Sign of Hope, Sign of Love

Tags

alliums, gardening, landscaping

Even though my one sister lives over 3,000 miles away, our lives often mirror each other. It is incredibly joyous when it’s something positive, and incredibly heart-breaking when it’s something sad. This week our alliums synchronized the timing of their blooms.

Small Allium Bloom

A sign of love…
A sign of hope…
3,000 miles away.

XOXO,
Young Wifey

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Early May Garden

Tags

ajuga, alliums, Azaleas, burgundy glow ajuga, carpet rose, chicks and hens, faerie wands, fairy wand, garden, gardening, landscaping, oaks, perennial, rose, sedum, silver mound, trumpet vine

Happy Mother’s Day! Flowers are the most common present to give this day; whether fresh floral arrangements, hanging baskets/planters or potted for the garden. Let’s check out what I have in my garden this week.

This Week In My Garden…

Lush pillows of silver mound awoke.

Lush Silver Mound

Sedum is sweeping across my perennial garden, just behind my rock border.

Sedum

Trumpet vines are timidly showing their leaves.

Trumpet Vine

Abundant Alliums (fairy wands) are beautiful full purple globes dancing is the wind.

Alliums

The first rose of the year  opened, welcoming the new deck.

First Rose of the Year

The small chicks of last year, fill out to be adult hens.

Chicks become Hens

Burgundy Glow Ajuga races towards the sky.

Burgundy Glow Ajuga

The white azalea joins the party of pink, lavender and red azaleas.

White Azalea joins the Party

The oaks are stretching out and showcasing their new foliage and hugging my shade garden.

Three Oaks

Of course this isn’t all… The bleeding heart is still wear its heart on its sleeve. The Japanese Maple waves hello and goodbye by the lane. The long blooming grape hyacinths are the welcoming committee to all the returning perennials…

What’s arriving and in bloom this week where you are? What are your Mother’s Day plans?

Spring Bulbs in Autumn

Tags

alliums, autumn planting, daffodils, fall planting, grape hyacinths, hyacinths, perennial, perennial gardening, snow drops, spring bulbs, tulips

Fall into a Frosty Sleep then Spring Up Next Year
Daffodils, tulips, alliums, crocuses, hyacinths, grape hyacinths, snowdrops… They all spell spring “a-u-t-u-m-n…”. It sounds a little backwards, planting spring bulbs in autumn. However, many bulbs need to go through the freeze in order to bloom in the spring. Bulbs are a great pop of color in your perennial garden, border, rockery and some even naturalized in your lawn. The bulbs in my perennial garden are well established and naturalizing well. It dawned on me one morning in the spring, why can’t I have daffodils in my shade garden? I needed the extra pop of color there and they’ll get plenty of sunlight before the leaves fill out on my might oaks. In August, I talked about which bulbs I would be purchasing for this season’s planting. I placed my order and waited for my box of joy to arrive! Now that it’s arrived I have a busy week ahead of me…

When it comes to bulbs, I don’t follow placement when it comes to height. So what if I place some crocuses in the back of my garden? When they bloom, there’s nothing in front of them to block their color! Follow the planting instructions on the package in which you received the bulbs. In the spring, remember to let the foliage brown before you remove it from the bulbs.

Happy Planting!

Summer Projects Started

Tags

alliums, hanging basket, iris, planter, roses, wicker set

I love Memorial day weekend. Amidst the barbecues, baseball games, yard sales and parties, it’s a weekend that I always seem to be productive. Maybe it’s that almost summer feeling, the perfect air and sun or the start of something new. This year’s four-day weekend really got the ball rolling.

Early Friday morning Hubster, who was running errands, came home to get me. He saw a four piece wicker set at a yard sale and asked them to hold it until he got the trailer. Last month, I had seen a four piece wicker set at a yard sale for $30 and wanted to get it despite the damage to the settee and the ugly cushions. Hubster ensured me it would be there after we had stopped at a few other yard sales, but it wasn’t. This time he had done well. We picked up the slightly worn out white wicker set and brought it home. (Other yard-sale finds include a trailer for Hubster’s lawn mower for $40, a brand-new dual receiver baby monitor for $5, a lightly used pack and play for $15, a plastic safety fence for 25¢, and a snow-blower for $60) I wiped it down and spray painted it brown. Spray painting wicker is almost impossible, you have to spray it from every single angle to get every nook and cranny covered. After going through 12 cans, I ran out of spray paint. The settee and one chair is complete, the other chair is almost done and I have to completely re-haul the table. The top is worn out and I have a plan. I want to paint the table the same brown, the middle of the table top needs to be cut out and replaced. I would like to find a nice antique map to découpage for the middle and then cover with it plexiglass. The set may not be finished for a while due to several hold ups… 1) I’m looking for the right colors on an antique map, 2) The store all seem to be out of the right color of spray paint, and 3) I cannot find the right color (all granny floral, yuck!) and shape (either for settee or for chair, none for both)  seat cushions and may need to make my own.
 I have 10 matching planters, 8 urns and 2 large pots, which needed to be filled for my patio and porch. I also have three hanging baskets on my porch. Last year I filed them with annuals but this year I wanted something more permanent. I planted 6 of the planters with small Mountain Gem Boxwood and Ivy trailing down the sides and the remaining 4 were filled with May Night Salvia. My hanging  baskets, I lined the coco fiber planter liners with plastic grocery bags to retain some of the moisture and replanted them with some cascading annuals. Next year I plan to filled them with perennials, maybe periwinkle…

I then decided to add some color to my shade garden (which I just planted a few months ago from roots) while waiting for it to fill out. I added 6 Plum Pudding Coral Bells between the oaks. I had  planted 3 Tatting ferns, 12 Lady Ferns, 24 Hostas, 20 Foxgloves, 12 Red Coral Bells from Spring Hill Nursery, a Bleeding Heart from my friend’s garden and 5 more Hostas from another friends garden.

I had planted three new lilacs I had got on Arbor Day, but Hubster said some strange weed-eating creature ate 2 of the 3. I guess next time, I’ll have to block them off from Hubster and his power tools.
Other recent plantings included 8 Hedge Roses on one side of our property, 24 (alternating red, pink and yellow), splitting my Purple Coral Bells (last year I split the three I had into 12 total plants and this year, I just pulled one more aside to fill a bald spot), a plethora of re-blooming Daylilies, and 24 new Hardy Gladiola Bulbs, and I replaced 4 Azaleas the died over the winter. I do have a few new potted plants that in excited to work into my gardens. I found a purple Iris growing amidst my , one I had never planted and have seen grow before this year. I also found a small Iris plant sprouting from the rock border of my shade garden, which I transplanted to my from garden, hoping next year it’ll bloom. I’m enjoying the mystery until then.
I also pulled aside some plants for my parents to take back to their garden; two different types of Sedum, some Winter-creeper, and some other small plant with purple flowers that I grow just outside the rock border of my front garden. Remember: A gardener’s best friend is another gardener.