Still recovering from the weekend! The daughter was in a production of Alice in Wonderland. She played, of course, a FLOWER. And she was a great flower!
My Daughter's favorite color is purple and today we found this pretty thing.



I have been patiently waiting for all the rain storms to pass on before transplanting all my flats of homegrown seedlings into the garden. The seedlings are hardened off and ready to go as soon as tomorrow's predicted thunderstorms pass on their merry way! This is my first year growing from seed -- so excited! I have Zinnia (Lilliput), Marigolds (Snowman), African Daisy, Lupin (Tutti Frutti), Snapdragon (First Lady), Cosmos (Summer Sunshine), Nasturtium (Jewel of Africa), Delphinium (Centurion Lilac Blue), Sunflowers (Summer Evening & Mongolian Giant). DH also started tomatoes (Black Russian & Brandywine).

Irises; thoughts on Azaleas

A handful of Irises are making their appearance, like this guy below. Unfortunately, this was one of the tag less irises, so I do not have a name, if anyone has a guess, please feel free to comment!



Another unnamed Iris poking her head out of the overgrown foundation bed.



The overgrown foundation bed brings me to a completely different topic. Wow, is it overgrown. At one point in time, I imagine, the azaleas planted there were petite little things, with a nice selection of perennial bulbs in front. Every once in a while, a stalwart bulb makes an appearance through what has become a monster azalea. Well, really four different varieties that have now intertwined so much it is hard to tell where one begins and the other ends. There is also a nice tall river rock edging hiding somewhere under all the azaleas.

I briefly toyed with the idea of pulling everything out and starting anew. Yet, cost and time aside, I feel an odd connection with the past gardener of this home. I find myself wondering how she would react to find all her azaleas gone. And so, I will try to tame these out of control azaleas by cutting them back. Not just a little, allot. Perhaps this is a mistake. I am trying to find courage by telling myself nothing could possibly make that front bed look worse than it does now!

I can hear azaleas lovers out in the world wide web groaning...no, don't cut back the azaleas, they are meant to wander, to bush, to grow. And I agree, to some extent. We have several other azaleas wildly growing to point of swallowing up the children if they venture into back tree line. I am okay with those. Just not in the front. Trust me, if you saw this in person, you would agree!

Well, wish me luck and courage. Rainstorms are headed our way this weekend, and if I have any hope of cutting these guys back before new growth starts, I need to do this today. I am repeating my mantra "nothing could look worse than it does now, nothing could look worse than it does now".

The Irises are coming!

We are two days past the anniversary of the Battle of Lexington-Concord, where the famous battle call, "the British are coming, The British are coming" rang through the fields. But I couldn't resist the line anyway. Yes, The IRISES are coming! One has unfolded already, and many more are perhaps just a day or two in following.

In my meanderings around the gardens, I have been lucky to find a few old name tags that survived the test of time. The following are Iris tags: Luxor Gold, Tempting Fate, Blue Skirt Waltz, Marksman, Lace Artistry, and ____ Surprise (the label was broken in half). All the tags were plain white with typed names on them followed by an odd sequence of numbers and letters, like B9: 753 - 780. I am not sure what that means, guesses anyone? I have looked at up these lovely Irises online, and cannot wait to see them in action!

Last month, I had planted three Dahlia tubers. Since Dahlia's are not hardy in my zone, I planted two in the ground, knowing I have to dig them up later in the fall, and one in a large planter, hoping I could just take the whole planter into the shed in the winter. It wasn't until after I planted the tubers that I learned gardening lesson #256: Never trust the instructions on the packet alone. You see, the packet said plant in March for zone 6, so I did just that. A day later, while reading Barbara Damrosch (a great gift from my mother), I realized that Dahlia's should not be planted until after all danger of frost. Oops!

I had just about given up on the Dahlia's. We have had three hard frosts since I planted them. But today, out of nowhere, a little green set of leaves poked up his head in the container. Still no sign of life from the ground planted ones, but at least one has made it this far!

What to do about the Daffodils

We have an amazing amount of daffodils in our yard. When I say an amazing amount, I'm not just talking about a few clumps here or there. We have hundreds everywhere. Three weeks ago, the yard was full of them, EVERYWHERE. But the show is over now, and we are left with with the greenery, but not the flowers. When all the hundreds were in bloom, it was a showstopper...seriously, cars stopping in front of our house.

But now, well, it looks more like a dead flower graveyard! I need to start looking at other ideas to plant amongst the daffodils for next year, so we still have some flowers there!

I read a little bit about Daffodils today. I knew the foliage cannot be cut back until the leaves yellow and start to die on their own, but I did just read that that you should pull off the spent flowers. Off to the garden, I soon shall go!

I had planned on taking a picture of each variety, so that I could research names, but alas, time ran out on me. I counted 52 total varieties. Oh well, next year. I did, snap a few pictures, one is DH's favorite, and other is a nice bouquet for the kitchen table. Enjoy!

House-a-versary

Last week was our House-a-versary. What drew me most to the home, was the multitude of gardens. The elderly women we purchased the house from, truly loved her flowers. They were everywhere! Fields of Daffodils, Azaleas and Rhododendrons in every color imaginable, Irises, huge beds full of daylillies, flowers were popping out of every corner of the yard. Unfortunately, so were the weeds. It was obvious that the former owner had been quite the Gardener, but perhaps not during the last few years.

The flowers drew me to the house. I was in love. There was only one tiny little problem. I had yet to meet a plant that didn't seem to prefer death over me. Yup, it's true. No green thumb here, not even a little smudge of green on the fingernail. I never gave much thought to gardening before. My idea of landscaping was ensuring the grass was short enough so the kids were still visible when playing in the yard.

Nevertheless, this yard called to me. It sang to me. Weed me, tend me, take care of me! And so I weeded vigorously (although more come take their place), poured over gardening books, managed to accumulate a few houseplants I have yet to kill, and even started my own flowers from seed this spring. Of course, I also accidentally cut down things I should not, and carefully baby weeds by mistake. As I learn, the yard slowly looks better, brighter, and happier.

Come along with me, as I learn through my mistakes and triumphs! And, feel free to share your own.