Fun with Flowers

It feels like I really don't have much to say on here lately. Truly, I don't. I think I am becoming a boring person. I have been enjoying the product of all this rain we have had this summer so far (I think that we skipped Spring, really, and that's okay with me). Last year, I purchased some daylilies at the Growers Outlet and then when I got them home I divided them into 3-4 plants each, so I had six up front and seven out back. They apparently were not impressed with the division, so they never bloomed, so I wasn't 100% sure what they would look like. Well, they have thankfully come back this year and they just started blooming this year! Yay! Here they are:

The ones in the pictures are the ones in my back yard. Those tall things back there are gladiolus and behind that is the crepe myrtle that we planted a few years ago.

Last year, I went a little nuts with geraniums. The Growers Outlet had some beautiful pink ones and I had purchased a couple of reddish/pink ones from Lowes or Home Depot and they were so pretty, I hated the idea of them dying. So, in my Gardening Month-by-Month in Georgia book by Walter Reeves (and some other lady whose name I can never remember), it gave instructions on how to save plants like geraniums that are kind of hardy. So, I pulled them out of their pots and put them in paper bags and went out there once every month or so and sprayed them with some water during the winter. Lo and behold, they started turning a little green and one even put out a bloom before I could even get them back into pots. All but one of them has survived and they are all looking great (well, except the one that has not shown any signs of life that I need to replace). Here is are some pics of them right after I pulled them out and snipped off all the dead "limbs" and some pics I took various days in the last week:

Those are the ones out back. There is a geraniumin the middle of that rectangular pot, but it is really crowded in with the petunia's and daisies. I like to see a full pot of flowers. There's only one geranium out front that is from last year, you can see it in the first picture looking like a dead stick:

It's amazing to me how fast these flowers grow. Most of these pictures were taken last weekend and the flowers are already blooming more and getting bigger!

I was afraid that none of the geraniums would really be what they were last year (shame on me), so I bought two new ones to put in my hanging baskets because I feel like those should be really pretty since they are so visible from the street. They were just babies and they only cost a dollar (or maybe less) at the Growers Outlet. My hanging baskets are doing great! These pictures are from last weekend and they are even fuller (more full?) right now. You can see in the close up that the daisy I planted in one of them is starting to bloom. I planted them both with the exact same flowers, but the daisy in the other one has not started blooming yet.

You can see how tall the gladiolus I have in front of the shepherd's hook have gotten. There is a clematis climbing up the shepherd's hook, but it's really hard to see from the other side because the gladiolus are so tall. I guess I really didn't plan that out that well. Oh well.

I haven't really put anything new out by the mailbox or under the tree. I planted some Lantana by the mailbox last year as well as a clematis. One of the lantana and the clematis are coming back up, so I think I will just be patient and let them do their thing. I have planted some annuals in the front garden but they aren't really exploding like I would have liked. Hopefully they will start really getting huge like all the books say they will, but we shall see. The yellow flowers are called Melampodium and the furry red, orange, and yellow things in the very front are called Celosia. I don't have a picture of the mailbox area as it looks right now, and I am too lazy to run out and take one, so that will have to wait for another post.

That other pot is on our back porch in between the two chairs we have out there. There's another one sitting on the concrete right in front of it, but it's full of all my "leftovers" and a daisy that decided to come back up this year, so it's not as beautiful and carefully planned out. I may combine it into the large green pot that is sitting behing my long planter on the back porch so that they both look more full. It was kind of a last minute thing, too. The clematis and daisy that were in there from last year were started to come up sitting in the garage, so I just added some other stuff in there with it. The geranium I put in there is not doing anything and I had put two Melampodium in there, but they apparently didn't like it in there so they died. Sad times. It looks kind of sad if you look at it closely. I will put a picture so you can see. Please don't laugh.

Our vegetables are getting little babies on them, too, but that will also have to be for another post as this one has gotten kind of long. Sorry about that. I hope it isn't boring for you to read about my flowers. But, I am a big fan.

Have a great week!

We're Back!

We are back from our much-needed get-away. We enjoyed Asheville and the Biltmore House. There really isn't much to do in Asheville, so if you want to take a 5-day trip, I suggest you plan two stops, maybe 2 days in Asheville and then the rest somewhere else close by with not much to do. But, we still made the most of it. We thought we were going to have an indoor pool, but as it turns out, there are 2 Country Inn and Suites in Asheville. We ate at the Tupelo Honey Cafe that Lindsay suggested and it was really good. We at breakfast and dinner at the Moose Cafe next to the Farmers' Market close to our hotel. All the restaurants in Asheville are all about fresh food from the farm and stuff like that. The Biltmore House was fun to go through and they had even recently reopened one of the important rooms in the house. All the flowers were really pretty. We ate at the Stable Cafe on Thursday for lunch and it was really good.

