Category Archives: yard

Can you see Brian?

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Taken from the garden area, that’s Brian cutting what we call ‘the long part of the yard’. It was always my hope that we do something with that piece of uneven property, like grow flowers to sell or something along those lines. The problem is that it’s far way from the house and if we had done the flowers, people may have been able to help themselves from the nearby road. Yes, the road is that close and not very private much of the time we are in the yard, even trying to lounge under the big Chestnut trees.

Sean made it to State College fine. I hope he has a great time. I saved the Hibiscus that he gave in for Mother’s Day 2008 and it just started to bloom again:

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I feel like I’m in Hawaii! : )
And some of my Nasturtiums are blooming too:
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Tying things up

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July was always the month for my grandmom Ruth-born July 3rd and my brother Dave-born on Independence Day. When he was little, he thought the celebration marked with fireworks was just for him-lol
Not to much going on here this week. I’ve had to take allergy medicine three days in a row-so unlike me! Today I am better-have ‘another’ issue that may have knocked out the allergy one. Your body makes lots of histamines which can mess with hormones. Maybe I’ll be on an even keel for a few days-lol Our Chestnut trees are dropping massive amounts of catkins-the pollen part-which are dirty and dusty and I am sure the culprit with me. The guys have itchy throats too.
Anyway…mainly been doing quiet things inside and tying up, or should I say making ‘string trellises’ for the tomatoes, cucumbers and string beans. The bean one looks a little wacky, but I hope it works! The tomatoes look good. I’m glad I skipped the ‘tepee’ ones from last year. You really need a large garden for them to work. Here’s the tomatoes:
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The main support stakes are at the end of the rows. I have a few thinner stakes in between. You go down with the string and up again, make sure to wrap it around the skinnier stakes and that the tomatoes are in the middle of the string to hold them up.
Sean is going through his books and wants me to list them to sell. He’s sold one, but I have a big pile to add to Amazon. I should follow his lead, because I do not like piles of books on the floor. I know I must have similar books too. It’s hard!
Brian was pulling down poison ivy vines which are terrible this year in the yard. While Sean and I were out in the garden area, he pointed to a thick vine growing 50-60 feet up a pine. Brian was at the bottom of it! Today he has an few blisters on his face-yikes-I hope that is it. I gingerly go around with my garden snips and do the ones coming out of bushes, etc.

Lilies!

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Lilies!, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

Ah, it’s that time of year again. I really love all the varieties of lilies and have them in several areas of my yard. The deer already snacked on a few buds-so I have to see if I can mix up some homemade deer repellent-thanks to Turkey Feathers blog and Missy who pointed in that direction. I just sprayed what was left with insect repellent, seems to have done the trick, until it rains again.

Can you see my little gal pal?

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Happy Flag Day!

She’s almost at eye level in her nest in my butterfly bush. When she is alarmed, she flies to the back and up and out. I was a bit nervous when taking this (and three other shots) as the flash was going off and I didn’t want her to put my eye out.
We tried to get some tomatoes in the big garden yesterday(about 10 so far)-between showers that is. The new top soil seems to be helping a lot! The ground looks almost like ground coffee! The weather looks more promising today. I’m going to add a few mounds of fingerling potatoes to the other part of the garden too.
And I repotted this lovely orange Gerbera daisy and it presented me with a flower yesterday.
Orange Gerbera in Basket
I found the neat basket for $3 at the Goodwill.

My ‘lilies of the field’ are starting to bloom. They are indeed near the long part of our yard! I think I saw a ruffled yellow one too. This is a Asiatic lily:
Pink and White Lilies
There is a Daddy Longlegs on the one blossom there.
And last but not least, a small part of my fairy garden:
Part of the fairy garden
Some of my little figurines have lost a wing or look a bit worn, but they still look cute when the flowers and plants grown larger and they are hiding beneath them!

The guys playing softball

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The guys playing softball, originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

We have a long yard down to the left there, yet they chose to bat a ball around my flowers and lawn ornaments! I don’t think they broke anything-they are lucky.
We had glorious weather for the weekend. I went out and used the weed whacker today, and believe me, I had to whack and hack plenty of weeds. It’s such a helpful contraption. I also planted up a few more pots and did flowers around my gazing ball in the pond garden. I got this blue salvia-it’s almost purple, and it looks great with the blue gazing ball with the swirls of color.
Also put down some mulch in my Asian bed that has lots of Sweet William in it-about 18 plants. Love those. I bought three little solar light to line my brick path up to the house and two didn’t work. Silly me didn’t check to make sure all three were on auto.
Sweet William in bloom
Have a great week ahead!

Hog Wild for Coleus

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Newest Coleus , originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

Sean was sweet enough to take me to three(!) different garden centers/greenhouses and Low*es on Friday where I found most of what I needed for pots and hanging baskets. I hit the mother lode for Coleus at Gateway in Hockessin, DE. They had tons of them, but at $5 a pot, I had to be choosy. I’m going to go out and photograph them and write down the names, but some off the top of my head are ‘Henna’ and ‘Witch Doctor’. When these need a trim, I pinch off a few stems and put them in water where they root in a few weeks. I then plant them in bare spots in my various gardens. I noticed that the above center had them out in the sun and the lady there said that many coleus are sun tolerant now. I just love all the colors and how some look like they have been watercolored.
I had a busy day in the heat yesterday, so I’m taking it easy today.
Updated-my collection:
Coleus Collection 2009
Have a lovely Sunday!

Show & Tell

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So pretty! This is part of a collection I have, but outside my home.

I have gardens with different flowers in them. This is my Iris garden. Iris grow almost anywhere, you just have to remember to separate them about every three years. I have one variety that disappeared-a small greenish one called Kiwi. Last fall, I did separate some, only a few look like they will bloom, but they are all there. I may need to add more dirt around them, but you only plant the roots and leave the rhizomes showing above the dirt.  I think I have at least 10-12 different varieties.

Clematis blooming

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Clematis bloomng , originally uploaded by DianthusMoon.

I was walking around the yard a bit today, it’s so windy! Look what I found blooming! I’ll have to see if the tag is still there, but I think Clematis vines are some of the coolest flowers to grow-and seem fairly easy too! Maybe I’ll make a Clematis garden next!
This one was altered in Picnik:
Purple striped Clematis

Penn State photos next!