Close up beauty!

I am so captivated by the beauty hidden within the center of a flower.  I have been taking close up photos of flowers for awhile and am amazed at the intricate architecture of each individual type of flower.  Enjoy mine and get out and investigate some of your own flowers!

Awesome hummingbird story!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7xBLvMIBZU

Mid~spring time moments~

                                            

Finally~ the weather is getting nicer and I am able to go wandering through my yard just to enjoy the beautiful mid~spring flowerings!  This photo is of a Nora Barlow Columbine.  It's not the typical type of columbine that have tail shooting out the back of the bloom, although if you look close enough ~ a few of them do.  I planted these last spring but the didn't bloom ~ they are making up for it this year.  I have 6 of them and they are all gorgeous.  What a great addition to my gardens!  We've had quite a bit of rain lately and the flowers are just loving it.  They seem to have doubled in size within a few days!  It's exciting to see all the buds on some of my plants ~ daisies, black-eyed Susan's, lilies, etc... in a week or so they are going to explode w/ blooms!    Most of my perennials seemed to have survived the intense winter.  I did lose two of my favorite broom shrubs :( 

I will have to search the local nurseries to try to find a new one.  I looked forward to it blooming every spring.  I replaced it with a Dwarf Alberta Spruce that my sister gave me.  It should look nice there in front of my dining room window ~ especially at Christmas time ~ well, maybe in a few years.  I'm glad the hard part of the gardening is finished (mulching, raking, tilling, etc...), now it's just maintenance!  They hummingbirds have maid their trip back home too!  

As for all my winterizing of plants...  my geraniums didn't make it but my dahlias are starting to peek through the ground.  I planted the tubers about 3 weeks ago, so far so good.   I planted my vegetable garden on Mother's day weekend.  I planted Swiss chard, 3 different types of lettuce, Brussels sprouts, green beans, cucumbers and tomatoes.  The Brussels sprouts are a first for me this year.  Anyone have any tips for their success? 

~ enough playing on the computer ~ time to go wandering through my yard and then relaxing on the patio watching the birds!!!  Hope you have a great week ahead!

Hugs,

Jeni

Busy weekend ~ had a 21st birthday party for my daughter!  I spent 6 hours power washing my deck ~ exhausting but well worth the effort.  I had no idea how bad it was until I started but now it looks almost new!!!   I  power washed my front porch and sidewalks today ~ I love that thing! I also sprayed Seven for bugs on my hostas, sprayed a fungicide to hopefully prevent rust on my Hollyhocks, sprinkled Snail/Slug repellent, etc... My son, "step-daughter" and I went for a walk this evening and I came across a pink Columbine growing randomly along the road ~ of course I had to dig it up and transplant it in one of my flowerbeds!  I was sickened by all the trash along the road, so when I got home, I grabbed a trash bag and my "picker-uppers" and went back to clean up the trash.  I just don't understand why people feel the need to throw their trash out along a road instead of waiting until they get home.  My grandmother wrote a poem about polluters a long time ago, I wish I could remember it.  I do remember it said something about  "don't be a polutatic" and  "did you ever see a muskrat wear a beer can for a hat"! She was probably smiling at me from above, watching me clean up the beer cans along the road!   I ended my evening with a quite night on my patio with a glass of wine, listening to the water trickle on my little fountain, the birds chirping and the frogs singing ~ very peaceful! 

Spring chores completed!

I have spent the last few weekends trying to get my yard and gardens in shape!  I started early with the planting of annuals ~ keeping my fingers crossed that we don't get a frost.  I started early because I was planning a birthday picnic for my 21 (aargh) year old daughter this weekend.  I lucked out so far and the forecast show no signs of frost!!!  I have mulched all of my flowerbeds and actually had to re-mulch a couple of them that were  partially washed out  from the heavy downpours we had last week.  My other project for the picnic was to power wash my deck ~ what a chore but WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!!  I couldn't believe how much better it looks!  It had become discolored ~ almost a dark algae covered green/gray and now it looks brand new!  It took me about 6 hours total but it was well worth it.  As for my flowers... my perennials are coming up wonderfully ~ I don't think I lost any plants but I did lose my favorite shrub ~ my brooms.  I pulled one completely out and the other I trimmed all the dead off and am hoping the rest of it survives, but it doesn't look good.  I had taken a close up photo of it last spring and actually had it blown up and framed for in my living room ~ at least I have that to enjoy.  I don't have the heart to pull the other one out as long as there is green on it.  I purchased 14 flats and a few 6" pots of annuals and put them in planted and a few in the ground.  The planters turned out beautiful.  I even shared some of  them w/ friends.  I planted the dahlia tubers that I saved over the winter and 2 of the geraniums, hopefully they'll make it.  Now it's time to put this exhausted body to bed.  Have a great weekend!!!

