fairygarden's Blog

A busy week. Wednesday I went to visit the garden of a fellow plant fanatic. Isnt this a treat to see other peoples ideas and designs? I came away with a head full of ideas and a heart full of inspiration. Not to mention she shared some of her plants!!  Our back yard is fenced in and along one side there is a row of cannas and daylilies and weeds. My DH is clearing this area for me and I have planted some angel trumpets, hollyhocks, vinca and phlox there. He is leaving an occassional daylilly, but the cannas had to go!  We also got a large load of mulch and are spreading some of it in the back yard where we are converting a grassy area to a new bed. This is all very exciting to me. My brain is whirling with ideas. I will post some pictures later this week. Good  Night to all.

And it was a beautiful morning. Sun alternating with clouds. A little mist of rain this afternoon. As I have said, this is my 3rd year in this garden. I transplanted a few things from my former garden and started some new plants. Last summer was hot and dry and not everything thrived. This is the first year for this iris to bloom.

Of course, I am very pleased with it. Here is a stand that grows beside the drive.

We inherited a fig tree.....it has quite a few on it this year.

Wayne says maybe he can get enough to make one whole cup of perserves.

The new garden I made beside the brick wall is filling in. I used mostly divisions from my existing perennials for this, as well as throwing in wildflower mix. It is coming along.

I am so interested in getting some butterflies and dragonflies to visit. Hopefully, wildflowers will do the trick. I sat for a while and watched the birds and just enjoyed the beauty of the day. I have a chair under a tree and this is my view of the back half of my back yard.

Tomorrow promises to be exciting, as I am going to visit another gardening friend and get a look at her yard. Isnt that so much fun, to see what other fanatics are doing. Good Night and Sweet Dreams.

We had a little rain last night. This morning everything  looked fresh and new. Some pictures of my bed this morning.

We spent most of the day sitting outside watching the birds. We did put down some lime and fertalizer and changed out a few annuals in some pots. Mostly, took it easy and enjoyed our day.

Peace and Love

Have spent the past few days catching up on things.  Today, hubby planted our small veggie area--tomatos, cukes, banana pepper, marigolds.  Started seeds for a hollyhock called Indian Spring. I found these at Dollar General for 4/$1. They are suppose to bloom the first year. Let us cross our fingers.

Had a few crafts to finish up. This is my planter box.

My amaryllis beside the house bloomed...this is the biggest flowers it has ever had. I think it's happy.

Finally there was a toy horse that my sis found at a yard sale that needed some love.

I have a stand of iris getting ready to bloom, They didnt bloom last year so I cant wait to see them. I can see enough on the tops to know that they will have purple on them. Here is a pix of a blue iris in my front bed.

I moved my portable greenhouse out of the sun and took the plastic off for my remaining seedlings. It was getting much too hot in there.  My jasamine looks like it will bloom soon...cant wait for that. Our neighbor gave us a big catfish he had caught and tonight my darling husband made a stew. My sis and her family came over and we had a delightful meal and were able to sit outside a while and shoot the breeze. Love this time of year  before the heat and humidity sets in. Talk to yall soon.

I can not believe I just wrote an entire entry and lost it because I forgot to title it. Live and learn the hard way.

My morning started with a walkabout to assess for any damage from the chilly night....there was none, thankfully. Then my girlfriend pulled up in the driveway and threw some plants at me.  I am the proud owner of 2 lovely, purple Lisianthus, which I know nothing about as evidenced by the string of dead ones I have had to pull up and toss.I should say that my girlfriend threw the plants at me because she and everyone in her house has a nasty stomach bug and she didnt want to come close. 

I have been watching a little patch of weeds in my side yard...this morning the weeds revealed their true selves. A delightful little patch of Mystic Merlin Malva! I will have some in every bed. I love that malva.

Then off to my fabulous sister's house for a visit and lunch. She made us fried bologna and egg sammiches. YUM.  Enough loafing around, had to get home and get a few things done. I started painting a wooden box planter. Made a hanging basket with fuschia, begonia and a snippet of varigated ivy.  Planted out two sunflowers. Started a few more seeds. Went to WalMart for potting soil and veggies (canteloupe and bell peppers). Found a hosta with the big dusky blue leaves and got seeds for yarrow, black eyed susan vine and portulaca.

Good Night and Happy Planting.

Spent the morning with a new friend, visiting a local nursery. Would have loved to work outside but it was chilly and too dang windy. I did find a few new blooms in my yard today, an iris and an amaryllis. .

These red flowers are some my mama gave me years ago when I first started gardening. I am not sure if it is actually an amaryllis, I think it is called a St Joseph lilly.

Began discussing some plans for new beds with hubby.....he is IN. (gotta love that man). One thing that me and my friend saw today was a banana shrub, actually a type of magnolia, I believe. They have the sweetest scent in the spring and are quite managable in size. I also am considering a euclyptis (sp?) tree. I have had both of those before and enjoyed them. The yard I left when we sold our former home was about an acre in size and we grew so many things.  Hummmmmmmm......perhaps that will be my next blog.

Today was cool and breezy...not a day for me to be out. So I sat in my chair and read one of my books titled The Decorated Garden. My mind drifted to my front yard. It is a fine yard, with a pine, maple and pear tree. There is a monkey grass lined side walk.....it is pleasant but not inspiring.The grass grows lush and green, but what really is the point of all that grass? I am thinking that I want to turn my front into a beautifully decorated garden room. My husband and I have often talked of making a large bed to encircle the trees because the yard is uneven and there are some above ground roots. Here is a view of some of the front.

