If Every Day Could Be Like This...

I couldn't let the day end without the Saturday Sky post. Finally,
a beautiful blue one! Most of the day was like that, a little breezy, but just lovely. The temps were around 70.
I started my day by going to a couple of garden centers...No...I didn't ask how much those awesome potted palms were, but damn, they'd look good in my yard. Too bad they wouldn't overwinter up here! But, I filled my car up with a whole lot of other happy, and took them home to fill up the deck. Wow...it was work, but worth it. I only took a break to come inside to watch Big Brown win the Preakness. That horse is AMAZING. I got to see a few shots of my boss Tamar and her husband Gary on TV. That was cool. So, now, all that happy you see there to the right is now planted in their containers around my deck, but it was too dark by the time I finished to take their pictures. I found out the hard way that hose sprayers left out over the winter will crack. :-) Not the first time, I should know better. I guess I needed a drenching, LOL. Once again, I need a new sprayer. As well as a visit from a plumber...the outside faucet is leaking. Ah, the joys of being a home owner! I really did enjoy planting up all those flowers. I used to do so much more gardening in my old life, and I miss it so. But I was feeling pretty good today, (help from the pain meds!) so I got a lot done. I even allowed Reggae to come outside for a little bit, first time this season. He still tried to do his "Houdini" act, but he did come when I called after a few times, and went inside on his own. It was a good day. But I am tired now, and going to bed. I've got some more posts for tomorrow...I have to talk about the awesome Coffee Swap package I received from my surprise secret partner who turned out to be Amanda!

Topic of the Week #4

I thought I'd best post one of these weekly topics...so here goes. This is the weekly question for SFCY Swap:

"Let's pretend for a minute we all live in the home of our dreams, have land, and don't have to work so time is unlimited! It's Spring planting season! What would you grow? A little veggie garden? A bed of bright spring blooms? Or is your thumb so far from green that the only thing you'd be planting is your tushy into a nice chair on the porch to get some knitting or crocheting done in the nice breeze?"

Well, if I didn't have residual effects from the injuries I sustained in the accident, I could do the things I will write about, even with work. But as this is let's pretend...here goes. I would plant flowers and herbs. maybe some grape tomatoes and cumcumbers in 1/2 wine barrel planters. Lots and lots of containers of flowers of all kinds, in beautiful clay and ceramic pots...(at one point, I had 50 scattered all over---now only about 10) My perennial beds have (had) all kinds of plants to attract hummingbirds and butterflies and bees and birds. I have gardens tucked in every nook and cranny of the yard, and garden art too. And this magical garden will weed and water itself, cuz I can't do all that much.

When all the plantings done, I will sit and knit on the deck admiring the beauty that is blooming around me.

Birds and Bees and Butterflies, Oh My!

I'm sure it happens on the weekdays too, but I'm trapped inside an office and don't get to see what goes on in my backyard during the day. This afternoon I got to see nature at her finest. There were at least 5 types of butterflies flutterin' around: little skippers, little yellows, and whites, and monarchs, and my favorite, swallowtail. I was able to snap this as he was feeding on my butterfly bushes. I also got to see the monarch and swallowtail chase each other, I'm sure it was over who gets the choice blossom. Don't fight, flutters! There's plenty for everyone!
As I was sitting quietly on the deck reading blogs and email, a male American Goldfinch stopped for lunch on the thistleseed feeder. I was able to take a pic before he noticed me. He's there, really. That spot of yellow on the feeder amongst the hibiscus tree's leaves. I was only 2 feet from him. The chicadees are feeding at the sunflower feeder as I type, they don't seem to bothered by me out here. Either that, or they know who fills that feeder when it's empty! I was able to take a picture of a little bee on a budelia bloom. A garden with bees is a happy garden.
As I walked around the back yard last night, I realized that my perennial gardens are nearly at their peak. How can that be? It seems that Memorial Day, the unoffical start of Summer, wasn't all that long ago.







I've yet to see any hummingbirds, but hopefully they will migrate through here real soon.
C'mon hummers! The honeysuckle and trumpet vines are waiting for you!








UPDATE! I shut the laptop down and came inside to answer the phone (good call, will post about it tomorrow!) I looked outside and what did I see? A Hummingbird! Sipping on the honeysuckle! Yay! I couldn't believe it. Just for a few seconds, but he's here!

Snippets of Saturday

Some shots of a couple of my pots-O-happy I took this morning while having coffee on the deck. They haven't been scorched by the sun and heat yet, but a predicted heat wave this week might make them sad and droopy. I am not looking forward to HHH weather. Today was bad...I had to take a pain pill in the middle of the afternoon because the change in weather gave me much hurt. Better now, but still more pain than I care to handle. I knitted on the deck pretty much all afternoon until the sun came around and it got to hot. Reggae was a very good cat and didn't do his Houdini impression and stayed in my sight. Here is the king of the back yard this afternoon.

