Happy Heucheras

Tags

butterfly, coral bells, garden, heuchera, hummingbird, landscape, perennial, perennial gardening

AKA Cheerful Coral Bells

Whether used as an accent plant for your garden borders or as filler plant, heucheras (commonly know as coral bells) are a must have perennial for your landscape.

This morning, I was busy dividing three existing plants into 11 new plants. Let me share a few reasons why I love heucheras so much…

Happy Heucheras ♥ Young Wifey’s Blog

10 Reasons to Grow Heuchera

10. Heucheras are available in a plethora or colors. Since many of my other plants are green, I prefer bronze purple and red purple varieties.

9.  They are extremely easy to propagate.

8.  They can tolerate a variety of soil conditions.

7.   The foliage and flowers both make excellent cuttings for floral arrangements.

6.  Depending on the variety you choose and your climate, they can tolerate full shade or full sun.

5.  These plants are essentially low maintenance.

4.  Heucheras look great with a variety of other plants.

3.  They are deer- and pest-resistant.

2.  Butterflies are attracted to the little flowers.

1.  Hummingbirds also love the blossoms.

XOXO,
Young Wifey

Shady Flower Arrangements

Tags

allium, bouquet, Centerpieces, coral bells, fern frond, ferns, floral arrangement, flower, flower arrangement, flower cuttings, hostas, lady fern, purple coral bells, red coral bells, shade garden, shade plant

This week, I have several floral arrangements and centerpieces throughout the house. This week, I played with dramatic mixes of color, texture and height. Allium and coral bell blooms are great choices for cut flowers, since the blooms last a long time.

This grouping has tall purple Allium blooms and hosta leaves in the taller center vase, paired with darker purple coral bell leaves and a lady fern fronds in small arrangements.

Purple & Green Arrangement

The second arrangement consists of all shade garden cuttings. I started with green hosta leaves with purple coral bell leaves, the shape or the leave, the colors and textures give a dramatic contrast. Then I placed a dramatic stem of brightly colored red coral bell blooms.

Shade Arrangement

In my bathroom, I clustered Allium at different heights in different vases all in the same color family. The Allium is my favorite flower for my bathroom, the only room I have a slightly feminine color (purple).

Bathroom Blooms 1

Bathroom Blooms 2

Which is you favorite?

July Blooms

Tags

blue chip campanula, coral bells, garden books, gardening, gladiolas, heather, hostas, landscaping, perennial, sedum, silver mound, toad, trumpet vine, virginia creeper, yarrow

Plant Desires Inspired by my Holiday
My holiday created some new plant desires as well as furthered some plant desires I already had. I would love to find some maidenhair spleenwort (I saw it growing everywhere in Scotland) for my rock wall and a future rockery I’d like to build. Astilbes were everywhere, I’ve thought about planting them before, but they weren’t at the top of my wish list when planting my shade garden. Now they’ve definitely gone up a few rankings, maybe my  mother will be able to propagate some for me (hint, hint). At the garden shop at Broddick Castle (Isle of Arran, Scotland) I saw a lovely chocolate tinted sedum. There was also a really cool fern whose fronds were taller than me (I think it is from New Zealand)! More irises! Wishing my foxgloves came in, but not yet giving up hope.  A Hubster even added something to the wish list: lupines! I also found a really great gardening book in a charity shop there for £2, It was Reader’s Digest: Your Gardening Question Answered. It’s a UK book, so the planting zones and seasonal time lines don’t quite work, but the information is so useful and I love it! My sister’s mother-in-law was getting rid of some books and I found The Complete Servant, which also has some really useful gardening information!

 

 

My New Pre-Loved Gardening Books

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My July Blooms
I missed the blooms of almost all my July lilies while on holiday. However, I came home to see the first two beautiful blooming gladiolas stems. Color was filling my perennial garden, my yellow yarrow, pink sedum, blue chip campanulas. My trumpet vines grew a few feet, I can’t wait until they mature.

July Blooms

Paying homage to my recent holiday, my heather was in full bloom. The tiny pink flowers and the green foliage are nicely complimented by the pink flowers on my sedum, my purple coral bells, and the pinky-purple colors on my (burgundy glow) ajuga.  

 

 

Small Toad

I had a small toad watching me work in my garden, he continued to hop around the various areas I was working. I’ll have to come up with a cute toad house to hide in my garden somewhere.

Lush Silver Mound

I grazed my hands over my silver mound enjoying the soft texture under my hands. This is one of my favorite, yet haven’t been successful yet with propagating more. And yes, I sometimes garden barefoot… it’s a tactile experience. 

Blue Chip Campanula

I enjoy the endless delicate flowers on my blue chip campanula through out the summer.

Chicks and Hens

I was thrilled to see that my Chicks and Hens multiplied more like bunnies while I was on holiday. To think that this time last year, this plant was only three small chicks itself!  I pulled some small chicks aside to give to my parents for the top of their rockery (I think 80% of the plants on their rockery have come from my perennial garden). I might pull a few more aside for my friend who gave me the bleeding heart.

Yellow Yarrow

I trimmed my yarrow early in the season to maintain height and to enjoy my bright yellow summer long blooms. My favorite part of the plant is actually the foliage. I’m thinking of planting a pink variety in the future.

Purple Gladiolas

Two tall stems of my purple gladiolas were already in bloom when I returned home. I love watching the blooms slowly creep up the stems each day.

