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Tag Archives: Gardens
Border Garden
Getting summer off to a beautiful start, our front border garden is filled with echinacea blooms.
Wishing you a very lovely weekend!
Grapes in the Garden
A few years ago, a friend gave me a few grape vines from his vineyard. I had just put an arbor in the front garden as a backdrop for wedding ceremonies that we host. I was undecided about what to plant on it, but Joe gave me a Malbec vine and a Cabernet Franc vine. The Malbec vine made it through the first summer but not the winter. Apparently, larger-leaved varietals can struggle in Kansas. The Cabernet Franc vine, however, has been growing strong; and this year, for the first time, it has produced grapes. I don’t have any plans to try wine-making, but it is awfully fun to see the fruit coming along. A good addition to the garden!
Wishing you a lovely first day of summer!
A Sunny Start
A single yellow lily poking its head up into the early morning light …
Wishing you a lovely day!
Pinks and Golden Yellows in May Garden
We’ve had a bit of stormy weather here in Kansas over the last few days – with more in store over the next few.
Some of our flowers, especially some of the roses, have gotten bedraggled. Others have really pulled through, thankfully, and they are some of my fragrant varieties; so that is quite nice.
The “Kiss Me Kate” Asiatic Lilies just started opening and are especially saturated with color – I think due to the cooler spring temperatures than we have most years. The coreopsis have also just started to put on their show for the summer.
As you can see from the photos, at this time of year, the color scheme for the garden is one of contrasts predominantly strong pinks and golden yellows. In a few weeks, that shall change. With its long bloom season and variety of perennials, the garden is always changing.
“Kiss Me Kate” mixed in with “Memorial Day” Rose. Spireas in the background and Golden Oregano as ground cover.
Coreopsis …
Above, “Secret” Rose.
Here in the U.S. it is a holiday weekend – Memorial Day Weekend. Wishing you the best …
Sunny-Rainy Garden
We have had quite a bit of rain this spring. In fact, for the first time in six years, Kansas is not in drought conditions.
At least one big storm passed through the area overnight and when I awoke this morning, the sky was full of ominous-looking clouds. So I wasn’t expecting to a few minutes of glorious sunshine for photographing the garden. By the time that I was done taking and uploading pictures onto my camera, rain clouds had moved back in. Our weather can change almost minute by minute.
Here are a few photos that I got in between bought of rain …
As always, wishing you a lovely day whatever the weather might bring!
A Few Irises
I love it when our irises are in bloom … and so do our guests. The garden is such a wonderful conversation starter!
The lovelies above are Thornbird Irises. I chose them for our garden because, despite being a modern iris, I thought that they had a beautiful old-fashioned look to go with our historic home.
The beautiful irises below are ones that I call “Happy Accidents in Peach” because I do not know their true names. They were supposed to be a spotted purple variety, but I adore these, though they are nothing like what I thought I was planting.
As always, wishing you a very lovely day …
Iris in the Breeze
Iris season is a special time in our garden. We have about 150 early-mid season irises blooming right now in shades of deep burgundy, vibrant purple, and pure white lining the front walkway and adding sweet scent to the air. Soon will come the pinks, the mauves and the beiges just around the time that the rose bushes start to bloom and then the spring garden will be in full swing.
Wishing you a most lovely day!
Past iris posts & photos:
Abbey’s Rose
Nature can be a crazy, beautiful thing. As amazing as it is, I still have one rose blooming in the garden – in December, a week after an ice storm.
This is a delicate miniature rose that a friend gave to us as a memorial to our Boston Terrier Abbey after “Abbs” passed away in the summer of 2014. I thought that I had lost it last spring when it didn’t come out of dormancy with our other roses; but I dug it up and put it in a pot, hoping that it would come back. Here “she” is, still blooming.
I am thinking that maybe I will bring the pot inside for the winter to see whether I can keep Abbey’s rose alive, since I have never successfully overwintered a potted rose outside. (I purchased roses in pots during winter months and transplanted them outside in the late spring, but have never gone in the other direction.)
In the meantime, on this December day, I am delighted to see Abbey’s rose and to think of our sweet girl.
An Icy Day
With the freezing rain that we have had over the last 24 hours, it is a good day to stay inside, have a warm drink and read a book … or go outside and take pictures in the garden for a wee bit first if you are someone like me! These are quite a contrast from the photos that I took just 12 days ago. It is so dreary out today that I had to use a flash to get a few of the shots, something that I almost never do outside.
Wishing you a warm and lovely day … and safe travels to anyone out on the road in this area today!
A Taste of Morning 