What's Happening In My Gardens

I think since I have so many plants coming now I’ll just do half. I don’t want to bore everyone with too many little sprouts and tiny blooms all at once. They’ll get bigger cause we’re getting sun this weekend to make everything grow.

I was very excited to see some new growth on my Hardy Fuchsia Santa Claus. I already had spotted some on Double Otto. Now I have 2 more to check on and hope they come back. They are on the graves of our two little dachshunds Prissy and Schatze. Up there I have Phyllis and Brutus. Phyllis has the slightest bit of growth starting to show so I'm pretty confident that Brutus will too. They are in a lot of shade up there so they take a little longer to bloom. But this was their first year so I was especially anxious to know if they made it through our harsh winter. I've also planted Columbines around our two little friends graves and they are doing well. We lost Schatzee last year and I wanted to make changes to the flowers up there.
Hardy Fuchsia Santa Claus Another plant I was concerned about was not having seen any Hostas yet. Guess I was needlessly anxious about them because they are all peeking through in three different places. One we moved last fall and it wasn't looking good then so I'm happy to see it's back.
The Calla Lilies are finally peeking through and there's a viola that popped up next to them. I eventually plan on having Callas line the whole front of the house to cover the foundation and they will make a nice backdrop for other flowers.
My Japanese Painted Fern is also showing now.
Around the corner from them still in a shaded area I have Brunnera Jack Frost he's getting bigger but his leaves are still a lot smaller than usual when it's blooming. Usually they are around 6" long or more but this year are only half that size. Hopefully he'll be full size soon.
Pulmonaria Smokey Blue
Jacobs Ladder Blue Pearl
Dicentra Spectabilis or Old Fashioned Bleeding Heart

The Columbines in here are looking good and so is my Heuchera Plum Pudding - just a wonderful wine color with silver in the foliage.

Down a little farther where a little more sun comes into the bed is an Armeria loaded with blooms.

Down that side of the house are also some other plants I started and planted last year that are showing green. A Weigela, Abelia, Red Valerian, Sedum Linda Windsor, Sedum Autumn Joy.I was concerned about my Spirea Little Princess because she looked brown and pretty lifeless but she's got new growth on her so I can relax now.
Spirea Little Princess

A Fruit And Veggie Garden To Keep The Deer Out!

If you would still like to be entered in my drawing for an 11" x 11" print on canvas made to look like an oil painting just click here 100th Post Giveaway to go and leave your name in the comment section AND if you would like 2 entries just put a link in your column to my blog mentioning the giveaway and let me know you did that. It will be easier for me to have all of the names on the same post when transferring them for the drawing (next Monday). Thanks A Garden To Keep The Deer Out!
My neighbors have a beautiful garden and the deer don't get even one little bite of anything! Of course they do enjoy the flowers and she has never even seen her Lilies!
I guess it started with the Marionberries - the deer wouldn't leave them alone so that was the deciding factor on fencing everything in. I think there are even fences inside the fences! But it's really a beautiful garden and even prettier knowing that no one gets to munch on it but you!
There's a really pretty trellis with a Clematis on each side at the entrance to the garden. Some of these pictures were taken a while back so the Clematis wasn't blooming.
Daylilies line the front

They have Marionberries, Blueberries, Strawberries and probably more I don't remember.



A huge patch of Rhubarb and they also have Asparagus that comes back
An orchard of apple and cherry trees - maybe more I'm not sure. But they haven't been able to get any cherries because of the birds eating them. She had heard about hanging shiny things in the trees to keep the birds away. She had some old CD's and hung them in the Cherry trees and this is the first year the birds have left the cherries alone!
Here's another shot with the Daylilies blooming
A butterfly was nice enough to pose for us
This picture was taken earlier - coming down the driveway you can see the Rhodies blooming in alternating pinks
I believe this was a Dutch Iris that was blooming because she had a white one that was finished and I think maybe that's where my white Dutch Iris came from that showed up one year - a little bird thought I needed one too.

She didn't know what this was but it's very attractive and different
Japanese Iris Variegata - very pretty with it's varigated leaves
Brunnera Variegata Siberian Bugloss - I didn't realize until I got home and looked at the picture of the tag that this was a Brunnera. I think I may need this one for a different look in my shade garden. Something has been nibbling on the leaves she's going to treat.
I was pretty happy to get to share in her seeing her first Lily blooming. EVER! When she told me about a month ago they eat the buds of this one I told her to get some Liquid Fence and I guess it's working. What a shame to have missed it on other years - it's just beautiful.
Sweet Williams
Maltese Cross
Hardy Orchid
And last - isn't this different? It's a Euphorbia Tasmanian Tiger

Color To Get Over The White Blues

I started this yesterday when we got dumped on again thinking some color would revive my good spirits. But I combined photos in groups because I had so many and it took a while. Well, thank goodness it did take a while because I really needed them today.

