In Bloom...

Over the past several years I've spent countless hours planting and tending these gardens. It has been a labor of love given the soil I deal with and the water we don't have and the deer that every once in a while decide the have the munchies. So, maybe its been out of sheer stubbornness, than love... suppose that would vary depending on when you ask me...


My ever growing piece of artwork, painted in bright greens, purples, yellows, and white.


Outside of the 7.5 cubic yards of compost we purchased, I'm not putting any money into my gardens this year (oh, and with the exception of the 2 Rhodie's and 3 Heaths my mom gifted me earlier this spring). I'm just going to watch them grow. I'll tend to them and see what is working and like, in other areas of my life, gain some perspective.

So, I thought I'd give my kids a break for awhile and turn my camera toward more cooperative subjects... my plants that are making their seasonal debut...

'Helmsdale' Lavender

'Magic Carpet' spirea


'Walker's Low' catmint and lady's mantle

Our newest resident, a red-winged blackbird

The view from the upper lawn to my lower, full sun, bed.

Toward our bird attraction, where they can feed and bathe.

'Profusion' Beauty Berry bush, variegated Wegeilia, catmint

Red maple (from my parents'), 'Goldflame' spirea, Exbury Azalea Hybrid

purple wall flowers ('Bowles Mauve')

I couldn't resist throwing this one in there...

Full sun, front garden

Full shade, back garden... hosta, astillbe, Herbert azalea, ferns, hydrangea, vinca minor, columbine, coral bells

I don't claim to have amazing flower beds. In fact, there is something about each of them that I'm not happy with. A whole that remains until early summer when the growth finally pops (grr, crape myrtle!) or plantings that aren't to scale with our house or shrubs that I was too tentative to prune last fall and are now unsightly (butterfly bushes!) A gardeners' work is never done because there is always something to fix because its not working or simply to make more beautiful. But even as I always feel a bit of dissatisfaction with my beds, each plant was picked by me because I love it, or because it is drought tolerant, or because a friend wanted to share their abundance. So, while each bed may not flow or fill in as nicely as I'd like, they are getting there, one plant at a time.

And, it always amazes me, though, what comes back year after year, and now that they are established, how most of my plants grow and bloom without me having to lift a finger.

Having a garden is truly a gift... because each day brings a new bloom, which is a magnificent glimpse at God's artistic hand.