Bloom Frenzy

As I was deadheading the other day two things occurred to me. I really love flowers. I always thought I was equal parts foliage/flowers, but really, it is all about the flowers. Also, I bet there are hundreds of thousands of flowers in my yard over the span of a single summer. I used to count- when my roses were smaller, how many each one put out. When a huge john cabot topped well over 300 at once, I stopped counting. Note to self: get a John Cabot for this yard.

Just wanted to share a little sampling of what is blooming right now.
Rudbeckia with small orange zinnia. Love how the center of zinnia is the same hue of yellow as the black eyed susan's petals.

My huge old wheel barrel planter is cranking still. I never regret spendin the $5 on a six pack of wave petunias.

This great rudbeckia, from seed this year- most likely from my neighbor, although I put a few seeds in places, too.

Pink "Prime Minister" Phlox blooms well in less than a half day's sun.

Bonica rose giving me a great second show for the season.

So glad I spent the 50 cents on this cleome 4 pack.

My favorite spot to watch for hummingbirds- they love the honeysuckle on the arbor, the bee balm, and the tall white nicotiana.

Dahlias!

Heuchera 'Palace Purple' has a nice long bloom period, and looks great in both sun and shade for me.

This rose, Pearly Gates, is in a container on the back porch- so this bloom is right in my face when I sit on my porch.

This butterfly bush brings all the pollinators to the yard!

Also on the back porch, this abultion (aka flowering maple)- gosh, I've probably had this one for 6 years now, in the same pot... NEVER disappoints.

Happy gardening!

Hardy Succulent Fairy Garden

I'm sure I've shared glimpses of my original fairy garden before, but it has been awhile. This is probably the 5th year I've had it... and it looked particularly photo worthy one rainy afternoon last week. I planted it in an old wagon I found at a yard sale for a steal, in the most gorgeous rust and blue patina.

 I poked a ton of holes in the bottom, and ammended potting soil with sand from my kids sandbox, and rocks from the landscaping we had at the house at the time (no joke, I'm resourceful and cheap). I found the fairy for $3 at Hobby Lobby-she's all metal, and about 7" tall. *sidenote* I was so excited about the fairy find- I was inspired by a photo from one of the owners of Tangletown Gardens in Minneapolis, MN- who had a beautiful metal fairy in a succulent bowl on his patio table in a magazine I saw back then; I later found the exact fairy at a boutique priced at $95! So my $3 fairy was jump-up-and-down-inthe-aisles kind of find. I bought the mini metal arbor at Cambria Pines Nursery, in CA, along with the fence, and the house that is supposed to look like a sand castle for $12 at Home Goods in So Cal, years ago. Various accessories have come over time. Including a turtle, a wagon, various tools, a glass cloche (beside the cottage to the left inside the fence), and the fence.

I added all the varieties of sedum and hens and chicks from various nurseries over the years, mostly from my favorite hardy perennial nursery, The Flower Factory. The moss just came naturally. I have tried a few over-wintering methods, including tipping it over in the vegetable bed, which made for a bit of putting things back together in the spring, and also leaving it exposed on the porch (the least successful, mostly due to winter wet). This winter, our first in Minnesota, I simply pulled it from the driveway into the garage. We have a freestanding garage, no heat, no added insulation. I didn't water it at all, from October until I pulled it out in late March. It looked perfect, untouched, and ready to begin growing again.

I pluck chicks and cuttings from all the sedum to keep them from filling in too much. I borrow her shovel when I dig in her dirt. No joke.  This year, I think she has her garden looking awesome. :)

Happy Spring!

Pretty things...

Roses

I had a moment this week where I thought I might pass out. I was out tending to the garden. I stuck an heirloom rose in the ground. (I rescued it from this wretched situation at our Menard's. I won't go on and on... but the old store is closing, and the new store is opening, today actually; the bare root and bagged potted roses were shipped to the old store just in time for the closing. Most of them were not taken out of the box. None were watered. Under one roof there were thousands, if not, more, roses dying or dead. I found one alive and well, an Heirloom, and I brought her home and soaked and planted her promptly. ) If the situation at Menard's wasn't enought to make me pass out, this was: I decided to count my roses. I don't count them, ever, but I did. I have 55. FIFTY-FIVE. Yikes. How did that happen? I am capable of taking care of all of them? Oh, Lord, I have taken on a lot of responsibility, huh?
This is my first Proud Land bloom opening up. I bought this potted plant this spring, and it's been in the ground for 2-3 weeks now. Not the best picture, but pretty still.

