Bees at Work

Bees are attracted to the Coneflowers (Echinacea) in my garden click for info how to grow these deer resistant perennials.

Old Fashioned Pulley Clothesline from July 2011

A Throwback Thursday post

My friend Joan passed in 2023 but this is her old fashioned pulley clothesline (with a bag to hold the pins). The original post telling of the birthday dinner she made for me – Her clothesline jumped out at me and I thought of sheets hung on the line and how quickly things dry in the summer. The refreshing scent of the sunshine.

The same type of lilies in the 2011 post, the ones I photographed blooming in her garden, are opening up fully in my dining room this week in my birthday flowers bouquet

Remembering two artists, both now deceased

Photographed in 2015
Chiz Gallery Shadyside

The Neighbor’s Million Bells

What are Calibrachoa Flowers?

Named after a 19th-century Mexican botanist, Calibrachoa (pronounced kal-ih-bruh-KO-uh), sometimes referred to as million bells or trailing petunia, are akin to petunias but boast tiny, one-inch, trumpet-shaped flowers. 

Want to grow them?

Click here for Universityhttps://extension.umn.edu/flowers/calibrachoa Minnesota Extension information

How I got a garden of ferns

The previous neighbor had planted ferns. Along his side of the driveway. I’d never planted a single fern on my side Only a couple survived on his side . Just look at the lush ferns that blew over to me.

One fern left

. But look at what blew over to my side!

The ferns on my side of the digest care plentiful
My neighbors fern ,,

Walking Back to the Car After Lunch I Saw Lamb’s Ear

Shanti led the way back to where we’d parked the car. We’d met cousins Anna and Maura for lunch in Westerville. M

On the way, I did what my parents always did when I was growing up.

Notice a plant.

Name it.

And in this case rub the velvet leaf between your fingers.

Lamb’s Ear, the perennial, see below.

Lamb’s Ear (Stachys byzantina)

“Despite its unassuming appearance, lamb’s ear has quite a rich history. Another nickname, “wooly woundwort,” references its usefulness as a bandage, due to its astringent properties.

The leaves were used to dress wounds or as toilet paper in medieval times, and they were also reportedly used as bandages in the American Civil War.” From the. Gardener’s path

Iris After the Rain at Dusk

More to come

My neighbor Sue gave me the Iris a couple of years ago. They are so beautiful. I worried the strong rain would beat them to the ground, that the blossoms would crumple. They stood tall. The petals like velvet.

The Azalea is in Bloom

At sunrise

The Iris are in Bloom

Just the yellow so far, not the purple

The White Lilacs are in Bloom

Photographed from an upstairs window

A friend who gardens told me our season now is ahead of other years

The Hellebores Revived

Erin of Garden Party with Erin saw the two photos I posted recently of the Lenten Roses/Hellebores not looking too good this year due to the snow. She told me they’d come back! And she was right.