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A Morning Stroll.....

Category: Morning Hodgepodge | Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 6:38 pm

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One of my favorite things to do each morning is to visit my little plants to see how they've changed overnight. I've planted a lot of my garden from seeds so this is quite exciting for me.

This is Anise Hyssop....from seed, it is the only seedling I got from my packet of seeds. I have a hard time being patient with perennials from seed and this little booger has taken quite awhile!



Here is my Bravado Echinacea....these are growing a bit faster...supposedly they flower within 4 months!



I planted lots of Grandpa Ott Morning Glories in my garden. I planted some near this big boxwood bush...I want them to use it as a trellis...I am happy to see that THIS little MG gets the picture:



I have several planted around this bush and a Giant Moonflower...they are making great progress weaving through the branches.

It is always especially gratifying to see a plant's first bloom...this is a Sundown Echinacea...I can already see the deep orange beginning to show:



Here are some pretty flowers that were just begging to be photographed:

A Star Jasmine


Nora Barlowe Columbine


My Gardenia Tree (this is the first bloom I've gotten)


and my other echinacea, it continues to open and look more beautiful each day:



This is a new plant (to me) called Angelonia, it's like a dainty snapdragon...I love it:



I decided to take my windchimes down and gussy them up just a bit. I rubber stamped them with silver leaves...I am testing the ink to make sure it will hold up, but I really love the look.

AND I found the large gems for finishing my crystal bowling ball....I should be ready to grout in the next day or so!

Have a great day!


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Latest Projects

Category: Garden Projects | Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2007 7:17 pm

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Well, last week we built a pergola for our back garden...so it is kind of like a shady cover for part of our pool deck. This was the first carpentry project we've ever tried so I am extremely pleased with the result.


I've planted pink trumpet vine in those big terra cotta planters and can't wait until the pergola is enveloped in the feathery leaves and pretty flowers.

I have a windchime addiction....but I will only buy them on sale or for a really low price. I got a set at Target for $2.49 (they originally sold for $10), actually I bought 2 sets, one for the front and one for the back. I found a pretty little bell chime at Michael's for $2.99. I wanted to complement the terracotta planters in back so I decided to make my own chimes out of flower pots....


I used wooden car wheels and wooden beads to separate the pots slightly so the softly rattle together. I think I will make more, but decorate them....they might make nice Christmas gifts...the sound is quite soothing.

I am still working on my bowling ball...I DID find that the silcone works the best for me. I work on a small section at a time then use the weight of the ball to hold them down until dry. I am having to track down more of the gems. I am using the extra large iridescent clear....I think they will have a beautiful dragon scale appearance when done. I got some light green for doing my dh's ball...hopefully I bought enough...Michaels had them for $1 a bag.

While at Michaels I found these lovely pot hangers for my fence...going with the terra cotta



I've planted them with ornamental sweet potato....that is the easist stuff I've ever tried to root. Every two days I have new plants. That may or may not bode well for the future.

My last little project I've been working on is to make a hanging hummingbird garden....sounds more fancy than what it is...I saw one for sale somewhere for about $20, but I already had a hanging basket--empty and waiting to be planted. I've put 5 little peat pots with cardinal climber seedlings....this is what it is supposed to look like (in a little over a month):

http://www.highcountrygardens.com/catalog/product/C0019/

I hope mine looks as nice as this one! I hope the hummingbirds visit. Every week I clean my feeders and refill them...still no hummers!

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I Hate Love Bugs!

Category: Odds n' Ends | Posted: Mon Jun 04, 2007 12:34 am

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They are SWARMING in my area right now! You can't go outside without having them ALL over you. They seem to be attracted to the weirdest stuff too. My husband just finished staining a pergola that we built and they are all over the stain in huge quantities. The above picture is a clump of them near our French doors. We tried to eat breakfast under our new pergola and it was a disaster!

More about lovebugs?

http://cricket.biol.sc.edu/luvbug.html

On a happier note....I am THRILLED that my echinacea has opened:



It smells so sweet too!

AND....my Nora Barlowe columbine has opened.....my first EVER...



I just got my order of Black Knight butterfly bushes....they are so nice. I've found this excellent seller on eBay. Everthing I've bought from him is in fantastic condition and seems to transistion well. I got a Black Knight from another seller and it was kind of wimpy in comparison. I ended up spending $1.95 a bush for the good ones and $3.99 for the wimpy one...go figure. So now I have 9 butterfly bushes....can't wait until they are big, blooming, and burgeoning with butterflies!

This is what the flowers WILL look like:



oooooh, I can't wait!


