My journey of cooking, gardening, preserving and more
Well, hello bumblebee! I was shooting photos of some of our gorgeous dahlias recently and came across this little guy looking right at me. Believe it not, this was actually taken with my Samsung Galaxy S9 phone so I was pretty happy with how well …
In case you haven’t noticed, it’s summertime, which makes me a happy woman! Last year I featured a celebration of summer garden tomatoes by featuring some recipes made with fresh garden tomatoes. My celebration included a couple of chilled gazpacho recipes, including my Garden Heirloom …
I hope everyone is enjoying their spring, so far! I’m in full gardening mode myself, hence the lack of recipes and photos the last few weeks. Nonetheless, I thought I’d share a couple of my favorite photos that I’ve taken while I’ve been out digging in the earth and planting things that will nourish our stomachs and souls.
This first shot is of one of the flowers in a planter – my husband actually planted this agapanthus (also known as lily of the Nile) last year and then brought the planter inside. About a month or so ago it went back outside and it finally decided to bless us with its beautiful blooms.
And this is a photo of some of the gorgeous orioles who’ve been visiting us while we till, and dig, and plant.
They definitely seem to prefer the grape jelly over the oranges but far be it for us to not offer them a gourmet selection of both. 🙂
I’m looking forward to sharing some more photos, along with my gardening adventures and summer recipes. I hope you’ll continue to share your comments and let me know what you’re doing in the warm months ahead.
Peace!
This is, without a doubt, one of my easiest makeover projects ever and the results are beautiful. I’ve had these French flower pots for many, many years. I stumbled upon them at a flea market for next to nothing and knew they’d be perfect for …
In case you missed my recent post, it was part one of easy to grow flowers here in zone 5…at least for me. Currently, the crocus and daffodils have already bloomed, while the tulips, lilacs and bleeding hearts are all blooming here in early May. …
Spring is upon us so I have flowers on my mind. Okay, who am I kidding? I have flowers on my mind all year long. If I’m not planting or growing them, I’m digging through catalogs and looking online for them. My husband and I spent many hours in the gardens this weekend, planting and relocating flowers (and veggies) galore. All of my flower gardening experience comes from trial and error; some things work, some things don’t, and some things just don’t like the spot they’re in, so they get moved. I’m not an expert, nor do I play one on T.V.
This is by no means a complete list – we have a lot, and I do mean a LOT of different types of flowers, shrubs, trees and plants in our yard. These are just a tiny selection of flowers that are easy to grow for me here in zone 5 – I will try and follow up soon with some more of them. Here’s a shot of a small section of one of our patios last year:
Mostly what you see here are dahlias to the left, some cosmos around the birdhouse and catmint to the right. I love all these different colors and prefer it when the gardens are just a little wild looking; to me, it just seems more sensual and exotic this way.
Crocus are one of our first flowers to peek their heads up in early spring; they will even bloom in the snow. They are very small plants, but their early burst of color each year is always a joyful sign that winter has finally ended, which makes me a happy woman, indeed.
Daffodils are next to show their colorful faces, followed closely by tulips. Both of these bulb flowers bloom just a few weeks, tops, but their beauty is well worth the effort of planting them.
Not a flower, but worth mentioning, mostly because I’m intoxicated by their perfume, is lilacs. We have a few different varieties and all of them are gorgeous and all of them are currently either blooming or getting ready to. Give them lots of sunshine and they’ll reward you with an unparalleled scent each year. They require little upkeep, aside from some minor pruning and occasional feeding. What they do not particularly like is being moved, so find a sunny spot where they have lots of room to grow and they’ll be happy.
Blooming with the lilacs right now in early May are all of our Bleeding Heart plants. These grow great for us and, as a bonus, they do best in the shade, adding a burst of color to the not-so-sunny areas of our yard. They also grow bigger each year and are easy to divide and transfer.
Last but not least, at least for now, lilies are usually next to bloom, though I have to admit – the area deer tend to enjoy them before we ever get to see them bloom. Because of this, we’ve planted some close to our house and have been rewarded in our efforts. Beautiful and, apparently, tasty too.
Have you had luck growing any of these flowers? If so, or if not, let me know your zone and what issues you’ve had – I’d like to hear your stories.
Hopefully, if you’ve made it this far, you enjoy flowers as much as I do and can appreciate the labor that goes into growing them. Peace to all and happy blooming!