To All Of The Flowers I've Known And Lost

Just call me Mrs. Brown Thumb.
What is that old song that says
"To all of the Women I've Known and Lost" ?
Well after going through my flower picture files and

notes this is and apology to all of the flowers that

I have known and lost.
Even with all the best intentions and with all of the
knowledge I possessed at a given time in some poor
plants life, it seems that I have lost quite a few over
the years.

How you might ask does one kill a hardy, tough,
grow anywhere perennial like Hollyhocks?
Well moving them three times in one summer
and then forgetting to water them just might be a clue.
Planting them in the shade behind the garage does not
seem to help them grow to great heights and form
beautiful blooms.
They were moved once again last Fall to new sunny
location. Will this red one be amongst the six replanted?
Who knows but one can always hope.
Then let us not mention the six 'Queeny Purple'
dwarf hollyhocks that were started from seed.
They grew wonderfully all summer in the garden
but every one of them failed to come back last summer.






Now this little anemone just disappeared into
thin air. I think a garden fairy loved it so much that
it came one night to borrow it and forgot to bring it
back.
"That is my excuse and I am sticking to it."




Now this hardy Geranium I remember well
and it took a lot of work to get rid of this lovely.

There has been many perennials that have been
lost and I will not bore you with them all.
Thank your lucky stars that I do not have pictures
of them either. The carnage is too horrific for
innocent gardeners to view.





This dear 'Ruutel' Clematis only lived to
the tender age of two summers.
And least we forget two 'Autumn Joy' clematis
have met there demise by my hand.





I will take full credit for killing this Trumpet vine.
After years of growth and suckers coming up 30
yards away, not to mention the drainage lines it clogged,
I tried and tried for five years to kill it and its little suckers.


But it seems I am more famous with my brown thumb
by the name of ' The Killer of Roses".





'Queen Elizabeth' did not like her visit to my
garden.





'Irish Gold' literally turn red with anger.
Well it could have actually been it froze back
last winter to the graft and turned red.





'Senior Prom' did not stay for the final waltz.
And an 'Autumn Rose' did not stay to the following
Spring let alone the next Autumn.





Alas 'Pink Beauty Rose' was a beauty.
Maybe it is that the color of pink in roses that
just hate me. I do see a color theme here in the roses.
No excuses , I just managed to kill them all somehow.





How in the world does someone kill a knockout rose?
Again you just move it three times in one summer and
forget to water. Simple really.




Two Mimosa trees have gone to early deaths.
One do to the mess it left.
Note to gardeners: do not plant them in garden
beds or near roofs and sidewalks. They are beautiful
but messy. Another one due to a new septic system had to
meet its Waterloo.
No they are not invasive in my yard
and two others are planted FAR, FAR away from the house.





Caladium's bulbs just will not over winter in my
basement. Maybe they are too stuck up to stay
among the cobwebs and dry air.





Now it looks as though 'Capistrano' Rhododendron
may be bidding me a fond ado after this winter.
She has slowly been disassociating her self from
me the last two years and this winter her frail limbs
are broken from the snow and wind.
Losing her will be so sad.





The number of flowers I have lost over the years
are too many to even write them here.
As gardeners we know you win some
and you sadly lose some.
" Oh come on now, don't you all stand there
all puffed up and tell me you never lost a plant ". LOL!

Good Luck and Happy Gardening Everyone!

My Flowers Are Winding Down

Good Morning Everyone!
It looks as though my flower garden is winding down
for the summer. I do not have too many perennials that
are blooming at the moment. I am going to miss the blooms.
The Becky shasta daisies are in full bloom and some of the
phlox are still blooming and the annuals. What would I do without
annuals to keep my color in the garden going.
The unseasonably cool weather in Ohio makes it feel like fall
is already here instead of the dog days of summer.

Since I need more color in my beds at this time of summer,
what are some good perennials to plant that would bloom now
until the fall mums and anemones start blooming?
I do have some neon sedum and a variegated sedum that
has yet to bloom but I need something more.




Anemone 'Charlotte' is about ready to bloom so she will
help.




The Rose Of Sharon bushes are about spent and the leaves
are riddled with holes from the beetles.
The morning glory bushes are not liking the cool,
wet weather and are turning yellow.
As I wandered around the yard yesterday looking for
flowers to photograph I realized how scruffy the beds were
starting to look.Most of the coneflowers have been dead
headed and ready for some smaller second round blooms.
My "Double Decker' coneflower was missing its second
deck this summer for some reason and turned into
just a plain coneflower with a bigger center. ;-)

The one and only dalhia I have is starting to bloom now.
I put it into a pot this year because of the hard clay soil
and the drought we would usually be in this time of the
summer it has a hard time growing. It has done so much
better this year in the pot.




This is "Edinburgh" and has two toned white and
deep burgundy blossoms.



I did happen to catch this little beauty fluttering around
on the geraniums. So gardeners what are some good
perennials to plant for this winding down season in
my garden?


Happy Gardening Everyone!

April Blooms

Dang Varmints

#!@#!@# those cute deers. They came into the
yard and ate off about fifty of my new tulips that
were planted in a new bed along the woods that
I worked up last Fall. Makes me so mad.
I have Tulips in my other beds and they never
bothered them before so I thought they would leave these
alone too. Not! That is what I get for thinking.





These are not the guilty varmints that ate my the
Tulips but a deer is a deer. Or is it? These pictures
were given to me by a relative and they are not to clear.
They are copies and it was a cloudy day.
Notice anything strange about the one doe?
She looks like a very skinny-necked cow that
is all spotted. I tried to get pictures of her for
about the four years that she was around here
but could never get close enough.
She is not all albino but she sure looks strange.
She was around the area for four years and always
had twin babies every year and none of them got the
messed up genes that she had.
Last Fall a local hunter shot her during deer
hunting season and everyone here in the area
was really ticked off at him.
I am a country girl and believe in keeping the
populations thinned down and use to hunt so
we were not aggravated that he shot a deer but
we kind of liked having her around to watch over
the years.
Some eww and ahh when they see deers but they can
cause a lot of damage here in the farm lands.
My parents had to put a electric fence around their
garden to keep them from eating everything.
I sure do not want them eating my flowers no
matter how cute the little fawns may be.
So I may have to make up an old lady scarecrow
to put by the bed with some deer be gone on her.
Does anyone know of a good spray?





I have seen pictures of deers that were all white but I
have not saw any marked like she was.





The Forsythia bushes are blooming now. They
really brighten up the scenery. These were by an
old rambled house that I passed while out taking
a ride around the country side to see what was in
bloom. While I was in the city this week so many trees
were in bloom but out in the country there is not much
happening yet. The heat from buildings in the city
must cause everything to bloom sooner.



We have had one snow since the Forsythia starting
blooming so we are due two more.
We are suppose to have colder weather coming in
the first of the week with snow showers so we will
see if the old saying "Three more snows after the Forsythia
blooms" comes to pass.
I can live with the old saying being completely wrong
and forget all about more snow. Would not hurt my
feelings at all.