Flower Container Update

I can say the flowers are really starting to grow. I have to spray almost all the plants with some aphid defense spray. Those little boogers are eating away my leaves and blooms on nearly all plants. That is a chore for this weekend for sure!!

The pansies I transplanted from the white hanging containers are just loving their new home.

The difference in one week is just tremendous.
So many new blooms and many new buds as well.
It has even gotten a little fuller.

This was one of the healthier ones I 
transplanted. It is really thriving just
one week later!!

My next update is on my whiskey barrel plantings in the new side gate corner flowerbeds. In just two weeks they have almost doubled in size. The petunias are becoming large and I think by end of July will finally spill over the edges.

I know the picture from July 1st which is the one on the left, is from a different
angle, but it can show how small the plants were.
The petunias are beginning to spill over. And the plants
are beginning to bounce back from the frostbite.

My rose whiskey barrel is the one that is really shining. The rose had just gone through a fresh blooming and I just deadheaded it. So you won't see any blooms on it in the updated picture, but the petunias have almost doubled in size. I do have some aphids munching pretty heavy on these, so they will get a good treatment this weekend.

This planter just makes me happy every time I see it.
Those fuzzy little plants planted around it are finally starting to grow as well.
Many didn't make it, but I am surprised by the ones that did.
The best thing too about this planter is that
the petunias and rose were both clearance purchases!!

The next collage is of the color of other transplanted flowers. It is these unexpected bright colors that make me so happy. The geranium is a transplant from a different planter. It was getting covered up by the dahlia and other geraniums in another planter. I needed this guy to shine because of its variegated leaves and salmon blooms. The little blue flowers are transplants as well. They were in the planter with my pretty pink petunias and marigolds. They were not thriving because all the other plants were taken over. The petunia is planted in one of my window planters on the fence. It is just such a pretty color to see every day when I am outside enjoying my morning cup of coffee.

Speaking of petunias in my window planter, these are on the left side of the fence next to my greenhouse. Keith wanted these because of their colorway. I wasn't too sure about them, but he was so right. They are just such show stoppers!!

The stardust look of the magenta ones is so unexpected.
And then the different white and purple variegation in the petunias
on the right is just show-stopping.
It is amazing how one week there will be more purple
 and the next more white.
I just love the continual supply of color these petunias provide.

I have a few projects on my agenda this weekend. One has to do with succulents!! I am excited about how this project will turn out. Fingers crossed it will be a show-stopper as well!!! I am also going to work on cleaning up some more stumps in the corner garden. One of my wisterias was delivered yesterday. I cannot wait to get the arch and plants in the ground!!

Enjoying the Flowers

 As I have stated in previous posts, we had a bad cold snap on June 20th. I salvaged the flowers I had purchased that day from Lowe's and Home Depot. Some have thrived with some patience and love while others are still struggling. 

I planted these beauties in my white planters hanging on my archway. They were pretty frostbitten and had no blooms, but a few buds. They are so vibrant and healthy now!! I am really thinking about buying some more in summer colors. They come in yellow, coral, and orange also, so I might grab a few and put them in the place of the pansies and purple sweet potato vines I transplanted out of the white hanging baskets.

This is the Moss Rose plant. It really looks like a tiny rose.
I love how many colors this plant comes in and it is actually pretty
hardy. I have had these nearly every year and it never
 fails a frost comes in and hurts them, but with love and patience
they always come back even more vibrant!!

Speaking of the pansies, I feel these guys were just struggling in the white planters. I moved them to the small planting areas along the new patio fence. I hope they do better here. I also transplanted the purple sweet potato vines along the fence. My hope for them is that they begin to grow up the fence. It probably won't happen, but we can only hope!!

I really love how these pansies look tucked into the rock garden.
I made spaces for them amongst the rock border of the patio flowerbed.
I sure hope they grow large and spread out onto the rocks.

Another great surprise was that a few stray pansies from last year have popped up in my front flowerbed. They are very small and unless you know the flowerbed well, you would never see them. The white one is behind my grass and peonies in the main flowerbed. It is doing its own little thing behind all the tall plants. The little burgundy one popped up under the clay flower pot next to the drive. I love when unexpected little treasures pop up in my flower beds.