Project ~ expand flowerbed around front porch !

                                                                                                                                                                                                            Today's project was to widen the flower bed around my front porch.  First I moved the stones back to just outside where I wanted them to go.  I initially dug out some of the sod to use at another location, the rest was cut short then covered w/ a layer of newspaper (Tip  ~ I water the paper to keep it from blowing away), then I added a layer of peat moss, a layer of Organic Humus & Manure, then a final layer of Miracle Grow Garden Soil.  Later this month I will be adding mulch also.  It was exhausting work but in a few months when all the flowers are blooming, I'll be so glad I did it.    My main reason for widening this bed was because it was very crowded last year and I wanted to spread things out. I couldn't believe how big everything got last year ~ my boyfriend said it looked like a jungle.  I bought some plant supports from Gardeners Supply Company to support some of the plants that got really big.  Last year I waited too long and had to tie them up.  This year the supports will go over them and they'll actually grow up through them.  It won't be long before I have to put them out.  Things are growing FAST !   I dug up and divided several of the plants:  Yarrow, Shasta Daisies, Dianthus, and Delphiniums.  I also planted 3 yellow Ice plants, 3 Blue eyed grasses and 3 Elderberry shrubs that I recently purchased on sale for $2.99 each ~ what a deal! I added some of my compost around each new plant and each transplant. I was able to fill up one of my large Tubtrugs and probably have enough to fill another!  (A new composting system is my next project - I have a "toss and forget" type now with doors on the bottem to collect the "black gold".  I want to set up a two open bin system.)  Sorry to have rambled in a different direction but my mind is filled w/ ideas.  Back to my current project ~  I'll need to water each plant every couple of days until I know they're established.  I have my fingers crossed !  Now just a few touch up things ~ add a few more rocks to control the water flow from the down spout and mulch.  I better get some rest before the mulching starts later this week ~ it's not as easy as it was a few years ago ~ back aches, knees ache, arms ache,... I hate getting old  ~ guess it'll be Advil and ice packs tonight !

Spring has sprung ~ finally !!!

Spring is finally here and there are signs of it everywhere.  Everyday there is  new life peeking up through the ground.  It's exciting to see what plants made it through the winter ~ and this past winter was a doozy.  I've been busy cleaning up the yard from the furry of the blizzard ~ raking leaves, picking up broken branches and twiggs, and cutting back all the dead parts from my plants.  Now the fun begins!  I added some Miracle Grow Garden soil to some of my flowerbeds ~ what a difference that makes!  I started seeds indoors for a few  different flowers and I'm trying something new this year.  I'm not sure if it will work or not but what do I have to lose ~ I put potting soil in a few flowerpots and sprinkled seeds directly in the pot, watered them, covered them with  Saran Wrap and used a rubberband to keep it in place.  I have them under growing lights for about 8 hours a day. I use these on my porch and patio.  I'll let you know if it works. I planted bulbs in large planters last fall which are slowly coming up.   Mother's day can't come fast enough. so that I can start my outdoor planting.  I enjoyed sharing my collected seeds with many of my patients this year and will be curious to see if they had any luck with them.  Mulching will have to wait for awhile, unfortunately where I live, we have these whirly things come down from the trees and cover everything.  They really make a mess and make the mulch look aweful, so it's easier to just wait.   Hope you are all enjoying the spring ~ get out there and get dirty!

Smile~
Jeni
* almost forgot ~ it's time to get out those hummingbird feeders cleaned out and clean out your blue bird houses ~ they'll be arriving soon in Maryland!  ~ already have mealworms out and waiting for the blues!