There’s No Place Like Home!

I was sitting at my desk this morning wondering what to write about. I looked through a pile of papers I keep in the ‘Please Read Me’ file and checked my notes online. I thought of writing about Greenhouse Growers June issue that’s dedicated to Protecting Pollinators. The spokes woman from the Xerces Society took issue with some of the facts put forward by Joe Bischoff in his article entitled ‘What’s All the Buzz About’. That could have been a good he said/she piece but then I looked out the window…

The sun is shining, the birds are singing and there is a light breeze with spring azures racing about. It’s an all around perfect day but not for debate. Days like this are meant for enjoying our gardens. Time to smell the roses or whatever is flowering. This is what we do it for, the weeding and watering and planting and pruning.  My inspiration was right here all the time. Take a walk with me…

The Quaker Ladies are just going to seed after a spectacularly long season of color. The Eastern Red Columbine was covered with orange-red flowers attracting our season’s first hummingbirds.

Viola ‘Silver Gem’ is finding her way into the cracks and crevasses of the natural stone we have in our back yard.

The Coneflowers are all just beginning to bloom. It didn’t take long for the bees and butterflies to find them. I have some in a vase beside on my desk. They last forever.

'Moerheim Beauty' Sneezeweed attracts butterflies and other pollinators and is surprisingly rabbit resistant and I have proof. Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail, Peter and their whole damn family live in our garden.

The fire pit area had a tremendous show of Columbine all spring and the Black-eyed Susans will take over in just a week or two along with ‘Major Wheeler' Trumpet Honeysuckle. Threadleaf Bluestar’s golden foliage will be on fire in the autumn sun.

‘Tiger Eyes’ staghorn sumac has been a favorite plant of mine since a co-worker and friend selected it at Bailey Nurseries.  Look at that color!

Blueberries with an under planting of Green and Gold – the ultimate ground cover for shady areas.

Short Toothed Mountain Mint is under used and under loved! It blooms for weeks on end and is an extraordinarily good source of nectar for smaller types of butterflies and a host of other insects. I use the silvery foliage in bunches of flowers I pick for the house.

The Fort is a work in progress. We thought of it last summer while we were trying to eat dinner outside and were being eaten alive by mosquitos. Now we can have our dinner and watch the fireflies too. Forts are never not fun!

Bringing life to your garden!

Have fun out there, Peggy Anne