Saturday Project: Moss

I have a great love for moss. I love the way it looks. I love the way it feels. I can just imagine fairies tip-toeing through it. I discovered a treasure trove of moss on the edge of our lot. I was extremely excited. I had moss plans!


First, I underplanted my potted Japanese Maple.



Next came my poor, neglected Buddha fountain (located beside door into garage).

The Before. So sad looking.

The After. Lovely!

Still need more moss to fill it up.
An experiment, as always. So hope it lives.

Other Stuff:

The Blues (and Whatnot)

I really love blue flowers. I think they add so much to a garden. They especially look good with my yellow/apricot/orange roses and daylilies. I've been adding lots lately to The Garden of Good and Evil. I recently planted Penstemon heterophyllus 'Electric Blue', Echinops 'Plantinum Blue', Campanula persicifolia 'Coerulea', Veronica teucrium 'Royal Blue' and Delphinium 'Delfix Blue'.

Geranium 'Brookside'

Angelonia angustifolia

Delphinium 'Delfix Blue'
Delphiniums don't do very well in the south, but this is a smaller one, and they were selling it here, so I'm giving it a try. It's the most beautiful shade of blue.

I think I've obtained my goal of filling up this garden. I love that all-smushed-together cottage garden look. Plus it cuts down on weeds.

Lilium 'Tango Ladylike'
I love the unusual coloring of this asiatic lily. It's just about all faded out here. My lily love is fairly recent. I didn't like them for years and years. Now I think they're a great addition.

A few years ago, wild snapdragons (Linaria vulgaris) starting coming up everywhere in this garden. I like their delicate look, and they're great for filling in. They're really easy to pull out anywhere I don't want them.

I've received my last roses of the season. These are from Roses Unlimited. They send the healthiest, most beautiful plants. Now I just have to figure out where to plant them all. Only one has spot so far.

I got 'Clementina Carbonieri' (Replacing 'Mme. Charles' in Good and Evil. Now I have to figure out where to move 'Mme. Charles'.), 'Mrs. B.R. Cant', 'Duchesse de Brabant', 'Buff Beauty' and 'Adam'. I'm going to have to expand!

I'm finished ordering/buying plants. For this year. Maybe.


I adore garden statuary. I have several small ones. I so want something large and prominent. I don't even know where to look. Maybe I should hit the flea market.

Good and Evil Girl

Flower Girl, my favorite

This is a busted up statue girl from my mother's garden. She used to be part of a fountain. I'm thinking of using her in my future Ruins Garden.

OK, here are this week's roses:

'Graham Thomas', a favorite

'Mrs. R.M. Finch'

'Fair Bianca'

'Irene Watts'

'Martine Guillot'

'Martine Guillot'

On my back porch:

Some critters:

Henderson, being cool

Max, being Max

AmieRuth, being all proper

Clementine and Magloria, being sweet

Look at my lotus! It's huge and so so beautiful!

Please bloom, most glorious lotus!

Planting Again

After all the rain, I finally got to start planting again today. The ground still could have been a bit drier, but I just couldn't wait any longer. I am overwhelmed with all I have to plant and everything that needs to be done. That happens to me every year though. I'm just trying to take it one area at a time.

So today I moved a rose 'Irene Watts' out from under the giant rose 'Martine Guillot'. I planted it on Flower Girl Hill. I also planted one of my new daylilies 'Madge Cayse' there. And I finally got the rest of my vegetables planted there: Four tomatoes, squash, cucumber and lemon basil. I still haven't finished degrassing that garden. That bermuda grass is enough to put me off gardening. I don't want to spray anything there, since I'm growing food. Plus I don't want to spray where chickens go. Let's face it, I just don't like to spray anything. So I guess I'll be digging it out for the rest of my life.

I cannot WAIT to have tomatoes!

This rose, clematis and foxgloves looked so pretty together this morning.

I think 'Fair Bianca' has the most beautiful bud of any rose.

'The Bride' has a beautiful form. It's just a tiny little plant though. I'm going to really baby it this year. It's on Flower Girl Hill and was being smothered by 'Perle d'Or.' I uncovered it today.

'Triomphe de Luxembourg' looks almost like tissue paper. I love it. It amazes me how many different flower forms roses have.

'Lady Emma Hamilton' is that color blend that I love so much. This one is coming close to stealing my 'Pat Austin' love!

Pond Week

I'm all about making the pond beautiful now. Even when not looking its best, it's my favorite part of the gardens. I just love sitting by it, feeding and watching the fish. It's my most relaxing spot anywhere.

All the fish are looking healthy. I saw two baby koi today. That's always so exciting to find koi that were born here.

Here are Leo and Frida. Leo is the king of the pond.

The water is just starting to clear up. The whole place has been a mess since being neglected so long while the snake owned it (That's some sentence, ain't it?). I'm taking back my pond!



I worked today cleaning up the umbrella plants and pulling bermuda grass up and out of the back of the pond. (I can't tell you how much I hate bermuda grass. It's the bane of my gardening existence. Every year, it and Japanese Beetles make me question having gardens.)

You can see the black liner of the waterfall in this photo. I vow to have that waterfall rocked this summer.

I got this lotus last year. I was so excited to see it come back all healthy. I can't wait for it to bloom (Please bloom!).