Another treasure that is making me so happy is that my alyssum is now sprouting up and starting to bloom. I planted these seeds along with some Shasta daisies along the backside of the patio that butts up to the shed. The daisies do not look like they geminated or sprouted, but at least the alyssum did. If these do well this season, I will be adding more to different areas of the flowerbeds to create some nice ground coverage. I am trying to think of ways to add to the beds that will keep me from having to add mulch or any more pebbles to keep the plants thriving.

Last but definitely not least, I planted some extra marigolds and petunias in a container that had some pitiful carnations in it. The whole container is thriving. The sub-zero carnations have yet to show any signs of blooming, but they are at least green now. But I just love the rich color of the marigolds with the luscious bright pink color of the petunia. This one has become a great eye-catching container. It is placed on some old bricks from the front bed borders outside my greenhouse. I have yet to put the cover back on the greenhouse. I probably will in September when the temps become cooler.

I don't know if you can see it, but the water sprinkler was running when I took this pic.

Pops of Color and Flowerbed Maintenance

 We had such a wet Spring that the weeds really thrived. The before picture of my corner flowerbed is not accurate. It is prior to me being sick and the rain coming in for 2 weeks straight. The flowerbed was 10 times worse by the time I could tackle it. It took 5 days to complete in total, but the end result is awesome. I still have a few spots I could weed, but I will use the weedeater and put down some roundup instead. My back cannot take much more hard-core gardening right now.

I had to replant my wildflower seeds under the trees. Pepper got into the beds and dug everything up this past fall. I now have a tall fence up that she cannot get through. This is what it looked like last year. Pepper was able to squeeze through the decorative fence and ended up digging up all the gorgeous wildflowers. They should bloom by next month so I am not too upset. 

It took a lot of back-breaking work to get the bed cleared of all weeds and especially dandelions!! My hands are still cramping from pulling weeds for so many days straight. This was not the only bed that had to be cleaned up. All my front beds required it as well as around my greenhouse and back patio.

I added a little fairy circle flowerbed towards the front and then planted along the back fence some sunflower seeds. I cannot wait until everything is up and blooming!!

Speaking of blooming and pops of color, I am loving all the different varieties of petunias and dianthus I have planted in planters around the house. The top picture of the collage below is a wild rose bush that sprouted up along the back fence. It finally bloomed this year. It is in a precarious spot though. It is right behind the grill and smoker patio blocks. But so far it is still thriving.

For the corner spot in my front flowerbed, I added some of the cattle fencing we had left over and the rest of the white hanging planters as a cute corner attraction. The ivy was left over from a planter I had on the front porch last year. My creeping myrtle has gotten so large this year that was completely ignoring it the first part of the season!!

I also used some of the leftover cattle fencings as a brace for my tall dianthus. The smaller dianthus came back this year. I had them planted in this planter as a last-minute pop of color choice last season. I cannot believe they came back in this planter and the planter next to the garage.

We did a refresh to the rocks in the front flower beds. I did not get a picture of the peonies in bloom. But the wildflowers are coming back so strong each year. I actually need to thin them out a little. My plan this October is to plant a bunch of tulips in the front flower bed with my gladiolus. I will also plant some under the large front window. There is actually a small flower bed under it that is blocked by the peonies. I figured I will at least be able to enjoy them when I am on my front porch.

I am looking forward to my gladiolus this year. I moved the decorative fence from the corner bed to in front of my gladiolus bed as a bracing instead of using white stakes with string this year.

The sideyard gate entry was destroyed by Pepper when she would run back and forth watching the cowboys rodeo across the street. We have worked so hard to fill it in and make it level again. We had some old bricks from the front flowerbeds that were busted and miss shapen. We threw them down in the huge trench she had made and began slowly filling it with topsoil, sand, and pebbles. We now have a level entry with some of the sod we found on the interstate. I also made some corner flowerbeds to add some color and attract a few more pollinators. I love how it turned out. The barrels I ordered from Home Depot.  I did not realize how large they actually were until I got them in. Luckily, we had done a nice shopping haul at Lowe's and Home Depot the week prior and I had found a bunch of clearance items to fill them up with. I also have a couple of hydrangea plants planted in the corner next to the house along with a lantana plant. I am hoping this corner flowerbed becomes full of large hydrangea blooms!!

So that is a full update on my flower beds. I will try and get some pics of my pitiful vegetable planters and get an update posted this week as well. Now that majority of the hard work is done, I now can sit back and enjoy all our hard work!!