The Lazy Gardener

Don’tcha love summer! I do. The sun, the gardens, the beach and free time to do projects that have been patiently waiting while we finished our school year. They can wait a little longer. Today, I am enjoying the gardens.  Join me for a walk around the yard.

Grapes growing in the back and raised beds for veggies just behind the fencing. The dwarf spruce took a hit this winter.

My backyard is home to many flowers and plants. I am a kind of a gardener-by-default. When we purchased the home we inherited all sorts of plantings although they had been neglected for almost 3 years before we moved in. There was a lot to do. I didn't have much gardening knowledge but I have learned. *(Most of what you see was already there just hidden and needing tlc.)

Truth be told, I am a lazy gardener.  I like to plant it once and be done so because of that perennials are the way to go for me. I do use annuals in a couple planters and in hanging baskets on the porch.

Roses grow intermingled with bittersweet onto the arbor gate Mr. built for me at the front of our house. 

I love the hosta that spills onto the path.

Along the driveway close to the house grows periwinkle and an azalea that fills in with beautiful pink flowers in late April, early May. By the end of June the bed changes color as Rose of Sharon (at least that is what I think it is) exhibits a sunny yellow.

Ten years ago Mr. purchased four Endless Summer Hydrangeas for a Valentine’s Day gift for me.

Actually, he went to a local garden center and purchased a gift certificate for them that could be used later that spring. It is too cold in February to purchase or plant hydrangea.  I must say that was the best purchase of Valentine’s flowers ever. Roses die in a few days but my hydrangea come back every year and remind of his thoughtful gift. Two sit in the front beds and two on the south side of the house.

                                                           

We have hosta and day lilies, galore! The hummingbirds like the flowers that the hosta produce. Some other bird friends have made their homes in bird houses Mr. and I made.

House wren

Sparrow in the sunflower bird house.

My absolute favorites are the peonies. I have a row of about ten plants along the fence in the back yard. They usually open just before Father’s Day. I love to cut them and put them in my grandmother’s shallow silver flower vessel.  Despite the large, voluminous blooms these flowers really are rather delicate. For weeks I watch the buds and the ants that busily work around each promise of a flower.  It takes one warm day and BOOM! They open up and I run for my camera. I usually get one week to enjoy them-that’s it. It never fails that rains force them to the ground (in spite of caging them) and the petals fall from the blooms like tissue paper.

The gardens are such that there is always something in bloom. On the rare occasion even my cactus will delight us with a blossom. Soon the black-eyed susan's will be making there debut. I enjoy them and they don't mind sticking around for a while. Amidst all the pretty things you will see herbs like chives that grow next to the cactus, thyme grows by the dwarf Alberta Spruce, sage sprawls out next to sedum, and there is mint among the black-eyed susan. A real gardener would probably tell me I should not grow all those things together but I am not a trained gardener. I do what I like and if it doesn't work I move it. If it dies I divide something else and fill in the hole. So far it is working for me. 

I do delight in seeing all the beauty as each flower comes in and then dies back giving way to something else. Each one is unique and perfectly crafted for often no other reason than to offer beauty that makes me think about it's Maker. I am reminded of one of my favorite quotes; "There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make us rejoice."~John Calvin


Isa 66:2  All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD.

Thank you for walking the gardens with me today.During the growing season my posts will document changes in the gardens so please drop by again soon and see what is in bloom.




 *UPDATE
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***Featured on The Charm of Home,