Garden Walk-2008!

A Garden Walk is a most enjoyable way to spend a sunny summer day. And the walk is even better spent in the company of my life-long best friend who shares the passion for gardening. Rose and I have been excited about this walk for weeks and it did not disappoint. The Walk was sponsored by University of Illinois Extension-Champaign County Master Gardeners. There were 8 gardens on the walk, 6 of which we saw. 2 of them were more or less public gardens and we figured we could see them another time.

At this one we were greeted by lovely vignettes, like this one, placed around the garden and patio. Others had live music-very soothing sounds of a harp and a cello.



We saw some well known flowers such as this climbing rose.

Vining Black-eyed Susan.

Some we didn't know and weren't tagged.

This lupine was absolutely a prefect specimen!

An Oak leaf Hydrangea, which had blooms over a foot long.

These lilies are a little washed out looking due to the bright sun, but were such an unusual pale lemon color with rich brown freckles in the center.

We had no clue what this plant was. It looks a little like saliva but was more of a bush in form and was close to 5 feet tall.

Several people were taking pictures of this plant. It was sitting on top of a raised area but was still a big plant-no one seemed to know it's name.

A butterfly plant in full bloom. I know how hard these are to get started in your garden.

I just love this one. It is about a foot tall, by about that wide. Touching it's leaves and down in the center, it feels as soft as a newborn baby's blanket. It is called 'Hobbit's Foot'. and is a type of saliva.

This tree at the corner of a pergola caught my eye as I have a cousin who is growing one. Hers is not near this size yet-but have hope T. it will get there. This is a 'Staghorn' Sumac.

What could have been an unattractive garage wall was turned into a focal point with the addition of decorative birdhouses and hanging containers of plants.

I have always wanted a rock wall to stick small vining plants in!

Containers abounded in almost all of the gardens. Some were planted and some were used by themselves as focal points. I found that these pots of Caladium bulbs stuck in the shaded ground cover broke up the long expanse of green and provided subtle color for the eye to enjoy.

This low to the ground container was planted with miniature sedums and stood all by itself on the mulch. Sometimes less is better.

And then there were water features!

From gardens that extended into a lake...

where I finally was able to get a picture of one of the zillions of dragonflies,

to this simple, but wonderfully calming, water jar that set off perfectly this small area of plants.

This one pond was in a tiny back yard, but was beautifully landscaped and seem quite the peaceful retreat. There is a hippo in the center.

And they had beautiful water lilies.

A waterfall graced the entry way of this house. But as Rose said there was no place for them to sit and enjoy it's beauty.

Lisa, this is for you! When I saw this chartreuse door, I knew I had to show it. Talk about adding a focal point in an otherwise neutral area. For those of you who don't know, Lisa has a purple garden shed. I think she could paint her doors and windows this color to show case her shed even more.

I would like to acknowledge thanks to all who opened their gardens to us, and to the wonderful people who did so much to help put this show together. It was well appreciated. Now I have a severe case of garden envy! But, back in my world of weeds, needing-mulch, struggling garden, I am satisfied with what I have accomplished. And though mine will never look like the ones we visited, it is my garden and I love it!

Baby Birds, Blooms, and Bugs?

Envious of all the beautiful bird photography out there in blog land, I tried my hand with these shots of fledgling robins. Okay, I'll not win any awards, but I enjoyed taking them. And the little guys were so cute. Mama was nearby keeping an eye on them and I am sure she was still feeding them as well. They were fairly cooperative in posing for me, although I think they were more interested in the coming of food. Not really knowing much about birds of this age...how long will it be before they can fly? Don't they have to have some tail feathers first?

Remember the lightening rods we saved when we had the new roof put on?

I planted a 'Moon-flower Vine', Ipomoea Alba, a couple of weeks ago. I wrapped a small tendril around one of the bottom braces hoping it would climb the rod. Well, it did! All the way to the top, round and round, and there are several tendrils now. I am so pleased and will be even more so when it blooms.

Now, I have a problem and am hoping someone out there can help. Something is eating the petals off my coneflowers. Mostly, I have noticed the bud starting to turn color and then the petals are gone before they have had a chance to fully open.

Or, they leave one or two. I have checked the eaten buds and see nothing. They aren't getting them all, it would take an army to eat all the buds that are in the garden! Any ideas?

Admittedly, this is not a great picture, but I was so excited to see these little flowers. These are from seeds I started indoors and are from some that Cheryl sent me. They are 'Cerinthe', major purpurascens. They look a little like our bluebells and are supposed to flower all summer reaching a height of 12"-15". A little bit of England growing in my garden!

