Finishing the Applique on the Last Block

The final block for this little wallhanging - working on the twisting vine now so lots of stops and starts.  

All nine of the blocks laid out on the bed.  

Look what I found at Kroger today!!  Another mandevilla!  And it was only $10.00 - there had to be a mistake.  The girl told me they were $15.00 but when she rang it up it came up $10.00.  By golly, I'll take it and enjoy it all summer. 

Pretty, pretty color.  I'm tickled pink!!!  (Click to enlarge)

An Earlier Garden

We moved to Michigan in 1992 first living in a condo for six months before purchasing a home.  When we did buy our place, the backyard was shady and I quickly fell in love with flowers that love the shade.  We were there five years before my husband passed away.  I found these pictures and thought you might like to see the fruits of my labor - it didn't seem like labor!  This was taken from one end of the backyard to the other. 

Looking in the other direction.  These were taken rather early in the season.

About in the middle with the birdbath and some big pots of begonias and one of impatiens.

This is the same end as the first photo but much earlier.  The ajuga is in bloom with it's lovely little blue spikes and the flowers in the barrel are still small. 

And here is the other end of the bed at a much later date when all the begonias and impatiens are in full bloom.  Can't have impatiens here since the deer love to munch on them!  (The word "impatiens" doesn't look right but spell check doesn't highlight it!)  I really missed having a big garden for a time, but that is no longer the case.  I am so happy that I have been able to enjoy my gardens so much over the many years and to this day  still enjoy being able to do my containers of flowers.  A God given joy of life.  (Click to enlarge)

My Flowers are Planted

For Mother's Day, Sherry and Barclay came over and took out some spreading junipers I put along the edge of this small garden a few years ago.  The poor things were looking awful and grass would grow in them which was almost impossible to get rid of.   What a great Mother's Day gift!!  We also got some more red lava rock to cover the soil.  It looks so much nicer.  I have cut down on the number of pots I put out this year but there are still plenty.  Friday and Saturday I finally got them all planted.  Not as fast as I was, but I got the job done and still enjoy getting my hands dirty. 

I really like this one - it is really big and I filled it with some neat things.  There is a big piece of perennial grass for a back drop, some pretty lacy blue flowers, pink geranium, yellow daisies, dusty miller, pretty little petunias, and some limegreen trailing stuff that is so cool.  I think there is some sweet allysum, also.  It is bigger than it looks in this picture.  In the background there is a pot full of portulaca that the deer played with the other night.

 It should be very pretty when it grows more.  The flowers are double and it seems to bloom even when the sun isn't out.

The little Austrian pines I put in a couple of years ago are looking wonderful. Another pot and hanging basket along with the flamingo and a little black kettle also show up here.

The planter on the front stoop.   I am going to try and  find some gray fuzzy stuff to add to this.  It is tuberous begonias and New Guinea impatiens.  Hope the deer don't like the begonias!   Glad to have my flowers in.  I still have not found a mandevilla and will definitely get one if I can find it.  (Click to enlarge) 

Snowbank in May

A view of my patio and garden area a little earlier after a storm with rain, small hail and wind came through this afternoon.  Lots of new green leaves from the trees, blossoms from flowers and needles from the pine trees blew around and stuck to the house, roof and wherever they landed.  The day was quite warm and muggy and the storm came up quite suddenly.

My front stoop.

Ho, Ho, Ho!!!   (Click to enlarge)

I Love Autumn

Beautiful mum and some pumpkins on my front stoop

It's a beautiful day! I have always loved the fall of the year and wish October would stick around for two or three months. However, that just doesn't happen but we can certainly enjoy it while it's here. Last week I emptied some more of my containers of flowers even though they were still doing quite well. Anymore, it's easier for me to do it a little at a time than all in one fell swoop. All of the plants are put into trash bags and I haul them to the woods at the end of the street, empty the bags, and let them await the rain and snow and be turned into compost on the floor of the woods. How handy is that? Took some of the seed from the volunteer moonflower plant that was so gorgeous. I think Andy, my neighbor, might like to have some of it. I think there is enough on the ground to maybe have one or two come up in my garden next year.

There is one small plant that was near the base of the large one and it is blooming it's little heart out.

The patio and little garden look bare now except for lots and lots of leaves and the two containers of flowers left. There is the little moonflower at the edge of the cement. Happy Autumn! (Click to enlarge)