturdy and healthy now. Chives taste wonderful on rice.

In this area, I call it the Bush Garden because it is in front of a large bush, I have many #radishes growing. Some of the #lettuce is starting to develop also. Not having any luck with turnips, anise, or cilantro. Either it isn't hot enough for those to grow, the soil is poor, or the bugs and birds are getting to them before they can emerge. This is a first year gardening plot, so it is a learning experience for me, and the soil will improve in future years as it gets more compost added in.

The water #lily is producing more lily pads. Birds are very attracted to this space for bathing. They dine on the mosquitoes that lay eggs here. The plant benefits from the nitrogen left behind from birds. I can't believe how easy it is to grow water lily in such a small bowl.

This pathetic chewed up shoot is all that's left of my #turmeric. There is quite a bit going on underneath the soil I am sure, just not much going on, on top. If it doesn't do anything by July, I'll have to dig it up and try growing it indoors instead.

Every gardener should have one of these. My bucket #composter is were I stack waste greens, and it produces compost tea underneath, which I collect through the crack in the bottom of the bucket. The #tomatoes growing inside are going to be the best tasting tomatoes of the #garden.

Not much to see here. Supposed to be #cabbage, #turnips, and #radicchio growing here. I call this the Fence Nook Garden because it is in a corner of the fence which is hard to reach behind my grapevine. It gets lots of shade, and has lots of muddy clay-like soil. This is the first year I started growing things here, so I am not expecting much.

In the front yard, things are looking much better.

Three rows of #carrots growing, with #lettuce and #radish growing in between. #Turnips were planted here, but doesn't look like they are surviving well. Strange, because that seed I found to be very easy to grow indoors.

Garden Tip for Lettuce

By the way, I had a genius idea with the lettuce seeds, which I had the hardest time with this year. The first two times I sowed lettuce outside this month, I kept finding it dug up with fresh holes in every spot they were planted. I guess squirrels can smell wet lettuce seeds a mile away.

If you want to get more lettuce seeds to sprout, like I did, you can pour lettuce seeds into a dish of water. Drain the water out, and put the wet seeds on a paper towel or napkin. Blend a few teaspoons of hot cayenne pepper and cinnamon together. Mix the wet lettuce seeds into the spice mixture, and make sure they are completely coated. You can sow them directly with the powder, or you can use a wire sieve if you want to separate the coated seeds from the excess powder. Once sown, the cinnamon will disguise the smell of the lettuce seed and act as an anti-fungal to prevent the seed from rotting or wilting, and the cayenne pepper will make a nasty surprise for any critter that tries to eat it.

Be sure NOT to water the garden area right away after sowing the seeds. That will rinse off all the spices from the seeds. Instead water the soil BEFORE sowing the coated seeds. I also use and inch of wet sand to cover the seeds, as most animals hate getting sand stuck in their claws and teeth.

You'll get more lettuce seeds growing in the garden, guaranteed!

Here in the front of the yard, the two rows of last year's #carrots are getting ready to produce flowers and seeds. I would be very happy if they self sowed.

The #pumpkins I have caged up in here are not doing so well. Even the new seeds here that sprouted seem to have shriveled up from the the stem below the leaves at soil level. Is there some bug under the soil draining them of life? None of my transplanted pumpkins look like they are going to make it either. I have one more alive in the garage waiting to be transplanted. None of them have had any new leaves in weeks.

There is so much more shade in the this area from the deciduous trees growing overhead, I don't think the pumpkins will ever get enough sunlight to grow as fast as they need to, to overcome natural predators. During the heat of the day this area is completely covered by the tree canopy. In the evening during sunset, this is the only time it seems to get full sun. Next year, I may have to revert back to growing pumpkins in my grow bags where there is more sunlight behind the house.

This is what the carrots look like when they have bolted and are ready to form a flower.

The #strawberries are in season right now.

I've eaten three red ones already. I grow St. Laramie and Hood #strawberries.

Is this another one of my strange bonsai trees? If a strawberry could be a tree, this is probably what it would look like.

Bonus Photos

Take a moment to stop and smell the roses

These #antique #roses were putting on a spectacular display in our yard recently.

In front of the fence, they look very #rustic and #charming, don't they? Isn't it interesting how the rose changes color as it grows. It looks like different colors of flowers from the same plant. Two shades of #pink.

These roses are also scented, making the expected sweet rose #perfume one can expect every time you walk through the narrow path between the fence gate.

In the lower back yard, we have these painted #roses.

The cards better finish painting them, or off with their heads!

This same rose looks even better from behind.

Nearby, the deep red roses take on a blackened edge as they deepen.

Fresh roses. Enjoy!

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Thanks for checking out my post. I have been battling my allergies like crazy from the pollen season we are in. Still, I think it was worth it all the time I have invested into theses plants and photos. My neck has started to tan.

Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

And remember, everyone is welcome to join me on discord if you want to say hello and chat online.