While we were in Asheville, we also played a round out Putt-Putt and saw two movies: Monsters vs Aliens (in 3D) and Star Trek. I had never watched an entire show or movie of Star Trek. I am not sure how I avoided them growing up as they were on a lot since my dad and sister were big fans. I thought that the Star Trek movie was really good. I would definitely like to own that one once it comes out.

We have downloaded our pictures, but I haven't finished editing them and I need to create a slide show to share on here.

Also, we threw a baby shower for Shana on May 3 and I have those pictures downloaded but not posted yet either, so sorry.

While we were away, it rained a good bit, so everything grew a lot! Our neighbor Nan was also sweet enough to check on the boys and water my pots on days that it didn't rain.

I will post a slide show or two later this evening, hopefully.

TTFN (ta-ta for now!)

Flowers and Cats

While we are away, I want you to have something to look at on our blog. So, I am leaving you with some pictures of our flowers for so far this year. I planted some things in our front bed called celosia. They look pretty cool, but I don't think they like all the wet soil from the rain. I really hope they don't die. I am pretty sure I am done with planting pots and baskets for the summer. I planted just a few...ahem. We have also planted 2 tomato plants, a bell pepper, and a jalapeno plant. So, we'll see how those turn out. I saved all my geraniums from last year and have incorporated them into this year's pots. They are already getting some pretty green leaves. I really hope they bloom as well as they did last year.

I have also adding in some pictures of what the cats do while I am working on the gardening. I usually open the windows to air out the house and the boys sit right in the window and watch me. They like to sniff the air, which is what Sampson is doing in one of the pictures where he is making a funny face. We've been getting a lot of bird activity lately, too. The boys love it. The birds and the cats are eating us out of house and home.

Tutorial on Deadheading a Gardenia Bush

As many of you know, when the flowers on most plants die, you are supposed to pinch off the dead blooms so that it will either continue to flower or begin storing up energy for the next blooming season, depending on the type of plant or the time of year it is. You may also know, I want to do things as quickly as possible because I can be impatient sometimes. So, I have discovered an interesting way to deadhead my gardenias. The dead blooms aren't really attached very well and the live ones, well, they are. Watch and learn from the master. (hahaha)





Please note that the video's sound stops halfway through. This seems to be a blogger issue because it works fine on my computer. So, don't think there's something wrong with your sound!

You Know It's Spring in GA When...

Ooohhh....Aaaahhh....Mmmmmm

I LOVE tulips in the Spring. However, I cannot get bulbs to grow very well, so I purchased some!



Aren't they so pretty and happy?

My De Oro Lilies are growing up so fast! Look at how much they've grown since a few weeks ago when I uncovered them!


Mmmmm....I love Coke. We found these cool glasses at Publix the other day. We bought 4 each of two different designs. I bet these would also be very good when used for a Coke Float.

Cannas in Bloom

I noticed today when I got home that my canna lily had bloomed. This is one of the plants I got from Teri last September when we got the hostas in our front gardens. I think I planted about 5 of them, and only two have come up and this one is the only one that bloomed. But, I am okay with that. Can you believe how tall this thing is? It is about 3.5 feet tall (I stood next to it and I am less than a foot and a half taller than it and I am 5'1.5"). Maybe the others will come up next year. I have never had good luck with planting bulbs. Usually if I plant a bulb that is already in bloom, it lives and will come back the next year, but starting from bulbs doesn't work for me very well. Anyway, I thought I would share!

Exciting Happenings Coming

I am taking a vacation day tomorrow (Friday) in order to finalize my cruise wardrobe. I am also going to be preparing our house for our party on Saturday. We are having some friends from church over to have a Cinco de Mayo party. We really don't celebrate that holiday, but it just seemed like a good chance to have everyone over for fajitas and frozen limeaid. We don't get a lot of visitors out here in Loganville. I hope our cats behave. They are really good, so I am sure they will. Everyone will love their sweet, furry attitudes! I love gardening and you can't tell it from looking at our garden. I think I may make a trip to the store for some pretty annuals. I love flowers! Our De Oro lilies look great already. I will put a picture of them below. These lilies line our little walkway from the driveway to the front door. According to my favorite gardening book by Felder Rushing, these lilies are very hardy in the South. He's right!