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!

Garden Update

Even with all of the rain this week I got some new plants
planted or stuck in the mud.
I had been wanting some variegated leaf tall phlox to add
to the flowerbeds because I love phlox and if they had a
variegated foliage it had to be a plus.



I purchased three 'Nora Leigh' Phlox paniculata from
Butterflybushes.com or Rose Franklins Perrenials & Herbs.
I was so impressed at the well established plants that came
from there in the mail and the care at which they took in packaging
them.

I also planted some white Candytuft iberis semervirens along
the edges of the sidewalk.

I had saw a picture of Lynn's from Flower Gardening
Mahonia Oregon Grape Holly 'Mahonia aquifloium' when it was blooming
this spring and its beautiful yellow flowers. So I found them and planted two
this week in the woodland garden bed since they do well in shade.
They get grape like berries on them that the birds
will love.

Also since I had lost two rose bushes this winter, the ice
storm must have done them in or disease, one was replaced
with an ' Almost Black Rose' which I am hoping will do well
here in the flowerbed.

I had received free from an order with Springhill Gardens
a Paeonia suffruticosa 'Zhuang Yuan Hong' tree peony
so it was stuck in the mud.
With all of the rain there was no need to water the new additions
to the flowerbeds.




Update on the computer problem: My hard drive was ruined
in the old one so it was going to have to be replaced. Guess
what I received for an early Mother Day present. I was so
thrilled at the generous present. The new one runs vista so
it will take a little while for me to get use to the new bells and
whistles on it and a few old programs I had will have to be
updated but I am all set now.

Going to go with my daughter and mother up to Sugarcreek, Ohio
in Amish country this weekend. I am hoping the rain will at least
hold off so we can enjoy the sights and get some pictures.

Happy Mothers Day and Happy Gardening everyone!

Spring Bouquet

This will may well be my last post until I get a new
computer and get it set up. Mine crashed again
this morning so I am holding mybreath hoping to get
this posting finished,I did a recovery and got it a going
this morning butthe hard drive is going out so....
Love computers when they run well and hate them
when they give me problems.

Here is a Spring Bouquet from my Garden.

Everything is growing so wonderfully from the
mini heat wave we had and now the rain.
The trees are coming out in full leaf and everything
is getting green around the house.
Why does the greens in Spring look greener than the
rest of the growing season?

Brunnera and Tulip Spring Bouquet

Spring Blooms Busting Forth

Well the computer was slowly going down after all
of my system functions starting disappearing.
I had some things backed up so I started downloading
all the rest of my files as fast as possible. Before it was
done I couldn't even get them all downloaded because
of system failures and I was really panicking over the
possibility of losing some files.
My son started doing my computer over from the HP
recovery files and after a lot of recovery work my
computer is back up and running again and I did not loose
anything important. Just took time to get everything back up
and running as it was before.
Was that a relief!!

I went out yesterday morning and took so many pictures
of everything that was blooming. It is good to be able to
have some new pictures to share. I also visited two locations
in the Hocking Hills State Park area where I live and got
some wonderful pictures that I will be able to post on my other
Blog site Nature's Scenic View
I also was delighted to see two new birds, Rose Breasted
Grosbeak's, at the bird feeder, plus the Hummer's are finally
back.
Here are some blooms around the house now:

The Dogwood trees are in bloom now upon the hills
and they are so beautiful.





My poor Lilac bushes that were all bent and broken
this winter in the ice storm are back up and blooming.





The fragrance from the two old bushes blowing across
the yard is so wonderful.








Foam flower "Spring Symphony" is just starting to bloom.




My new tiny Magnolia "Jane" is small but had some blooms.





This bug seems to like the new magnolia blooms.



It is a beautiful time of the year and my MRI came back normal
so regardless of what my family may tell me my brain is fine :-)

Mystery Tulip Blooms

For those who have been following my blog you may
remember that a few weeks back I had found some
variegated tulip leaves coming up that I did not know
where they came from or what kind of tulip it may be.
The tulips that I had in this bed were yellow and orange
striped and did not have variegated leaves on them.



Well the tulip finally bloomed but it is still a mystery
and a surprise because it was not there last year and
I did not plant any new ones in this part of the yard.



The variegated tulip is red and white and beside it was
another surprise tulip, a bright red one.

I had removed some flower from this bed to relocate them
last Fall so is it possible that these are some very old bulbs
that were already there and in my digging around in this bed
caused them to bloom again?
Or could they be bulbs formed from the yellow and orange
striped tulips? No, not likely. Hmmm?
The red and the white with red striped tulip are still a mystery
but they are pretty together so I will leave them alone where
they are.





