SPRINGTIME JUST AHEAD IN THE GARDEN

 

I have started the process of hoeing those

naughty ground cover weeds out of the

 flower beds in the backyard.  I think

 I am now half way across the back. 

 Common weeds here are Veronica

 Speedwell, Chickweed and 

purple Dead Nettle.

I want to share a few YouTube

 Videos

I have come across.  

SUBURBAN HOMESTEAD is

an amazing channel.  This young

man is super talented with his garden,

home and an artist too!

Another channel features a young 

woman in East Yorkshire, England 

who grows cutting flowers and this

 is her channel:

BLOOM & GRAY FLOWERS

I thought this was a wonderful idea

she shared for those who have an

abundance of garden flowers you 

can sell them in your own Honesty

Box:  click here

You will see many other helpful

videos she shares.

INSPIRING GARDENS OF ENGLAND

In recent years,  I began to watch YouTube

videos about gardening and found so

many interesting ones. It has inspired

me again this winter as I enjoy watching

so many of these.

I thought I would share some today.  One of the many beautiful homes dating to the 17th century is Barnsley House in Gloucestershire,  England (now a luxury hotel) and in the 1950's Rosemary Verey and her family moved there.  After she raised her children, she began creating the gardens that became so famous. Rosemary

lived from 1918 to 2001

Click here to watch the video 

about Haddon Hall

(This home is now a luxury hotel)

The next one to share is

Haddon Hall in Bakewell, Derbyshire

which is a English Manor House from the

11th century with additions in the 13th and 17th century (English Tudor) and after fires

in the past,  parts are still there from the 15th

century.

The gardens were created in the

early 1900's

Click here to watch the video

called A Walk Through Time

 This home has been in the 

same family for over 900 years!

also click: this video shows the gardens well

As you go to these sites you quickly see

that other vidoes are numerous and

I hope you have time to watch some.

RESERVED FOR HOUSE WRENS

 Well, now the clock is ticking toward

spring and it won't be long.  We have

4 true seasons in Missouri which is

something I love.

I hung some of my favorite birdhouses

out this week and I see a pair of sparrows

out the front bedroom window, right now looking in the opening. 

 I forgot to put the "this house reserved

 for house wrens" sign up.

Then there is this sweet bird that has come

on our deck for several years.  He or

she must of been hit by a car?  Not sure

but one foot is gone so he hops on

one foot slowly.  

So Monday I took the black plastic bags

 off my garden statuary and put the tops

back on my birdbaths.  I put water in

them for the birds.  I am excited to

see bulbs coming up everywhere. I am 

so glad I planted bulbs again.  It's one 

of those jobs you really don't want to

do at the time you need to do it.  Really,

it is just like lots of things in life.  It 

would be easy to say - that's too much

work so I'll skip it but when spring comes

you are so glad that you did it.   It

was 70 degrees today so hurrah for that.

I have 2 bluebird houses up and have

had many Eastern bluebirds come and 

visit our yard in the last 2 weeks but they

 don't seem interested in our birdhouses.

And now it is Tuesday and I went

and bought a flat of pansies and

some primroses.  I see a few survived

the winter too and are popping up.

I worked on my little birdbath floral

decoration too today and it is 76 degrees.

It will be lovely tomorrow and then

cooler again so I am enjoying!

FINISHING A LAST GARDEN PROJECT

So out in my front yard I had one area where

I had not finished digging out the lawn and

 putting in the rest of the flower garden.  I
look at these photos and can't believe it took
me several days of digging this out.  Now we
need 30 more of those cement decorative
blocks to put around the edges and bark.

I extended this area away from the pussy willow. 
It was only 40 degrees outside
today so
I am glad to
get this done.

Of course now
I must go get the cement border pieces and
the mulch.  The real work was picking out
the BERMUDA grass the neighbor planted 
which has come into our yard.  That grass
is horrible and I don't like it!

Isn't it easy to put things off?  I sat on 

myself this week as I find every year now

physical things become harder.  So, it was

do it now as next year it will just be harder.

I am thrilled to get this digging done. I could

have never done it if I hadn't been walking

an hour each day for the last year.

