2 Weeks Ago . . .

Drought has been hard on all creatures great and small . . .
eating instead of stashing away for future enjoyment.



Baby robin surveying the situation . . . Ken & me on the patio.

Blamed the squirrels for digging EVERYWHERE in my shade garden.
The culprit?  Redheaded woodpeckers! 
Had 6 in my yard!  I don't recall seeing them feeding on the ground before. 
Sorry, not very close pictures as VERY flighty birds.




Redheaded woodpecker to the right of the birdbath, just above the hosta.

 



Even in Drought . . .

For the past 3 or 4 years, I have planted wave petunias in my big clay pot because, under normal circumstances, they will bloom continuously.  But they have struggled to survive the heat and drought even with the rationed water doled out to them.  I'm hoping the cooler weather and today's rain will bring a return of their fragrant blossoms.

My roses seem to be faring better.

 

New shoots appear at the crown of my leafless peace rose bush, producing a single, beautiful rose from time to time . . . which I promptly cut and bring inside to enjoy!   

Peace Rose



Peace's next door neighbor, Grandma's Blessing, continues to push through the heat and drought . . . isn't she beautiful!!!

I have cushion mums around the street light pole at the corner.  They have been loaded with flower buds for the past 6 weeks or more and are beginning to open.  Will post pictures later.

Being a city girl, I don't know if rain now is too late for the soybeans (I think it is too late for the corn) . . . but I continue to pray for gentle, soaking rain for this parched land . . . for farm crops and pasture land, for livestock, and to refill rivers and lakes and wells.

And I pray for God's Holy Spirit to "rain" on this nation.

 

My Flowerbeds -- Part 3 -- Shade Garden

My favorite flowerbed!   Also the one to which my grandchildren gravitate . . . hmmm . . . could it be the magnetic pull of the birdbath :-)  They do like to help me clean the birdbath and refill it with fresh water for the birds and squirrels.

Originally, this area was an uneven weed patch and tree roots.  Because I wanted to bring in soil . . . and it's not good to cover the tree trunks in soil . . . this bed was designed around the 2 trees.  Landscaping stones were placed along our fence to redirect the neighbor's runoff water from flowing into our yard.

Flagstone walkway was added later.  Would like to plant "stepables" or possibly moss in the flagstone.   

The small pebbles in the far right of the picture have been extended into the bare area.  The purple tree decoration is my watering wand . . . out of the reach of little hands but still within reach of this person!

Fish pond is nestled at the east end of the shade garden.  Ken would like to find a way to add a waterfall to the pond.  His first suggestion was to set the waterfall in my shade garden.  NO negotiations on that waterfall location.

This area is still a work in progress, as we plan to redo and extend the current patio.



My Flowerbeds -- Part 2 -- Large Flowerbed

My "large flowerbed" was the biggest project . . . requiring a dump truck load of black dirt (12 yards) delivered to the drive.  From there, my husband and son moved the dirt via wheel barrow to the bed site.  Landscaping stones were added after the dirt was sculpted.  This flowerbed is 100% perennials, making it low maintenance.

View from our deck shows shape and size, approx. 20 feet x 40 feet
(If you look closely, you can see the edging to the front. 
When we get the grass dug out,
the front edge should be a close mirror image of the back edge.)

Front View. There is a single row of landscape edging, seemed ok at the time.  When we put the edging down, we intended to come back and dig the grass out . . . a project yet to complete. I do not like the edging and would like to take it out and use the same stone as the back of the bed. Redo of landscaping stones is still in negotiations  :-)

 Back view of bed.

 Flowerbeds along the fence: Iris bed and raised vegetable bed.

Once again, my little (15 pounds!) gardening buddy!

My Flowerbeds -- Part 1 -- Front Flowerbed

I've realized that I have posted many pictures of individual or groupings of plants from each of my flowerbeds but no full-view pictures of each bed.  So, here we go.

The very first flowerbed created at our house was this front flowerbed along the driveway, extending across the front of the house. 

Spring 2011
Cranberry bush does not look like this this year.

The bed along the driveway is home to daffodils, various sedum, a cranberry bush, and rose bushes.  I plan to rework this bed in the fall . . . removing the cranberry bush and digging up the daffodils . . . in order to add dirt to the south end of the bed. 

The bed across the front of the house is my herb garden . . . one of my favorites!

Early Spring
Black & white "herb" is known as "Catnip Sir Oliver"  . . . my gardening buddy!