a walk through our yard

i  love summer and all the flowers that are in bloom. i love looking at all the beautiful gardens that are so full of gorgeous flowers. it is easy to think that you can just go out and plant a beautiful garden but it really isn’t that easy. it takes several years for everything to mature and fill in. today i thought i would show you a few glimpses of what is blooming here around my yard.

these beautiful dahlias were marked down at our local lowes for .50 each. they were so sad looking when i first got them but i brought them home and gave them some loving care and a little deadheading. they are all in bloom now and are so lovely…all 14 of them. i couldn’t leave any of them behind. :)

my newest flower addition is the white phlox. they are tall and in full bloom. if you can’t tell i do have a theme going on of red and white flowers with some blue flowers in the mixture. blue flowers are so hard to find in a true blue form. i simply love the way white and red look with the green leaves and then dark brown mulch that i use. the other flower is the white shasta daisy. a simple yet beautiful flower.

one of the newest additions this year is the butterfly bush. this flower is a huge attracter for the butterflies and bees. they are all over these plants and speaking of bees…..we had a little bee business going on yesterday and that of course led to a little science lesson for my children.

have a blessed day!
sarah

patriotic garden in the making

I love my country and when trying to decide how to do my flower garden I decided to go with a patriotic theme. All red, white and blue flowers with flags thrown in the mix as I collect them. This is just the beginning and as I find perennials that I love and that match the theme I will add them in.

Delphiniums and Geraniums mixed together is one of my favorite combinations so far. I love the bright blue of Delphiniums against the red and white of the Geraniums.

I love planting in galvanized containers and with us possibly moving in the near future I have tried to plant everything in containers so I can take them with us. The plants in the container with the White Verbena will eventually bloom with beautiful red flowers. I have been trying to plant flowers that will also be a stopping spot for hummingbirds.


Someday I hope to have a beautiful patriotic garden to enjoy and for the butterflies, hummingbirds and bees to enjoy. It will take some time for everything to fill out as most of my perennials are still very small but I can’t wait until they do. :)

Have a blessed day!
Sarah

clothesline flowerbed

I have the mentality that if I am going to have to work that I might as well make it enjoyable. One of the daily household chores for a family of 6 is laundry. Lots of laundry! By choice I do not have a dryer. It is one of those things that I have learned to live without and I don’t even miss it. It saves money on the electric bill and of course I don’t have to buy dryer sheets. Love it!

My dear husband finally got around to putting up my metal clothesline poles the other day and I was sure appreciative. For the longest time I have just had the clothes tied around a couple of big trees. It worked okay but with the huge trees my clothes stayed in the shade almost all the time and took longer to dry.

Once the poles were in the ground I decided that a little bit of beauty needed to be added to the area. Once again my dear husband helped dig the spot out and then I got busy planting. When I am in the kitchen doing dishes or working this is the view from my kitchen window. I get to watch the clothes dry in the breeze and watch the butterflies and hummingbirds drop in for a visit.

For me it is the little things in life like flowers that bring beauty and joy to the everyday task. I love being a stay at home mother who gets to enjoy the love from my children everyday and the beauty that surrounds me.

Have a blessed day!
Sarah

creating my junk garden

 

I have been working on creating a more appealing space in a large flower bed that is located right under our big picture window. We currently have our home up for sale and I really want to be able to take my plants with me when I leave. When I purchase flowers I almost make sure to get perennials and this year I decided to put everything in containers.

I have found my many galvanized buckets at yard sales, auctions and several others small flea markets stores. Some of them already have holes in the bottoms but if they don’t I make sure that I put a few so that the water doesn’t just sit in the bottom of the container.

Some of the containers have special meaning to me. I have both of the washtubs that my grandmother used and the washtubs that my husbands grandmother used. A wooden work bench was built by great uncle and there is an old wagon frame that belonged to a dear friend of the family.

I have started to incooperate a few bird houses and have plans for a few more feeders and a bird bath. I love sitting by the window and watching the birds eat and hearing them sing. I also want to try and plant flowers that the butterflies will enjoy.

Pansies are one a very beautiful annual that I do enjoy planting. They are easy to care for and I love the colors. I have several empty wood boxes and large wash tubs containers to fill still but I am planning to plant small raised beds for lettuce and maybe some herbs.

Our 4th grade daughter brought home this River Birch tree that we have started in this galvanized washtub. We don’t want to plant it in the ground at our current location so we will replant it at a later time. She was very excited to be one of the children chosen to get a tree for Arbor Day. I am thankful that spring is here and everything is in bloom.

Have a blessed day!
Sarah