Her Garden Grows...

There are three things that have been taking up my time lately (and why I haven't written here at all, checked Reader or done any knitting at all) - marking to get ready for report cards, getting set for LB's party (we are doing a soccer theme and it's been so much fun to plan so far!) and endless family birthdays.  I had a P.A. Day for report writing today and got them 99% done and school should be done in three weeks so once LB's party is done, life should get back to normal.  June is always so crazy!

One thing that I have managed to find some time for is the garden.  You don't see all that many photos of it here but it is an endless job.  We have a side yard for the kids with a rose and some flowers I have planted (and a vast collection of dandelions which had to be pulled), a front yard with three beds and a yard on the north side with my rose bed and our veggie garden.  Add on a whole lot of brick patio space (which was added by the previous owner) that seems to constantly need weeding and the gardens could take up all of our time.  There's also a back stretch but we've turned that over to the dogs so other than a little corner Dh uses for growing beans, it's allowed to basically run wild.

A number of my favourites are getting ready to offer their beauty.  It's funny but I have several flowers that always seem to open on my birthday.  It is probably a fluke but it always seems like a special kind of gift!

Anyway, here is where we are at.  In this bed, the hydrangea is still small but I definitely see new growth underneath and it gives a nice splash of colour.  The hostas have gone crazy, which is nice - I want to create a shade bed in the side yard next year and I plan to separate these and use them there.

 This is my birthday poppy.  It isn't the colour I would have chosen but it's so dramatic and it always opens its first bloom on my birthday.  This year, it was a day early but between Monday and now, we have gone from one bloom to 20!  The best part?  I bought it for 10 cents 9 years ago.  It looked almost dead and had been discounted several times until it was 10 cents.  At the time, I thought, what could I lose?  Apparently not very much :-)

 These are my peonies, which are almost ready.  It's strange because everyone else in town has them open and already looking tired.  These ones are a lovely light pink and I think they are one of my favourite cutting flowers.  The only problem with them is that I always find that just after they open, we get a hard rain and then they all tip over.  I've got so many, I will definitely get out there and get cutting before they have a chance to tip over and there will still be some left outside.

 This is my David Austin Heritage rose.  I adore this rose.  It has lovely light pink blossoms with so many petals it looks almost like a peony and they have the loveliest lemony-rose smell.  It seems to be very, very happy with the unusually warm spring we have had and it is covered in buds.  It blooms all summer and I cut from it weekly.  I can't wait to see flowers emerge!

That's it for now.  The morning glories and sweet peas that I planted from seed (something I have always meant to do but this year, I finally got around to it) are thriving but not yet blooming.  I'll share when they are ready.