gardening

Around Here

| terriaw

We don’t have much blooming in our gardens these late summer days. But things are still green and thriving around here, with steady sunshine and summer rain storms.backyard in august

butterfly weed seed pods butterfly weed beetles

beetles ALL over the butterfly weed seed pods!

rain storm

rain storm
rain gauge on day 1

rain gauge – day 1

rain gauge on day 2

rain gauge – day 2

hydrangea tree in bloom

garden path

We still have some coneflowers, black-eyed susans, phlox, roses and our dwarf hydrangea trees blooming. I would like to pick up some asters and mums from the garden center to fill in the bare spots left behind from summer perennials that are done for the season.

specimens from my backyard

In the meantime, it’s fun to walk around the yard and look for treasures, which are always great inspiration for my sketchbook. New illustrations are always in the works!

Terri

Field Notes: July Backyard Blooms

| terriaw

July is the time of year when everything seems to go wild in our gardens. The roses and other perennials will continue blooming for throughout the month, our butterfly garden looks crazy and overgrown, which we love, and the lilies start to bloom together like a choir.backyard coneflowers

coneflower gardenbutterfly garden backyard red bee balm

backyard blooms

lily collagebackyard roses

Hope you’re making time to go outside and enjoy summer!

Terri

Flowers Flowers Flowers!

| terriaw

From our gardens throughout our backyard to the greenhouse to the farmers market to the botanical gardens to the florist section at the grocery store, there are flowers everywhere these days!

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botanical garden flower collageIMG_0594 IMG_0591IMG_0579

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I have a feeling the abundance of flowers is just going to grow even more in July!

Terri

In the Garden Lately

| terriaw

Views from our backyard and gardens from June.

garden gate

June gardensmy backyard

backyard and patioClose-ups.June Garden CollageI was excited to find a Monarch caterpillar hanging out in our butterfly weed patch. And the butterfly weed is going to flower soon!

Monarch caterpillar

We’ve had rain storms every few days, which provides a moist climate for mushrooms and moss throughout our gardens. Yet I can still find something as dainty as this decaying leaf.
dainty decay

I love the way flowers look when the flower bud is forming.

coneflower in progress

Even our spirea shrubs have beautiful flowers and colors.spirearosey roseIt’s pretty amazing out there!

Terri

June in My Garden

| terriaw

Our gardens continue to fill out and bloom as June brings us lots of sunshine and rain. It’s always a fun adventure during the summer months to go exploring in my own backyard, looking for different shapes, colors and textures. Lots of plants blooming these days – peonies, irises, weigelia shrubs, roses, bellflowers, and strawberries.

our backyard in Juneour backyard in June

pale pink peony

fuschia peony

hot pink flowers

I love having containers of annuals – petunias, zinnias are pictured above and below – which bloom continuously throughout the summer.

zinnias in June

first rose of June white bell flowers in Junepurple iris yellow irisstrawberry picking

Hope you’re out enjoying Summer too.

Terri

 

Notes From My Garden: It’s a Jungle Out There

| terriaw

Our gardens have exploded into full bloom lately with late tulips and daffodils, alliums, lilacs, irises, bleeding hearts, lilies of the valley, and more. We also planted the containers hanging on our fence gates (which are still lined with reused coffee bags), and added a few new containers to our patio.

lush backyard lush backyard

tulips and alliums

white bleeding hearts

lilies of the valley

new garden containers new garden gate basket new garden gate basket

mowing the lawn for first time

We finally got around to mowing our lawn for the first time!

It’s always a fun little adventure to go exploring in my own backyard, looking for different shapes, colors and textures. Hope you’re enjoying a lovely late Spring/early Summer too.

Terri

 

Notes From My Garden: It’s Amazing Out There!

| terriaw

I’m always in awe over everything that’s happening in our yard and neighborhood during Spring, especially after seeing all our plants go dormant and stay brown and grey for so many months in Winter. We planted lots of bulbs last Fall, so it’s exciting to see new flowers blooming throughout our gardens.pink petalspink snow

more crab apple trees in bloomcrab apple tree

bleeding hearts pink tulips pink tulips

purple tulipsorange tulips lilies of the valleySo many sizes, shapes, colors and textures! It’s amazing out there! Hope you’re enjoying Spring too.

Terri

 

Notes from the Garden: Spring is Here

| terriaw

Spring is definitely here! We have so much blooming right now, including our crab apple tree which looks and smells like a beautiful, giant bouquet.

pink tree

crab apple blossoms

spring in the backyard

 

magnolia shrubtulips spring bulbstulipvinca vines

It’s such a fun time of year to hang out in our backyard and explore! You never know what treasures you’re going to find. Hope you’re taking time to stop and smell the spring flowers.

Terri

 

Notes From the Garden: Spring Treasures

| terriaw

We are starting to see more and more signs of spring around here. This week we have new daffodils blooming and buds s.l.o.w.l.y. starting to open on some of our vines, shrubs and trees.

first daffodil of spring

spring greens

Sometimes you have to look closely to find treasures in the wild.

vinca vines

buds on crab apple tree

skull in backyard

look – a small skull! how cool is that!
bird skull found in backyard ducks in backyard

look – a mallard couple, probably stopping by to ask for directions to the nearest pond!

We finished all our spring clean-up chores, so now I’m ready to plant some spring pansies and spruce up our patio with a few flowering containers and baskets.

It’s such a fun time of year to start exploring our backyard again! You never know what treasures you’re going to find.

Terri