I may not be there yet, but I'm closer than I was yesterday. ~Author Unknown

Once again I was unable to move the photos .... still driving me crazy, but here are my photos in a very random order. Sorry : (

This is the daisy tree from direct gardening. I think I'm suppose to prune it in to a tree.

Here are my tipsy pots you can tell that they have been really busy growing.

LOL. Random HUH? This is our veggie garden. Well,, veggies and some others.
we have tomato's, cucumbers, veggie squash, (you can use the inside like pasta) birdhouse gourds (YAY!) I can't wait to paint them suckers! cantaloupes, corn, ornamental corn (for Fall of course) with Sunflowers and Nasturtiums threw in for good measure.



This is the brick pathway with the very little hydrangeas (Annabelle and raspberry parfait (tech. harlequin)

This is the clematis blooming! YAY! Clematis Viticella "Royal Velvet" from Michigan Bulb.

I LOVE this Lantana.

Columbine "Swan blue and white"

Endless summer Hydrangea. I am going gray waiting for this thing to bloom!! What is going on??!!

Another random shot. Starting seeds. Once again. A test in patience. I am ready to plant them!

LOL! Another shot of the daisy tree! That is going to need some serious pruning for it to be a tree!

For love of country they accepted death... ~James A. Garfield

I have been trying to post this all day! I don't know whats going on with blogger, but its driving me CRAZY!! I couldn't move my pictures around on my blog like I usually do so its kinda random. But to keep it simple I stuck with roses so it doesn't look so jumbled.






I have NO idea what rose this is. I don't remember buying anything that looks even similar to this ??? So my guess is that it was mislabeled. Oh well, I think the mistake turned out pretty great. I LOVE IT! It reminds me of an English rose (my fav) and it smells delicious!

Those miniature roses are blooming like crazy! I have never seen anything that was so... bloomy : ) LOL


This is a close up shot of the mystery rose.

This is the Liv Tyler rose that has finally bloomed. I don't think it looks like the picture so I'm kinda worried. It smells really good, but I am kinda confused.

I think this is another shot of the Tropicana rose.

Another shot of the mystery rose. I do love it!

Yeah... you guessed it. Mystery rose.

I know everyone has to be sick of looking at my roses by now. But I will post other pictures (not roses) later : )

If only I could get this blogger figured out.

And I think our new computer could have something to do with the mumbo jumbo. We have Vista now : (

It looks fancy, but everything is a lot harder to do! Why can't anything be simple??

Anyways no more complaining!

I hope everyone has a great Memorial day Weekend! Be safe!

And while you are eating your hot dogs and hamburgers between taking dips in the pool remember the men and women that made that simple pleasure possible.

And I'm proud to be an American,

where at least I know I'm free,

And I WON'T forget the men who died,

who gave that right to me!

Lee Greenwood

Handbook for Life

Today I received this email and I just had to let all my blogging friends read it!



Health:

1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
4. Live with the 3 E's - Energy, Enthusiasm, and Empathy.
5. Make time for prayer.
6. Play more games.
7. Read more books than you did in 2008.
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day
9. Sleep for 7 hours.
10. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day. And while you walk, smile.


Personality:

11. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don't overdo. Keep your limits.
14. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake.
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.



Society:

25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
7. Forgive everyone for everything.
28. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch.


Life:

32. Do the right thing!
33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. GOD heals everything.
35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37. The best is yet to come.38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
39. Your Inner most is always happy.

So, be happy.

Perfumes are the feelings of flowers. ~Heinrich Heine

I haven't really had much going on lately. Seems like the only thing that's got any "get up and go" is the roses. Seems like everyday I have another bloom. I do have to say that it tends to be the best part of my day. Walking outside and seeing whats germinating or blooming. And the roses never disappoint. Its always a surprise when that little bud appears. I did not label or write down what is where. Mostly because I didn't want to go all OCD and obsess over what colors looked good together. I just let it flow where it happened to flow. So far it has worked out pretty good.

I am sad to say that I have absolutely no idea which one this is. Maybe Tropicana???

