Did you Guess the Flower ???

Half the interest of a garden is the constant exercise of the imagination. ~Mrs. C.W. Earle, Pot-Pourri from a Surrey Garden, 1897 (Thanks, Jessica)

Remember the flower I showed you on Sunday ??? This beautiful all white flower ???

Well here it is....

Queen Ann's Lace...

It sure looks different up close.

What a beautiful flower they are. I always have a few coming up here and there each year. I always say I am going to press them and save them but I never do, maybe this year....

They always remind me of snow flakes....

So how many of you guessed the right flower??? I know I wouldn't have guessed it...

Today has been a day of rest...

Last night I picked up a flower pot, not a big flower pot and pulled my back out...

So a trip to the Dr. and my massage therapist later I'm feeling a little better, but I can tell it is going to be a few days before I'm up and moving good. I hate to be down. I haven't even watered flowers today. Thank goodness it is a little overcast. It hurts to sit or stand or lay...

Guess I'll have to let Tom in my gardens to water a little.... "SCARY"

Have A Good One...

Lynn

My favorite Petunia

Gardening is about enjoying the smell of things growing in the soil, getting dirty without feeling guilty, and generally taking the time to soak up a little peace and serenity. ~Lindley Karstens, noproblemgarden.com


I finally found the name pic for my favorite Petunia. I always save the little pic in my plants when I buy them. But couldn't seem to find the one for my Petunia. But today while watering I saw it still in the pot right next to the plant. I also found SEEDS on the plant. I am a happy camper. It has to be the prettiest petunia I have ever planted. It is called Sweet Sunshine Lime.

Now for the FUNNY... part of my day!

While watering my plants today, a cute little frog jumped out of the pot. I guess he didn't want to get wet...

My daughter would have been so proud of me... I picked him up and went next door to show the neighbors granddaughter... She loves stuff like that...

Little did I know they would "P" on you. Well he did not once... but twice...

I sure hope the old wives tale about warts isn't true, or my hands will be full of warts... LOL

We had fun taking pictures, as you can see he was very small, look at him next to the pine cone. That pine cone probably isn't 1/2 inch long.

But Kyra let him go in her Grandma's Garden and he hid under an old tree branch, she said that is his new home...

Our little frog's new home in Grandma's Garden...

Well I hope you got your laugh for the day... I know I did!!

Have A Good One,

Lynn

Late Summer Bloomers....

Don't wear perfume in the garden - unless you want to be pollinated by bees. ~Anne Raver


This is one I only work around with gloves. They are sticky to say the least. But they make beautiful cut flowers or dried flowers. As the weeks go on they will turn purple and will be beautiful. A little strange, but beautiful...

I usually have to stake them, because they like to lay on the ground.
Of course it would be nice to remember to do this before they are grown and already on the ground...LOL Which i never do then I just get stuck...

Here is a little about them.

Sea hollies resemble teasels, with compact heads of long-lasting, small blossoms surrounded by spiny petals that are actually leaves, or bracts. They belong to the carrot family, as evidenced by their thick taproots. The genus is an ancient Greek name for a species of Eryngium.

Description of sea holly: Sea hollies have simple, spiny-toothed leaves on stout stems from 2 to 6 feet tall, with clusters of teasel-like blossoms. They bloom in July and August. Sea holly ease of care: Easy.
How to grow sea holly: Sea hollies need full sun and a good, well-drained soil worked to sufficient depth for the growth of the taproots. Their deep roots make them difficult to transplant.
Propagating sea holly: By cuttings or by seed.

Uses for sea holly: For a bold stroke in the formal garden or a fascinating addition to the wild garden, sea hollies are a good choice. The flowers are not only excellent when cut, they are also valuable when dried for winter bouquets.

I love them because they are so different, and before too long they will be in full bloom..

Ok my daughter made fun of me for signing off each night with Have a Good One... She thinks it is dorky and why sign my name you know who I am..

So what do I do??? LOL

Happy Gardening...

or

Have a Nice Evening...

or

Signing Out....

ME !!!

THE HECK WITH HER WHAT DOES SHE KNOW ANYWAY SHE IS ONLY 29. AND IT'S MY BLOG...

Have A Good One...

LYNN

Wintering Plants...

In my garden there is a large place for sentiment. My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams. The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers, and the dreams are as beautiful. ~Abram L. Urban

Each year I try to take a few plants in for the winter... And a few more ...And a few more...

Pretty soon I'm going to need a greenhouse!!! LOL

I love my annuals but I hate to keep buying them every year. I take a few Coleus in... and my Blue Daze... and my Passion flower... and my Great Cascade....and my Bridal Veil.... and so on and so on!!! Well you get idea...

But this year I have started begonias and some new things from the Greenhouse at WVU

I have 3 new Coleus that I just love, a few friends have given me things I don't want to loose... I always take a few things to school with me each year, but I think it will be alot more this year. The kids are really going to get help me this year.

