Look What’s Blooming In The Garden Today

I think my favorite flower is an Iris.

A beautiful purple/blue  Iris.  Yes, if I am ever asked or filling out a questionnaire as to what my favorite flower is I would have to say an Iris.  This is what I found in the garden today!  

So beautiful…

 

And look at that color!

I recently read somewhere that the Fleur de Lis symbol that is so popular in France is modeled after the Iris.  It’s the symbol of royalty.  No wonder I love them so much!

You would think that as much as I like them I would have a whole garden full of them.  Alas, I only have one.  And this is it.  I have been growing this particular Iris for the last 3 years and it has never bloomed like this before.  Yes, 3 years!  Of course, we moved it a couple of times during those 3 years.  We just couldn’t seem to find a place that it liked.  But I do believe we finally found a forever spot for it.  It seems very happy here.  Now the trick is to go out and find more of the exact same purple/blue and plant them in this same location.

   

And I am not sure what these are.  I planted these 3 years ago too and they never bloomed before either!  I guess I was into the purples that year. :)

Can anybody identify these for me?????  I really need to start saving the tags that come on the plants I buy.  :)

Re-Cycled and Numbered Flower Pots

Yes, I came up with another way to incorporate my infatuation with numbers and the colors of Black and White into my home! And when I come across an idea I like…I tend to beat it with a stick!

We continued to work on the small garden area off our deck that we mulched last weekend. Today, we went over to New Garden Nursery here in Greensboro and picked out 3 Boxwoods to plant. After my husband got them in the ground I decided to try and recycle the plastic pots they came in. So I took one of my many cans of Rust-o-leum Black Spray Paint and I painted them, careful to cover up the “Monrovia” logo on them. Two coats later I was ready to start stenciling. I used Folk Art Acrylic Paint and the color was #515 “Vintage White”. The stencils that I used came from www.maisondestencils.com.

These pots turned out so much better than I had expected! While we were shopping at the nursery I also picked up three pots of Lavender that I was going to plant near my garage. Well these re-cycled pots turned out so cute I decided that I would plant my Lavender in them and see how they do. If they get too big for these pots later I will simply re-plant them.

My potting bench needs some attention this year. The sun has baked it over the past few summers and the paint is starting to lift off. We painted it black for a big party we had a couple of summers ago and used it as a bar and drink area. Usually in the Spring I use it for what it was intended…potting plants. Then after that re-potting is all done we scrub it down and then use it for serving food and drinks when we are out on the deck. (See my bright orange garden shoes…me and Mario Batalli baby!)

So what do you think about my little re-cycling project?

You just know I’ll be making more of these. :)

After re-potting the Lavender into the new pots I moved them out to the front porch steps. It gets lot’s of sun in the late afternoons and evenings.

Can you see the “Bienvenue” (Welcome) stone I made peeking out by my garden frog? I am sure you will see that one again too. :)

Like I said before…when I come up with an idea I like….I run with it.

I am linking up with Metamorphosis Monday over at Between Naps on the Porch.

And I am linking up to the DIYShow Off.

I am linking up to Tales From Bloggeritaville for Thrifty Thursday as well.

I Love the Weekend and It’s Only Half Over

I love the weekends and so does the dog.  (Yes another photo of Oakley…couldn’t resist this one.)  She’s too cute.

We started off on Friday night watching our son’s Lacrosse game against a rival team who beat them pretty badly the last time they played.  This time they still got beat but not nearly as bad. 

Then on Saturday, we dusted off this beast.  And I do mean beast.  My husband bought this for me a few years ago when we saw it sitting at the end of someone’s driveway with a “For Sale” sign on it.  The intention was to help me with my vegetable garden.  This thing is so heavy and powerful that I can’t manage it.  And my husband who is a big strong guy gets a huge work out when he chooses to battle it. 

The weeds and especially the Bermuda Grass are overwhelming.  I HATE BERMUDA GRASS!

  

While he battled with the Tiller Beast, the dog and I surveyed the other gardens.  I love these white Bleeding Hearts.

  

Everything is coming up nicely.  We moved 5 clumps of yellow Lilies from the first garden here off of the deck out to the area under the bird feeder.  I haven’t had much luck getting much to grow there because it gets so much shade.  But I am hoping these super hearty Lilies do well there.  There were getting to big for the first spot we had them in so a move was made.  A good friend of mine dug up them up from her yard for me a few years ago when they moved to a new house closer to town.  She wanted to make sure they went to a good home.

Have you ever moved and dug up plants from your gardens to take with you???

Deer Like Tomatoes? Really???

My garden is decimated!! The deer are having a nightly banquet at my expense. I have had a garden here for going on 6 years now and have never had problems with animals eating my vegetables. This year our yard is suddenly a wildlife refuge. We had a nesting Robin in the eaves of the roof of our house. The empty nest is still there. I think we need a cherry picker to lift us high enough to get it down. In the Spring we had several Mocking Birds nesting in our Arizona Cypress trees. These trees are huge and bushy and bought for the sole purpose of blocking out an annoying neighbor. They were not meant to harbor a bird that liked to swoop down off of the roof of our house and drop a load of you know what on my minivan repeatedly for 5 weeks straight. Each morning my van looked like it had lumpy white polka dots. Some mornings I actually had to get out the hose and blast that nastiness off before I left for work. I could have gotten a ticket for driving with an obstructed view!

After the birds came the rabbits which I think are cute and so does my dog. They are smart those rabbits. They seem to know right where our dog's Invisible Fence line is and they let her chase them and then stop just past that line. I grew lettuce and spinach in the Spring time and didn't get a single salad out of the lettuce and only 1 salad out of the spinach. The rabbits nibbled them down to the nub. We have a chipmunk living in our garage. No complaints. He's cute and I haven't discovered any damage yet that he might be responsible for. There is a toad in the front bushes driving the dog crazy because she is too big to get to it. And now I have deer.

The deer have trampled my tomatoes and have eaten all the green ones. And I had lots of green ones that I was planning to make salsa out of when they turned red. All gone. Deer like tomatoes?????? Seriously, this is news to me! My cucumbers plants have all but shriveled up and died. And my collard greens look like green lace on a stump. Oh, I guess I have an insect problem as well.

So, it looks like it is back to the Farmer's Market for me. But, that's okay...... I was sick of weeding anyway.