I left the center open so my husband can
drive his mower through easily.

Three weeks ago a naughty man drove up

in the truck and parked in front of

our house at 4:33 am. In the dark, he stole

 my grey wheel barrel which I now realize

 I should not of left outside the garage.

  The neighbors video camera across the street

 caught him from  several angles but then -

 there must be a million trucks like his in

 this town. So we had to buy new wheel barrel 
which is easier to push really with two wheels.

By the front door walk: 

I have 2 butterfly bushes still blooming
only because I deadheaded them this summer.

Perhaps you have been in the

 midst of some

fall garden preparations too.

THE DOWAGER'S GARDEN

Like some of you, my husband and I

have been rewatching the television

series of Downton Abbey.  I found one

of my favorite spots in Season Four which

happens to be the Dowager Countess

 beautiful garden.

  I saw on line where the house is in real

 life "Byfleet Manor" in Surrey and is for 
sale or at least was for $6.12 million.

I took these pictures with my camera but they

are of my television set as of last night!

I was very sorry the scenes took but a couple minutes and this lovely garden 

was not really shown that much.

  I would have loved to see more.  Too bad Isobel Crawley didn't ask a few questions and let Violet 

expound on her knowledge!

We do see some lovely flowers just the same!

I wish they had sat down on that

 bench for tea!

Then there was the sweet young man who wanted a job helping the garden - thank goodness!  

Well, at least we know that

 the Dowager liked:

Alliums, delphiniums, hydrangeas,

poppies and what else do you see?

A BOUQUET BEFORE THE COLD

Like many of you we will be getting some

colder weather here this weekend so I 

decided to go ahead and pick some blue

hydrangeas near the fish pond.

I will be sad to see my zinnias come to a

stop too because they just got really big

and lovely.

Are you ready for winter?  I

think I would like to keep fall

around longer!

OUT AND ABOUT IN THE GARDEN

I haven't done much blogging this summer.

As busy as I have been,  I feel like I haven't

accomplished much.  Isn't that quite the

statement.  I am very happy to report that

our temperatures in Missouri have finally

dropped into the 60's - 70's.  It is shocking!

Just like you, I stay busy and always
wonder where time goes.  This week I
baked 120 cookies and then cupcakes.
I had forgotten how many cupcakes you
can make with a 2 layer cake recipe (not
a box mix).  It made 27!

We still have some green hydrangeas

and blue ones back by the pond.

This year I have some bittersweet too:

We aren't fans of halloween

 but definitely

enjoy the beauty of fall!

SUMMER IS FLYING BY

I haven't spent a lot of time blogging this

summer.  I have enjoyed my garden and

I have been busy doing lots of things.

Time has flown by.....

I recently got the scare of my life when I

 realized that a bat was inside the deck

 umbrella.  This was the second time 

that happened this summer.

I also got quite a surprise recently when

a lady knocked at my front door and

brought a sign to go in my yard!

Needless to say, I was shocked.

I will say that the yard  was so

 much prettier early in

the summer!

END OF JULY IN THE GARDEN

This week I finally remembered to put

 my summer wreath on the front door!

We are very happy to have some days

below 90 degrees.  With the humidity

being so high it really helps!

I have enjoyed the house wren

in the pussy willow tree but

he sure doesn't like me coming around!

It's always fun when there is an

abundance of flowers for bouquets!

The zinnias are starting to arrive:

I hope you have a lovely week!

THE JULY GARDEN

We have had some very hot weather

in Missouri - well into the 90's.  

Today we have temps back into

the 80's so I took a few photos of

the garden.  The sun is not

up beyond the north trees so it

is rather dark in the garden.

For days and days the house wren

has sung his heart out for a mate

and now they are nesting in the

little birdhouse out front.

I am so glad the roses bloomed before the

Japanese Beatles arrived this year.  They

are here now and I find them on some

remaining blooming roses, the zinnia

 leaves, flowering cherry tree, etc.  They

 aren't as bad as last year but they 

are very destructive.

I hope you have cooler temps too and

enjoy your summer week!