Last edited: Mon Jun 04, 2007 12:37 am

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Butterflies

Category: Garden Wildlife | Posted: Thu May 31, 2007 1:38 am

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One good thing about living so close to Disney World is that we can visit more often. Right now EPCOT is having their Garden Festival. Yesterday we took the kids and got to enjoy the park's beautiful gardens. One of the family's favorite activities was the Ladybug release. They had a special garden full of interesting kid-friendly plants and they gave each person a matchbox sized box full of ladybugs. They sprayed our arms with water and had us open the boxes. The ladybugs quickly filed out and happily drank the water droplets. Very fun! My 2 year old was being kind of rough and killed one so I tried to take the box away so she promptly dumped the remainder down my shirt....NICE. At least they quickly marched out and flew away. My oldest son had a conga line of them go right up his arm, into his shirt sleeve and hide inside his armpit. POOR LADYBUGS!!!!

The Butterfly House was a BIG hit (with me at least), at the entrance they had this beautiful topiary:


It was kind of like a mini aviary...full of butterflies, caterpillars, and their favorite plants.


They had these wonderful boxes FULL of chrysalises:



I loved getting to see my favorite zebra longwing butterflies!

When I got home that evening I could see that my own fritillary caterpillar was getting ready to change:


Hanging upside down and slowly swaying.....

When I got up the next morning....look what I found:



So now we have about 2 weeks and then a new butterfly. I am not quite sure what's going on with the other caterpillar. I think caterpillar 1 did something (nibbled his antennae), or he's getting ready to shed again. He's kind of acting withdrawn.

I found a new butterfly plant the other day, well new to ME. It is called Porter Weed but it hardly looks like a weed. Anyhow it's planted next to my butterfly weed, which also doesn't look like a weed. I wish all my weeds looked so nice!

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Good Morning!

Category: Morning Hodgepodge | Posted: Fri May 25, 2007 3:09 pm

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I saw lots of these little Heavenly Blue MG's this morning. I didn't plant any this year, but they are growing better than any I personally planted. Lots of perky little volunteers from last year, but they are COVERED in buds! They are kind of just climbing over whatever, but you know what? Who am I to want to get rid of pretty flowers? So they will stay in their chaotic twining happiness.



Here is how my butterfly garden is growing in. I think maybe I should have mulched but I wanted a very natural look so I like a bit of grass stay and plan to remove it if it gets too pushy. The red shrimp plant is more evident in this picture....oh please hummingbirds come visit ME!!!



This was my first time with snapdragons and I have to say that I am really liking them. They have such vibrant velvety looking flowers and they are getting so full. I guess what really attracted me was the colors...I got two that are deep red and one that is this lovely coppery orange....hmmmm....might need to get some more of that one for the violet/orange bed.

On that note my sundown echinaceas arrived yesterday, these were an ebay purchase, and I am THRILLED. They look great and even have buds--they are better than plants I've purchased from a major company. I have bids on some purple echinacea, and white (for yet another bed), but I am about out on the white...bummer. This is what the sundown are supposed to look like:



AND, they are supposed to be fragrant!

This morning while watering I was taking pictures and I got the inspiration to make a little movie of one of my cocky male brown anoles. He was doing a little dance for me. I put it on youtube.com . It is pretty lame I guess, but I enjoyed it. My kids got a big kick out of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNFpQX5xnQM


When I was clearing my area for the butterfly garden I found that the hens and chicks that my grandma gave me are still alive! I don't do very well with this type of thing, and they haven't grown much. I put them in a container and they do seem happier. I'd like to make a big hypertufa bowl and fill it with these guys!



I am hoping maybe SOMEDAY they will fill in the back of this cat planter. Then my cat will have it's hair raised...haha. My kids keep bugging me about when it will have chicks...I DON'T KNOW! I am just thrilled that they are living and not brown! They don't typically do well where I live.

Well caterpillar #2 DID shed his skin as well. I am thinking they are on their 3rd or 4th instar. I looked it up and that was the closest from what I could see. I have never seen one this big out on the vine so I don't know what happens to them. I think something (Maybe Mr. Lizard) eats them when they are still small.

I am working on making a "gem" encrusted bowling ball for my yard, but the trick seems to be finding the right glue. Everything I've tried seems to want to slide right off....grrrrr. I am using a large, clear iridescent glass and I think they will look quite mystical out in the yard.

I am also planning to start making some hypertufa stuff. I have been wanting to for YEARS, but the messiness of the project seems to always hold me off. I want to make a big half sphere planter (exercise ball big), something like this:





and also a few garden grots. I want to put the grots in dark places to add a bit of mystery.


I've decided I want to have an "enchanted garden". I know I want it to be very fairy friendly, and my trees will have faces. I want it to be very subtle so it looks natural--not cartoony. I saw some hypertufa mushrooms and I think I'd like some of them as well.



I love the natural stone look, ecpecially if it has moss growing on it. I also like a look of a forgotten garden (kind of Secret Garden like). This fall we are expanding out fence to enclose more of our property so that will give us a lot of room to really create. We want to build some kind of play equipment for the kids. Hopefully something that complements the yard as well as provides the kids with fun.

