Friday, June 23, 2017

Early Summer In The Mountains

Well, here it is a week later and I'm just now getting around to posting. 

Remember, I told you in my last post, I plan weddings and events.

This time of year I'm like a complete nut job. 

I love what I do, but it sure does keep me busy! 

Anyway, early summer in the mountains is so gorgeous I have been snapping photos whenever I can, and I've gathered a bunch here so I can share the beauty with you. 

I've missed sharing my life with you!


The Irises are done blooming now, but they sure did put on quite the beautiful show. 


The Dianthus are starting to bloom now - this is an unusual variety from Annie's Annuals that blooms on 30" long stalks that pop out of the perennial bed. I love it and must get more!


The Cranesbill in the new garden bed is blooming like mad, but it's not a neat kind of Cranesbill that forms nice little mounds - it's a little out of control and I might have to move it. Perhaps to the perennial bed. 


The Lemon Candy Ninebark by the fence is also done blooming, but one of my lovely readers wanted to see photos, so I made sure to capture it in the peak of bloom. The flowers look like little snowballs - very interesting, indeed!


Beyond the fence, the ravine is like a wild jungle. The blackberry brambles bloomed like mad, it should be an amazing blackberry season. I hope the birds...and bears...save me some. 


Over on the retaining wall, the ground covers I put in last spring are doing well and putting on quite the show. I smile every time I pull into my driveway, seeing the bright, cheerful colors welcoming me home. 


Just look at that combo - how could you not smile looking at that? 


At the veggie garden, one of the Clematis has bloomed, and it's simply incredible. The blooms are much bigger than my hands, and there are so many buds! 


Inside the veggie garden, things are really coming along. I have to spend a good amount of time weeding in there this weekend, it's getting out of control with my busy schedule. The peas are blooming, and climbing the fence. Won't be long until we are eating fresh peas, and we had our first salad out of the garden during the week. It's the best feeling, planning my meals around what's coming out of the garden. 


The next explosion of color will come from all the Evening Primrose, which has pretty much taken over the property. After it blooms, I will need to thin it in some areas. I'll transplant pieces to some of the 'wild' areas and let it go mad there. 


Most of the Rhodies are done, but there's always one that blooms later than the others. It's just getting started. Must be a different variety than the others. 


While I was out snapping photos, the hawks were circling overhead, which makes me very nervous as there are a lot of bird nests in the shrubs around my house. 


These three stuck around for a while, and so did I. I stood near a robin's nest that has small babies in it, and would have done some fierce battle if these predators tried to snatch my baby birds. 

I already had one nest of robins fall victim to a hawk, out of the same nest, so I am quite nervous for them. 

The beauty of nature vs the sometimes grim reality of nature. It's a struggle for me. 


The Hydrangeas are already putting out large buds, getting ready for their show. The bindweed is still trying to strangle it, and I'm still in a war with the bindweed and the tansy. 

I have a feeling I'm not going to win. 


Wild Daisies are everywhere and anywhere! I love them, so I let them stay until they are done blooming, and then get rid of them in the spots they shouldn't be. 

I love them so much I named my little dog Daisy. You know her as Monkey. 


I need to do some weeding and trimming around my little Namaste frog. 

My daughter moved to Rhode Island last week, after her yoga school graduation. I cried like a baby. This little frog is my connection to her, and every time I see him I say hi to her. 

Hi Nomseses. 

She knows what that means. 


I just love the Dead Nettle I put in on the steps. It is so incredibly happy there, and has filled in a bunch of bare patches so nicely. I have a white variety, and a purple. The white is just getting ready to bloom. I also have a yellow version called Yellow Archangel. It's lovely in Spring! 


One of the roses in the perennial bed has finally bloomed. This is my third season in the house, and the first time I've seen a flower on this rose. The other two in the center of the perennial bed have not bloomed yet. I am not sure this one will survive another season, I think it needs to be dug out. It takes up far too much real estate in the perennial bed, for a very mediocre bloom. 


This is something that is in full bloom throughout the perennial bed right now, and I have no idea what it is. It looks sort of like Queen Anne's Lace, but it's definitely not. Any ideas? I really like it, I don't remember it blooming at all last year. 


A new addition this year. My younger daughter picked it out at the nursery. Rudbeckia Irish Eyes. It's like a pop of sunshine in the center of the perennial bed. I have it in a pot, to raise it above the jungle that is the perennial bed. We'll see if it comes back next year. 


Even though my work life is insanely busy right now, I take great peace in walking around my property and enjoying all the colorful blooms. The birdsong wakes me in the morning out of a sound sleep, and I adore it. The night noises lull me to sleep in the evenings, and the breeze through my open windows is cool and sweet smelling. 


When I pull in at the end of the day, I feel such happiness and peace, coming home to my little heaven on earth. 

I hope you find some peace in your day to day life, despite the stresses we face daily. 

Namaste. 

36 comments:

  1. There are a lot of stressers in the world today, aren't there? Sad too. Your flowers are gorgeous. I can't believe how beautiful those irises are! I have a few but I can't get them to bloom.
    Brenda

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    1. I read on another blog recently that if the irises are buried too deep they won't bloom - perhaps that's what's going on with yours?

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  2. Debbie, You are truly a wonderful gardener. I love that lemon candy and the ground cover near your drive. Your place beautiful, I do not blame you for wanting to walk around and enjoy it. I know that heartache when daughters leave home. It's killer. I still miss my babies. Bless you, xoxo, Susie

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    1. I wish my daughter didn't keep moving so far away, Susie!

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  3. You have a lovely place, Debbie! Yes, you must be very busy at this time of year, with wedding planning. -Jenn

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    1. SO busy, Jenn, it's crazy! Look how long it's taken me to get back to comments on my blog!!

