Projects and Flowers. .

Happy Tuesday!!

We have survived graduations. .and 4-H camp. .and almost wheat harvest. .it will be over in a few days. .though it hasn't affected me as much as Devin!

The summer has been rocking right along!

We have been blessed with a TON of rain and beautiful weather this spring. .

And the gardens are spectacular!! Thought I would give a quick tour.

This rose is one that we dug from Jeremy's granddad's house a while after he moved to the nursing home.  He LOVED roses. .and had a ton of rose bushes in his backyard. It only has a light fragrance when it is in a vase. .and the flowers haven't impressed me on the bush until this year!

 

And so, after 3 years of the bush looking crappy in MY yard. .it finally looked good enough to make me cocky about growing more!!  I recently ordered some on sale from Brecks that will smell up my yard I hope!! They have settled in. .and the new bareroot twigs are covered in foliage and two of the 3 new plants have buds!! I will keep you. .and my "records" here posted!!

Here is the memory garden. .the blue atlas cedar is still too sad to take a good close up of. .but, surprisingly, it seems to be making a comeback from the bad winter burn it sustained. .There is yellow Echinacea paradoxa in the back, several types of grasses, Jupitars beard (the pink in the front) and Cardonna purple salvia on the left, with a tiny peek of the Nepeta catnip in the very bottom left. This place is LIT UP with winged creatures all the time!! It's one of my favorite places!! The new daylilies also have buds coming on. .so I will be excited for those to start showing off!

Here's a look from the other side. .in the far back is where the raised bed veggie planters are at! And it is all visible from my favorite rocking chair!

Gallardia are on fire near the pond!

I don't know for sure what this is. .but my Aunt Jane sent seeds from Oregon that I sprinkled out last fall. It is a poppy. .but not like one that I saw in her yard when we were there. .

I neglected to get a picture when this one was in full bloom. .but it was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!! It looked just like the light pink. .except it was flaming magenta!! They are really fragile. .so one day-two tops on the blooms. .the wind just takes their breath away!! I am really hopeful that they will reseed where they are!! I initially thought that she had accidentally sent me lettuce seed. .as it looked just like a fancy head of leaf lettuce!! So the gorgeous flowers were a great surprise!!

Memorial weekend 2010

I love Memorial weekend. .it's always a good time for us to get some projects done. .I remembered one of my favorite projects from 2010 when we moved this slipper slide over. .

Here it is 7 years later. .This thing smells so wonderful!! I love the thick scent in the air when I walk early in the morning! I can often smell it 1/2 way down the long driveway!! It is so cool to be able to see the progress of the garden in pictures. .As I was looking for this photo, I enjoyed looking at some of my other blog photos shared all those years back. .just like baby pictures. .it was fun to see how things developed and changed!

Speaking of projects. .This year, I put Devin to work on a dream feature that I had seen on Pinterest. .

I love the bottle tree that Jeremy made for me several years ago. .
(The larkspur was stunning as usual too!)

The tiny one in the front was our first attempt. .

And then I found a photo of one similar to the bigger tree. .which he sweetly crafted for me!

And since then. .I came across an arc full of bottles that I just loved!! I like Moscato. .and have been saving up my cool blue bottles for ever!! Since I took this photo. .I have been dumpster diving at the recycle center and found a few more to add on!

Jeremy figured out that he has a little grinder in his shop that takes the labels right off without scratching the glass. .and then a little dab of break cleaner gets rid of the tacky glue. .and

VOILA!

Happy, happy, happy!!

I thank you for stopping by. .

I have a few more pictures uploaded for later. .so maybe it won't be long until you hear from me again! Enjoy your summer!

April showers DO produce May flowers!

Happy spring!!

The last time I posted. .It was early in the spring. .but there was already a lot going on in the gardens!

There is still a lot going on there. I wanted to give a little tour!

I have some fun family pictures uploaded. .so hopefully it won't be much longer till I can post those too. .some exciting things have been happening around here!!

On Mother's Day. .later in the evening, after the whole crew left for a short excursion. .

I enjoyed sitting right here. .

listening to the pond and birds. .

I just can't believe how beautiful the flowers are. .

The honeysuckle's intoxicating scent filled the heavy air of evening. .

What a relaxing and perfect ending to the day!

I was amazed at God's detail in our world.

It is always good to be reminded of how amazing He is. .

And how much He has blessed us by giving us so much beauty to enjoy in the midst of the cares of this world!

