garden — Page 248

Butterfly

August 6, 2010 at 10:04 am by Claudia

Thank you, my friends. Your sweet comments are such a comfort to me. Riley is a bit better today and for that I am grateful.

Watching over Riley was my priority yesterday, but I did manage to go out and do a little garden clean up. The timing was right because I saw this:

A symbol of change, metamorphosis, transformation. And just plain beautiful.

Since I was away from my garden during the months of April, May, and June, I missed the best of the garden bloom period. Yes, there are things blooming now, like my coneflowers, roses and heavenly smelling phlox – but like any garden, mine is at its best around May and June. You remember that I’ve been gone the entire spring for 2 years in row?

One day I was on the computer upstairs – the one my husband uses – and I saw a photo of a red/orange poppy. Where did this come from, I wondered? From your garden, says husband. What????

There it is. You know, I see the leaves coming out of the ground in early spring…but I thought it was one of those plants that just never would bloom for me. By the time I got home, the leaves had died. I’ll include a somewhat blurry photo (but thank you, husband, for taking it!):

I’m keeping it small in size so the blurriness doesn’t overwhelm you. I’m thrilled that the Oriental Poppy finally bloomed. More reason to stick around next spring. Right now, the heat is so relentless that my garden is looking sad, indeed.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Glimpses of the Garden

July 12, 2010 at 8:48 am by Claudia

We had a nice gentle rain the other day. Yesterday, the sky got all dark and thundery and we sat on the porch eagerly awaiting a big old rainstorm. We got a few drops. The weather report assures us that there are thunderstorms on the way over the next several days. Please?

Today: 90 degrees. Don’t like.

How about some garden photos? I’ve been walking around the garden the last few days, snapping away.

While I was away, my husband kept telling me about this plant that was taking over the garden. I suspected it was my Jacobs Ladder and I was right. Yikes! When I got home and investigated, I found it everywhere. My first go at the garden was mainly yanking out some of the over-eager Jacobs Ladder. It is a fabulous plant for under my maple tree because it works so well in the shade. It just needs some firm discipline from Mama Gardener – me.

This hosta was already established when we bought the cottage. I’ve added several more since we moved in. The area right by the porch entrance is shaded by the maple and hostas work very well there.