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  4. Oh wow, so many pretty flowers and blooms to enjoy. Everything looks amazing. Marty

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    1. I need to spend a few more hours out there weeding on my next day off, Marty!

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  5. I really love your amazing post!Thanks for sharing!

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  6. You really are a wonderful Gardner. Every thing looks gorgeous. Daisies are my faves. Congrsts to your daughter. So hard when they grow and start to carve out lives for themselves. Have a great weekend.
    Kris

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    1. You would be in heaven at my house right now then, Kris - the daisies are all in bloom and are absolutely EVERYWHERE!!

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  7. Great photos of the wonderful blooms at your lovely 'home sweet home'.

    Have a fantastic weekend ~ FlowerLady

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    1. We don't have them all year long like you do, Lorraine - our season is short but it sure is mighty!

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  8. Hi, Debbie.... we had some of that plant which appeared from afar to be Queen Anne's Lace, but isn't. In fact the stuff we had is poisonous. You have to wear gloves to get rid of it. Not sure if it is the same, but here is some info on what we found.... the stems are different.
    http://www.ravensroots.com/blog/2015/6/26/poison-hemlock-id

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    1. Thanks for the heads up on that one, Chris - I wasn't aware of poison hemlock, and thankfully that's not it. I can't find any info on it anywhere, although I have tried searching online!

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  9. Hey Debbie! I always enjoy your garden tours. Everything is looking so beautiful. I wonder if your mystery white flower is a white butterfly milkweed? Sort of looks like it. We have the orange ones here.

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    1. I had thought it might be as well, Laurie, but that's not it either! There's another plant near the blackberry brambles that looks like even more like white milkweed, but the leaves are wrong. It's a mystery!

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  10. Debbie, everything looks just beautiful! I don't know how you keep up with your busy job and all the gardening. If we lived closer, I would gladly share some Japanese iris as my iris bed is so crowded. They are so pretty in the spring. Enjoy your weekend...xoxo

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    1. Too bad we don't live closer, Donna! It can be tough to keep up, for sure, and I often feel overwhelmed in the height of wedding season.

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  11. What an array of beauty to enjoy. It's a blessing to find both beauty and peace at home.

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  12. I can't imagine how busy you are with your job at this time of year! Between that and taking care of your home, property, pups, and yourself, I'm surprised you have any time to blog! Always good to see a new post from you.

    I have Dead Nettle as a ground cover...mine is blooming like yours is now. And I also have the same clematis - the one with the huge purple flowers! Be VERY careful about that plant that looks like the Queen Anne's Lace...it could be poison hemlock. Another look alike is wild carrot. Try doing a Google search (images) and see which one it most likely resembles.

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    1. I searched both, and it's neither Melanie. I have tried searching many different ways and can't figure it out at all! I'm glad I like it though! Much better than the darned Tansy and the Bindweed....they are still winning the war, sigh.

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  13. Your garden and blooms are amazing! I enjoyed hearing about how each one of your different perennials and plants are doing. We are so enjoying the summer hours here too, and so thankful for the peace that we find outdoors in our garden and acreage, just as you do. Hugs!

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    1. There's nothing like the beauty of the mountains and nature to bring us a sense of peace, Marilyn!

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  14. I find a great deal of peace looking at your pictures, so no wonder it brings you so much peace living amongst all the beauty there.

    Annie should be moving out next year, so I can only imagine what you're going through.

    hugs, my friend,
    rue

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    1. She moved out once before, Rue, and just came back about 18 months ago. Now she's gone again.....and I miss her already! I don't know why she can't move 15 minutes away rather than 4 hours every time!

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  15. Beautiful, Debbie. I can only imagine what life is like with the schedule you're keeping. Can't even believe you can blog during this time, but sure glad you still do. Take care.

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    1. It took me three days to get that post written, Rita....I did it in stages: uploaded the photos one day, edited them the second day, and wrote the text and put it together the third day! Yikes!

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  16. Your posts are so good we dont mind waiting!! We understand! I do love visits to your garden!!

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    1. As do I, although I admit the bugs are so bad this year it kind of puts a damper on my garden walkabouts.

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  17. You have so many lovely blooms going on...I keep up with your blog so I know that it is all not sweetness and light but a battle with weeds at the same time :) Same here. Right now my backyard ( after Cindy rains ) seems like a jungle...alot of weeding and trimming to do. I must trim wrong, lol. I trim in the fall so much that I worry that I killed the bush. Then in spring and early summer it is 3x as big. I currently have a wild grape vine wrapped around a Snowball bush...I pulled about 30 yards of it off of that bush the other day and it is all piled in a garbage can. That is the half of it!! Thank you birds for dropping all of this crap off here! I feed you and you crap on my car and deposit weeds in my landscaping. I don't think it is fair ha ha...Debbie I think that you would agree

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    1. I would absolutely agree, Deb! I also pulled a huge vine out of a conifer last week, it would have filled two garbage cans without a doubt! I have no idea what kind of vine it was, some of the stems were getting woody and it was getting tiny purple flowers. Nothing worth keeping, that's for sure! I also spent a good 2 hours in my veggie garden pulling out a bazillion morning glory seedlings, tons of clover, and some mystery weeds that masquerade as zucchini or cucumber but have a nasty tap root. I swear an hour later when I went out to admire my work the weeds were already starting to grow back!! The bindweed is ridiculous, all the tansy I thought I got RID of is growing back like mad....it's a battle, no doubt!

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  18. Seeing all of these photos makes me really miss having a big garden like I used to have at my former house. Yours is so beautiful. I also love your birdbath and meditating frog.

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    1. Thanks, Pattie! Keep in mind a big garden is a ton of work. Your new veranda and deck are big enough to have a really nice container garden!

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