Renville County Fair

Globe thistle-makes a great cut flower, lasting for weeks in the vase. It also dries well.  I like it because it adds the color blue to my flower beds.

Blackberry Lily-The leaves of this lily remind me of an iris. The flowers are so dainty about 1"- 2".  The seed pods open in the fall, showing clusters of black seeds whose fancied resemblance to a blackberry gives the plant its common name, "blackberry lily".



Coneflower- Here are the coneflower I brought to the Renville County Fair.  I have had a few plants that had Aster Yellows. This is a disease transferred to the plant by the aster leafhopper. This can cause the death of coneflower plants. It is caused by a type of bacteria known as a phytoplasma, which is a parasite that feeds off the plant's phloem (the tissue that carries nutrients throughout the plant). Symptoms include the loss of pigment in older leaves and yellowing of new leaves. Stems may get anemic and the flowers distorted. There is no cure for aster yellows.  Here are a few good articals about aster yellows.

Read more: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/efans/ygnews/2012/07/aster-yellows-common-in-cone-f.html
http://blog.northerngardener.org/tag/aster-yellows-on-coneflower/

Here are 3 of the flowers I brought to the Renville County fair:
Globe thistle-1st place
Blackberry Lily-1st place
Coneflower - 2nd place

Swallowtail butterfly

I think the Swallowtail Butterfly is gorgeous!

Front Flowerbed

A few photos of my front flowerbed.

Monarch butterfly

Today is Pink Saturday's decade Birthday. Happy Birthday. Please check out the others here. Thanks to Beverly at How Sweet the Sound.

Lisianthus

Lisianthus is one of my favorite flowers to use in arrangements.  I just love their longevity in the arrangements!

Botanical Name: Eustoma (yoo-stoh-ma)

The Common names of Lisianthus are Prairie Gentian, Texas bluebell, Tulip gentian, Bluebells and Lira de San Pedro.

The name Lisianthus comes from the Greek words lysis, meaning dissolution and anthos, meaning flower.

Lisianthus also symbolize appreciation.

They are kind of fussy to grow and I do lose a few each year, but I really love them!

Today is Fertilizer Fridays/Flaunt your Flower. Thanks to Tootsie Time. You can check out the others here.

Kitchen Garden

Astilbe is a fun plant for shade gardens. Astilbe will bloom in shade, but the plants prefer some sunlight to achieve their full size. However, in hot weather and dry soils, their foliage will burn. Some species are commonly known as False Goat's Beard, and False Spirea.

Today I am linking to Home and Garden Thursday. Check out other great blogs here.

Flower Lamp

Garden art?

My friend, Judy, is downsizing her house.  She asked me if I would like this lamp.  I told her I would love to have it, if she didn’t care what I did with it.

I told her it would make good garden art.  She just laughed and said go for it.

I spray painted the base a fun garden green.

Then I turned the lamp shade the opposite way. I tried to plant a cute ivy geranium in it, but it was just too top heavy.  It kept tipping over.

I call it garden art.  It makes me smile.

I am joining What Ever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts for the first time.  Please check it out here.

Kid's Flowerbed Room

This bed is one I had as a child.  It has been in this garden for about 6 years.  It is starting to fall apart, but I still love to fill it up with annuals.

This chair is overflowing with sedum.

 We have had some really hot days without rain.  It has been hard on my beds.

Today is Bloomin' Tuesday! Please check out the others, thanks to Jean at MsGreen "thumb".

Stargazer Lilies

 I was so excited to see this blooming in my garden last night.  I just love it!

Stargazer lilies are an oriental hybrid lily. The name Stargazer was given to this hardy lily because unlike other lilies, their blooms gaze up at the sky.

Mini leaf birdbaths

My girlfriends and I made these cute mini leaf birdbaths when we were on our camping trip.

We did not have a place to bake them, so I purchased this air dry craft porcelain at Jo-Anns.

First, we molded them to the shape we wanted.

Next, we used a leaf imprint to get the impression of the leaf. 

Then, we used a plastic knife to outline the imprint.

We finished by painting them with exterior paint.

This was such a fun project, and would be a great project for kids.

Today is Fertilizer Fridays/Flaunt your Flower. Thanks to Tootsie Time. You can check out the others here.

Check out the The Fairy Garden CONTEST - 2012 here. There are over 75 great wee wittle gardens!

Painting the potting shed

I had this potting shed for about 11 years and I have never painted it.  I just didn't know what color or how I wanted to paint it.

I picked out the orange color "New Penny" for the main color.  (Because orange is my favorite color.) I tried a jade and yellow as the accents.  I just did not like that color combination. So I went back to pick out different trim colors.  When I found the green color sample chart, the first color on the chart was called "Garden Spot". I just knew it was going to work.  The next two colors were "Geranium Leaf and Happy Camper".  Yep, those were the colors I bought.  I just love them.

I used gray primer and spray painted the front porch floor.  Then I used 2 different sizes of sponges to make the bricks.  I used a little of the jade and yellow samples that I bought but didn’t like for the trim to add some extra dimension in the brick red.

These rod iron chairs used to belong to my grandparents and they always had them on the front porch of their house.  I remember sitting in these chair when I was a small child.  I few years ago my aunt and uncle had an auction, and these chairs were on the auction.  I just had to have them.  I bought them and had them in my garden.  They got a little rusty from the water and old age, so I spray painted them white.  They look like new again.

It was fun to put them on the new "brick" porch.

The sun was starting to set last night, and I was not done painting.  I quick took this photo.

I was pretty dark when I took this last shot, but I got the second side painted.  I still have 2 sides to go.  I went through a whole gallon on the orange paint, "New Penny."  The wood was pretty dry.

My husband's name is Peter.  I kept saying this rhyme.  The true meaning of this rhyme is not so nice, but the rhyme is cute. He knows how much I love it outside and my pumpkin shell is one of my favorite places!

Peter, Peter pumpkin eater,

Had a wife but couldn't keep her;

He put her in a pumpkin shell

And there he kept her very well.

Zinnias

ZINNIAs are extremely easy to grow. They stand stiffly erect on hairy stems which are from three inches to three feet high, depending upon the variety grown.  I think this adds a lot of dimension to the plant.

Zinnias are thought to represent friendship and thoughtfulness. However, different hues represent different feelings.

ZINNIA (MAGENTA) -	Lasting Affection
ZINNIA (MIXED) -	Thinking (or In Memory) of an Absent Friend
ZINNIA (SCARLET) -	Constancy
ZINNIA (WHITE) -	Goodness
ZINNIA (YELLOW) -	Daily Remembrance

The ones in these photos are about 8-10 inches tall and are orange, my favorite color!

White Lilies

These gorgeous white lilies just started blooming.  They almost glow in the evening.  The rest of my Asiatic lilies are about done.

Lavender Poppies

I have always had the pink double poppies reseed, but never this pretty double lavender ones.  It was a treat to see them come back!