Later, inside, he hopped into a basket I've been using for holding yarn and projects. It was empty; it must have looked inviting. He rolled around in it for a while, it was cute. :-)

I took cuttings of some of the perennials in my gardens. There are some purple cone flowers, hydrangea, yarrow, rudebecia goldstrum, and a flower from one of my hostas. I've been growing them for years, but I never realized the cone flowers smelled so sweet. No wonder the butterflies and bees are attracted to them. Lots of butterflys and bees around the garden today. I noticed the trumpet vine is about to bloom and the honeysuckle is about to do it's 2nd bloom, so hopefully the hummingbirds will be here soon.

Early Summer Gardens..

lacecap hydrangea mophead hydrangea

I must have neutral soil for these to bloom so purple. blue is acid, pink is alkaline. I think, anyway..it's got to do with the pH in the soil. That's good, I like the shade they are, it's a favorite color! I got these plants as leftover's from a mother's day display at work quite a few years ago. Recycling in all it's glory!

Some of my perennials in early bloom. Lots of budding going on in the greenery.

Deck Ambience

As I've mentioned in the past, I like to knit on my deck weather permitting while the "other" reads or relaxes. I love being surrounded by the flowers I've planted in the containers, listening to the birds singing and the water fountain sounds. In my old life (pre-accident) I had over 50 containers planted around my deck, front porch and yard. Now, I just concentrate on the deck, and let the perennials I've planted in other years help fill in the void. This year, I got a flat of some basics at a local nursery, petunias, marigolds, ageratums, etc. I usually choose more uncommon annuals to fill my containers and attract bees and butterflies, but the choice there was limited. it was a bad ankle day and I had much pain, and I needed to get home and plant, if that was going to happen at all. It was Mother's Day weekend and the nurseries were crowded. It's been 6 weeks, and those container plants, although growing, were looking sparse boring like crap and needed some happy. They were hardly photo-worthy. Sitting on the deck wasn't giving me the usual good feeling; something was incomplete, missing. Yesterday, it was a good ankle day and after my pedicure appointment, (ahhh---that was a long overdue indulgence) I went to a nursery that I knew had an awesome selection---Cannas and sweet potato vines, heliotrope, lantana, verbena, and more. $100 later (!) I had a car full of happy. :-) I got home and planted my selections with the existing flowers, and now my containers look much better. I still would like to get a couple more, but I went through my flower budget right there. These are some of the results.

More Spring Things

Some years it rains really hard and I don't get to see the Azaleas in my yard bloom for more than a day or 2. Perhaps the awful heat of earlier in the week followed but thankfully cooler temps the last 3 days forced them into bloom. Whatever it was, here are my Azaleas. On the left is "Peppermint Twist" and the other one is "Rose Pink". I got these as leftover plants from Mother's Day decor at work a few years ago; they were getting thrown out! Also in there is a hosta, some mountain pinks, leftover spring bulb greenery, and the vine on the fence is my climbing hydrangea that is over the arbour and spreading over the fence.



This is a Nepeta cataria (catmint/catnip) just starting to bloom. Reggae isn't overly attracted to catnip, so my plant has been safe from trampling. I do crush some leaves for him and he'll eat them, but he doesn't get stoned. I wish he would, it might make him friendly to people! ;-)

Signs of Spring

No knitting content today, I'm working on things for the Dishcloth exchange and I don't want my partner to see her items in case she stumbles upon my blog. :-) Instead, I'm posting pics of signs Spring in my yard today. I saw the first dragonfly zoom by, probably bought in on a wind from the approaching low that's going to produce a major coastal storm and nor'easter tomorrow.

Some of the pansies I planted last week.

What's left of the daffodils that were planted long ago,

and some hyacinths still in bloom.

Soon the 'orange snake' will be covered with summer growth and mulch.

The male American Goldfinches are sporting their spring plumage more each day.
I love to see them change to brilliant yellow.
They enjoy the feeder I've set up for them on my deck.

Signs of Spring

There are signs of Spring, at last, in my gardens. It seemed to take a long time this year. I guess the tease of a warm January followed by a very cold February and early March made it seem endless. But now, things are ever so slowly budding and blooming...the garden centers are offering spring plants, I think maybe we'll get some pansies to put into a few pots tomorrow if it doesn't rain too hard. I love their cheery little faces.

Cardinal's Lunch Break

A cardinal is naturally shy and will fly away when disturbed or humans approach. I was able to take this shot while this young male stopped by for lunch at the safflower seed feeder this afternoon. If the birds are around, can spring be far behind?

If you plant it..they will come

Just 2 of the many visitors to my gardens this year. Lots of different butterflies, a couple hummingbirds, many bumblebees of course, and all my favorite songbirds. Last year, the butterflies were not so numerous, perhaps because the 2005 winter was too cold and snowy? I don't know, but what ever it is, I am glad. That's why I plant as I do, for the butterflies and hummingbirds. Although I haven't been able to garden as much as I'd like due to my injuries from the accident, the perrenials show thier stuff and help me out.