This is the World famous Peace Rose. The bloom is HUGE!!!! My husband asked me yesterday if I had looked at it. I hadn't so he proceeded to tell me that the lone bloom was as big as his fist! If you knew my husband you would now that him saying this was a BIG DEAL! He never ever pays any attention to flowers unless they really stand out. So when he told me that I ran back and looked at it and sure enough that baby was as big as a man's fist.
Some of you may have noticed that the bloom looks a lot like the Angelique Tulips I had posted previously. ??? I love both the rose and the Tulip so its pretty cool!
_____________
- From Wikipedia.

The Peace rose is the most famous and successful garden rose of all time. Over one hundred million plants had been sold, as of 1992. It is a Hybrid Tea rose with very large flowers and a light yellow to cream color. It is very hardy and resistant to disease making it popular in gardens as well as in the floral trade (Beales).
It was developed by French horticulturist Francis Meilland in the years 1935 to 1939. When Meilland foresaw the German invasion of France he sent cuttings to friends in Italy, Turkey, Germany, and the United States to protect the new rose. The rose became known as 'Peace' in the following way. Early 1945 Meilland wrote to Field Marshal Alan Brooke (later Viscount Alanbrooke), the principal author of the master strategy that won Second World War, to thank him for his key part in the liberation of France and to ask if Brooke would give his name to the rose. Brooke declined saying that, though he was honored to be asked, his name would soon be forgotten and a much better and more enduring name would be "Peace".
The name "Peace" is a trade name; its formal cultivar name is Rosa 'Madame A. Meilland'. The adoption of the trade name "Peace" was publicly announced in the United States on 29 April 1945 by the introducers, Messrs Conard Pyle Co.. This was the very day that Berlin fell, officially considered the end of the Second World War in Europe. Later that year Peace roses were given to each of the delegations at the inaugural meeting of the United Nations in San Francisco, each with a note which read:
"We hope the 'Peace' rose will influence men’s thoughts for everlasting world peace".
Peter Beales, English rose grower and expert, said in his book Roses:
"'Peace', without doubt, is the finest Hybrid Tea ever raised and it will remain a standard variety forever".

_________________



This is the Chicago Peace Rose a variant of the Peace rose. I had questioned whether to buy roses that were pretty much sisters, but thankfully they look very different! The peace rose looks more white right now and the Chicago Peace is more pink.

This one looks a lot like the rose at top. once again I am wondering if it is Tropicana. I think the chances are better that this one is since it looks more coral than the more pink one at top.

Ummm... wondering if maybe I should have labeled them... oh well.

One of the lilies received on Mother's Day from my mom!

Too much fertilizer was making my hydrangeas not bloom so now that I have laid off of it, its blooming!!! If your hydrangeas are very very green, but no blooms . Too much nitrogen could be your problem.

To be overcome by the fragrance of flowers is a delectable form of defeat. ~ Beverley Nichols

For weeks my husband has promised me that he was going to take me to a nursery. Well, last weekend was the best time because he owed me a Mother's day gift : ) So I was actually able to buy something. Of course when we got to the one that I had been really wanting to go to.. it was SO expensive! Like 6 marigold's was $15! I definitely couldn't pay that. I know that nurseries are always more expensive and I'm sure that there quality was alot better than, say... Wal-mart or Lowe's. But I had to draw a line. I mean these were annuals! Perennials I will pay a little more, but not annuals.

I was sorely upset but thankfully I was able to find the Hydrangea "Limelight" that I had seen the last time I had been there. So I bought that. A disappointing trip, considering I had been waiting so long to go back.

On the way back though we found a little Country Store that made the entire trip worth while. It was small and it had any kind of preserved food you could think of. But what made it so great was all the flowers outside the store. We had not been there very long when I spotted the biggest, most beautiful rose I had ever seen. Plus it smelled like Heaven! There was no price on it so we had to ask someone (I hate that). But when the guy came over and we asked him he pointed at the huge sign behind us that said ROSES $12.99. OK before you start wondering about my intelligence. It was Mother's day and I assumed (you know what they say about assume?) that since the price was so low that it had to be cut roses. After I got over the embarrassment I grabbed that big red rose (Janice Kellogg rose) and searched for another one to go with it. That's when I found the "Liv Tyler" rose. I have been wanting one and to find it that big for $12.99, well, it was very exciting! I was still on the lookout for Bee Balm, but I had pretty much reached my limit after the Hydrangea and the roses!