Thank goodness seeds don't take up much room, because I am already starting my new box of seeds.

My house needs more windows I can sit plants by. I do have sky lights I can sit some things under.

I NEED A GREENHOUSE !!!!!

Do I think I'm going to get one ??? Not in my near feature....

Here are some of my favorites I just have to bring in...

Great Cascade Wine Red... Lophospermum hybridPassion Flower... and there is a purple one too...

Coleus...

Coleus...

Do you see what I mean I just can't leave them to die... LOL

I might just take seeds off the Coleus, but they are so easy to just take cuttings off in the spring and have lots to give away.

OK time to go...

Have A Good One...

Lynn

Can you Guess This One???

Gardening is a matter of your enthusiasm holding up until your back gets used to it. ~Author Unknown




Can you guess this one???

I will show you the whole flower in a few days... So study on it...

I can't get over how wonderful the Black eyed Susan's look this year. I have had these for about 5 years and they have never looked this good. I was ready to take them out last year, but now I'm glad I didn't. As you can see they are right next to the highway, so it is hot and in the winter salt is right there, it just gets lots of abuse. So I guess I will leave them..

My new White Marigolds and Pink Zinnias are going strong. One of Amanda's friends wanted to grow some seeds this year. She ask me what was easy to grow, so I told her Zinnias. She planted them in a big plastic window box inside and sat them near a window. When she brought them to the house to let me see if they were doing ok I had to laugh.... There were probably 50 plants in that box so crowded, But they were the most beautiful zinnias I had ever seen. (that is the pink one in this pot)What ever she did she sure did great for a first try.. The window she had them in was perfect. I showed her mine and they really looked sorry next to hers... It just goes to show you anyone can do this, YOU JUST HAVE TO TRY...

You know it is getting late in the season when the Loripe is blooming... The color of the purple flowers don't show up here but they are pretty...Have A Good One...

Lynn

My New Favorite Flower...

There can be no other occupation like gardening in which, if you were to creep up behind someone at their work, you would find them smiling. ~Mirabel Osler


It seems that every year I find a new favorite flower. Well this year it has to be the Profusion Zinnia. Of course I started them from seed and they are just now blooming, so next year I will start them a little sooner. But they are beautiful. If I had to compare them to something I think it would be the marigold. It is that nice compact shape with lots and lots of tiny flowers all over it. I can see there are going to be many more to come. With really bright color to brighten up your bed. They are drought tolerant and will last until the first frost. Of course I see lots of seeds in their future.....

The last couple of years my favorite flower was the Torenia..

This flower was given to me by a student and it had lots of seeds for me to replant the last couple of years...

This year I found 2 more colors of it to plant.

So MORE SEEDS.... for next year. This one is also easy to propagate from cuttings too, That is why I always buy my annuals really early so I can take cuttings off of all of them. It is always worth a try.

This was the original plant...

These are the new ones this year... Magenta Moon ToreniaYellow Moon Torenia...Aren't They sweet...

Have A Good One...

Lynn

A day of Dead Heading...

Gardening requires lots of water - most of it in the form of perspiration. ~Lou Erickson


It is getting to be that time of year ALREADY that perennials are starting to fizzle out and lots of things need cut back. I found myself looking at the liatrus and thinking it has a little bloom left maybe I will leave it for just a few more days... I try to plan the beds so I have something blooming all the time. This time of the year most of that color comes from the annuals. But the asters and the passion flowers are still left to bloom and the seedum is just now starting to come out. Of course the black eyed susans are going strong. What a punch of color they have down by the street. I planted a few new seeds this year and I think they will be keepers for next year. That new gallardia is really starting to go crazy and the red verbenia, I really like it.

Of course the rain has knocked lots of things down, especially my tall phlox, so I had to cut it back a good bit tonight. But it will bloom again.

Hope you had a wonderful day!!!

Have a Good One...

Lynn

Take a Closer Look...

Sometimes we just need to sit down and take a closer look at how wonderful nature really is...

Take a look at the whole picture, not just that beautiful flower and it's wonderful petals. But the wonder of the whole image. Deep inside. All the details... how can that possible come from that tiny seed.

Black eyed Susan....
Look at that detail...

Calendula...

Wouldn't that make a wonderful print.... Just so soft... It almost doesn't look real...

Zennia...Gazinnia...Profussion Cherry Zinnia... Hope you all have a wonderful evening...

STAY COOL...

Have a Good One...

Lynn

Hummingbird.... Having her Dinner...

I have been trying to catch a shot of the hummingbirds, but haven't been quick enough...

But last night during the storm she decided to come in out of the rain, to entertain us...

She stayed in the garage for a couple hours eating bugs off the fluorescent lights and just hanging out watching us...

It would have been wonderful had I been able to catch a shot of her outside...

But I will take what I can get...

