Sunday Sparkle Blooms

Good Morning Gardeners!
I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend.
Granny Get Out The Long-John's!
We are having one of the coolest July's on record
here in the Buckeye State. When it reaches only 65
degrees in the daytime in July here it is very wrong
somehow. Just not what we are use to here at this
time of year. Although I do not miss the humidity
we generally have I do not want it this cool either.
Will my poor flowers get mixed up and think it is Fall
already?
The cause may do to a volcano eruption in the island's.
If so two or three eruptions of volcanoes could take
care of our global warming and put us closer to returning
back to the ice age.
This time of the year there is so much blooming and
growing in gardens the everyone is very busy outdoors.
I have saw so many beautiful lilies on gardening blogs
that a new list had to be started.
I forgot to bring the bird feeders inside last night
so those little masked varmints wrecked them.
I would not mind them eating the seed if they would
just not tear apart the feeders getting to it.
Raccoons are so smart sometimes. They can get my
lock down garbage can lids off with out a problem while
I struggle to get it off.

Before I forget, everyone go to Abe Lincoln's blog and
Help Abe Make History!
Click onto the picture of Abe at the top left of the blog.
He has some of the most beautiful pictures of flowers
and nature. You will not want to miss seeing them.

Happy Gardening Everyone!

Yarrow Time

I have several yarrow plants that are starting to bloom
now. Two pink varieties, 'Oertela Rose' and 'Richard Nelson'
which is just a more neon pink, and the standard
white yarrow to brighten up the flowerbed. I have a new red
one 'Paprika' but I do not think it is going to do much this
season for some reason. Maybe it needs more time to
settle in.



Meet 'Oertela Rose' Achillea.



Meet 'Richard Nelson' Achillea.








I think one of these has to be moved because my kids
cannot see through the yarrow and I cannot see
the kids for the yarrow.
It will most likely be the kids since the yarrow is happy
where it is.

My Brandywine tomatoes are blooming.
Now where are the honey bees??




Happy Gardening Everyone!

Annuals Take The Lead

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.
Summer vacations are starting for many now that school is out .
We can tell by the traffic here in the Hocking Hill's that many
are taking their vacations here or closer to home because of the
gas prices and a slower economy. I hope that everyone who
comes here for their vacations have a wonderful time but please
do not spin in my gravel while turning around in the driveway
and throw your trash in my yard, and to those few from
other countries, my yard is not park property and open to
the public, but it does close at dark like the state park. :-)
Can you tell we have a problem with tourists once in a while.
Now, that I have vented, on to the annuals.

Annuals sometimes get a bad rap in the issue of gardening
because they do not last and are usually replaced every spring.
I have experimented with various annuals and found that if you
have the space to over winter them they some can be cut back
and saved for the following spring plantings. I have been
able to overwinter many geraniums including the ivy geraniums,
impatiens, petunias, osteospermum's, to name a few, and I
always bring in the Ipomoea potato vines to start new vines from
the old for planting.
Annuals can always be depended upon to take the lead in
coloring up the flower beds when our perennials are
spent or we are in between growing seasons for them. In
the heat of summer the annuals keep on blooming.
I love my perennials that come back every year but in my
old clay soil that gets as hard as rocks I need the annuals
that are grown by all gardeners to place around to fill in
the spaces.
Here are some of the old reliable annuals that are in bloom
around the garden and in containers that add more color to
my world.




Red Verbena

Blue or Purple Petunia's








White Geranium's

Pink Tobacco flowers.

Osteospermum




White Wave Petunia's and Red Tobacco Plants

Rose Geranium's.

I have many more that were started from seed that are
just coming on with blooms to share later.

Happy Gardening Everyone!