Sometimes, front yards are somewhat formal and prissy and my dream is a cottage garden. I am envisioning butterfly bushes, roses, vines, hollyhocks, hibiscus, flowers, herbs and veggies. It will be slow digging because of all of the tree roots (fortunately I have 2 strapping men to help me). This idea intrigues me.

Research calls and I must answer.

What a wonderful day! Wayne, aka dh, was home with me and we got a lot accomplished. We ferterlizered the yard and used round up on weeds and an area that we are converting to a bed.

We put up a new bird and hummer feeder

We planted out  the flowers from the flower show. We sprinkled zinnias and bachelor buttons in an established bed and remulched it. Transplanted daylillies. Dug out a stump. Had lunch at McDonalds. What fun!

We had an abundance of birds in the yard. We had doves, redbirds, blackbirds, squirrels, thrashers,chickadees and nuthatches. We had bees, dragonflies and a few butterflies.  That is better than medicine for us. We sat out and watched until it started raining.

Do any of yall grow rose campion? I have grown it for years and love it. Mind are magenta colored. They reseed like crazy, but are not obnoxious about it. They even come up between bricks. Last year Wayne killed all the volunteers before I could rescue them. This year, I think I have them spread to all my beds. They require no care.

We are reclaiming a slice of the yard to turn into a new bed. This means I get to start more seeds. Joyous occasion. Here is a pic of the yard now.. we will making most of the grassy area a bed

See yall soon!

Flower Show is in town this weekend! Me & my girlfriend went this morning and had a good time. I got another african blue basil, a hollyhock, lambs ear, a white salvia(dont know the name) and a blanket flower. Oh and 2 flags, can you believe there was a vendor selling them for $5 apiece? I got a city of lyons clematis at Wallyworld, also.

I spent yesterday morning cleaning a bed by my house. It had landscape fabric in it and it had to go. Now I can pull out some daylillies and plant some butterfly-attracting plants there. Started a few more seeds yesterday , too. Does anyone grow pensimmon? I saw it at the show and it was lovely, but I need to know if it has a long bloom time. I like flowers that bloom more than 5 minutes.

Several stands of lantana are starting to put up green shoots. Lantana is one of my favorite plants. Some of my herbs are making nice little mounds, too.

The garden is calling.........talk to yall later.

Was beautiful out this afternoon. Raked and cleaned where shrubs were removed. Planted out some seedlings (zinnia,cosmos,coneflower,foxg
love) popped in some bulbs (pink lillies,gayflower,caladiums) did some divisions (phlox,rose campion,) and sprinkled it over with more wildflowers. This area gets a lot of afternoon shade, we will have to see what happens. Will continue to clean the bed towards the driveway. Also put a piece of verbena out around the pine......hope it will take.

At our previous residence, we had a pumphouse with a broken concrete slab behind it. The slab was partially covered with dirt. My darling husband threw down wildflower seeds one year and they did great. They came back every summer, bigger and better. You never knew when you would find some scattered out over the yard. We have since sold that property, but I do want to establish me a patch here. The butterflies loved it.  Thanks, Bill for showing me how to post these pixs.

Havent done much work in the yard for the past  couple of days. Have been busy with errands, housework and laundry. I started a new bed this year by a brick wall in my back yard. There was already a fig tree there and I bought a rose, mexican petunia and sage. I filled in the rest with some divisions from the rest of the yard. I did throw down some wildflower seeds. It will be interesting to see how it progresses throughout the summer. Some of my divisions were: daylillies, iris, sedum, rose campion,mexican sage, hopefully a piece of hyssop, and lambs ear.

We got about 5 inches of rain yesterday...too wet to garden. I did go to some yard sales yesterday morning and found a few things. I got a wire flower basket for 50cents and some acrylic paints for 25cents.

Here are a few things I have found over the past few weeks for outside decoration

And a few things for the inside....

 I guess you can tell I am fond of red. Oh well.......good night and happy gardening.

An ode to my beloved husband:        In the front of our home there USED to be a very overgrown holly and a smaller bush of unknown name.  As of this afternoon, there are 2 small stumps and a very large area that I can  now claim for flowers (happyhappyjoyjoy). Thanks to one man and his trusty chain saw...thats right, my husband is my hero. If the weather permits, I will take a pic tomorrow and post.  Also of note, I got a box in the mail today, 3 African Blue Basil. Dont know if any of yall have ever tried this, but we had 2 last year. They grow fast and bloom profusely. They have purple spikes..kinda like a small butterfly bush. The amount of bees they attract are unreal. Pleasant scent, not much water requirements, full sun, no deadheading. We got ours from Ebay. Gotta get up early, tomorrow is yard sale day.  The size of the blue basil is quite large, maybe 4ft tall and 3 ft wide.

Before picture

Notice the large bushes to the right of the steps

After picture

We have put pinestraw around the trees in the front of the house and I dont have much decoration there. I found some great bunnies and stepping stones at a yard sale this weekend. I will have great fun rearranging some of my garden art and decorations to spruce up the front. I do have a bird feeder and several bird houses hanging in the pear tree. I am so excited to see the grass turning green. The yard was full of birds singing today while I worked. I saw a couple of butterflies and some bees......spring has sprung!

Oh Happy Day! Started cleaning the front flower beds today. Pruned the camillia up nicely and threw shade wild flowers in the bare spot. My double decker coneflower is coming back. It struggled in the heat and drought last summer. My herbs in the front are back and so is my Malva. The azaleas are beautiful and have a border of light yellow daffodils in front of them. I worked til it started raining then worked til I got wet. OH what fun.