I love to garden. Anyone who knows me well knows that I love flowers, especially perennials. Perennials are the backbone of my garden and through the years I have amassed quite a few. My mother was a flower gardener. She always got pansies to plant early in the Spring and later she would fill her porch boxes with annuals. Petunias, geraniums, bachelor buttons, marigolds and many others. Her porch boxes were always glorious bursts of color. We use to tease her that the man who owned the nursery she went to was her boyfriend because she was always going there to purchase more flowers and he always made it a point to talk to Mother. One time he even delivered some flowers she wanted to our house. We really teased her then. He knew a lot about flowers and I know now Mother was just getting advice about what and where to plant certain flowers.
Mother always had the old fashioned day lilies. The big, tall, orange ones you see sometimes by the side of country roads. I have some of her day lilies in my garden and they are prolific. I have dug them out and tried to contain them in one part of the garden, but before I know it, they are spreading to another place. You can’t kill them, but why would you try?
They are pretty. After they die, they leave these long wooden like stems. My brothers and I use to throw them at each other like spears. I think of that every year when I am removing the stems from the flowers. Then I throw one.
David’s grandmother’s clematis is very pretty this year. It’s at least fifty or more years old and still going strong. My other clematis beside it looks puny and sick. I don’t know why, but I have not had any luck planting clematis and having it live for more than two years, but Grandma Henley’s comes back year after year. I don’t want to be the one to kill it.
We are in the peak of flower season in the garden. We started with crocuses and daffodils at the first of Spring. Then the irises came and went so quickly I hardly saw them. Now there are many plants in bloom. Here are a few
:
Asiatic lilies. They are becoming some of my favorite flowers in the garden. They have such vibrant colors and keep multiplying. Something that is becoming a requirement of flowers I buy. You get lots more flowers through the years that way when you divide the plants.
Sweet pea. I never planted this. It grew beside our above ground pool years ago and came back every year. When we put in our inground pool, I transplanted them and they have come up year after year since with me doing absolutely nothing for them or to them.
Love in the mist. Isn’t that a sweet name for a flower? I missed getting a picture when it was loaded with those tiny blue flowers. Now the seed pods are coming on and these will reseed themselves. Good flowers. Pat you on the head.
Speedwell. Reminds me of salvia, but the flowers are a little more tight. I have one in pink also.
Achillea. This one surprised me in a bed I started a few years ago. It is such a pretty color. It hides beneath some taller plants so it isn’t noticeable right off.
I didn’t even remember planting this white achillea, but here it is. I don’t use much white in my garden although I have seen all white gardens that are absolutely beautiful. Maybe I ought to try one. A white garden, I mean.
Echinacea or coneflower. I have several of these in the standard purple color, but they are coming out with more colors now and I think this one is a stand out. They, too, multiply. I really don’t need to plant another plant, but will I stop? I don’t think so. Not until there is only a little patch of lawn left. The people who live here after us had better like flowers or they are going to have a lot of work to do to get a lawn back.
The hardy, ever delightful, Stella de Oro. You can hardly kill this plant. If given sun and enough water, it will do the rest. No deadheading or fertilizer needed unless you just want to throw a handful around them. They are so pretty and bright in the garden right now.
My garden is just getting started. Hibiscus, Hydrangeas, August lilies, morning glories, and many other flowers are waiting to make their debut. Come walk in my garden with me. It’s peaceful(except when a train goes by) and it smells heavenly. Bye.