Purple Coral Bell Blooms

My purple coral bells are in full bloom. Hubster seems to only like the foliage and thinks the small flowers look like weeds. The leaves also look like they got a bit dry while we were away. I was disappointed to see that my plum pudding coral bells and my red coral bells were not yet in bloom. My hostas are starting to flower (despite the caterpillar munching early in the season) and I just received two beautiful hostas from my parents garden with broad, dark green, heart shaped leaves.

Blooming Sedum

Both types of sedum I have are blooming beautiful pinks. 

Re-blooming Day Lilies

 

My faithful re-blooming day lilies and trucking through the summer.

Baby Virginia Creeper

My virginia creeper shot off a couple of great new runners.

Back to Work
After weeding my garden, planting my new plants (hostas, iris seeds, and blue bell seeds), and trimming the unruly, I laid in my hammock to enjoy my peaceful piece of earth. After a few minutes in could no longer fight the urge to get back into my garden and play! 

Sunscreen, Salsa, Side Dishes, Surprises

Tags

bleeding heart, caprese, coral bells, ferns, iris, lilies, roses, salsa, side dish, virginia creeper

Update:

Hubster and I have been really busy the past two weeks. He’s so wonderful at working on my honey-do list. Now it’s our summer vacation, time for us to really get a lot done.

We attended a wedding of a good friend, two weekends ago (and didn’t get anything accomplished at home that weekend). We’ve been trying to open our pool, but a missing piece of the pump had deterred us a bit. I finished painting my wicker set, yet have still have not found the perfect cushions. There has been several graduation parties and barbecues.

Hubster and I All Spruced Up (at my parents’ house)

Sewing has been an issue this year. My baby (and by that I mean my 9 month old cat who acts like a baby) will not let me sew, he has to be in my lap or in my arms each time I attempt this task (and my sewing projects have been piling up…). I tried putting him in another room and shutting the door, but he goes into a stressed state and cries and throws himself at the door until I respond. I can’t even update my blog without him wanting to be involved.

Rory Sleeping on the Laptop

However, in March I was able to crochet a baby blanket for a friend who was due (I wish I had a pic, but I wasn’t blogging yet) and she used this blanket for her son’s baptism two weekends ago. Her mother, who also crochets, was confused because she didn’t remember making the blanket.

So it’s that time of year when my house smells like sunscreen, roses, lilies (next week or so…), and yummy food (I’m trying out a salsa recipe right now). So here are a few bits and pieces to share.

Caprese
People always ask me for this recipe, most people can figure it out by eating it, but here it is.

Ingredients: tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil leaves, fresh ground sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper, balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil

Directions: Slice tomatoes and mozzarella, alternate slices on a tray. Cut fresh basil leaves and sprinkle over tomatoes & mozzarella, drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar on top and grind a small amount of sea salt and black pepper. Garnish middle of a tray with a sprig of basil. Serve and enjoy!

My Basil Plant

Bloom Time

I planted several small plants in the main garden. I paired Burgundy Glow Ajuga with Big Twister Rush (an ornamental glass Hubster think looks like weeds). I wanted to continue the purple, white and green theme of the staple plants throughout my garden (besides the pops of seasonal color that splash through my garden).

Burgundy Glow Ajuga w/Strands of Twister Rush

Yellow Rose

Pink Rosebud

My roses are in full bloom, even the small ones I just planted in

Asiatic Lily Bud

Spring and the lilies are about to boom with color.

My Chicks and Hens are splitting more, I see more chicks shooting off of the hens. I inherited this plants from my mother-in-law’s co-worker, they were just teeny tiny last year and they filled out so fast. I can’t wait for them to fill out so I can share some of mine with my mom and friends.

Surprise Iris!

Day Lily Buds

 

My third surprise iris appeared and bloomed last week, this time a white one. What other little wonders are ahead?..

Surprise White Iris

Attack of the Caterpillars

We had carpenter bees boring into our eaves and Hubster tried spraying them and their holes. However they returned again and he spray them again, so far they seem to be at bay.

In the mean time my garden has become a restaurant to a myriad of caterpillars dining on my plants like gourmet fare. I first tried an all-natural recipe where I actually blend up the caterpillars (in an old blender in which we do not make drinks) with vinegar, tabasco and pepper and other stinky things and then pour back on the problem. Ugh! It smelled horrible for a while and it didn’t work, If facts it seem like there were more bugs showing up around my garden. I then resorted to using a chemical insecticide to save my beloved garden. Maybe next round I’ll find another all-natural insecticide that works a little better.

Shade Garden Bliss

Virginia Creeper on Oak

Lady Fern

My shade garden has begun to fill out. I’ve counted and all my ferns and hostas are appearing. I purchased a birdbath (on clearance) that matches my planters on the patio and porch and it replaced the eroding pillar (which got moved close to my cement garden benches).  Friends of ours have a nice chunk of land nearby and a beautiful mature shade landscape. They have offered for us to stop by and dig up some of the plants. I look forward to taking a nice piece of their Japanese fern. My mother-in-law is also waiting for my garden to mature so she can have a few pieces of mine…

Oh! My Bleeding Heart started to bloom for the first time since I transplanted from my friends garden.

Bleeding Heart Blooms

Young Tatting Fern

Hubster and I spent Saturday relaxing in our hammock (his early Father’s Day present) and dreaming up our future. We’ve put so much work into our home, I’d really like to make this our forever house, not just our starter house (With our future plans and dreams, maybe that’ll happen. Our own little nirvana.

Bird Bath & Shade Garden

Plum Pudding Coral Bells

Check back tomorrow for my salsa recipe!!! 

XOXO,
Young Wifey