Friday Favorites

It’s the dry season now. The area gets a 20% chance of rain some days, but my garden has not had rain for two weeks and I have been watering regularly now. Rain barrels are good but soaker hose is quicker and less work for me. I can do more fun things if I’m not tired from hauling five gallon buckets of water around.

‘Julia Child’ is a first year plant in a pot and is having an impressive flush right now.

‘Jaqueline du Pre’ has such beautiful stamens, My camera cannot stay away.

‘Red Eden’ has more blooms every year.

This ‘Marilyn Monroe’ does nor have a perfect center, but I still love the color.

English roses

In my garden that was just started last fall, I now have a few of the David Austin English Roses blooming. First blooms on first year plants show great potential for this location. I was not sure if it would be sunny enough.

‘Sharifa Ashma’

‘Abraham Darby’

‘Graham Thomas’

Evening gardenwalk

A week of warm weather made everything bloom.

‘Rainbow’s End’ climbing on an old section of fence.


‘Graham Thomas’ first year plant.

Blooming in the rain

After living here nearly two years, I understand why the roses and other beautiful flowers grow so large and colorful. Moderate temperatures and plentiful moisture. I love the moderate temperatures but the rain keeps me indoors more than I would like. There was no sailing over the Memorial Day weekend but the roses look great!

‘Eglantine’ was transplanted with me from Minnesota. A+ in my book.

‘Summer Wind’ was hybridized by Dr. Buck for conditions in Iowa and it does well in the NW also as many of his roses do.

‘Tyrelle’ is a sport of ‘Jeanne LaJoie’ that was discovered by a friend, Jan Staetler who is no longer with us.

This is ‘Playboy’ which is a very successful rose in my climate.

Last, but not least is this unnamed Clematis that has very showy blooms and was purchased at a local Big Box store on clearance a few weeks after we moved in. It is so beautiful, I think it deserves sharing too.

Everything’s coming up …

Take a peek into my garden today.

‘Jeanne Lajoie’ Climbing miniature

‘Jaqueline Du Pre’

‘Watercolors’ Floribunda

Garden glory

This is the best time of the year.

Hood strawberries are starting.

Calla lilies are at their best.

And roses are starting to bloom!
This the Austin rose ‘Evelyn’

Another plant craft Pinterest follow up

Why look at drab terra-cotta pots when you can add color to the garden? One of the things I most enjoy about spring and summer is the return of color in the garden and this is an easy way to splash color.

To get started you might want to check Wal Mart garden center for cheap pot prices, but other places will have them on sale soon. Last year I painted the red pots and filled them with geraniums which wintered over in my green house. This spring I added the yellow ones. It’s easy. First you should use Thompson’s Water Seal on the inside and bottom of a new, clean terra-cotta pot. I used a cheap, foam brush to apply. Then I checked out the local Habitat for Humanity store for inexpensive paint. The outdoor yellow latex was under three bucks. I painted two coats of yellow and could have put on a third.

I like unique, trendy plants and I also like to use them in prominent places, so here you see Proven Winners Lemon Slice Superbells. I saw this plant in a garden magazine a few months ago and have been on the hunt for it!

The second yellow pot has Proven Winners Nemesia, Blue Bird and another generic orange Nemesia. Color! Contrast! Joy!

#WordlessWednesday

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Flower Friday #FF

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I love my roses, I love my fuchsia, but the blooms that make me smile today are cherry blossoms in my yard. Come on bees!

Fertilizer Friday at Tootsie Time!

Bloedel Reserve, Bainbridge Island, WA

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Have you heard about Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island? It is across Sound from Seattle, about a 45 minute drive from our house over the Agate Pass Bridge. It was not until seeing an ad for “the premier plant sale” and a sunny break on Saturday morning did I consider checking out this garden and sale. I heard that there are no roses in the garden but lots of other great plants. It is a gem on the island.

Nice color but unlabeled plant.

Path to the Japanese Garden

Japanese Garden

Magnolia

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Rhododrendon

Rhododendron

Japanese Garden

Trillium

Walk to the mansion and plant sale on the grounds of Bloedel Reserve.