Mish Mash Monday!

I know this is late for a Mish Mash Monday, but had a few things I wanted to share.  MMM is brought to you by Monica and a thank you to her for it!

 Thanks, also to Rose. I now have a new look to my blog after over 2 years of the same format and colors. I have also started using the new editor on Blogger.  Because of that, these photos may be hard on your eyes and your sense of composition as I am still in the learning curve of how to use the new editing features. But I do want to thank Rose for explaining all of this to me. She is much more computer savvy than I. :)

The first poppy of the season! I so love these gorgeous crepe paper looking blooms. These are in my MIL's garden and will not transplant to mine. I have tried unsuccessfully for years to get a start and now accepting the fact they will not grow for me, I enjoy them in her garden.                                                                     

Lily of the valley is another plant that multiplies in my MIL's garden but will not come to live in mine. However, I do enjoy the delicate blooms and love taking photos of them.

I think this must be the Year of the Lilac and Wisteria here in Central Illinois

Cheryl, this photo is for you! :)

I did a board at work for Earth Day. I find free coloring pages on the Internet and have parents and grandparents at work take them home for the little and not so little ones to color. They put their names and ages on them and I display them on the board. I take photos of the board and send them back to the kids so they can see their artwork displayed. We all enjoy their efforts and their artistic abilities.

More lilacs, tulips and wisteria at work. I love being able to take in bouquets. The fragrance was wonderful. I can't believe how long the lilacs have lasted.

While I am on the subject of work....

I got permission to do 3 planters in the front of the building. This is the'yellow' container and I have a pink one and a purple one. As they fill in I will show you more.

Back in my garden, I have Bachelor Buttons blooming. This was a pass along plant from a favorite cousin a couple of years ago and is doing wonderfully. I also have pass alongs from another favorite cousin and will share those at a later time. Lucky me to have such green thumbed cousins!

Couldn't resist a photo of the pansy. With the cooler weather, they have stayed so fresh looking and continue to bloom profusely.

Last, but not least. the first iris of the season. This is an unnamed one, probably a very old variety that has been passed down through many generations of flower lovers. My MIL gave me this one. While not very flashy, it is dependable and it's blooms fill in that gap between spring bulbs and summer flowers.

Do you have antique pass alongs in your gardens?

I hope everyone has a great gardening week!

 I do apologize for the spacing ! Bear with me while I learn. :)

Warm Wonderful Weather!

What a glorious few days we have had! Temperatures were in the mid-60's, the sun was out, and the breezes were warm! I worked outside two days with no jacket! I got the rest of the flower beds cleaned and the ones I cleaned earlier, finished. I fluffed mulch, I cut back Engish Ivy, and I got our not-working-now-but-hubby-promises-to-fix-it water feature cleared of leaves. Of course it is supposed to start raining tomorrow and be cooler, but I can take that after having experienced at least the beginnings of Spring!


Rose of Prairie Rose's Garden and I went to the 2nd open house and seminars at our garden center this past Saturday. We had a session on 'Hot New Perennials" most of which were new sports of existing varieties. All, though, improved in some characteristic, a new color, more disease resistant, or longer bloom time. I did enjoy seeing these and took some notes on ones I might want to try. A couple really grabbed my attention. The first being columbines that now come in red-one called spit fire, and in yellow-called Denver gold. I am definitely going to plant one each of these. There are new colors, also, in Echinacea which now come in a pale green, yellow and orange. I may buy one plant this year,and save the seeds to have more next year! We also heard about new types of phlox. David White, Tenor, and Starfire are shorter and less affected by powdery mildew. Ever since seeing the tall one's growing in a cousin's garden at a family reunion last year, I have planned on incorporating them into my some of my beds. I think the shorter ones will work better where I am planning on planting them.

As you can see, I did get some pansies. They are one flower that always says spring to me. Something I can plant when I can't plant anything else. When we walked in that morning the shelves were full. And by the time we left, there were hardly any left. So we were not the only ones captivated by their beauty.

When I went to plant them, after cleaning out my pot and adding new soil(this is supposed to be law according to the container police), I found the plants were extremely root bound.

When plants are like that, I either rough them up some or do like below and make a criss-cross cut in the bottom of the plug. It may set them back a little, but in the long run they do better as the roots will grow out into the new soil.

Speaking of soil...I did, finally, get my seeds planted April 4th. Today, when, I went to spritz them, I had plants! Statice, Zinnias, Tomatoes, and Dwarf Sunflowers called Teddy Bears. Those are the ones Cheryl from My Wildlife Sanctuary sent me.

Instead of putting them under grow lights, I put both flats on the top shelf of my garden window.I don't know why I haven't thought to do this before...Duh! So we will see how this works.

I hope spring has come to you, and if not yet keep the faith..it will soon!