Think Spring

I have been missing in action for so long.  The company I was working for was sold to another and moved out of state leaving me without a job.  I was able to go back to work at a veterinary hospital I had worked at before and I decided that I would put my nose to the grindstone and finish up my Associate degree in Health Information Technology that I had started working on in 2005.   The work and school combo did not work well for my garden so it suffered greatly last year.  But I started a new job which I am loving  in June, graduated in August and am ready to begin a gain in the yard. At least I will be once I pass my RHIT certification exam in the next month or so. 

The dreaming has already begun with the arrival of garden catelogs in the mail over the past few weeks.   I’ve glanced through them, but having been spending time studying so will look through them again.  Turning on the computer and seeing my little weather bug thing say it is minus 8 (!) outside really has me wishing for Spring though.  At least I can dream.

Green Thumb Sunday

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We don’t have any trees in our yard that get the beautiful fall colors, but this burning bush really lets us know that fall is here! It seems to get redder the colder it gets.

Green Thumb Sunday

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I have 2 butterfly bushes in my back yard, this purple one and a white one that was a volunteer. The Monarchs have been enjoying them a lot this summer. There is nothing like looking out the window and seeing 5 or 6 of them dancing around the back yard.

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I got a chance to go out and take some pictures of what is currently in bloom-

 Butterfly weed

  My hydrangea finally bloomed because I didn’t cut it back.  It is loaded with blooms. 

  Joe Pye Weed not quite in bloom yet

  Croscomia- not a great picture.  This was from a cheap bag of summer blooming bulbs I bought at Big Lots.  It didn’t bloom the first year and I actually thought it was a Bearded iris.  The second year though it began to shine.  It has red flowers that the hummingbirds love.  Surprisely, it survives through the winter even though it is suppose to only be winter-hardy to zone 5 and I live in zone 6.  It must be in a little bit warmer spot.

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(This was suppose to post yesterday, but for some reason it didn’t.  Hope you enjoy it a day late!) 

Well, so far I have not been able to get into the gardening groove this summer.  Working 2 jobs does not help.  Luckily some plants are tough and seem to bloom no matter what.  Here is some of what is blooming now

  My purple clematis

  These are some of my Ebay Suprise daylilies.  The surprise is not knowing what color they would be!

  The Sweet Peas are great as they come back gung ho every year.

  After a few years off from flowering ( I think I gave it a good shock when I removed some of the plant to give away) our one yucca has decided to bloom. 

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Things are growing faster than I can keep up!  We have had some good rain storms over the past 2 weeks which is great for the plants, not great for the battle of Me vs the weeds.  We had a real wicked thunderstorm last night which turned the peony blooms to mush.  

Here are some of the plants that are blooming this week-

 

This is my Miniature Goat’s Beard.  I love the feathery flowers and it looks great against my Sum and Substance hosta.

My white clematis has just started to bloom.  My purple one shouldn’t be far behind.

This is one of my foxglove with a sprig of my yellow butterfly bush.  It doesn’t look yellow to you either, does it? I bought it 2 years ago and this is the first year it has bloomed.  I was really looking forward to the yellow blossoms and yellow isn’t even one of my favorite colors in the garden.  Oh, the fun of plant buying!

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I missed last week so I took more pictures this week to make up for it!

I have a lot of columbine all over my yard this year.  The wind must have blown in the right direction from my neighbor’s yard.

 

I get to enjoy a lot of plants from my neighbor.  She is very generous in sharing, but also many seem to spread over to our yard from her’s.  This bearded Iris is actually on her side of the fence.

I love the scent of honeysuckle in the morning and I love the color of the blooms on this one.  Is it planted next to my front porch so I can enjoy it.

This is Sum and Substance, a huge hosta that is in my front yard.  This year it can realy shine since we removed the fern that was taking over the bed it is in.  I can’t wait until it is completely unfurled.

I didn’t plant much in my vegetable garden this year.  I put in some lettuce for my bunnies (I am sure they will share some with me), I think they deserve it since they provide me with stuff for my compost pile. 

They keep calling for rain, but it has been disappointing so far.  Today it acted like there was going to be a good storm, but it only lasted for about 5 minutes.  I am hoping for a good rain so I can get some major weeding done much more easily. Maybe tomorrow…

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It’s a Bleeding Heart day!

This is my white Bleeding heart and the Dutchman’s Breeches from the shade garden in my front yard.

This bleeding heart is located in my back yard and the last 3 years it has gone crazy!  It self seeds and I have bleeding hearts popping up all over!

This week I was able to spend more time out in the yard.  I planted some lettuce adn carrots and also put in some potatoes.   I love growing potatoes!  I think they are so easy.  In the past I have bought seed potatoes from Pinetree Seeds (Yukon Gold, I love the description) and they have done well.   This year finances are a bit low and when I mentioned I was going to the feed store to get some, my sister pulled out a 5 pound bag she had bought at the grocery store that had started to sprout.  I figured what the heck, so we’ll see how they do.  I would like to pick up a few tomato plants to put in.

My neighbor gave me 2 azaleas that were in 1 gallon pots.  She said she took the pots off my patio last year because they looked dead.  She kept watering them and the azaleas came back.  I honestly don’t remember buying azaleas (we have several and I really don’t have room for more shrubs), but she insisted I take them back.  She helped me dig up an area in the shade garden where ferns were taking over and we planted them there along with some coral bells and Stella D’oros that were put in the one sunny spot.   I am very lucky to have Diane as a neighbor as she is a big help! I have a lot of plants that came from her.  She always reminds me not to thank her for the plants because they won’t grow if I do.  Has anyone else heard of that or any other gardening folklore?

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It’s been a hectic week (this is posted early) so I have not done much in the yard. Here is a white dogwood and one of the lilacs that is blooming this week.

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To Cut Or Not To Cut

That is the question.  At least mine to you. 

My mom lives with me and she loves the flowers as much as I do.   The difference is she likes to cut them to admire them inside the house, while I prefer to admire them in the natural setting.  In fact, I cringe a little bit, when she comes in with a new batch, but I say nothing.  My plan is to add to the ones she likes to cut so I have something to admire.  How do you prefer your flowers- cut or in the garden?