Fushia in Recycled Pots

Well what's a person to do? Too wet to tromp around
outdoors from the rains we have been having. I am trying
to just take the rain all in stride because I know here it
will go from one extreme to another and we will have our
drought spell coming. Can this be June? We had our hot
humid days in the 80's with the air conditioners on and
then wham we got another cool wet spell in the 60's where
we are having to turn on the heat.
Ohio weather, where whatever can happen will.
So this person will take the time to catch up
on the garden blogs and there is always cleaning the house,
yuk! I find the older I get the less everything in my house
has to spotless and everything in its place. ;-)

I am trying a couple of Fushia's for the first time. I am hoping
they will like me and not try to commit to the compost pile.
If anyone has some special tips on growing them I am all ears
and the Fushia's will appreciate the guidance I am sure.




I am always on the lookout for any containers to grow flowers
in and I love recycling or reusing things that can be used for
growing flowers . I found this old basket which I believe may
have been an old funeral basket and painted it a cream color
and stuck a pink fushia and some moss around it. Will the Fushia
like the damp moss around or not? Maybe I need an ivy plant in
the basket also to climb around the handle?




I saw this pitcher and bowl set at the Goodwill store for a
couple of bucks and thought it would make a nice planter.
I stuck this white and lavender Fushia in the pitcher and
a variegated ivy in the bowl. I think the colors will go with
the pitcher and the ivy will spread out nicely when they
take off growing.

Happy Gardening Everyone!

Clematis " Silver Moon"

One of my clematis vines is in full bloom now.
It is called 'Silver Moon'.



The colors are more of a soft shade of lavender which
looks almost gray in the sunlight. So I guess that is
where the silver reference comes from.
I like it because it does very well in shady areas of
which I have a lot of around here.

The iris are still blooming wonderfully and these look
like little soldiers all lined up.



Foam Flower 'Spring Symphony' tiarella is also still
blooming with its feathery blooms.



Since the weather has decided to warm up again the
morning was spent cleaning and revamping my small
pump pond. I wanted warmer weather before I started
playing in the water especially since I am now trying to
get over a sinus infection. I hate getting old! Seems I am
slowly falling apart these days :-)



The heavy pump just about wore me out moving it and
painting it. I have to admit I rolled it around more than
lifting the thing.Got a new liner put in and a new light for it
and got the rocks around it rearranged again. It looks so
much better (cleaner) after all of the gunk I took from it.



As you can see my Rhododendron's are now in full
bloom. They have grown so large over the years that I
am going to have to trim them this fall.The lavender
one is against the house and is now rubbing the siding
on the house.

Plans for tomorrow since the frost is gone is to get the
my tomatoes and some containers filled.
The geraniums that were over wintered are doing very
well now and just need a few flowers to fill in around
them.
The outdoor furniture will need to be brought out of the
shed and scrubbed down.

Happy Gardening Everyone!!

Columbine Rose Barlow

My Columbine, aquilegia ' Rose Barlow' is blooming now.
She is pretty and a welcome bloom in the Spring.
My only improvement on the flower would be that the
blooms or heads did not droop but bloom more upright.
She is dainty and lovely regardless of her drooping blooms
though.





Jack Frost Brunnera is almost stopped blooming now
and its leaves are getting larger and more beautiful.



I love this time of the year when so much many flowers
are starting to bloom.
Now that the 18th of May is upon us warmer weather will
settle in and the days of harmful frosts or cold spell will be
no more, so now I can get my Brandywine tomatoes
planted out along with other warm weather veggies.

Happy Gardening Everyone!

Honey Locust Trees

The Honey Locust trees around the house in the woods
are blooming now and they are just gorgeous.
They are so full of long white blooms that fill the
trees and surround the yard with their fragrance.



Against the blue skies the white blooms look so pretty.



The chains of blooms remind me of Wisteria blooms.

I just happen to catch this Bumblebee heading for the blooms.
The bees and hummingbirds are loving them and the noise of
buzzing fills the air.



My, now eleven year old, Wisteria is starting to get leaves now.
Will it bloom this year for the first time? Or not?
I am about to get rid of the thing and chalk it up as a lost cause.
After moving it into more sun, and trimming severely, and whacking it,
and talking to it, at times very roughly, such as "bloom or your gone", I
am going to dig it up and replace it if it does not bloom.
Wouldn't you say I have tried with it long enough?

Now in Bloom