Ghetto Gardens: Where have I been

I am currently writing this entry when I haven't even finished my last entry. lol What can I say other than it has been a crazy couple of months. This last month I have been busy with renovation realities.
I spent at least three weeks up at my cousins renovating his entire house. Well at least the first floor. Then I spent over a week putting down Laminate floors in our house.
After neglecting my gardens for over a month, OMG can I say WEEEEEEEEEEDS!!!!

Before

After my hands were put through it.

After adding straw to help with the weed prevention and water retention.

My hands are about to fall off from the sheer agony of pulling so many weeds. I have always said that "I find pulling weeds therapeutic". However, not in this instance. I spent almost ten hours in the veggie garden. The good news is.... its done. Well, almost done anyway.
I put some straw down to help control the weeds and hide the newspaper. I think that newspaper in the garden is incredibly ugly. I have never done this before, but I have to say it works. I am pleasantly surprised by the good job in weed control the newspaper really does.
My disasters to report... the peas. omg. The first batch I planted on St. Patty's day had only three seeds to germinate. And the second planting had good germination but the heat just zapped the plants.
I am quite concerned with the potatoes. I have never grown them before and I think I did not give them enough water. Not to mention the weeds had taken over the garden. I am hoping they will do better now that I cleared the weeds today and gave everyone a good drink.
Here is a few photos of the last couple of weeks.

People might call these ditch lilies and think they are unattractive, I however completely disagree.

I am always amazed at the growth of these in a very short time. It is apparent that I need more photos of the lanai fountain and patio.

The Lanai garden is bursting with lily blooms. I love the bishops weed growing out of control.

I am hoping that my aunt will tell me that names of these lilies. lol

My ponds have not been the same since my little frog bandits made a mess of it. It is trying to come back to life. I walked over to see if my red water lily was in bloom and to my surprise I discovered all of my water plants had been pulled out of the ponds and thrown around the edges. I did not know if someone was trying to steal them or what was going on. The next morning I woke to my dog barking to inform me that someone was in the pond. To my surprise I found three little boys trying to catch the frogs out of the pond. It made me think of my own childhood and how I would have totally been digging around in this pond doing the exact same thing. They promised never to do it again. lmao We will see.

I have gotten a few new additions to the gardens this year. Here are a couple of new plants.
Blackout Lily

Endless summer Hydrangea

This lily is not new however, it has never bloomed before. I don't know what it is called or even where I picked it up. But she is beautiful.

This clematis is not new either but this is the first year it has decided to bloom.

I also wanted to post a couple of photos from my aunt. She has Plumeria blooming the first year.

Now I know what to look for on my Plumerias.

I think that is quite an accomplishment. My hat goes off to you auntie.
She also is fascinated with the Mullen plant. It is the tall plant on the right in the photo below. Does anyone have any info on this plant.