Tag Archives: Gardens

Short Garden Tour

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First pictorial garden walk about for this year. This year’s addition to the garden is a new flowerbed. The perimeter is planted with pink blooming spirea. Sunflowers are planted along the back fence line for this year. We’ll have to see what plantings are in store for next.

My favorite urn needed about a dozen plants to fill it up. It holds sweet potato vine, coleus, spikes, nicotiana, and assorted petunias.

This much smaller urn contains verbena, dahlia, and petunias.

The rose garden finally seems to be making a comeback. We had so many extra cold winters in a row that I was beginning to wonder if it would survive. The jury is still out on my America climbing rose. It lost a lot of canes.

More garden photos will be forthcoming. I am tired now from helping to cut down a pine tree and haul off the branches. Plus I have to watch the basketball game. Go Cavs!

This Evening’s Garden Walk

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May the flowers in our garden bring you joy. 

Namaste

Bloom Where You’re Planted 

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Good advice for plants and people. Pictures from our garden this evening. Enjoy!

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Line of Cats

It’s nice to hang out with friends who “get us”. Luckily we have a few. We just had a nice visit with a friend of my husband’s who is one such person. 

Not just everyone is able to “get us”.  We have an immense love for our animals and a fondness for our old house. Not a big deal, you say? We currently live with 5 dogs and 2 cats. These are low numbers for us. 

We currently have 4 dog crates in our dining room. One fits a 70 lb greyhound. Our front entrance houses two litter boxes and a table with cat food, all barricaded by a baby gate. 

Our house was built in 1830 and comes with “charm” from olden times. The floors are uneven, the electric could stand an upgrade, the basement walls are made of stones, and the windows stick. 

But then again, there is plenty of character if you  are able to see it. There are old doors with latch type handles. There are lots of doors and windows with moldings. Curved walls in two rooms. Old fashioned sleeping nooks off the main bedroom. And older outbuildings, trees, and plantings. 


And we have room to create gardens that we enjoy since we live in the country. 


The best part though is our family that lives here with us. It’s not everywhere that you can see a line of cats outside the bathroom. 


Or a pack of dogs equally eager to snuggle or play. 

This is not the life for everyone but we call it home. 

Touring the Garden

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Flowers-Lilies

The Star Gazers are my favorite of all the lilies we have. They are always bright and cheerful. Just looking at them makes me happy. Also they were a gift from my daughter which makes them even more appreciated.

Flowers-Garden Urn

I love my very large garden urn. My husband came home with it one day because he knew that I liked it. Each year I plant something slightly different in it. This year I used gladiolas in the center for height and it has worked quite well.

Flower-Begonia

This tuberous begonia was a late comer to our garden this year. I found a sale and couldn’t pass it up. It was the largest begonia I have seen. I had to lay it on it’s side for the drive home so the weight of the flowers wouldn’t snap the branches.

Flower-Phlox

Phlox comes up in our gardens every year by itself. I have never planted any. I am glad for it though because it always smells so good. It draws butterflies too.

Flowers-Cleome

The cleome re-seed themselves every where. I am not sure if I am glad we planted them that first year or not. When they are flowering like this, I am glad. When I am weeding them out of inconvenient places, I am not glad at all.

Hostas

And then there is the back bone of many gardens-the hosta. They are quite amazing. I dig them up and split them. The part I left of the original plant grows back as big as ever. And the new splits grow into an entire new plant very quickly. If only they were edible we could make quite a dent in world hunger. Never the less, a walk around the garden always brings a sense of peace. Except for those times when it brings an uncontrollable desire to weed!

Tastes of Summer 

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Apparently this is the year of cabbages. They are the best looking thing in our garden this year. We have red cabbages and green cabbages. 

And even Chinese cabbages.

It appears to be the year of cruciferous glory.

I also noticed some very nice looking zucchini. There will be one or two less of them tomorrow. And zucchini bread is soon to follow. 

