I have some nice hydrangea bushes in the front of my house and while I've admired them from my windows for the past three years (they were planted by the previous owner) I've never brought any inside.  So yesterday I armed myself with a basket (like a proper gardener) and went to bring the outside in.  They made a lovely little bouquet on top of my wood burning stove and brightened up a dark corner.

I picked enough to fill another vase which I placed on a side table in the family room.  I also picked a couple of the pink roses from the bush in front of my house and one from the yellow rose bush my son gave me for Mother's Day.  And then I added a couple of pentas for more color.

While I love flowers from a florist (or from the flower markets in France) isn't there something special about cutting those grown in your garden and bringing them inside to enjoy?

I have a little project lined up for myself.  Have any of you readers heard of Roll n Grow?  It's advertised on TV and I ordered some......a Spring Bouquet and an English Garden.  Apparently, you have to do just as it says.....roll it out on your soil.....and they grow.  If you have any experience with this, leave a comment and let me know.

I might get nothing.....and then again, I might end up with a spectacular growth of flowers.  All the more to cut and enjoy inside!  I'll keep you posted on this one.

See you here next time........

Well, I'm over that nasty summer cold and feeling back to normal.  But oh, how I detest the heat and humidity of a Florida summer!  Already, I'm longing for some of that cool, crisp, autumn air when one can toss on jeans and a sweatshirt and be comfortable.  Even after twenty-one years, I still say it's worth it to moan and groan sweat my way through the summer months in order to have the glorious winter weather Florida enjoys.

Despite all the sweating out there, I'm enjoying my garden so much.  I can't ever recall getting such delight in taking my morning cup of coffee and walking outside to the patio to see what might have transpired overnight.  I'm beginning to understand that there truly is a gardening bug.  No....not the one that might invade your plants and flowers, but one that works its way inside you....causing excitement when a new bud or bloom is found.  I think for the first time in my life I've been bitten by it.  I've always admired other gardeners and secretly wished I had the same desire to create in that fashion.  For some reason, once my fish pond was completed this past spring all of a sudden this gardening stuff didn't seem like a "chore" to me.....instead, I now regard it as a labor of love.  To think when we moved here three years ago this area below was simply overgrown with weeds and god-knows-what.  Ray toiled out there for months with the bricks and managed to build a wonderful patio area.  His next project was my fish pond and all of it resulted in this........

I've always enjoyed browsing at yard sales, flea markets, etc. but lately it's like I have extra radar directing me someplace where I might find something funky or appropriate for my garden.  I think that's what I'm coming to love so much about it......I think like our homes and our other individual tastes, our gardens have a way of defining US.  Some gardens are very meticulous, with landscaping befitting a manicured English garden.  Others have a more au naturel look to it and still others might be something inbetween.  I think mine leans more to the au naturel.  And look at this great watering can I found on the 4th of July.....we were coming back from the City Park events and I spied a yard sale.  As soon as I got off the golf cart, I saw this can and I swear it had my name on it.  It looks just perfect next to my fish pond.

And will ya look at my crape myrtle!  Each day the blooms get fuller and more vivid.

Okay.....so I don't like the heat and humidity of a Florida summer.  But once again, my glass is half full because I'm finding a part of summer this year that makes it a bit easier to stop whining for autumn.

How's your summer going?  See you here next time.........

No, I don't have silver bells and cockershells.....but I'm really happy with how my "garden" is growing.  I had decided to try container gardening this year and it seems to be working very well for me.  Even the water hyacinths in my fish pond above have doubled in size and area.

And look at my pretty water lilly.......I was so excited to go out to the fish pond one morning recently to find this gorgeous purple flower!

And here's some of the plants and flowers I've arranged around the fish pond and on the patio.  I love the bright green of the Hosta......

My friend, Maureen, had asked what Carolina Moonlight was......here it is here, as it's beginning to grow.  I'd ordered most of these plants/flowers from a nursery on the Internet and had them delivered.  I was a little surprised when I went to plant them that they still have quite a bit of growing to do.  But that's okay.  That's the fun of gardening......new growth and surprises every day.

And I can hardly wait for my Bela Lugosi Daylily to pop open for me with it's deep purple flowers......

I'm also very excited about the new Crape Myrtle tree we planted a few weeks ago.  And I noticed yesterday morning that it has loads of blooms on it!  I think I'll be getting some flowers on there before long.

Many of you will remember my excitement 3 years ago, shortly after we moved here, and I planted my Bradford Pear tree.  It was a stick.....seriously, it was barely to my waist (And I'm 5'5") and I thought this poor puppy will never grow.  But......with lots of love, not to mention water and fertilizer.....look what I have now......(it's taller than I am)

I just love this container gardening.  Never one to deal with weeds......in addition to having beach sand for soil......this has turned out to be the perfect answer for me.  All of a sudden.......I'm a gardener too!

See you here next time............

When I moved to Florida twenty years ago, one of the things I loved in addition to the great climate was the various trees and flowers that I didn't grow up with in the Boston area.  I fell in love with jasmine, honeysuckle and.......magnolia trees.

In the neighborhood I lived in New Port Richey, there was a house with a huge magnolia tree on their front lawn.  In the morning, when I was walking Holly, I could smell the scent of the flowers blooming on the tree long before I came abreast of it.  It was intoxicating.  I'd stand there for a few minutes just inhaling that wonderful fragrance.

So you can imagine my delight when we bought this house two years ago to discover a huge, magnolia tree in my back yard.  As you can see from the photo above, it's a pretty good size.  But....as spring approached that first year, I was very disappointed to find that spring had come and gone.....and not one flower bloomed on that tree.  Nor were there any last year.  However, a few weeks ago, I glanced over at it to discover this...........

Yes.....magnolia flowers!  Five or six of them.  So far I haven't detected that wonderful, intoxicating, fragrance......but I have some flowers.

So.....for all of you gardeners out there, I need your help.  Why do you think I had no flowers for two seasons?  Do magnolias only bloom every couple of years?  Do I need to water it more?  Less?  Fertilize it?  What am I doing wrong?  I'd love to know that not just every now and then, but every May, my magnolia tree will give forth these gorgeous flowers.

In the meantime, I'm sure enjoying it.  Now, if only my southern lilac bush would grow a little bit faster.......

Today is May 9 and my dad would have turned 88 today.  He passed away 4 years ago last month.  His spirit continues to hover very close to me.........so Happy Birthday, Dad.

See you tomorrow.......