It seems like spring has finally arrived here in Wisconsin. Though it's been rainy and somewhat cool, I think we're in for some nicer weather in the near future. Here's some photos of some of my flo
wer gardens.
I also took a couple of new pictures of the bouquet that E bought me for our anniversary on April 27, since
the pink Stargazer lilies are opening up now and look beautiful!
This was my new sun garden last year. This year it's doing wonderfully already. There's a random pink tulip and a white hyacinth in there, which I keep telling myself to mark
where they are so in the fall I can dig them up and move them elsewhere, but I keep forgetting to do it! My bee balm (monarda) is already taking over!
This is my newest garden. We call it the corner garden. Last year this was just a big patch of weedy grass with an odd cement slab sitting in the middle of it. A friend of ours did some repairs to the porch and removed the cement slab for me and then dug out all the grass so I could make a nice garden here. In the fall I planted a double clematis called "Celtic Skies" and also some tulip and daffodil bulbs in the front. The clematis is doing great, but only some of the tulips came up and none of the daffodils!!! Very disappointing. I have some new perennials planted in here, which are very small yet. In the back is a tall verbascum, called "Southern Charm". I also have gaillardia, green envy coneflowers, white coneflowers, tall phlox in white and some dahlias. I will also be planting some double-decker purple coneflowers (not here yet) and in the front, a border of colorful annuals when the tulips are done.
Our backyard is dull and unexciting and since we don't have a patio yet (or the pergola we'd like to do), I don't do much with it right now. However, I did make a nice little seating area with my Adirondack chairs that my father made for me last year, and a couple of containers of flowers. In the big pot, I have ivy geranium in dark pink and purple, with two kinds of verbena. The small grey pot on the table has coleus, "Pink Chaos" and "Pineapple Surprise". The other pot looks a little raggedy, since it was one that I over-wintered and just brought out recently. It also has geranium ( red) and verbena (purple) in it.
One of my new containers I did last week. I made two of these. The container "recipe" includes yellow snapdragon 'Lemon Chiffon', sweet potato vine 'Lime', yellow Sunbini, and ivy (hedera helix).
There is the second
container and then a small bowl-shaped pot that I also planted.
I'll try to get more close-up pictures in the future. The bowl pot also has sweet potato vine 'Lime', a dark purple coleus whose name I've forgotten(sorry), blue lobelia, licorice plant 'white licorice' and two kinds of violas, in white and purple.
On the table on the porch I have a "Black Devil" pansy (viola cornuta 'Black Devil').
I like to get plants that have unusual names as well as how they look!
As promised, here is a closer picture of one of my containers I planted recently. Purple coleus, licorice plant "White Licorice", sweet potato vine "Lime", blue lobelia, and two kinds of violas. The white viola is called "White Babyface", which I think is a funny-cute name!
I've always loved fresh, crisp summer greens. As a young girl, I used to wander into our family's huge garden and nibble on anything edible. Nothing tasted better than crunching up fresh, sweet peas in the pod right off the vine! With the opening of the local farmer's market last weekend, I could hardly wait to avail myself of some delicious fresh produce. Here's a recipe for one of my favorite summer salads. 1 cup of arugula (or any greens that you prefer) 2 thinly sliced tomato slices, 5 thin slices of red onion, 2 oz part-skim mozzarella cheese, 2 tablespoons of pine nuts dressed with 1 tsp of balsamic vinegar and 1 tsp olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste. Yum! A perfect summer lunch! For those who are calorie conscious, this surprisingly filling salad has less than 400 calories and makes a great meal replacement.