Still too early for my existing roses to bloom; they're all still working on building their flower buds. My John Cabot and Morden Centennial are flushing out a hundred sprays or more or 3-5 flowers each, so the show should be pretty spectacular. I can't wait. I stand beside these bushes, which tower over me, and just stare at how many flowers they're putting out this year. the best show yet, by far. Pics to come...

My newest rose 'Distant Drums' has so many stages to its blooms. They open tan, and age to a light pink. Love, love, love the changes this rose undergoes.

Edibles
My $3 apple tree's still putting on a fragrant show. I think the two apple trees are pollinating one another, so we may get apples this year again.

I'm knocking on wood, but the bunnies have left my lettuce alone. It's nearly ready for salads.

Almost radish time!

Perennials
Heuchera, 'dolce key lime pie' is blooming.

Editted: This is actually "Lime Rickey." Whoops.

Foxglove pushing up a bloom; the plant itself forms a flowers shape here, so pretty. This variety is a mix, so the bloom color is still unknown. I love surprises.

Baptisia, false indigo, about to make some blue blooms. I've never seen it bloom, as I acquired it after bloom time last year. Very excited.

I've been hovering over this bachelor's button plant for weeks now, as the ants crawl all over the blooms. I think I'll finally get a flower today.

Aquilegia "music red and gold' still pumping out a flush of blooms.

Another aquilegia, spring magic mix, puts out a flush of pink and yellow blooms.

This blue aquilegia alpine, swiss columbine, should open up today also.
Forgive me, but these allium just don't get old to me. LOL.

Here's Globemaster:

This dame's rocket has been on my wish list for 2 years now. Many of the nurseries near me do not sell it, or sell it in pretty limited quantities. Perhaps b/c you can find them on the side of the road near creek beds this time of year, I dunno? But, I was able to nab one up locally, and it's now in bloom. My girlfriend insists they make babies, so I'm excited to spread this one around.

It looks like my wish is finally going to come true. I made sure to budget for and acquire delphiniums this year. In the past I've bought them late in the season, or tried to grow them from seed, and I have never had success. This year, I ammended to soil local to each of their root systems with humus (from a local garden center) to better ensure success. I found all of the different delphinium for $3-5.99--also making sure to try a number of different varieties. Here's one of them, about to bloom. Almost all of them are bursting with buds right now. It's like a party for me, I am so thrilled.

Annuals

This non-stop begonia is so gorgeous. I'm hooked.

I'll leave you today with my youngest angel-boy watering the wagon planter.

Happy gardening everyone.

Intercepted the pansy cart...

I can finally show you all my fountain, and the beautiful balls I have floating in it. Yipee-Yeah!

Bulbs and more...

This afternoon I stepped out to see how everything is progressing in the garden. I found my bleeding heart (red stems barely poking up) and some either lily or allium bulbs growing beside it healthily. This bleeding heart will bloom in less than a month, and you can be sure I'll show you pictures. :)

Lady's mantle, another late season find last summer.

The buds on my $3 apple tree are swelling, too.

"Morden Centennial' leaf buds are shooting out; still 2 months to bloom time.

Clematis leaf buds swelling open

I tucked this little "key holder" in an arbor; she fit snug between two slats of wood. She doesn't hold any keys, we are simply not that organized 'round here. LOL.

These bachelor's buttons leaves are so soft and fuzzy, already several inches high. I bought these so late in the season last year that I have never seen them bloom. Excited!

This might be the first tulip to open. Time will tell.

Geranium
I took the boys with me to get out of the house Friday; we ran about the nursery admiring the seedlings, and picking out a few variegated geraniums for my containers later this spring. I have coveted this pelgardini 'vancouver centennial' for some time, it was on my wish list until this week. I love how the leaves look like little maple leafs, and the foliage's red is bound to glow in a container garden this summer.

The other, pelgardini 'occold shield' just looked like fun. I can justify an expensive ($5) geranium b/c it won't die in my hands; I can keep in the house through winter and set it back in a container again the following year. I'll be back for more geraniums soon, and there are several coleus I HAVE to have also. I am really running out of room in my sunny windows, LOL.

Spring Containers

We were on our way to Walmart to get potting soil when I thought I'd drive past the Home Depot garden center in search of pansies. The garden associate was still wheeling the pansy cart out when I pulled up and began loading up our stroller. We shared a wide smile, and a sigh, "finally!" So far, having flowers just outside the front and back door has been like therapy. I am so happy every time I see them. Here are my first containers of the season. I threw in some snapdragons, groundcover phlox I'll transplant to the ground when I put in the summer container plants, a purple osteospurmum, rocky yellow violas, and a mix of pansies. Oh, and one of the blue balls that fell. Ta Da!

