Fertilizer Friday 21 May 10

It's Friday and time to check out Tootsie and her pals at Fertilizer Friday. There's not many new blooms in my garden but there's so much growth! It's amazing what a little aeration, compost, sun and a couple of days of good rain can accomplish. Mother Nature has been good to us here in Nova Scotia.

This is a long weekend here in Canada, and the sun is supposed to shine the whole time! I see the prospect of a perfect weekend ahead of me: gardening, family & friends, relaxation and good food & wine.

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I moved a few plants last weekend. So now, these beautiful tulips enjoy their last performance in front of this new addition from last fall - Jupiter's Beard (Centranthus ruber). I was quite smitten with this one and am really pleased that it's made a reappearance -- and will bloom soon! It's supposed to be a prolific bloomer. Anyone else out there have experience with Jupiter's Beard?.
My primrose is still showing off beautifully. .
And the Sweet Woodruff is hitting it's prime. Such a pretty old-fashioned plant.
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Here's one of my Mountain Bluet (or Bachelor Button) buds getting ready to open soon. (Excuse the blur but I was taking these pictures just before running off to work.).
I'm impressed with the intense color of the Aguga (Bugleweed); I think it's a very jolly little groundcover! (That's the only word that really describes my feeling about this plant.).
This is, I believe, a Monkshood (Aconitum) plant. I bought this one from a plant sale & am unsure of the genus and color. So, being the reckless "Devil-may-Care" kind of gal that I am, I'm going to assume it's the common blue Monkshood. (How daring of me!!) It's always exciting to have some mystery in your plantings, don't you agree! It's adds an extra air of excitement to one's life!! (One's obviously really boring & uneventful life!).
And here's the first open bud on what I call Wild Geranium. (They grow anywhere, in anything and smell divine!) .
I'm still able to enjoy the Forget-Me-Not's last hurrah. .

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While I was looking for the marker for the Jupiter's Beard, I found one for a plant called Gallardia. I can vaguely remember seeing this one at the local Farmer's Market plant lady's stand -- but ya know, I don't remember if I bought one!! I hope so! I looked it up online and it looks very, very pretty.

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See how exciting and mysterious my life is! I bet you're all jealous 'cause even at my age, I'm still so totally WILD!!

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(Or is that forgetful & disorganized? Hmmm? But at least my definition of excitement and mystery is, so far, inexpensive and safe! No bungie jumping for me!)

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Happy weekend, bloggies!

Thrifty Thursday May 20.10

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I'm Joining Thrifty Thursday at Tales From Bloggeritaville.
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I haven't thrifted a lot lately. This cold has thrown a wrench into both my blogging and my thrifting: one day, it makes you think it's going away, only to flare up again the next. But Sat afternoon after I'd spent a few hours in the garden, Adriana and I headed to Frenchies. Here are my purchases:
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This is a lovely white cotton blouse; it has a drawstring/tie in the back - $3

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I love skorts for the summer -- it reminds me of being a child in the 60's -- and this little blue plaid one from White Stag is really cute - $3.85

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I'm always on the lookout for new sleepwear. This pretty yellow robe ($3) will be perfect with my cotton nighties.

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And then I found this nice knee-length cotton peignoir set ($6).

Look at the pretty detail -- hearts & lace!

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And lastly, I found these towels for my eldest daughter who loves purple/mauve shades. (The colors in these pictures lie!!) Two bath towels and a bath mat ($3 each).

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Happy Thrifting my friends!

Food for Thought Tuesday - 18 May 2010

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We either make ourselves miserable

or we make ourselves strong.

The amount of work is the same.

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Carlos Casteneda

Weekend Gardening

It was a glorious weekend for me. The weather co-operated at the right times and enabled me to get out in the garden and weed, mulch and rearrange all my existing beds. I worked like a dog (as per instructions from Reasonably Chubby!). But I still had time each day to rest and play.

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Take a walk through the garden with me starting at the bottom of the driveway.

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This is the newest bed at the bottom of the driveway. I put a few more plants in there. (The Lungwort and the crocus are not yet happy with the move!!)

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The front bed is looking very pretty. I put red mulch back on my beds this year because I love the contrast between the mulch and the foliage. (It echos my love of Christmas!)

