This and That

Oak Leaf Hydrangea is one of my favorites--she never disappoints with her big beautiful cone shaped flowers.

Of course, MopHead Hydrangea are equally beautiful.  Hard to choose a favorite color with the blues, pinks and lavender.

This beautiful blue was hiding in the foliage.

The cone flowers in the curb garden are just beginning to bloom--the bees find them irresistible.

Jackmanii clematis is a very hardy specimen.

It's hard to have a bad day when primroses line your path.

The daylilies are just beginning to bloom.

Next Year, the garden thrives on neglect.  Have been especially neglectful of my gardening duties this growing season.  Several things, people, and situations have been keeping me preoccupied--some good some not so good.  Grandmother Bessie would smile and tell me it's called life.

Time to pull on those big girl gardening britches and tackle that growing gardening list of things to do.

My Love Affair with Flowers

Hydrangea's from Trader Joe's to brighten the mantel.

My Oak Leaf Hydrangea loaded with blooms.  My new secret weapon for hydrangea--Epson salt.  This plant never disappoints--it is beautiful in the spring with all the flower heads.  In the fall the flower heads turn a rusty cinnamon color and the birds feed on them in the winter.

Daffodils--they greet me each spring with their bring yellow flower heads.  A welcome sight after a long winter.

The smell of Sweet hyacinth's planted by the door waiting to greet me after a long day.

Iris, the poor man's orchid, such a beautiful hardy plant.

Pansies with their bright cheerful smile sometimes hardy enough to survive the long cold winter.

And then there are the peonies!

The daylilies will soon be blooming and the purple coneflower, the roses, the clematis, roses, lavender so many flowers to bring endless delight!

I have a serious love affair with flowers.

Mother's Peonies

These are peonies blooming in my Mother's garden.

The blooms are perfect!

There are hundreds of petals on each bloom!

Most years the plants are so laden with blooms, Mother has to stake the plant to keep the blooms from pulling the plant to the ground.

This is a peony from my garden.  I'm going to take the photos of the peonies from Mother's garden and show my peonies to give them inspiration.  

As the peonies usually bloom at Mother's Day I call them the Mother's Day flower.  Happy Mother's Day!

May Flowers

The peonies are blooming!  I have struggled with this plant for years.  Most years I have two blooms.  My Mothers have so many blooms she has to stake the plant to keep the blooms from pulling the plant to the ground. 

There are many buds on the plant and this may finally be the year when I am rewarded.  Epsom salt was spread around the plant when the foliage began to emerge--maybe this is the secret.  

The iris have been spectacular this year.  They look so delicate with their frilly ruffles and are such a hardy plant.

This one looks like the delicate pink Baby Princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana was wearing when she made her first appearance.

This is a Dutch Iris, very different from the bearded Iris--must add more of this variety to the long border.

The purpose of this award is for bloggers to nominate fellow bloggers. In order to accept the award, the nominated blogger must follow these rules:

• thank the person who nominated you and link back 
• Share seven facts about yourself
• Nominate 10 other bloggers for the award.

Seven facts about myself:

I am a huge history lover and student.  On my blog, I often write about historical  events and places.  My love for history has helped me to learn many things about my family:  the good, the bad and the ugly/sad. 

Keeping with the history theme--Great Great Great Great Great Grandfather Johanna Martin Shultz and his family was one of the first families of Tennessee, settling at the foothills of the Great Smokey Mountains in a community called Emert's Cove. 

My love for gardening was a gift from Grandmother Bessie and my love for quilting was a gift from Grandmother Rebecca. 

While I am not a good cook, I come from a family of great cook's:  Grandmother's, Mother, Aunt's, Cousins.  As a family, we have shared many delicious meals.  My Mother was the pie baker and her specialty is crème pies:  Chocolate, Lemon Meringue, Coconut and Butterscotch.  When the family would get together, it was common for Mother to bake five pies.  

 AppleJack and I met in June, had out first date in July and got married in October.  Yes, out families did think we had lost our minds but twenty eight years later, I think the relationship is holding up nicely. 

 I learned to cross stitch the winter of 1976-1977.  Snow, snow, ice, more snow, low temps, many missed days from work due to road conditions was the news story of the day during the winter of 1976-1977.   I learned to cross stitch to keep my mind occupied and to help pass the time during the long winter days. 

Growing up on a dairy farm, I was taught to drive a tractor at the tender age of five--an H Farmall McCormick.  There is always work to do on a farm and my Father and Grandmother believed everyone could contribute regardless of their age.

Margaret of http://daysofasamplerlover.blogspot.com/ nominated me for this award and she shared insightful thoughts about blogging.  There does seem to be a change toward Facebook and Instagram  with less interest in blogging.  For myself, blogging is a way for me to keep a journal, to share with others, to learn about others and from others.  There are projects in process, exciting finishes, road trips, family times, recipes, funny stories, challenging times in people's lives.  It is time consuming to take photos, edit the photos and write the blog.  In this fast paced world of instant everything there are still things in life worth making an effort--for me blogging is one of those things.

My nominations are:

http://needleandthread.blogspot.com
http://kearnelskorner.blogspot.com/
http://mhttp://thecopperfox.blogspot.com/
http://thecraftroom.blogspot.com/
http://threadsbooksandthings.blogspot.com/
http://thepaintedquilt.blogspot.com/
http://roguequilter.blogspot.com/
http://themiddlesister.blogspot.com/
http://porcupineneedle.blogspot.com/
http://thepatrioticquilter.blogspot.com/
 

Iris time in Tennessee

The iris have begun to bloom!  Iris is the state flower of Tennessee, they are very hardy require very little maintenance and the different varieties are beautiful.  The Iris is sometimes called the poor man's orchid.  With the beautiful flower and hardiness factor, the poor man/gardener is the winner.

Am looking forward to a bountiful Iris season.  

Rewards

My Mother has hyacinths planted near her front door.  They smell heavenly!

Every year I tell myself I am going to plant hyacinth bulbs.

Last fall, I finally, finally planted the bulbs.

The blooms are beautiful, the color is glorious and the fragrance, oh the fragrance is delightful.

It was a cold November day when I planted the bulbs and I questioned myself--these flowers are the rewards of my efforts.

Yellow

Finally, a break in the weather!  Yes, I was the crazy lady planting pansies in the rain.

These daffodils are tough!  They have survived two ice storms and the snow.

It is so refreshing to look out the window and see bright, vibrant color!

The fields are full with hundreds of daffodils breaking into color.

It was so wonderful to see color, we bought some at the grocery!  Like Grandmother Bessie said:  When life gives you lemons/scraps make lemon aid/quilts!

Garden of Eden

The annual lawn and garden show was this weekend.

After weeks of freezing temps, three ice storms and freezing rain and snow, the show was a feast for sore eyes.

The colors were glorious.  Don't these primroses just make you want to smile?

Pink and purple Hyacinth's--they smelled heavenly.  I planted some of these in the fall, I hope I am rewarded with colors as vibrant as these.

A very unusual water feature--two crackling crows.

An earthy garden sculpture

Ahh a sweet garden kitty.  

Maidenhair fern--the perfect green

And while tiptoeing through the daffodils, I had a chat with one of my favorite gardeners--David Bates.  We talked about pruning spirea and spreading a pre emergent weed killer.

Come on spring, this gardener is ready to dig in the dirt and smell the roses!

April Showers bring the flowers

After a long cold winter, I wasn't sure if the Iris had survived.

Thank goodness for their hardiness

The peonies are showing signs of promise

Another survivor

This is Miss Nellie Moser, clematis.  Remember I said she had dozens of blooms.  Ta Da