Finally Finished With Mulch!

When you can finally say the words I am done and refer to mulch, well then Summer can actually begin!
My goal has always been to complete my flower bed/ garden clean up and mulching before my children get out of school for the summer. Lucky for me we had a bad winter so school is in session until the second week of June this year. I made my deadline this year.
This by no means that I am finished with my garden chores, but I can safely say the worse part is behind me and begin to enjoy the fruits of my labor.
Having just cut back all of the lambs ear it was a fine time to mulch. We had 3 bushel baskets of top quality lambs ear to hang in the drying shed, so the gardens were desperate for some cover. We cut just before the flowers opened so we are sure to have a second harvest.
The Yarrow is next. I wait far too long to cut the Yarrow every year. It is so beautiful right now, and it will stay vibrant for at least a month. Once cut, it looks so drab, and since it is a garden of nothing but Yarrow,there is little to look forward to.
Strawberries are coming out of our ears this year. I made some changes last year and it has paid off in a big way!
My strawberry crop in 2009 had dwindled to tiny berries and few of those.
So, I went out on a limb and pulled them all up (close to 75 plants or better).
I added new soil. I had my good friend "Dump Truck Steve" bring me a garden composted soil mix, and one wheelbarrow at a time added and tilled in the new mixture. I also decided to go with a different berry plant. I decided to go with a mid season berry for flavor and size, Cavendish.
At first I was very unhappy with my decision, because of the weeds. I weeded every week in that bed all last summer. Mostly because of the composted manure in the mixture.
So here I am one year later, with hundreds of lush big strawberries. I guess it was worth it.
My hydrangeas are all in full bloom. The mulch looks so beautiful around the lush green. The blooms are large and full of color. All conditions must have been just right this year for hydrangeas.