I tried to keep blue, purple, yellow and orange in this one...

Pansy 'Delta Pure Light Blue'

Pansy 'Delta Premium Watercolors Mix' with creeping phlox 'emerald blue' in the background.

Osteospermum

This old wheel barrel was in our shed when we moved in. The house is 114 plus years, and this thing works like it is, too. I now have a garden cart I don't tip over, and this guy is acting as a planter. Last this year I'm seeing elephant ears, coleus, lysimachia, but right now, pansies, ground phlox, violas, and snapdragons, all yellow, purple, and red.

'Rocky Yellow' Viola

Pansy "Delta Light Lavendar'

Creeping phlox 'purple beauty' will eventually be stuck in the ground.

Spring Vegetable Bed, more.

I used the fraction of the veggie bed we were able to till up to plant some seeds this Saturday. I put in short row of super sugar snap peas, purple-top white globe turnips, watermelon radishes, and salad giant radishes. I weeded, and thinned the german chamomile coming up everywhere (note to self, don't let this one go to seed!). I also plucked up a clematis growing in the veggie bed, and placed it by the blue ball arbor. I moved a few of the perrenial herbs to make room for the rest of the tilling, and summer crops. I let my boys dig and roll in the untilled dirt and compost to their heart's content. I'm a cool mom. Last, I moved the hyacinths I forced in the dining room out the ground. I was able to see where this spring's existing bulbs are, and place the hyacinths accordingly. Happiness. Doesn't look like much yet, but this will be a fine "before" picture in the coming months.

Doesn't look like much yet, eh?

A chive, started from seed in the late part of summer, add some of the only color in the edible bed right now. I have never seen it bloom.

Dividing Perennials

Sunday I pushed the shovel into the dirt to heave two giant perennials out for division. I have read you should divide your perennials every 3 years to keep them flourishing, promote blooms, and control size if desired. I regularly divide plants for propogation purposes, as I'm contstantly removing grass and making a new places for plants. I divide my phlox, hostas, sedum, coral bells, and rudbekia. This spring there were two perrenials I really needed to divide: a massive Sedum 'Autumn Joy' and a Purple Coneflower Echinacea 'magnus' who failed to bloom well last year. I hoisted the giant plants from the ground and took my shovel to them and when I was through I had 28 smaller, but still good sized, plants. Yes, I said 28! FROM TWO. Wild, eh? Like magic.

These photos aren't much to look at, but I like to keep records, and some folks may not understand what I'm saying. The clump of sticks to the left of this picture is another Sedum AJ that is only half the size of the one I chopped up. Yeah, the one I divided was massive, perhaps 3 feet in diameter? I'm bad with math, but it was a biggun!

Here is one of the divisions, stuck in the ground in it's new home.

Five or six more divisions up in the front bed.

One tiny coneflower division. See the little red bud on the stick? New leaves a comin'.

Each new division has roots and new growth of its own, just FYI. I stuck most of the new plants in the ground in bare spots. I made plans for both varieties in the front flower bed. I need to wait until more plants surface before I can assess where the rest of the divisions will go. For now, I stuck the remainging divisions in pots on the back porch. I may have to bring them in next week if the temps dip like they say they might. But in a month or less I should have a place to put them. Meanwhile, I obssess over it, by drawing pictures and pouring over gardening images. Sigh.

Compost

For my birthday I gave myself a gift that keeps on giving: a table-top compost bin. I found it at World Market. I've been tossing my coffee grounds, banana peels, strawberry leaves, eggshells, and such in there. Sunday I emptied it for the first time, and when it landed in the compst pile and the wind blew the scent up I began dry heaving all over the backyard. LOL. What a sight I must have been. Then, I got over it, and began to turn my pile. Under the top layer of grass clippings, sod chunks, worms and plant debri I tossed in the pile last fall I found rich back compost. I could have danced. I did talk outloud about how cool I am. I do that in the garden all the time. I spread the compost over the rear perennial border and turned the remaining pile to create more soon, I hope. Compost is truly magical. I'll spare you the pictures of the pile, this time.

Meanwhile Indoors

You can see my seedlings and summer bulb plants are coming along nicely in the greenhouse, LOL, I mean dining room.

A peony and hosta 'elegans' growing, growing, growing...

Happy dirt digging to you all.