Happy Birthday Mark!

Wabash

An old variety, but still one of my favorites. These were here when we moved into the house and I've moved them all over the place. The iris borers don't care for these older ones, so they are not envious of all those new fancies from Schreiner's.

Second Week of Iris Blooms

I got so busy weeding the creeping charlie this morning that I ran out of time to blog before work. And there's more more more charlie to weed. Fortunately, the flowers steal the show and make all that weeding worthwhile.

It's Friday!

Iris Mornings

Seems like I remember one of my very first posts on this blog was headed "Worth Every Sweaty August Minute". Irises are a lot of trouble--dealing with borers, rot, the constant cleaning up of the foliage, dividing in the heat of summer. . . But for this show, I'll work all year.

Wednesday Iris

Tuesday Blooms

Monday Garden Tour

Pasque Flower

PJ's Forsythia

This is what a forsythia should look like--wild and proud and glorious. I feel so sorry for those poor things that get "trimmed" into box shapes. There should be a forsythia police to stop that practice.

Lily of the Valley

Happy Birthday to Judson

Judson is 24 years young today. And he's starting his last year of pharmacy school today too. His first rotation is at the VA medical center. That's a great way to spend your birthday. I love you Judson!

(Thank you, Rachel, for the picture--I love you too!)

Kelly

We lost our Kelly dog today. I can't believe I'll be gardening without her. She was a great dog.

Tuesday Combo

These don't scream "stop the car!"--not that the other ones do either--but they are sweet. Love the little ruffle on the daffs.
Can you see Clayton's cannonball in the background of the second shot? I should repaint it this summer. It's an heirloom. One of these days it will grace Judson or Isaac's garden!

Stop the Car Blend

Topiary Saturday

Best Husband in the Whole World

Mark has made two adirondack chairs for me. They are beautiful and he did such a good job. Here's the first one painted, along with that little nest of flowers again.

Flower Nest

Thursday Daffodil

Wednesday Daffodil

For PJ

I just wish I lived close enough to take these to her office today. These are blushing lady, PJ's favorite tulip. I always think of her when they bloom. They don't look like they've been frozen, do they? Love you, Sis!

Spring Morning

I went out to survey the damage from all these freezing nights. There is plenty of that to see--frozen hostas, pitiful shrubs, mushy bleeding hearts. But some things look pretty good. These hellebores probably think it's warm.

Some of the daffs are still trying, even though they look pretty ratty.

Hopefully the peonies and asiatic lilies will still be able to bloom. The foliage doesn't look too bad.

More Frozen Tulips

This was supposed to be the "stop the car" planting. Of course, it's in the back yard, so no one would actually be stopping their car to look. And it's not one of those massive plantings that actually makes you want to stop your car for a look. But still, I was picturing a nice splash of purple and orange right there at the back door. I don't know if the orange ones are just later (a common problem I have with blends--they don't always bloom at the same times as advertised) or if they decided it was just too cold and wouldn't even try. I will have to hand it to these purple ones. They've been in bloom for the last week and haven't given up yet. Tonight's forecast says it will be 32 degrees again. Lows for the next few days look better--37 tomorrow night, then 40, 41, etc.

Sweet Picture

I found this picture of JD and Rach in among hundreds of garden pictures. It made me smile and think about how much I love them so. It's a good Thursday.

Down but not Out

Another shot of Dreamland--they're still going even after those 19 degree nights. It's 44 degrees this morning, and tonight might get down to 35. That's better than last week. . .

National Siblings Day

I just happened to be home a little early today and learned from the Oprah show that today is National Siblings Day. I just love this picture that we had Gene Boaz take of us back in 1975. We were all so pretty!

Happy Birthday to Jeff

Late birthday wishes to Jeff, whose birthday was Friday. Here he is after playing Danvers in Jekyll & Hyde. Jeff is a talented actor and singer and has been in lots of community theater productions. He loves my sis and his kids and my mom. He's funny, works hard, and builds beautiful ponds. He's a terrific brother-in-law!

Happy Easter

Brrr

These are dreamland tulips. They start out a pale yellow and gradually darken to orange. Of course, it helps if you have nice tulip weather rather than the artic freeze and strong winds we've been having.

Epimedium

Also called bishop's cap. They're just so cute.

Cold and Windy

It's amazing how fast things go once spring comes. Seems like we wait and wait and wait and then. . . zoom! Like a car race. The PJM rhodies have been pretty for the last week and this morning almost all the blossoms are on the ground. I'm so glad I went out, even tho it's really cold. If I had stayed inside, I would have missed this beautiful purple carpet.

And Sweet Pea Sunday