Here she is catching her dinner...

Have a Good One...

Lynn

New Baby Bird...

We have a new baby in the back yard. It even comes to the back door for someone to come out and play. It keeps jumping up and hitting the window. It is SO funny.

You know how "crazy" Tom gets with me watering all my flowers...

Well when he starts recruiting the birds to help him I am in trouble...

PLEASE STEP AWAY FROM THE FAUCET...

But he is just too cute...

I was chasing Butterfly's today to try and get pictures and I finally caught up to one...I just love to watch them...

Have Good ONE...
Lynn

Unknown Flowers

Last winter when I was working at WVU Greenhouse I brought some little pieces of some plants home with me. I have no idea what they are but they are sure cute. One of them bloomed yesterday.What a cute purple flower. The one big one has little babies that keep falling off and making new plants. They are outside in a pot and growing like crazy. I'm not great at taking care of inside winter plants, but I guess I have to take care of these this winter. Maybe they will go to school with me too.

Have a Good One...

Lynn

An Interesting Day in the Gardens...

Tom yelled for me to rush to the back yard with the camera....

I just couldn't imagine what was so important that I rush, and he always makes fun of me for taking pictures all the time. What could he possible want me to take a picture of sooooo fast. lol

Well here it is...
Climbing the tree...

Yea your right it is a Groundhog...

Tom scared it and it ran up the tree about 10 feet. I had no idea they could climb trees, but there is the proof. How funny, and so cute.

Ok I'm going to see if I can do something new. The more I play with this site the more I learn. That's what it is all about learning... Just try new things...

This is my Hummingbird Moth, I just love these and they are always buzzing around my flowers. I hope you enjoy...

Have a Good One...

Lynn

What a Beautiful Full Moon...

I hope all of you have looked out the window tonight to see the full moon. It is just beautiful..
It seemed to just pop up in the sky...I watched it as it came up over the hill in front of the house.
So what better night then to show you some night bloomers in the garden.

This is the moon flower in my front yard.
http://www.moonlightsys.com/themoon/flower.html
This is a wonderful link to watch the flower open and it will tell you all about it.
I usually bring 2-3 in each evening because they smell so wonderful. They bloom in the evening and are done by morning, so you may as well pick them and enjoy them each evening...

This one is Nicotina, it also blooms at night and has a wonderful fragrance. I think I posted an earlier picture of the new lime green one.

Both of these really make a statement in your garden late at night. Especially the moon flower, because of their size and that bright white color. The bees love them, I have seen them get inside the flower even before it is fully open. Then they stay so late they can't even fly home. I usually find them hanging on my screens in the morning.lol

Have a Good One!!

Lynn

Water Barrel....

Ok where to start???

Oh yea that Gaillardia "Goblin" picture...

here you go..

Now some pictures of the new water barrel so you can see how we put it together. I think from the pictures you can figure it out...

Ok this one shows you how to take elbows and connect to hole you have made in top of lid.

Then cut hole in side so when barrel is full it will flow out of the side and back down down spout.

He sealed both top and side with caulk. Then in the fall we will empty and reconnect downspout.

He put a spigot at bottom with a short hose to fill watering can.

You can buy all sorts of fancy stuff to do this with, but this works perfect. In one light rain it was full. I was amazed to see how quick. If you have any questions just call me.

The upside down tomato is doing better then I thought it would... I had to move it off the porch because it got to big. It has plenty of little babies on it and lots of blooms. The coleus is even doing good...
I can't wait for a good salad...








Have a Good One...
Lynn

Gaillardia

My new Gaillardia "Sundace Bicolor" flowers are finally blooming. planted them from seed early this spring at school in our little green house we had in the window.

The package says Cherry, bicolor ruffled globes in mahogany-red and gold are 2-3 inches across. Carefree Southwestern native is heat tolerant. A unique choice for beds, borders, containers or hanging baskets. Annual.

Well they are all of that, I love them They are the color of my perennial Gaillardia just round. The petals are cone shaped so the hummingbirds love them.

Take a look..

.

This is another new Gaillardia for this year but I can't seem to remember it's name "you know one of those senior moments". sorry I will think of it later.

Of course the Gaillardia Goblin I can't find a picture of one. But there are the 2 new ones for this year. I will post the Goblin tomorrow..

Have a Good One!

Lynn

Back from the beach...

Back from the beach and back to reality...

The flowerbeds and baskets are like a jungle!!

Nicole watered well !!! The new water barrel has stayed full and working great, I should have done that years ago. What better water then rain water, and God knows we have had plenty of rain. Now we need to cut grass and edge beds and dead head petunias.. petunias... petunias...

I love them but they are alot of work. My cherry tomatoes that are hanging upside down are going crazy. They must like it where they are. The new Perfussion Zinnias are starting to bloom, and of course the garden is full of weeds..

Here are a few pictures..

.

Have a Good One...

Lynn