The house and yard are shaping up this year. We planted grass in the spring and it’s coming up nicely (along with a ton of weeds.) We decided to go the all organic route with the lawn and are not putting down any chemicals. That means that we simply pull out the weeds by hand. We’ve had several weed-pulling marathons already this year and I’m sure there will be more in our future.
The gardens are also reaching full bloom as evidenced by these beautiful lilies. I went downstate last weekend and came home with a trunk full of flowers from my parent’s garden. Perennials are great, especially when you can take cuttings and pass them on.
The south facing garden area looks great. I have added many new perennial plants here and hope they will be bursting with color soon.
In the backyard, we have this mystery shrub. It has thorns all over and large grape-like berries. Hmmmmm…. Let me konw if you can identify it.
It’s looking beautiful, Missy!
That mystery shrub is a Goose Berry! Pick the berries when they are pink to make jam they are recipes in the Certo brand pectin for home made Jams and Jellies. If you like a tart pie they are great when combined with cherries ,or rhubarb. It is an old fashioned berry bush found on old farms across the mid west. If you wait till they are deep burgundy they loose their tartness and the birds may beat you to them! We often combined them with red currants for jam. Enjoy!
Thanks! This is exactly what I was looking for! Right now the berries are green, they actually look just like grapes, and they are quite tough.