I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. It was so beautiful
here, in fact we had a mini heat wave for this time of the year in
Ohio with temps of 85 and 86 degrees. I was outdoor soaking it
all up and working in the flowerbeds.
Got some flowers moved around and planted three new
creeping Thyme "Magic Carpet", plus many other projects.
Got the plants that had been overwintering in the basement
up to get some sun and fertilizer. Moved the mini green house
outdoors to harden off my transplants. It was just a beautiful
weekend to get outdoors and enjoy what I love best, working
on my flower beds and of course taking some photographs.

We have one more day of very warm weather today and I will
be right back out there soaking it up before the rain and cooler
weather comes back in tomorrow.
Happy Gardening Everyone!

UPDATE: My computer is getting ready to crash so
I may be gone until the problem is solved.
Gotta love and hate em'.

Just Looking ! Well.....

The local nurseries are jam packed right now with so
many wonderful blooms. They are ready for the May
rush to buy plants with Mother's day, Memorial Day and
here in Ohio we plant after May 18th those tender plants
when we are generally clear of sudden frosts.





Geraniums must be a big seller because there were tables full
of them in every color, from scented, ivy varieties, and the
many leaf variegations.
There was not an abundance of perennials here because
it appears this nursery was replacing the perennial houses
with landscaping displays. They must be moving to get more
from landscaping profits than plants now.Which is understandable
since the big box store are able to sell plants cheaper than the
nurseries can which is sad because if we do not support our local
nurseries they will have to close or find other ways to keep going
and we will be stuck before long with just what the big box
stores offer us. I cannot see them offering some of the new varieties
that I saw at the nursery.
Anyway, I took some pictures of some plants and ground covers
that I just loved or that caught my eye.





This Ajuga or Bugleweed "Chocolate Chip" was just stunning.
I admit I love blue blooms and this herbaceous perennial from
the Lamiaceae family was one I would like to own. It is a hardy
ground cover for zones 4-9 which grows in sun to partial shade
and blooms May and June.





This Pasque "Red Clock" Pulsatilla vulgaris ' was not open on
a cloudy day but the blooms were so unusual and pretty that
I would welcome some in my flower beds. This anemone blooms
early from March through May and is not a new plant but
I liked it feathery leaves and red blooms.

Does anyone other than I think this ornamental strawberry
"Pink Panda" has the pretties blooms?
Fragaria cheloensis is hardy to zone 5 and blooms from May into
August. It gets small red fruits that the birds like.





This Veronica austriaca Speedwell "Waterperry Blue" was another
plant that was so airy and pretty. This ground cover is good in
zones 5 - 8, blooms in the Spring and likes sun to partial shade.
The lavender blue blooms has white eyes .





I purchased a blue Jacob's Ladder Polemonium but this variegated
leaf one was a beauty. This spring bloomer grows in the shade.
It was pretty but when researching it at home I found that it
may have a problem with powdery mildew so I will pass on
it. Our humidity in the summer may spoil this plant.





I like anemones very much and this white windflower called
Anemone sylvestris "Snow Drop" was very pretty with its yellow
eyes. It blooms from May, September and is suppose to be a
vigorous spreader and repeat bloomer. It is good in zones 3 -9
and I think it would be a great combination plant to go under my
lilies. Since this one is so hardy and a repeat bloomer I will
go back and purchase.

We are getting some marvelous weather this weekend so
you all know where I will be.

A special thanks to all of you for the Birthday wishes
and greetings. I am overwhelmed by your generosity
and kindness. Gardeners are wonderful people.

Have a good weekend and Happy Gardening!

Big 6 O

My mind still says I can do it but my body says I
am getting older.

After going for an MRI today I decided to treat myself
to some flower shopping at the local nurseries.




I have been wanting some variegated tall phlox because
I love phlox and its fragrance in the summer so of course
had to have two of these Becky Towne Variegated beauties
to come home to my garden. Happy Birthday to me! :-)





I got a Jacob's Ladder for the shade garden.Someone had
mentioned in their posting that the blooms smelled like grapes.
They really do !!
I grabbed up a smaller one that was not blooming yet to
plant.It was cheaper that way.

The selection of Gerbera Daisies was amazing at the nursery
after moments of indecision I opted for a very shocking pink
and a very subtle pink because I have a teapot that they would
look great planted in.

This bloom was a double header. Looks strange but pretty.

Jack Frost Brunnera's Early Blooms

I cannot remember my Jack Frost Brunnera blooming so early.
It is starting to bloom even before the leaves have
hardly grown. Maybe it is suppose to since I am rather
new to growing the plant. I also planted a Looking Glass
Brunnera and I confuse the two.
I just love the blue flowers and the leaf patterns.
It grows from seed so easily that I have several new ones
that has been planted about in the shady flower beds.
I am afraid they will be getting little white snow flakes on their
lovely blue blooms tomorrow.
This fickle Spring weather can really dampen ones enthusiasm
at times, but this too shall pass.
Have a beautiful Blooming Tuesday!

April Blooms