This is the Janice Kellogg rose. It stands out a little in the rose garden since it's so big and the others were bought this Spring bare root

Another shot of the Janice Kellogg rose. Named after former President of Kellogg garden products.

http://www.greenarrownurseries.com/gallery/album294/Kelloggs_Rose_PUB2

The "Liv Tyler" rose. Not in bloom yet, but I am waiting anxiously!

Hydrangea "Limelight" I am so excited about this blooming!

I bought this "Barbarini rose Dianthus" because it is highly fragrant and I think that that is an important part of a garden.

My moms gift to me. Asiatic Lily that I split up and made three from! YAY!

This just bloomed and I thinks its the Chicago Peace rose. It is a lot prettier in person!

This is one of the miniature roses in bloom.

This is the "Snowfire" rose about to bloom.

This is the same rose in bloom.

Gardening is a matter of your enthusiasm holding up until your back gets used to it. - author unknown.

I have always wanted a rose garden. I started it last year and unfortunately I put it in the worst place in the yard! They got almost no direct sun. Like all flowers location, location, location is the first ingredient in growing flowers. Of course now that I think about it, I really didn't put that much thought into where I was going to plant them. I guess it was a good thing that I only paid $3.00 a piece for them. Because had I paid more I would have been very upset when they all died!


Well, now its a better year. I didn't just have a baby and I now have time to plan.
So of course being the persistent person that I am, I just started again.


New location- back yard where we get sun pretty much all day!



New plan= (its actually a circle contrary to the awful picture.)










Arches covered in roses will be on the right and left side of the rose garden. Then in the middle we will probably get a bird bath and a bench??? Idk.


We already have the the roses put in the places they go, now the hard part... putting down all that edging so that the gravel stays in. Now that's going to be a job!

This is Snowfire.. I think. I will have a picture tomorrow of what it looks like open, Its a beauty!

This is one of the roses I got on clearance at the end of the season last year.

Knockout roses... blooming like crazy!

I am not sure which rose this is. I guess we'll be surprised when it opens! I LOVE surprises!
I am thinking its a Floribunda rose since it has so many little buds on one stem.

Iris's are blooming and they are BEAUTIFUL! I have added more Iris's for the list of bulbs to buy this Fall!



My little bitty shady lady impatiens from park seed.

Purslane from my tipsy pots.

Hollyhocks!!!

Another Salvation Army find! A little... idk what. But I am going to use it as a mini-trellis.

Did you really think I could go one post without saying something about my Wave Petunias???

Petunia the playful kitty!

After a long cloudy weekend its FINALLY raining! YAY! Our poor grass was pitiful! But during the break in the rain I got out and took some pictures.

This is Petunia. She is a prissy cat that I bought a Salvation Army last week. She was glad it quit raining so she could go play.

She likes to hide in my iris's. Can you see her? : )

I told her to watch out for the thorns but... she didn't listen.

This is Moocher. Petunias Sister. (from another mother)

Gardening 911!!!

Problem- I have a shade garden in the middle of some trees. Its really hard to work the soil since there are so many tree roots plus it stays SO DRY! We planted caladiums and elephant ears there last year, but most of them never came up and if they did they were PUNY! I thought it was because they didn't get enough water (we were in a drought Spring - Fall) But now we are getting plenty of rain and they aren't even coming up. So my dilemma is... do I try planting again or do I try to do raised beds? I have astilbe, hosta, impatiens, and coleus that I want to plant there and they should be ready to plant in a couple of weeks. I have also considered doing the raised beds and surrounding them with rocks to kinda naturalize the beds so they don't stand out as much.

PS. These are pictures from last year before we put in the bench and everything.

Do you see the neighbors burn can in the bottom picture? LOL