Sunday, June 15, 2008

Another Walk Through The Gardens !

After seeing what has been happening through out the rest of the Midwest, I feel very sheepish about complaining about a few inches of water in the basement last week. Thousands of people forced to flee their homes with no idea when then will be able to return. Flood waters up to the stop signs. Millions of dollars of destruction. Wildfires out of control. Searing heat and months of drought. Jobs lost. Lives lost. I could go on and on, but I'm sure you are all aware of what has been happening .
So, I will not act like I have some big problems because compared to lots of others, I'm on Easy Street.
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Instead of complaining, I'll take you through the gardens again.
My petunia barrels. The one in the fore ground, farthest to the left is a fiberglass half whiskey barrel. Wooden barrels tend to rot after a number of years so Steve thought he'd buy one of the other kinds. They are guaranteed for a very long time but cost twice as much. What made me mad was the fact that if you tap them with anything hard the color immediately scratches off. The color isn't incorporated into the fiberglass, it's painted on and is very easily scratched. What a disappointment. I don't recommend them.
Here are the plants from the hanging basket my daughter, Adeena, gave me for Mother's Day. They fit perfectly in this barrel and I'm hoping that some of the ground cover will take root in the area surrounding the barrel.
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This begonia is just so big and bright I had to show it off. It's in the three tiered planter and sort of dominates the entire scene. Next year it'll be in it's own separate pot not trying to steal the show from everyone else.
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An update on the Kinsman window boxes. Well, as you can see, the petunias are thriving and the planters are just about covered. I have no idea what these will look like in another month. I just wish I'd been paying attention when I was planting and put a fuchsia petunia in the other box too. Just to balance things out!
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A bumble bee enjoying the catmint along the rock wall.
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I have a few roses in my gardens. Most are survivors from my neglect, so they are very hardy.
A cabbage rose - Madame Hardy (perfect name). This one smells wonderful - delicate and old fashioned.
A trailing, landscape rose along the rock wall - Iceberg. Super hardy!!
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The rest of these roses have names, but I've forgotten or misplaced them.
A little shrub rose I started from seed.
I love this rose because it reminds me of the wild roses that grew around my home when I was a child. This also smells great and even survives in the shade. Isn't the foliage a pretty light green.
I should take better care of this guy! It has such unusual colors.
A wild climbing rose that will take over if you let it. Unfortunately, it has no scent which is odd for a wild rose.
Here is a very unique miniature rose. It is extremely tiny. Look at it in comparison to the straw! The teeny flowers are about an inch high. People are surprised that miniature roses are so hardy - most colors are. That sounds odd, but the mini roses that are within the lavender color range aren't hardy in the North!
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Speaking of tiny, here are some more little flowers.
They are dianthus and I think called "Micro Chip".
Below is the entire plant. It's very neat and spreads quite a bit but is easy to keep under control. Isn't it strange that the same plant has different patterned and colored flowers?
Another dianthus paired with the chartreuse feverfew. A surprisingly good color combination.
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What an exotic peony! Actually I got this for a few dollars the year before last at the very end of the season. It didn't bloom last year so I didn't know what to anticipate. Needless to say, I'm not disappointed. No scent though.
An early day lily. I love the brick colored brush marks on this.
Here are my Tradescantia. The bottom one is called "Osprey". That blue fuzz and the little yellow balls remind me of something a clown would have pasted on!
Salvia "May Night". Kind of lost among the others....

The bellflowers are just beginning to open. Such a nice blue.
Meadow Rue looks so delicate. The little "hairs" move with the slightest breeze.
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Impatiens are one of my most favorite flowers. Here are some of them that are blooming in the window boxes I can see from the living room window. They are very bright!
These two are Accent Star varieties.
These next five are Tempo Butterfly Mix. I do like the little butterfly in the center.
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Update on the tomato tree !!! Look how much those plants have grown in just a week! I'm very pleased at how they didn't miss a beat after I'd planted them. You can't see from the picture, but they are blooming. I think I'll remove those flowers so they don't form fruit so soon. Give the plant a chance to build itself up.
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Today I finally put the fish out into the pond. There are only 4 fish left now - it was a hard winter for them in the basement. I didn't include any pictures of the pond because it doesn't look too good right now. The petunias I planted around it haven't filled out yet and the water plants look incredibly bad. I don't think the garden center where I bought them knows anything about water plants. The container they were in barely had any water in it. Duh! ! So they have a long way to go before they get on this blog...
I've planted in containers or tossed into the compost bin any stragglers left today so there is only a small flat of impatiens to plant in Steve's Area. The ground is still too wet for planting so next week will have to do. I feel relief that I'm nearly through and now I can concentrate on my daughter's birthday party next weekend. She wants Beef Wellington and a chocolate/pistachio cake. This will be fun and I'll have pictures to show everyone.
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A man enjoys the happiness he feels, a woman the happiness
she gives.
Pierre Choderlos de Laclos
Les Liaisons dangereuses (1782)
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Bye for now
Alyssa