And the chance to just BE STILL and allow myself to be impressed with my surroundings was JUST what this curly headed chica needed!

I was in the mood for sassy this year. .

So red and purples went into the self watering deck planters.

Cami made the stepping stone a few weeks ago. .It's a butterfly, if you were having trouble identifying that!

I don't typically do Gerbera daisies well. .

But they've been in the pots 3 weeks. .and they are still blooming and look happy!!

If I can remember to get some fertilizer to them, they may last for another few!!

For years I wondered if this pond would ever looked like it belonged in the yard. .And after much trial and error, it seems to be coming along. The yellow water irises were part of my aunt and uncles pond before they moved to Oregon. They were quite showy!! I also figured out that these salvia bushes can take the heat. .AND multiply!! They are already twice as big as they were last year! There is a little bit of gallardia hiding in the middle too, it has just started to bloom in the last day or two. The green clump in the middle will be Mexican hats it looks like. .they self seeded. .I haven't seen one bloom for a couple years now, so apparently the seeds are hardy!

Last week I saw a hummer on the penstemon. .I was pretty excited to see him there. .I haven't seen him for about 5 days now, so I figure he went on to town where there is more going on. He fed on a number of the plants around here. .but never the feeder that I witnessed. .Maybe one day, I will have a habitat that will keep them around for the whole summer!

A look up toward the deck where the planters are.

I have this pink peony and one that is more of a crimson. .This one doesn't smell much. .but the blooms are crazy amazing!! I have been looking for a white fragrant one with a pink center this year. .but no avail yet!

The orange honeysuckle that has never thrived seems to be coming out of it's 10 year shell!! It has climbed up onto the metal bedframe clear to the roof line. .

It doesn't smell, but it sure is pretty!!

The hummer sure did enjoy it too!

The other plants near it are ones that I got from high country garden last year, hoping to find something that will do the intense west afternoon sunshine!! So far, so good!

I discovered two of these little dudes growing. .Oriental poppies that I started from seed last summer. .I popped them in the ground right before the first frost last year. .and forgot about them. .Because seriously, they were about 3 inches tall with about 6 leaves on them! I was so excited to see them coming up. This one now has a big fat bud on it. .I can hardly wait to see what color it turns out to be!!

GonSS. .

These little puppies are from your garden!! I always forget the name. .

But I sure do like them. And last week, I even saw them for sale in a nursery in Topeka!! They get very little attention, and lots of the intense sun. .But they have survived and are doing well! THANKS for sharing them!!

Here is my answer to west afternoon sun, a deck that needs summer flowers, and an inability to water them enough to keep them alive!!

SUCCULENTS!!

I have kept these pots alive for a couple years now. .and move them into the greenhouse for the winter. Due to an oversight on our part, we let it get too cold in the greenhouse one night. .and several of them froze. .but, many of them were preserved, and I have just taken other cuttings to add into the pots!! I can now have some added interest. .and only  have to water them a few times per week! The potted purple fountain grass is a new experiment. .I will see if they can flourish in a pot with very little water too.

This little clematis has existed for years. .but never got more than 2 feet tall. Last spring I had to move it to another location, and it ended up on the north side of the house. .It is going to town. It is now as tall as the 6 foot trellis and has a number of blooms on it. YAY!

Here is the bed on the north side of the house. The hostas are getting big. .and I am hoping to get some blooms this summer as well-so far it has just really been foliage. Cami and I had the day at home by ourselves on Saturday, so I moved the pitcher pump water feature (you can see it way at the back in front of the post). .I just moved it about 3 feet over. .but it radically changed the view from the back. .and the appeal of the feature! I will have to get pictures and post them soon!

This is the memory garden. The Blue atlas cedar looks pathetic. .but it has new growth on nearly all of it. .so I want to give it some more time to see if it recovers from the winter burn or not. I hate to see it go! All the daylilies I planted in there are living. .so the colors should dramatically improve in a year or two. The tulips there looked great. .and really, there has been a little color ever since that. .so it is changing like it was designed to. Cami and I put some seeds in there. .and some of them are sprouting. .it's hard to see them, because the weeds sprout at the same rate!!

Big clump of iris from a friend. We enjoyed several bouquets of those!