Thought I'd put in pictures of my container plants that I do. The first one isn't one of them but they are so cheerful I had to stick them in. Last summer my girlfriend kidnapped me on my birthday and we took off for Seattle and spent the day at The Pike Place Market. I was way overdue to go there and we had a ball. She bought 2 of their huge bouquets and gave them both to me! These are so big I swear they weighed 20 pounds each - at least carrying them around they felt like it. We got to see the guys that throw the salmon around (and never miss), street entertainment and of course had lunch and then ate our way through the rest of the place. What a fantastic day it was. Ya know paybacks are heck and I have to think of something equally as fun for her birthday! You might want to click on these pictures so you can see them better as I did groups and their rather small.
I have since changed the cast iron shelf because some of the flowers didn't get enough light and watering was hard on the shelves too. I planted a Clematis in it and hopefully it will be covered with gorgeous blooms.
My teacart has 3 or more colors of Lobelia and something else not sure and the hot pink iceplant wasn't blooming yet.
My vintage wash tub with a number of annuals plus some Creeping Charlie and usually some miniature Snapdragons.
I still wonder how I ended up snagging this old wheelbarrow at an estate sale. In a town with hundreds of antique shops and I showed up late and it was still there? I think they must have just put it out. It didn't have the rust at the time either. It says 'Hometown Hardware' on the side. It was a keeper and never made it into the shop where I had my antiques for sale.
The top left is Purple Heart and it isn't hardy here so I have to bring it in for the winter. I've read that people like it as a ground cover. In the wheelbarrow is some Ice Plant just getting started. I love lopsided in my gardens every chance I get! The bottom left is called Celosia I believe and it is just so pretty. I'm going to have to look for another one this year. In the old breadbox hanging over the side is a Geranium (annual). It is just the tiniest one I've ever seen.
A few more deck planters - one on an old wicker barstool I found running around hitting garage sales with my sister. I said the stool is mine as we pulled in and I spotted it - she was getting ready to say the same thing but she wasn't quite fast enough. Ya snooze ya loose!!!
Guess I should have lightened this one up a bit it's a little dark. Verbena sitting next to the sweet little path my hubby made going to my greenhouse from the stairs on the bank.
Some Dianthus in my old coal bucket. Oh and my headless swan. It was a really pretty rock swan but didn't take the weather well and the neck and head broke off. I couldn't part with it so it's just a novelty conversation piece now. Found the little tricycle with Hens and Chicks already in it at a garage sale.
Some Impatiens and Lobelia.
More lopsided. This bed has got more in it now. I'll have to get another picture later with everything blooming. I have another milkcan angled the same way with Campanula in it too down in my woodland garden.
I do feel so much better now. And the sun is even shining. Maybe I'll go separate my little plants that I brought in here as seeds and the Cosmos are almost 3 inches tall. I see some of the Coneflowers are showing now too.

A Vase For Every Bouquet

I thought I'd do a post on the variety of vases I have. Not because they are so beautiful but because I just keeping getting more. I'll start with the ones I have for giving a bouquet to a friend and not needing to ask for my vase back - and save the best for last.

These are pretty plain but I can pick them up inexpensively and when giving a bouquet to someone I don't need to have it back. Some are plastic, some are bottles and there are some glass ones too. A couple didn't make it into the picture like the neat clear plastic cut glass vase. It looks just like cut glass until you touch it.
The blues and cobalts that I like to use for our bouquets here at the house.
A variety of colors, shapes and sizes.
Some crackled vases either from being vintage or just made to look that way. The pitcher is yellow crackle glass and I'm really not sure if it's old or not.
A couple of vintage decorator pieces. The smaller one from West Germany has built in holes to place flowers in and arrange.
Now for my personal favorites that will never be used to hold flowers but they are vases. I have a small collection of vintage head vases that I just adore.
My daughter thought I needed a 'body' vase to go with all of my head vases. How cute is that?
And last a bouquet that Bob picked to take to Mom on Father's Day. With the whole family over to see Dad he thought she needed a bit of extra attention with all she is going through right now with my Father being sick. She just loved it and especially knowing that Bob picked and arranged it just for her.