Better off Potted

Since I have a smallish yard and space for flowers is limited, I have kept a few of my favorites in pots. It's handy to move them inside of the little greenhouse to move them along in cool weather, I can move them around to spots that need color when they are blooming and move them to the back yard when they are done. It's also a good way to keep plants that like to spread, like mints, where they belong, at least for awhile! It's also a great and easy way share a favorite plant/flower. Lillies and day lillies seem to do best in pots, but I also have iris, ivy, varigated vinca, various sedums and herbs. I learned one lesson the hard way regarding ceramic pots... be sure they are well drained and are sitting on gravel or up off the ground a bit. Lost one of my favorite pots last year when it froze and broke. I am keeping most plants in plastic pots and set them inside the  ceramic pots for the summer. Plant a few annuals around the edges or back fill soil to the pots edge; you'll never see the plastic and you can empty and store the ceramic for next season.

Super Moon

Saturday was the "Super" Moon! What a great night for it, at least as far as pictures go. The clouds rolled in and I thought picture taking would be a waste of time. Boy was I wrong! I got several very nice pictures and what started out as a cloudy night was the lead in for a beautiful Sunday.

Senile Citizen

My Dear cousin sent me this message today...

I spent Saturday in the back yard potting plants.
I lost my gloves first. It took me 45 minutes to find them.
Then I lost my trowel, which showed up in the kitchen.
I guess I went in for coffee and left it on the bar.
After locating all my tools,
I couldn’t find one of the special plants I wanted to repot.
I’m sure that I’m a “Senile citizen”!
I can, however, remember in detail my 2nd birthday party!!!

How Dry I Am!

While the mild winter has made it easy to get around town and such, it sure has me worried about the coming spring and summer. Last year we had record rain in the spring and early summer which was great for the wheat farmers but not so great for my home garden. As I have heard the old timers say "Hope for the best and prepare for the worst." I guess I'll just enjoy what we have and hope the apricot tree has some fruit this year! In the mean time I've enjoyed many beautiful sunrises. Every morning brings the promise to a wonderful day.

Unable to reply to your comments

For some reason I am unable to post replies to comments on my blog page, so guess I'll do that here!... I really need to take some cuttings of the thyme this fall so that I have some to place in other spots in the walk, next spring. As for cots... well that would be Apricots. You might try shading your garden next year if it looks like it's going to be as hot as this summer was. Tomatoes are supposed to love the red shade cloth and produce extra well when it's used. Not sure how the other plants will feel about it.

Creeping plants in the walk

After many attempts to get a variety of creepers for the walk way there are a few that have survived and thrive with little care. Creeping thyme is one of my very favorites with it's dainty, purple blooms in the spring and it's habit of surviving in spite of me! Another is a little fern like plant that has taken over one end of the walk. It has a very strange, exotic looking bloom. Irish moss, both light and dark green, are doing well, as long as I can keep another creeping plant (name unknown.. well I have called it a few choice ones) in bounds. It has taken over parts of the walk and choked out the moss in those areas. Now that I have pulled up a large area of the little "creep" the moss is much happier. Then there is the Trumpet Vine (sigh). Well we will just leave it at that. Some day I hope to post pictures of the finished walk; it's been under construction for two summer's now.

Enjoying the summer's bounty.

We have had such a mild summer with only a couple of days in the 90's and in spite of the long, cool spring many gardeners are enjoying a bounty from their gardens. Our meals have included tasty additions of beans, zuchini, tomatoes and beets from my mother-in-law's garden. Farmer's Market has provided us with several types of sweet peppers, sweet onions, fresh eggs, local honey and much more. My neice was sweet enough to bring me some cots, which were shared with my mother-in-law. This is the second summer our plums, prunes and apricots haven't done well. Guess I'll try some severe pruning and see if it will jump start them.