Category Archives: PA.

Jun16

Late Spring plantings

Posted on by
Standard


Best Pots of the year so far, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

I have these pots right near one of the seating areas outside. Seems the coleus like the dapples of sun they get here. I’ve have these black kettle flower pots for years. Besides Coleus, there are Pinwheel Zinnias, White Petunias and Blue Lobelia. I’m still potting up a few things and adding some annuals here and there for a surprise of color.
There are things that I’m not happy with-so much things are getting munched on and I have to spray here and there. Branches need trimming and don’t get me started on the weeding! I haven’t mulched. You think I would have learned to wait until the Chestnut trees dumps their catkins which are so messy. I wish we could get those trees cut back sometime.

Jun11

Wachovia Center Rocked Last Night!

Posted on by
Standard

My friend Lorin gifted me with a ticket to see James Taylor and Carole King in their Troubador Reunion tour and we went last night! It’s always great to see James again (5th time since 1979!), but seeing Carole was such an added bonus! She has such a powerful voice. She sounds like she did back in the 1970s. James had his friends and former band members Danny Kortchmar, Leland Skyar and Russ Kunkel performing too. I know Leland, the dude with the long beard in the back here is a serious tchotchkes collector-I like him even more.
There’s always a bit of a downer, we got stuck in traffic for 1.5 hours near the center, but in total I think we were in our vehicles (we met at a certain spot) for almost 4 hours coming and going. We missed the first 5 or so minutes of the concert, but they had started later or we would have missed more.
Lorin and Dianne at the JT/CK concert
I thank Lorin from the bottom of my heart for the ticket, the ride, the t-shirt, but mostly her thoughtfulness. Thanks to her hubby who waited for us in the parking lot!
The first photo was taken by my with my PowerShot and the photo of Lorin and me was taken with her iPhone
Another bummer-my 14 yr old van needs a pricey transmission repair and we can’t see putting a ton of money into it. We will have to start looking for a smaller, get around vehicle. I’ve had it for 11 yrs and it only gave us yet another transmission issue when we first bought it. It did have it’s shares of weird noises and the a/c leaking, but I liked driving it for the most part. Wish us luck!

Jun9

My front step welcomes you

Posted on by
Standard


Front step, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

This is just one side of my step. The fuzzy plant under the birdhouse is new, really pretty and called Nicolletta (I have a friend named Nicolette-I should root her a piece!). I added a few Nasturtium seeds in with it. I also have a pot of pansies and that unnamed pink daisy like flower keeping it company. I have a pretty coleus and peachy begonia on the other side.
Splish Splash Coleus
Splish Splash
We are expecting much needed rain today. My mom needs to come out this way and hopefully get her very pricey hearing aid. Unfortunately she isn’t the only family member who is hard of hearing, so is Bri’s dad and Bri was tested to have slight loss. I’m blaming headphone use! Bri is going to the eye doctor today(we are still trying to figure out why he doesn’t feel well so much). Sean and him were playing a little baseball and he thinks he hurt his knee and is limping around now. The poor guy!
I am so looking forward to Thursday evening as my ‘new’ high school friend Lorin and I are going to see James Taylor and Carole King down in south Philly. She asked me back in January if I’d like to go and I said sure, so she gifted me with a ticket. Will give you a report. If I take my camera, you’ll probably see a little video if I can sneak one in. And maybe Lorin’s hubby can take one of both of us. He’s driving us as she can’t drive at night and I don’t drive to south Philly! I guess I could, but I can’t drive Lorin home.

Jun6

Pond Garden 2010

Posted on by
Standard

First of all, yes, this in on a slight incline. : )



Pond Garden 2010, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

This is finally weeded and edged so it is now worthy of sharing a photo of it. The Japanese irises were just ‘so-so’ this year. The foliage they leave behind looks nice next to the pond. The Red Hot Pokers on the other hand are gorgeous!
Red hot poker plant
I have them in about 3 places around the yard. My mom said she’d like me to dig some up for her. They are actually the orange topped plants. The large bunch of plants in the foreground are Shasta Daisies. They have a bit of a disease on them like last year. I have some next to the overgrown (never trimmed) butterfly bush there on the left. There are some Pinwheel Zinnias and Red Salvia around the gazing ball and also some potted Lantana
Orange Lantana
and another with white Salvia and a peachy Diascia.
Apricot Diascia and White Salvia
I have a pot of two tone white and wine colored petunias hanging up
Two tone purple/white Petunias

and some yellow calibrachoas there too.
The double light is solar powered and flashes different colors at night-very cool. The pond lights all got new batteries but aren’t working well. I have one frog resident that I see. : )

Jun6

The ‘C’ garden

Posted on by
Standard


The ‘C’ garden, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

This use to be the Circle garden, but Bri kept hitting a few box hedges on the right with the mower and they met their demise. It now looks like a ‘C’ which is the first letter in our last name! I realized my box hedges are a few different kinds, but just this year. It doesn’t bother me a whole lot, but the 3-4 different ones are bigger and needed more shaping. This is the garden where my irises, dinner plate hibiscus (the deer like to munch them), some Gladiolus and Black-eyed Susans are planted. I added a Julia Child yellow rose bush (gift from Brian), a gorgeous orange Wall Flower,Orange Wall Flower
a pink Columbine and a few others. I think it needs mulch-I love and hate the stuff, but it sure gives the gardens a finished look, but my poor back is already bad this year.
Update-that’s a pot of Hens an Chickens on the white stand Hens and Chicks

and a shallow bowl with colored glass too. Where the bowl is use to be where we had one of the monstrous satellite dishes.

Mar28

Dianne and Brian at the Orchid Show

Posted on by
Standard

Dianne and Delphinium, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

Brian and I went to check out the orchid competition at Longwood Gardens today. Sean and I had gone earlier in the month to see the orchid display. The competition was only this weekend. Brian hadn’t been there for years and enjoyed it.

The crowd enjoying the different orchid displays:
The crowd checking out the orchids under competition
Brian enjoying the conservatory after not going for many years:
Brian went with me for the first time in years!
Some of the gorgeous orchids-
Burgundy and white orchids
Tiger spots on an orchid!
What a society’s display for competition looks like”
Orchids in competition
I’m still uploading-have about 4 more photos to do as both Bri and I took our turn with the camera.

Jan29

A ‘deer’ visitor

Posted on by
Standard


A ‘deer’ visitor (zoom), originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

This sweet young deer has been hanging around my yard a lot these last few days. Seems ‘he’ has a wounded left front leg with a cut above it. He was curled up in a little flowerbed most of the day Thursday and came back today. But today he is walking around more. My neighbor, a hunter (gasp) saw him in his yard and thinks he will be fine, though he is roughed up looking and wobbly a bit on his legs. The good thing here is that he is eating all around our yards.