12 comments:

Kerri Farley said...

Your flowers are lovely!!

Jane O' said...

I like Micro Chip very much. What a strange name!

beckie said...

Alyssa, Your gardens are looking so good even with the hard rains you've had. Those window boxes have filled in so quickly, I am amazed. We have the wooden whiskey barrels and have had them for years. So far they are holding up. I just don't like the looks of those fiberglass ones and now am glad we didn't get those.

Water in the basement is a chore, I know! Hope you stay dry now. As always, I enjoyed your post!

Tossing Pebbles in the Stream said...

I am glad you are out of harms way with the weather. The flooding is awesome. I wonder how all that rich farmland which is tiled for agricultural use is part of the problem. The Prairie traditionally was like a great sponge that helt water on the land for a long time. As duck hunters about the loss of this kind of Prairie and ther decreased number of ducks.

Your flowers are wonderful and such lush colours.

DeeMom said...

YA we tried those wooden barrels, What a bummer that was
Got several fiberglass ones, Not quite the color I wanted BUT

They DO repair easily, Hubby ran one over with his tractor, as he was making a raised flower bed for me…BUT bottom line he repaired it!


Seems you made out on Mothers Day Great Flowers

Fabulous pictures of all the flowers

Alyssa said...

Kerri - Thank you - stop over and enjoy them anytime!

Jane Marie - Yes, it is an unusual name for a flower. I think they thought it sounded little.

Beckie - I'm not crazy about the color either. Actually some of the barrels we had for at least 12 years so that really isn't too bad. I think I made it sound like they fall apart in a few years. I'm glad you enjoy visiting me. I like visiting you too.

Tossing - Yes I'm sure quite a bit of the flooding has to do with man's continual building and growth. The lake that broke through the embankment and drained itself nearly dry was man made. It had a dam but that wasn't the way the water "wanted" to go. Unfortunately, we've lost so much of our prairie lands and marshes and wetlands that are our sponges that destructive situations are more apt to arise.

Dee - I'll have to remember that. I think I'll just cover the scratches with a crayon. But I still don't like having to be so darn careful around them!

Mary said...

Alyssa,

I know - complaining about our weather seems insignificant in comparison to the horrible extremes around the country and lives lost. While you are waiting for your soil to dry out for planting, I need to rent a backhoe to loosen my soil.

Your flowers are gorgeous!

Have fun with your daughter on her birthday :o) Beef Wellington, YUM!

Mary

Lizzie A said...

I didn't know when I looked at your flowers, that I too had peonies in my garden. That evening I went outside to check on my raspberry bushes (my only real pride in the garden), and there were three beautiful peonies! My mom said that it was the first time, ever, that our peonies bloomed, and we have absolutely no explanation as to why. Just wanted to share the wonderful news.
Your roses are all so beautiful. As I have told you before, roses mean a lot to me!
Have a great day, and a great rest of the week!
Lizzie~

Lizzie A said...

Alyssa,
Right after I commented on your post, I went back to my blog and posted.
Normally I wouldn't mention that, but you were the one who wanted more of my poetry, so I just wanted you to know that I put up some poems if you had any interest in reading them.
Lizzie~

Pam said...

You are a gardening wonder! The profusion of blooms and color is a site for the eyes.

I have been watching the pictures on the news of the floods and completely understand why you are grateful, by comparison, that you only had a little water in your cellar. It is all so tragic.

alicesg said...

Wow very beautiful flowers and your garden is so lovely. You have green thumbs. Sorry for not visiting lately.

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