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The side driveway beds got some rearranging. I moved 2 Heuchera plants in with the 1 existing. (Now I've just gotta find me a caramel-colored one!) And in the back are 2 new plants: a Turtlehead and a Jacob's Ladder.

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This is the brookside bed. Lots of neatening up was done there. And I planted a Maltese Cross, some pansies and found a spot for my piece of driftwood behind the Hydrangea.

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This is the lower part of my Larry garden; see the line of heart-shaped rocks? (You may have a harder time locating my fairy. I'm hoping to create a little home for her this summer.)

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This is the back half of the Larry garden; I'm not sure why I didn't get a picture of the front half!! Senility!

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And here the back garden with the brush fence behind. All the ferns are natural! I've got big plans for the section behind the ferns --- but it may not happen this summer.

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And this is a close-up of part of that bed looking towards the back. It has a gentle rise, and I've attempted to create a "step" effect with the beds. At the very back of the picture is where the new bed will go in next weekend.

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Yup, next weekend, I head to the Valley to dig up Mum Brown's garden and bring it back to Bridgewater. I'm really excited about that.

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And now I bid you a good night! This somewhat tired and achey body needs some rest.

Fertilizer Friday - 14 May 2010

After a week of being ill, I'm excited to get in the garden this weekend. Let's see what's managed to bloom in the garden this week (inspite of the weeds!!).

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The Sweet Woodruff is starting to come into it's own.

I love this plant; but I have to be careful because it's apt to take over!

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Another of my favorites is this wild Geranium, just beginning to bud.

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The deer snuck into my garden at the beginning of the week! And this is one of the few Hosta that they didn't get at. The white spots on it is the "Skoot" I used to keep the deer from chomping.

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These beautiful tulips are still blooming; you can see where the deer got one of the buds! Nasty, demon deer!!

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Forget-me-Nots

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My beautiful Primrose looking even more beautiful. I think it will get moved this weekend because it's hidden under the Holly bush.

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The Bleeding Heart bush is still looking lovely.

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The Boy's Love is also bushing out nicely. And it smells heavenly.
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Thankfully, the weather forecast for tomorrow is for sunshine. So, when I get home after noon ..... after I clean the old mulch off the beds, weed, add compost and topsoil and remulch ..... I may just get these little babies tucked in their new beds.

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So much work!!!

So much FUN!!!

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Now everyone head over to Tootsie's to see the other beautiful gardens.

Food for Thought Tuesday - 11 May 2010

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Just for today:

I will focus on positive thoughts and hold them in prayer, fully expecting good outcomes.

If thoughts of fear or lack pop up, I will release them just as I would remove weeds from my garden.

Mother's Day

I've been ill all weekend with this cold, and I spent most of it resting or in bed. But that's not necessarily a bad thing, right? It's what my body needs, and there were moments when I was what I call "deliciously sick" -- those times when even though you're not up to snuff, you have the luxury of being able to leave the rest of the world to deal with itself and you can drift off to the la-la land of sleep!
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I got up out of bed Sunday for my Mother's Day dinner made by Adriana.
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We had fajitas with refried beans and this lovely spicy chicken & pepper mixture. It was delicious. Then we ate dark, rich chocolate cake (purchased at M&M Meat Shops). And I opened gifts.
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Adriana gave me this pretty glass, turtle pepper & salt shakers, necklace & bracelet from Mexico, and good quality chocolate!

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Libby gave me more good quality chocolate and a plant. She's the girl who not only knows nothing about plants but is not the least bit interested in knowing about them. But she did really well. She bought me a Turtlehead plant, one that was on my list of "plants to buy".*

And even though the weather was cold and damp, I also spent some time staring longingly out the window at my garden. I purchased lots of bags of topsoil and mulch last week.*

I couldn't resist buying a few plants throughout the week; I just considered them part of my Mother's Day gift to me.

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I have a foxglove, 4 new yellow day lilies and a bleeding heart (roadside buys)as well as 4 pansies, a dusty miller, 2 Maltese Crossand the sick little plants I saved: 2 Painted Daisies, a lamium and a Jacob's Ladder -- another plant on my list.

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Alas, I must spend the week recouperating and patiently wait until next weekend.

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I hope you had a great weekend!