A Walk Through My Garden

After days and maybe even weeks of wind and rain and hail the sun was shining and we got out and about in the garden.  I was very surprised at how well the plants had survived the weather.  Other than putting a binding on the Summer Sampler quilt not much sewing has been done lately, but out in the yard weeds are being pulled and plants feed, trimmed up and admired!  I have loved grape hyacinths ever since I can remember, they seem like magical little fairy flowers and they bloom quite a long time.  As soon as they appear the daffodils are right there too (maybe it is the other way around). 

We have lots of varieties of daffodils here since gophers and deer seem to leave them alone and they come back tenfold reliably.  They really are the perfect sign of Spring!  Even the cats love them.

Another little flower that is blooming away right now is Phlox.  This is the moss phlox that makes a perfect little groundcover.  I have transplanted it several places and it is happy everywhere here.  The pink is my favorite!

Ceanothus is just the most wonderful shade of blue don’t you think?  It is so hard to describe and harder yet to reproduce.  This variety is called Black Knight, it has very tiny leaves and is about 4 feet tall.  It is hiding an ugly pipe in this spot and doing a great job at that.

Kerria is wonderful little shrubby plant with a flower like a mini rose, in fact it is in the rose family and native to Korea, China and Japan.  It doesn’t have a fragrance, but it is loaded with blooms.  I split a clump of this last fall and transplanted it all along a fence and it is looking like they all took.  Yay!

Ribes have become a new favorite flower of mine.  Even more than the flowers though are the berries that look like jewels hanging on a bush.  The birds like them as much as I do.  I actually picked berries off another shrub I have last year and made one jar of jelly from it.  It was a beautiful little jar of clear red jelly.  Hoping to get lots more this year.  We planted several different varieties of ribes last fall and they are all just starting to bloom.  Some make berries and some do not, but I love the flowers and the leaves on these beautiful, easy to grow plants.

Another plant that is blooming now that I have several varieties of is euphorbia.  I love the funny looking flowers and all the different colored leaves that the many varieties have.  What a versatile plant.  They seem to do as well in shade as sun here and with very little care.

The rain is making a come back today so maybe there will be some more sewing done…or a painting project that I have been contemplating for a headboard in my room.  I am working on a plan to paint a Frank Lloyd Wright type design on my wall as a faux headboard.  There may be pictures to come if it works out.

Last by not least, the smell of this little Daphne flower is so intense you can only imagine.  When you walk by and smell it you look everywhere for the big flower that it must be coming from but, no, just little ole me here!

 

Lovin’ Spring!

Ferne