The pampas grass is already taking off. I will be excited when they occlude the view of the dead car lot! And the asparagus patch is looking good for it's first year. I was sure that most of those roots in the big-box store package were dead. .but they just remained dormant from last June until now. .Looks like we will have about 12 plants as they continue to grow. Enough to eat AND share. And maybe pickle. .if you haven't purchased pickled asparagus to eat. .you are missing out!

Some blue flax that reseeds itself into the little corner garden!

And the Red Texas Yucca has four stems starting! The other three plants have some as well. .These blooms will last throughout much of the summer. .I found some miniature ones last week. .and planted them by the walkway up to the house near the pond where it is hot and dry! I think they will do well!

I was so enthralled with my aunt's Dutch iris last year, that I ordered some bulbs for my yard. .I don't know why I never knew about these before!! They were beautiful!! I'll be excited for them to multiply and treat us to many more blooms in the summers to come!

I'm so glad to live in a location with amazing blue skies. .

And changing seasons!

Be back soon with some pictures of my other passion. .

My family!!

April Showers--May Flowers

I don't have any time to write with the schedule we are keeping right now. .

But everything has been so beautiful with the 7 inches of rain we have had in the last month--

That I just had to snap a few pictures tonight to look back on later!!

Above is a view of the front side of my memory garden.

Jupiter's beard (pink), Cardonna salvia (dark purple) and Napeta's low catmint (lavender) The porcupine grass in the background is already nice and tall!!

The chives and culinary sage are in full bloom too! Other herbs growing nicely are the tarragon, oregano, lavender, bronzeleaf fennel, basil, lemon balm and dill!

AWWW tomatoes!! In a quick lookover, I found a handful on several different plants. These happen to be Lemon Boy. 

The last wall of water that hasn't collapsed due to leaks. Amazingly--it also sports THE tallest tomato plant now!! That extra heat has made the difference I think!! I will take the wall down as soon as I have a minute! 

Amethyst Falls Wisteria--planted 4 years ago--one of the plants I bought after my dad died. It is 1/2 way up the trellis this year. 

I can't wait till these gorgeous droopy blooms are hanging from the top of the support!! I just love them!! 

Raspberries anyone?? My new little $7 plants are going to net almost that much in fruit this year! It was a no-name variety I picked up at Walmart because I love raspberries. .and the plants looked so great!! Now--to get them--before the winged creatures do! 

Looks like we will have a blackberry crop too!! 

Here's my bush--I need to make a stronger support and stake it up a bit I think---but the plant is loaded with buds! 

The rhubarb makes such a pretty plant! I think I can harvest some stalks soon. .Might make a batch of rhubarb punch! Yum! 

Here's the back side of the memory garden (You can see the same grass in the background) There is a small sea of miniature hollyhocks. The picture doesn't do the blooms justice! There is also not much ground exposed now--many of the plantings have finally spread and grown together! That will certainly help the weed population!!  

I love larkspur! And there is a great stand of it in different shades of purple, pink and white. I haven't seen any hummingbirds in it yet--but maybe one will happen by! 

Common milkweed--it's a host plant for monarchs! This variety was started by seed given to me by a friend. .The plants spread by runners--thus it is EVERYWHERE! And usually, I don't see it bloom so nicely! I leave most of it--but it sure has taken over a patch!! 

The red hot pokers are getting ready to bloom. The foliage is nice--but the flowers, so far, have not impressed me--These are the best ones yet--but they haven't generally bloomed for very long at all--so I will be anxious to see how long it blooms this summer! If they don't last more than a few days--I'm not a fan! 

Little close up of the larkspur!

Larkspur in the back and a red salvia in the front. It has been a good plant--hardy--long bloom time. 

3 knock out roses in bloom--they were memorials for two of my grandparents who died within a month of each other. They make a bold statement when you drive in! You can see some of the pond plants in the background--it's looking good this year too!

Honeysuckle bush!

The thick scent was heavy in the air tonight as Cami and I played baseball nearby! 

Probably one of my favorite seasonal scents! 

A closeup of the hundreds of blooms! 

A front porch garden that is finally looking like something! For years it has been bare bones--too hot with a south wind. I have come up with (by trial and error--mostly error) things that will grow there! And this spring it is in full bloom--looking lovely!!

I continue puttering around the yard a few minutes here and there-I feel like the gardens that I have labored over for 18 years--are starting to look like they have looked in my head for years!! And I am so thankful for that!!

Hopefully soon I can update on the people that live around here. .

But not tonight!! 

Have a blessed weekend!!