Saturday, June 30, 2012

Free perennials, a giveaway win, and today's garden

Recently I received an email from our Master Gardener contact at the Iowa State University Extension Office. She indicated there were free plants available...

A commercial greenhouse closed last year. Just two weeks ago, an auction was held there. The banker indicated there were thousands of plants remaining after the sale, and they were free for the taking.

An hour after I read the message, I was headed to the abandoned greenhouse.

When I got there, there were many dead plants, but there were a lot alive too, albeit dry and very weedy.

I brought back 8 pots of oriental lilies, 2 bergenia, 1 veronica, 1 catmint, 4 geraniums, 3 shrub roses, and a penstemon. Also there: many salvia plants, beebalm,and sedum. Other MGs told me later they made multiple trips to bring home goodies!

Here's what the plants I brought home looked like:

















I gave them a good drink, then soaked each plant in a bucket of water and removed the weeds. They are looking pretty good overall. I expect most, if not all, to survive.

Now to today's garden:

'Custard Candy' 



'French Tudor' 



Garden art and flowers in the cottage garden



'Janice Brown' 



 'Blueberry Candy'



 'Sunday Gloves'


 Unknown daylily



'Strawberry Candy' 



Siberian Statice (Kaspia)
Common filler used by florists 



A glimpse at my side garden, where 'Robina' is blooming








 Back to the cottage garden here



 Corn in a raised bed


And now to my giveaway win:

Debbiedoo's and BlogHer sponsored a Darphin giveaway, and I was the lucky winner!








I received skin care products, which I am loving!

Thanks for visiting!

Beth


Thursday, June 28, 2012

More Delightful Daylilies

Today I'm showing more daylilies - I have many. I don't really have mass plantings; mine are all specimen plants (at least they are to me!)

Before you look at the garden beauty, consider this bit of wisdom for sometimes frustrated gardeners:

"It takes awhile to grasp that not all failures are self-imposed, the result of ignorance, carelessness or inexperience. It takes awhile to grasp that a garden isn't a testing ground for character and to stop asking, what did I do wrong? Maybe nothing." ~Eleanor Perenyi



'French Tudor' 



 Unknown cultivar



'Strawberry Candy'
Ooh la la, isn't she a beauty?!!!


 'Flaming Frolic'


'Happy Apple' 




 'Janice Brown'


'Joel'


 'Bold Stripe'
Guilty as charged: I've shown this one before but it is just so fabulous, I never tire of looking at it.



 'Lacy Doily'


'Perfect Pink Princess' 


Also in the garden: lupine and rudbeckia




 Echinacea above and below - these delightful natives repeat very frequently in my garden, because I adore them. Every fall I sprinkle seeds to grow more of them; they're pretty good about self-seeding too. Coneflowers are good flowers to make a statement and feed birds in the winter garden too.



The white one is 'White Swan.' The purples: not sure; I have many. I also have a brilliant yellow and a striking orange in my gardens.



'Custard Candy'
Still a top contender for my favorite of all; what do you think? Do you like Strawberry Candy or Bold Stripe better than this one? Or another daylily altogether?


"In order to live off a garden, you practically have to live in it." ~Frank McKinney Hubbard

With my very large gardens, I am spending MANY hours working outside these days. I try to keep up with your blog posts as well as I can, while at the same time keeping up my home, garden, and life in general.


"Earth is here so kind, that just tickle her with a hoe and she laughs with a harvest." ~Douglas William Jerrold

Linking to Fertilizer Friday

Thanks for visiting!

Beth


Monday, June 25, 2012

Tea in an Extraordinary Garden #1

It's summer, and I recently attended the Polk County Master Gardeners' Tour. The tour is dubbed "Extraordinary Gardens by Ordinary People."

Master Gardener Robby has a delightful garden and she was ready for a tea party in her inviting garden as well. Enjoy as I share Tea in the Garden by Robby.

 Robby and her husband created this lovely vignette consisting of a soft butter yellow chair topped by a lovely birdcage, complete with darling little birdies and delicate florals.








 A cherub rests in a pretty floral tea cup.




A fairy garden - love the little clothesline!




Another fairy garden graces Robby's courtyard.




















 Robby's table is set.



 Lovely vintage china graces her table. Love the lacy tablecloth as well.



Robby's centerpiece features a teapot filled with flowers.



Aren't these goblets stunning?

I want to thank Robby for allowing me to share her garden and table today.



"Another novelty is the tea party, an extraordinary meal in that, being offered to persons that have already dined well, it supposes neither appetite nor thirst, and has no object but distraction, no basis but delicate enjoyment." ~Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin





Linking to Tea Time Tuesday, Tea in the Garden, and Tuesday Cuppa Tea

Thanks for visiting!

Beth

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Repetition in the garden

Repetition unifies the garden space. Last year we visited someone else's garden where I saw repeated waves of beebalm, larkspur, daylilies, and daisies, as well as creeping Jenny (groundcover). It gave me an idea for my own garden.

The first five photos are from her garden, where 'Becky' shasta daisies, yellow daylilies, larkspur, and beebalm are among the repeaters shown.





Lovely hostas as well. Everyone should have both a sun and a shade garden.
















Some of the repetition in my garden:

 I already had lots of coneflowers interspersed throughout the cottage garden, rocky garden, and the border gardens. Here are a few photos showing my coneflowers in various locations at Sunsplash Gardens.














Last fall I sprinkled beebalm seeds in several areas of the garden to give me more repetition in the garden. Following are a few pictures of my beebalm interspersed with other flowers in the cottage garden.




















Red  and purple make a stunning color combination.







Just a cute kitty pic! This is my Gracie, a Ragdoll. Isn't she beautiful? (She's sweet too!)


Do you use the principle of repetition in your gardens?

"If you've never experienced the joy of accomplishing more than you can imagine, plant a garden." ~Robert Brault


"Take they plastic spade,
It is they pencil; take thy seeds, thy plants,
They are they colours." ~William Mason, The English Garden, 1782

Thanks for visiting!

Beth


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