Well, now I have to get to work...I actually make glass beads, it started as a hobby, but now it is work...but I do enjoy it!

~as requested by Eileen, here is a link to my online gallery:
http://www.beadartists.org/Gal1897_Anna_Duhame_s_Gallery.asp

Have a fabulous day!!!


Last edited: Fri May 25, 2007 7:58 pm

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Garden Critters

Category: Garden Wildlife | Posted: Thu May 24, 2007 1:50 pm

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My husband suggested using these old bird dishes as mini bird feeders. They seem pretty popular with the "locals". It is nice way to have little feeding stations hanging on the fence.




THIS is the larval host plant for my frittilary caterpillars. I planted this with high hopes of attracting my favorite zebra longwing butterflies, but have still been lucky enough to attract the pretty frittilaries.




My inside caterpillars appear to be getting ready to molt to the next instar. They are hanging out at the top of their cage--last time they did this they shed their skins.

~UPDATE~
One caterpiller DID shed it's skin. It looked like this one before:



And now looks like this:



If you notice the head is different. This is kind of funny, but I was horrified at the time. I moved him and his head FELL OFF! I felt terrible and then I noticed he was moving along just as usual, even eating, so I looked closer and saw he had a new larger ORANGE head...whew! So basically, the caterpillar in the first picture will lose his head soon, and right behind it, below the surface of the skin you can actually see where the new eyes are developing....it is so very alien!

My family got me this lovely faux bois bird bath for mothers day. It was kind of an ordeal to get it, he special ordered it from Home Depot and they kept selling it by mistake. Finally they called another store and luckily THEY had it so we could pick it up. Somehow I think the store needs to order MORE of this style because it is obviously very popular.



I was very pleased to see blue jays getting a drink from it the other day. I do hope the squirrels will use it because it really worries me to see them drinking out of the pool. I dread finding one that has drowned.

I feed a stray cat that I think belonged to the people who lived here before we bought the house. I am hoping that if I feed her enough she will leave the birds alone. She hasn't been hunting them, but she and the squirrels have some kind of crazy game....they chase eachother. I used to worry that she was terrorizing the squirrel, but now I can see that HE likes it too. The blue jays and woodpeckers LOVE it when I feed the cat, they impatiently wait for her to finish and then descend upon the bowl like a bunch of vultures. They are quite bold and I think it is a little unsettling for the cat.



When we moved we trapped her, got her spayed and vaccinated. She was totally wild, but now lets me pet her. Other cats come to visit, but she seems to be here 80% of the time.

Last edited: Thu May 24, 2007 6:44 pm

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New Beginnings, Caterpillars and Such

Category: Garden Projects | Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 5:31 pm

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This is the little fella that I am raising inside so we can watch his growth. He loves to eat Passionflower vine leaves! For some reason I never see the caterpillars outside make it to a large size so I wanted to give this guy personal protection. I do this with the monarchs and queen butterflies too.



Here is the FIRST bud on my echinacea. I am anxiously awaiting the appearance of this flower! There are 2 other buds coming too....so excited!



I've just planted these Giant Moonflower seedlings along my back fence. I've never grown these before but from the pictures I've seen, I can't wait to have them all over my fence. They are impressively large seedlings too! I've got plans for a few other vines to cover this fence. Cobaea (cup and saucer vine) and also Coral Vine. It is a big fence so there should be room for them to twine in harmony.

I've got my newest garden bed all cleared. It is most definitely an ugly site right now:



We are going to even the stumps a bit....both will hold planters...and after seeing Eileen's picture of the tree stump person I think I will need to make it a face and let the planter be a hat...maybe full of jewel box nasturtiums. This is going to be my dramatic violet and orange garden. A bicolor butterfly bush is going to go right at the back--it has shades of raspberry and orange...it was the main inspiration for the color choice.

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Creative Chaos in the Garden

Category: Garden Projects | Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 4:39 am

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I've been working on my Garden for a few months now and it has been great watching the tiny seedlings grow into something bigger. I started with an area in the front flower bed and started working to create a butterfly garden. I've planted 2 shrimp plants (red and a gold), mystic spires sage, butterfly weed, zinnias, cosmos, marigolds, evolvulus, convolvulus, snapdragons, parsley, dahlias, dwarf sunflowes, morning glories, lavender, and moved 2 echinaceas from my herb bed. I am so thrilled that one of the echinaceas is getting ready to bloom! I've had it for almost 1 year. The other one was kind of crowded by the bigger one but I've separated them and now it is beginning to wake up and grow.





Now, the other half of the bed will be roses! I got five of the J & P Cherries n' Cream roses....already they are leafing out nicely. I put some alyssum seed around them, but I think I am also going to put in creeping thyme plants....I have some planted around some rocks and I like what it is doing.



I just put a butterfly bush, Empire Blue behind, near the rear of the bed. It is also very small but I can't wait to see what it does!

Last edited: Wed May 23, 2007 5:34 pm

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