Hi! In the last few weeks, we’ve been posting about some big projects that we have been working on around the garden. Things like rose trellises, turning firepits into focal points, cement tops and wine barrels for tables and a host of others. Projects that involve heavy digging and lifting, copious amounts of sweat.
Today I was in the mood for something different. I woke up, after a day yesterday spent out in the garden sunshine planting vegetable starts, to misty rain. It put a damper on my planting plans, but gave me an opportunity to walk around the garden and notice the simple little things that are lovely right now.
Join me . . .
Snapdragon
Clematis
Fern fronds
Studies in red and green
Delphinium
Yellow begonia and friends
Persian Jewels
Hardy Geranium
Lupine
The garden elf my mom gave me always makes me smile.
Maybe my favorite picture for today . . .
From the Broadway musical, 110 In The Shade, here’s Simple Little Things:
What’s new in your garden? Do tell in the comments below–I love to hear from you!
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Till next time,
I’m participating at:
Garden Tuesday at Sidewalk Shoes
Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamer
Home and Garden Thursday at A Delightsome Life
Flaunt Your Flowers! / Fertilizer Friday at Tootsie Time
Everything looks great Athena!
What’s the plant with the tiny pink flowers growing in with the snapdragons?
Thank you for the kind words! That plant was growing here when we moved in, and I believe it is liatris. I have a love/hate relationship with it–it is a beautiful shade of pink, and the hummingbirds and bees just love it. However, it reseeds very rampantly, so I am constantly pulling it up where I don’t want it, like in garden paths.
Beautiful flowers! The Clemantis is especially pretty. Love all the purples!
Hi Kim: Thank you for stopping by–I appreciate your sentiments! And I do love purple as well, probably because I use so much turquoise in the outdoor furnishings and hardscape.
Thanks for the reminder to stop and smell the roses and appreciate the colors. I feel like I’m so focused on getting the weeding done that I don’t take the time to look at what’s blooming. Doing a post on flowers every week reminds me of the bigger picture.
I get that way, too, sometimes–so caught up in the maintenance that I don’t spend enough time just enjoying the garden. I have great places to sit and see the garden, so I just need to use them more often!
Hi Athena,
So many gorgeous blooms! I’m jealous of your Delphinium. I have never had any luck growing them or with Foxglove either. Perhaps it’s not me, but our cold winters. Your post is a nice reminder to stop and enjoy the little things.
Thank you for the compliment and taking the time to stop by today! The foxglove just reseed like crazy here, and they are not hard to grow, at least in my climate. The delphinium, on the other hand, are a labor of love. They require constant vigilance to keep the slugs from devouring them, and they have to be staked and tied in or they will break, especially with all the rain we get here. But they are pretty. The cold weather might be an issue for the foxgloves, but my mom grows delphinium pretty well and she’s in a zone 4b climate, so they seem to be able to take some cold. Sometimes the smaller delphinium starts just don’t make it from one year to the next–they can be a short-lived perennial in my garden.
Hi Athena, Love your lupines, hen and chicks, and your (very tall) white snapdragons. The tractor seat adds a bit of whimsy and perhaps a spot to rest while weeding. Everything looks lush and lovely after the rain. You do know why God makes rainy days, don’t you? So that gardeners can get the housework done! lol In all honesty, though, WE really need rain in our area. I’m watering as best I can!
Hugs, Beth
Hi Beth: Thank you for stopping by–I enjoyed hearing from you! No kidding about the housework–I’ve been getting caught up on computer work as well as the house!
Wow, your photographs are beautiful. You really have an eye for it and what a wonderful job you do with editing! I enjoyed the garden tour.
~Emily
The French Hutch
Hi Emily: Thank you so much for stopping by today and leaving a nice comment–I appreciate it very much! I just loved your blog post today–makes me want to take off for Paris immediately! Gorgeous!
enjoyed this lovely series of healthy looking garden plants. It is winter here in Australia, there are just a few flowers remaining on all the tibouchinas (purple), the rest of the garden is waiting on warmer days
Hi Carole: So nice to hear from you–thank you for stopping by today! You will have to send me some flower love during your summer and my winter months via your blog!
Hot images. I love snapdragons. This year seems to DTE that I failed to drive them out. They got too cold. Thank you bid on a garden walk in the pictures from your garden. I wish you a nice weekend! Zinnia
Hello Zinnia: Thank you so much for leaving a comment here–I hope that you were able to understand the comment I left for you–very happy that there are translation devices at work! And I will have a nice weekend–supposed to be warm, and I’ll be out in the garden!
Hi darling, oh my goodness your gardens are incredible. I had snapdragons years ago that grew to those heights, I don’t recall seeing the Persian Jewels. gorgeous.
hugs ~lynne~
Lynne–thank you so much for the nice comment–I truly do appreciate it! My snaps are pretty big this year–these particular plants decided to act like a perennial and not die over the winter, and so they are 2 years old and blooming away! The Persian Jewels are one of my favorite, and they are so easy–they just reseed by themselves!
What pretty flowers you have! Love the snapdragons. It is so hard to find old fashion tall snapdragons like you have these days.
I am having a giveaway for some of my iris- would love for you to come and sign up!
Hi Mary: Thank you for stopping by for a visit–I appreciate it! I think my snapdragons got so big this year because they are holdovers from last year, so the plants are actually 2 years old now. I bought seed from Pinetree Garden Seeds, which come separated out in all the different colors you see, so you have more color control when you are planting them out. I will check out your giveaway–I love iris!
Thanks for stopping by my blog Athena. Your garden is looking gorgeous with all those blooms.
You are so welcome, and thank you!
Reads like you need a break from the heavy chores…your flowers are so pretty. Love the black mondo grass in the semp/sedum container…
I don’t mind the heavy chores, but I do like it better when it’s interspersed with some easier activities like just looking at the flowers! I love going out in the early morning with a cup of tea and just walking the garden to see all the flowers.
Athena,
Thanks for coming by my blog. You have such a lovely garden with so much blooming right now. I love your clematises and particularly Lust for the nearly black one peeking out from the golden foliage. I clicked on through to your post about thugs and am amused by the acknowledgement of forget me nots reseeding everywhere, as I just pulled out the ones that were looking so ratty this time of year. Then I spent a half hour getting the seeds off my clothes. I do have several herb pots that I plan to sink into the soil.
Yael
Hi Yael: That very dark clematis is ‘Romantika’. It’s a little hard to photograph, but just a super dark purple. And yes, those little forget me not seeds do get everywhere. Thanks for visiting today!
i adore seeing spiderwort in the gardens ~ they are just so pretty with that purple color against the prolific green! lovely, just lovely! Thank you so much for linking up your post for the rest of us to enjoy at this weeks garden party! Hope you have a fantastic weekend! xoox, tracie
Thank you, Tracie, for hosting such a fun garden party, and I hope you have a great weekend as well!
Aw, that’s so very nice! I loved the elf.
Thank you, Asha, for visiting today! Yes, that elf is just fun–I have him by the front door.
Your garden is spectacular! I wish I could grow foxgloves here – I keep trying – the folks in the nursery think it is the cats – we can’t figure anything else out! Love all your gorgeous flowers,
Delightsome post! I appreciate you sharing with Home and Garden Thursday,
Kathy
Thank you so much, Kathy. Cats can want to play with plants, and sometimes love them to death in the garden, so it’s possible! I enjoy Home and Garden Thursday, and will be back this week!