Bright Splashes to Lift The Spirits

I thought I'd take a little time to share some of the things that I've grown in my gardens. Life's too short not to enjoy the color and fragrance of flowers! I try to keep my flower gardens blooming on an ongoing basis, so as one stops blooming, others take over. For me it's a true spirit-lifter. My mother, and both of my grandmothers (and many aunts) were avid flower gardeners, so I was happily born into it.

The weather this summer has been really strange though, and not really the sort of weather that makes your bedding plants want to thrive. It's been pretty tough on my flower gardens, and I'm having to water once or twice a day. We've gone from near-drought to flooding, to 40 degree nights in August (yes...in August!), and then back to more drought. Right now we haven't had a drop of rain in 2 weeks, so it's back to the drought thing again.

Think I'll get my truck washed today...that usually does it.

I've got an enormous Saucer Magnolia that's a real head-turner every spring. I planted it in 1989 when it was below my knee. It's now at least 12 feet in height, and I've topped it several times. For the last few years, it's been putting on a small second blooming (10 or 12 blooms) later in the season as well.
This was taken as it just began blooming. With threatening weather on one horizon, and bright skies on the other, it provided wonderful lighting to show off the blooms.
How lovely. I so look forward to seeing this every spring!
It's so enlightening to see new life and glorious colors popping up everywhere with the coming of spring. I've got these tidy little crocus clumps tucked around the corner of my garage. They've multiplied so much that I need to relocate some of the bulbs! They're even popping up in the midst of my peonies and hyacinths. They are fairly tough little guys and they don't seem to be intimidated by the other plants at all.

Aren't sunflowers amazing? I remember driving through Kansas and seeing hundreds of acres of sunflowers in a full riot of yellow. What a striking sight!! I always try to have a few around here (if the critters don't get to my seeds before they come up!).
I was a very young girl when I came across these beautiful flowers randomly growing in a field. I had no idea what they were, but I thought they were so delicate and pretty. I just HAD to bring them home for my mother, so I ran back to get a shovel and a bucket to dig a few up. She still has them growing in her yard today, and it's been over 35 years now. 3 years ago she thought it would be nice for me to have some in my yard, so we divided them, and now I have them too. Over time I learned that they're a native wildflower called Spiderwort. There's so many varieties and I'm not sure which one we have, but they are just so cute.
I'll have to do another post sometime about my other flowers and gardens. Have a lovely day, keep a smile on your face, and a flower in your heart! Diana