The hiatus from limp, anemic grocery store produce is here!

Scents of Summer

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Peonies

I love this time of year! Every where I go outside our house, I encounter the most wonderful scents. The peonies are my favorite. I can’t think of anything that smells better. And they are also a very showy and appealing flower. I planted four new peony bushes this year so hopefully by next summer I will have new types to show you.

                                    Roses   Roses

The roses are also coming out in full force. The scent here is wonderful too. I worried about my roses because the past two years they weren’t very impressive. That must have been due to two cold winters in a row. Last winter was more mild and the plants are blooming profusely now. I also planted a new rose bush in the spring. I don’t know if it will bloom this summer or not. If it does, I will let you know. It is a bicolor rose, red & white flowers.

    Lilacs   Lilacs

And around the other side of the house are the lilac hedges. They provide a nice screen from the road during the summer months. And more olfactory delights. I must say, life is good!

Spring Comes

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Azaela

Gorgeous coral colored azalea! This bush grows beside our house which was built in 1830. The bush itself is quite old judging from the size at the base of the trunk. I have never seen another azalea that is quite this color. We can’t wait for it to bloom when spring comes.

Bleeding heart

A profusion of bleeding hearts, or Dicentra, grow at our side door. The foliage is ferny and the flowers do indeed look like hearts. They are a pretty little plant.

                                  Petunial  Begonia

And these were Mother’s Day gifts. The petunia from my daughter is a beautiful color. And the begonia is from her boyfriend. How special is that?! Pretty great. I look forward to moving them outside when it warms up. The weather is slow to warm up this year. These two plants will definitely brighten things up, physically, and in my mind’s eye whenever I think of the givers.

 

Spring Time Flowers

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Yay, it’s time for garden photos again! These are blooms on my flowering almond tree. They are a welcome sight as they are among the first blooms of the season.

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The service berry trees are early bloomers too. If each of those blossoms turns into fruit we will have glorious service berry pies again.  Oh happy day!

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The dogwood always brings a smile to my face. It just seems to announce “Happy Spring!”

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And the ever faithful tulip. Planted by a former owner of our home, but an ever present  bloomer.

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And the lung wort flowers are ever an early surprise. These plants are all gifts of the season and harbingers of what is to come. Happy spring!

Gifts from Mother Nature

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Harry Lauder

Mother Nature was indeed kind to us this weekend. It was such a beautiful day of mid-November on Sunday that I took a walk around our property to check on the progress of the plants. The garden area is still quite spectacular. The plants have the “bones” of the garden as backdrop so even with the lesser array of blooms it is still pleasant to look at. The fountain and sandstone beds anchor the plants. In this shot above I especially like the dappling of the sunlight on the fence and the way it is reflected on the surface of the water. The fountain pump has been put away for the year so the fountain functions as a reflecting pool for the time being.

                                Snapdragon Snapdragons

These snapdragons were all volunteers. That’s one of the reasons I love them. Plant them once and you can enjoy them for a few years afterward too. I also appreciate them because they bloom so prolifically and for so long. I have seen an occasional bloom even in December! And the white snapdragon is growing from between two sandstone blocks on the side of the flowerbed. These tough little plants show tenacity. Hence the phrase, bloom where you’re planted. Mother Nature planted these and they took advantage.

Hydrangea

The hydrangea continue to put on a show as well. Their foliage is at least as impressive as their blooms which are not too shabby themselves. Large green leaves provide a lushness that is fading in the garden at this time of year.

November Rhododendron

A few plants do appear to be confused by the unseasonably warm weather. They are taking advantage of it as are we. This rhododendron has several blooms. I took advantage of this warm spell too. I dug up some daffodil bulbs and moved them to new locations. Then I took a book and sat on the patio to read in the sun. Then friends and family came over and visited while enjoying time outside. Life is good. This is Ohio in mid-November. What a gift!