The spring flush is over for most of the roses. A few of them are just starting though. 'Reve d'Or' has had its peak but still blooming a little.

The David Austin rose 'Evelyn' is just breathtaking. This bloom is huge. It's one of the roses on Pond Hill that hasn't grown much though. I'm working on them this year with lots of compost and mulch and food and water. And loving words of encouragement!

The sweet chickens. But what are they doing sitting around my eggplants?

My eggplant! Those darn chickens!

New Fish

We went to Marsha's Koi today. It's such a pretty place. It's at Marsha and her family's home way out in the country, about 45 minutes from here. Along with koi, they also sell chickens.


I fell in love with their dog. Someone said his name is Fisher, but I always have to give everything my own name (I don't know why that is). He looked like an Oreo to me, with lots of middle, so I named him Double Stuff. I wanted to bring him home with me. I miss him!

"We thought you was a toad!"

They have several ponds. This is the one in their front yard. So pretty.

These tadpoles were giant!

Big pond in back.

I really love this black and yellow koi: a Ki Utsuri (I think. I have a hard time distinguishing between Utsuri and Bekko.).




Back at home, here are my two new fish:

After I said I had learned my lesson, I named this one again after my mother, Dottie II. It's not as dark blue as the first Dottie, but I had to have another similar one. I know I'll always think it's not as pretty as the original. Oh well.

Modigliani II. I think the snake ate the first Modigliani. I have a thing for sequels.

A beautiful waterlily in my pond.

Foxgloves in the Garden of Good and Evil. I so love foxgloves. They really do look like fairy flowers.

The girls have new ankle bracelets. Everyone has a different color for quick identification. Here is Clementine in lovely blue. She is my favorite, but don't tell the others!

An artistic shot. Ha.

Henderson impersonating a gargoyle, guarding the gardens from all evil spirits.

Waterlogged

I did hardly any gardening this week. It was a week of rain and more rain. Everything is soggy. My big accomplishment was making plant labels! Sad. I will make up for it this weekend though. Somehow.

Lots of my roses are bloomed out on their big spring flush. It makes me sad. They'll be back though, right? Lots of other flowers to look forward to also. I can't wait for the daylilies.

My Antique Rose Emporium order arrived this week. Look at these beautiful plants.


Also received order from Daylily and Hosta Gardens. Big, beautiful daylily fans.


I have sooo much planting to do. The ground has just got to dry out soon.

Here's my Angel shade garden and courtyard area at end of driveway. I want to do something with that little pond thing. I may put a few goldfish in it. Definitely put water plants in it and do rocks around it. I did get white impatiens planted among the ferns.


Here's the arbor and gate in that area to back yard. Trying to decide whether to stain it or paint it white. What do you think?

'Cl. Margot Koster'

Siberian iris

Peony 'Festiva Maxima'

'Molineux'

Geranium 'Brookside'

'Jude the Obscure'
This rose has the most delicious fragrance.

'Phyllis Bide'
I so love this on the birdhouse pole, but it's already blackspotted.

'Teasing Georgia'
One of my favorites.

'Cardinal de Richelieu'
This rose is in too much shade in my Secret Garden.
It's so beautiful it deserves a better spot.

'Mrs. R.M. Finch'
One of my first roses.

'Perle d'Or'
A favorite.

'Graham Thomas'

'White Maman Cochet' and 'Graham Thomas'

For Mother's Day, I get to go to Marsha's Koi tomorrow to buy a new koi, since I lost two to the heron and who knows how many small ones to the snake. I'm still heartbroken about losing Dottie, my favorite. Lesson learned: Never name a fish after your dead mother.

Rainy Day Lists

I haven't done any rain gardening today. I may go out later to feed the roses. I for sure am going to work on my plant labels/markers. I am finally getting my roses straightened out, and I don't want to forget any again. I still have good intentions of making garden maps.

I placed orders for roses and daylilies in the last week. I can't wait to get them all. I've planned in my head where some of them are going.

List ordered from Roses Unlimited:

Mrs. B.R. Cant
Duchesse de Brabant
Adam
Buff Beauty

List ordered from Antique Rose Emporium:

Jaune Desprez
Celine Forestier
Reine des Violettes
Mutabilis

List of additional roses I wish I had ordered:

Clementina Carbonieri
Cl. Cecile Brunner

List of daylilies ordered from Daylily and Hosta Gardens:

'Cherry Chapeau'

'Court Magician'

'Emperor Butterfly'

'Irving Shulman'

'Madge Cayse'

'Pumpkin Kid'

'Royal Saracen'

'Ruffle Doubled Frills'

(daylily photos from Daylily and Hosta Gardens)

List of garden wishes and dreams:

Ruins garden with crumbling wall, statuary, "black" flowers
Rose tunnel
Border and walkway around perimeter of back yard
Night/white garden

List of pretty, blooming things yesterday and today:

'Lady Emma Hamilton'

My first rose love 'Pat Austin'. I find its nodding habit sweet.

'Molineux'

Digitalis

Peony 'Maxima'. One of my oldest garden plants.

Can you tell I'm a bit obsessed with this arch and 'E. Veyrat Hermanos'?

'Teasing Georgia'

'Perle d'Or'

'Blumenschmidt'

'Rosette Delizy'