Monarch Butterflies love Milkweed

Milkweed flowers before the pods

The caterpillar loved this leaf!

Milkweed pods

The caterpillar of the Monarch butterfly

2018 Finally Spring!

Chickens free ranging

PJM near the fence in the front

Just a few tulips that the squirrels didn't get

Spice bush in the front yard

Sunset

Love Spring time (from someone else's yard!)

New Adventures in Blogging

Not using this medium much any more - obviously! The world has moved on and so have I. Blogspot seems extremely outdated, although many still use it. 

I've switched most of my websites/blogs to WordPress because it gives me more flexibility... but also more headaches!

In years to come who knows, SquareSpace/Wix?  Trying something new this week called #Slack.
There are so many choices, but so many silos.  It seemed for a while the internet united us, but now I feel it isolates more than unites.

This blog was the start of my online presence. And while it seems old, it's just over 10 years. Wonder what the next 10 will bring!

Me 10 years ago in March 2007

Me in Sept 2016.

A few changes. But it's still me.

Most the pets pictured in the blog have gone "over the rainbow."
The puppy on this blog has turned into the old dog - Lucky who is 14 1/2 years old!
Lady has been with us for 5 years this Dec.  And we've got Kingsley and Sasha black cats now too.

Happy 2015 New Year

Gardening 2015 resolutions:

• I want to put a flower garden in the hollow stump of the old walnut tree. 
• Replant some seeds for the poppies - or Ben flowers as Grinny called them. 
• Do 5 minutes of weeding, pulling and clean up each day, switching from my 5 main gardens. 
• Take a photo and post it (even though they look the same year over year, there are minor differences) 
• Re propagate the forsythia. I got a moth or something that killed most of mine with a center hole in all the stems. 
• Create a hanging basket with wave petunias using the multi hole hanging baskets and potting mix. 
• Put the hanging baskets on the front porch and don't forget to water!! 
• Keep the hibiscus growing inside during the winter so they are there on the back porch during the summer

The November 2014 snowstorm was a doozy. I thought we'd end up with a very snow December as well, but no snow in December.

That was too bad, since I never got any skiing in between Christmas and New Years.

The resort is making snow, but it just doesn't seem like winter with green stuff showing.

 After the initial shock of all the white stuff and clearing the driveway, things got back to the usual.

Without snow in December, I got thinking more about the beautiful flowers this summer.

 I've saved lots of seeds and plan to plant them in my gardens around the house.

It's been 2 and a half years since my bee sting and I'm getting more used to carrying the epipen and phone with me.

 Planning to really plant a lot of flowers this spring!

I've got 5 gardens going:
1) Along the fence out front- about 150 feet by 3 feet of bushes and a few flowering plants. I keep the trash out of it, and pull the bad weeks.  Forsythia, sedum, PJs, hostas (plain and striped) with a mix of east sun and shade under the big maples and smaller/medium pines.White clematis

2) North side of the house: This was crazy last year when I took a big walnut tree as thick as my upper arm out of the middle of it.  Always fighting the "volunteers". I tied up the red bud tree that has turned into an awkward bush.  Lots of daylilies of different varieties and timing.  Lungwart. Mountain somthing. Some daffodils. a peony, moneyplants, two huge hibisus and bordered by 2 huge huge lilacs. purple clematis Maybe 35 feet by 8 feet?

3) Next to the garage: This has a walnut stump that defines it. 3 or 4 huge hostas, some ferns, aloe plants, pink whispy fern, pink clematis, ben flower (poppy), sundrops, something tall that Bruce gave us, pink somdethings that have lots of rattling seeds, 2 overgrown japanese irises, volunteer purple things. (I really should learn all the names of stuff!) This is about 20 feet by 7 feet in a football shape on one side, with a tail.

4) Along the deck Lady's mantle, sundrops, pink clematis, monkeyfist/spiderwort, 3 peonies, small sunflower/blackeyed susans, pink somethings. Not my favorite garden to weed due to the u smell. 10 feet by 3 feet.

5) Next to the turn around: Bad soil here and I've been thinking of giving this one up.  I created it to keep people off the lawn and because we had a woodpile there that was serving the purpose before.  Now I have a tree/bush from Grinny's and a former Christmas tree holding the spot.  This got so overgrown that when I weeded it my daughter thought we had just planted the 2 trees.  My goal, to keep it weeded and get it smaller!! 12 feet x 3 feet.  Maybe down to 6 feet by 2 feet.  Iris, monkeyfist/spiderwort, black eyed susan sunflowers (this is what got overgrown - they are ugly till they bloom).

6) next to the stairs: this one is so small, it doesn't count: sun flowers, cone flowers, sun drops and black eyed susans. 3 feet by 2 feet.I love this one, but the bees are too close to the deck/stairs that I have to walk by and it attracts bumblebees too.  I need them farther away for safety.

Total flower garden estimates:
450 + 280 + 140 + 30 + 36 + 6 = 942

Gotta keep the 450 looking great, because it's by the road. And it's fairly easy to get to and has perrenials
The North side got outta control, but I'm gonna scale back on the types and quantity
The 140 by the garage is the hardest because its too packed
The Deck's 30 is not very pretty. Maybe take out some of the ugly ones (spiderwort that attracts bumble bees)
Turn around - definitely plan it and shrink it.
next to the stairs - shorter flowers for safetly.  Maybe put the big sunflowers somewhere else (another sun garden?

I didn't even count the massive daylilies around the coop (I've let that garden of irises get out of control.
Or around the garage. (ditto)

Planning for Tomorrow's Turkey Day

I think the weather will be slightly colder tomorrow.  Last week we had a bunch of snow and cold, but tomorrow will be clear and cold.

Winter arrived and it was cold! Heavy, wet, good-packing snow that lasted about 4 or 5 days.

Pretty snow, but icy and cold. I know I shouldn't wish my life away, but I can't help but think about what was:

Luckily I have saved lots of seeds and plan to plant early in the spring. Pink cone flowers. Small sunflowers. BIG SUNFLOWERS and on and on. Only 5 months til April and the winds of spring.

Angel Trumpet Deadly! Beautiful flowers but from what I hear, I should be wearing gloves when taking off the wilted flowers. Better keep them away from the dogs too. Burns the skin. They are in the nightshade family.

My husband came home with flats and flats of flowers to put in the garden borders and pots. I still have about half a flat to plant. It's really pretty around here!

Big Rain, Wind and a Front Coming Thru

Big rain. Thunder boomers and a giant front came thru. I'd been sitting in a meeting all day looking out at a beautiful sunshine view of some mountains when wham, it dumped.

Moving My 2 Cents to Tumblr and Day Lily Garden

I'm considering moving this blog over to Tumblr. I am not so fond of how Google is tying everything together and I'm trying to learn and understand the Tumblr format better. So follow me on the new blog at: http://www.tumblr.com/blog/daylilygarden Not that I'll really focus only on Day Lilies but now that winter is it's last month (please!) I'm getting garden fever again!

7/6/2014 NOTE:  A year and a half later, I never got the hang of Tumblr and stopped posting.  I'm going back to this format on blogspot.

The Vegetable Garden -or Bunnies Be Gone!!

June 2012 Lemon Drops

A Drought the Summer of 2012

Day Lilies

This has been a summer without much rain.

I've water the gardens a few times, but not enough to have beautiful gardens, just enough to keep them going until nature takes over!

Projects around the house have taken precedent over the gardens too... with painting comes stomping of the plants.  But they'll grow back.

Just realized how much I've neglected the blog when Mom reminded me I hadn't posted all year here!! Yikes!