As promised, the planter that fits around my patio table umbrella. It is planted with 'blush' impatiens, 'pride' coleus, and pinks. It is starting to fill in and soon will be overflowing -I hope.

One more picture of these Asiatic lilies. This stalk has 12 blooms and buds on it. I have had to put a stake by it to help keep it upright. This one stalk repeatedly has performed like this. Have I said, I am amazed!?

I have a couple of the granddaughters tomorrow and Friday and I am taking them swimming. They will swim, I'll be reading a book. Saturday, Rose and I are going on a 'Master Gardeners' garden walk. I am really excited about this. Next week, I hope to have lots of beautiful garden photos to share. And the great thing is the weather here has moderated. We are back to June weather-highs of near 80, lows in the upper 50's and low humidity. Thank goodness! It's a joy to be outside again.

I hope the rest of your week and the weekend are good gardening weather for you!

*Just a quick note to those of you who feed Zick Dough to your birds. Please read Julie's post about this.

A Few New Blooms and Some Repair Work!

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, June -2008 was quite a success! And all of the credit goes to Carol at May Dreams Gardens. I spent most of Sunday afternoon and evening visiting many old friends and along the way made some new acquaintances. It was a wonderful way to spend time on a hot, muggy day. I so enjoy seeing the varied gardens and climes and in the process I am learning so much. I hope you enjoyed seeing all the wonderful flowers and gardens. And thank you to all who visited my post!

I didn't think I had too much more to show this week, but in the gardening world, I have learned never say never. One of my favorite Asiatic Lilies-name unknown-has started to open. This is one of those DIPT ones I mentioned in my last post. Every year this lily produces more bulbs, and I guess it must be the original one, has up to 15 blooms on one stalk. It truly amazes me!

The camera didn't quite catch the color of this one. It is more of a creamy pale yellow than it is white. Maybe in a different light I can capture the truer color.

This one is white and is in with the brightly colored yellow ones. Such a pretty combination...I wish I could take credit for it.

I know I showed Apple Blossom before, but now there are these 3 lovely ones on the same stalk.

Okay, now we get to the heart of this post. I went plant shopping, yet again! And I called Rose to join me. You know to 'enable' me. We met at a nursery in a nearby small town. No sales yet, but some very healthy looking plants. I bought several 'superbenas' in burgundy and deep purple. A 'verbena' lani, upright purple mosaic. I had not seen this one before and fell in love! Also purchased were 'angelface' dresden blue, 'mexican heather' allyson lilac, a cleome-linde armstrong, an Astilbe, and a pink perennial phlox.

But there was a good reason for the new plants, as you can see below.

This poor purple wave petunia in the top of one of the whiskey barrels looks pathetic. It has not grown and is struggling to even survive. It might, by the end of September start to look okay, but I am not willing to wait. I want pretty now.

I replaced it with one of the new superbenas. Looking better already!

Now, we are getting there. Some of the other plants went in to already planted containers as well. The more I looked at them, the more bare they seemed. So I will give them a little while to settle in and fill out and then I will show them to you.


I have been so impressed with photos of the skies on other blogs, that when I looked out my front door late Sunday evening and saw this, I ran for my camera.

We had severe thunderstorm warnings for our area and I was keeping an eye out for hail and damaging winds.

Fortunately, we got only some wind and very little rain. I ended up having to water my plants!

Have a good gardening week!

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day-June, 2008

I do have a few newly blooming flowers that I haven't shown and a couple that I have posted, but thought were worth seeing again. I was worried that I wouldn't, but the rain and then the hot sun made them pop just in time.

Yellow Asiatic lily-name unknown. In fact, these and a few others spread around the gardens are DIPT ones that showed up about 5 years ago.

These I did plant and are called Apple Blossom.

My cherry tomatoes, 'Gartenperle', are compliments of Cheryl. I've never grown English tomatoes before.

An annual, 'Penstemon', Phoenix Appleblosson. I am hoping the bees and the hummingbirds will especially like this one.

Of course, I had to show this root stock rose again. It has been in full bloom for 2 weeks! It is definitely staying.

Martha Stewart Heritage has had more beautifully perfect blooms.

One last lone iris. Name unknown and is it just me or does it look a little deformed?

Some of the wild flowers I started indoors. I have them in several spots in the gardens and they are so delicate looking. I am going to try to save some of the seeds to plant again next year.

And finally, false sunflower-I think. I bought one small plant years ago before I knew to keep plant tags. It spread, and spread and then spread some more. I have been trying to get rid of it, but every year it pops up in new places.

Hope you have a lovely Garden Bloggers Bloom Day!