MORE FLOWERS ...

I'm so happy that this year we are able to enjoy our flowers. Last year groundhog and deer ate most of my flowers before they got a chance to blossom.  It was disheartening that we didn't get to see our efforts and labor. The critters are still here but I'm glad that they didn't bother with our garden this year (hopefully they found a better garden) but I have a feeling that my next door neighbor's cat who's been frequenting our back yard has something to do with it.

LAMB'S EAR

DAY LILY

                                                                   ECCHINACEA

ECCHINACEA

DAY LILIES, PRIM ROSE AND LAVENDER

                                                                  YELLOW  YARROW
                                                         

ASTILBE

PRIM ROSE

 WHITE YARROW AND COREOPSIS

BALLOON FLOWER

 COREOPSIS

                              (I don't know the name of this flower, but its abundant in the back yard)

SPRING FLOWERS FROM MY GARDEN

 

This is the Wisteria I found in the back of my garden few years ago and nurtured it to become this beautiful. See how it looked then in my posting on  WISTERIA 

This is my pink Azalea bush  growing in a pot.

My eye catching scarlet red Azalea bush

The Lilly of the valley. They're all over the garden. I gathered them and made this bouquet. Their scent is delicious.

This Columbine plant disappeared from my garden for couple of years and surprisingly came back this year. Now I have four separate purple plants growing .

My ever faithful Bleeding Heart. It never fails, every year in the middle of March it starts coming up and blossoms by mid April.

WHAT HAPPENED TO SPRING....???

I took these pictures of my Magnolia tree last Friday. They were in full bloom with all their glory.  Every single bud was open. They were enjoying  the beautiful warm sunny day. Having a very cold weather over the week-end their delicate flowers were shriveled and turned into saggy brown dish rags...

I'm glad that I  snipped my Hyacinths and one little Daffodil from my garden before the cold weather got to them.  Now, they are happily residing on my coffee table and filling the room with their sweet aroma.

NATURE'S WONDERS

Believe it or not these are mushrooms. I found them in my back yard. From a distance I saw something that looked like a big white ball. I thought it was my neighbor's soccer ball. I went to look at it closely, I could not believe my eyes. I had to call my husband to have him verify that what I saw was really a mushroom. We removed them from the ground with gloves and a shovel. The huge one measured 7" x 5". I did not measure the small one because it seemed so puny compared to the other. Later we found out that the large one is aptly named "Giant Puff Ball" or "Calvatia Gigantea". I couldn't identify the smaller one. The big one was attached to the ground with a cord like structure. My instincts immediately told me that anything this big cannot be edible, and anyone in their right mind should handle them with great care. After researching around I found out that I was right. Nevertheless it was an experience to behold.

JERSEY TOMATOES

I love tomatoes, especially when they are home grown. They are very tasty and juicy. Heirloom tomatoes are special. They are big. Some people call them "ugly" but there is nothing ugly about them. They are beautifully delicious. They need lots of sun and ripen slowly but they are worth the wait. On the other hand, cherry tomatoes are first to ripen and they are as sweet as their elders the heirlooms. Then there are small round "patio tomatoes" . They grow in a pot on the patio if you don't have a garden to grow them in. They are cute and sweet but in one bite they are gone. Lets not forget about the plum tomatoes they are the mainstays. You cannot go wrong with them, they are fleshy and very good in sauces. The beefstake tomatoe is aptly named-its thick, sweet and juicy. We certainly had our share of tomatoes this summer. Any tomatoe with any name is in my list of best edibles. Tomatoe is a fruit and after many debates in NJ it has been declared as such.

GARDEN FLOWERS

You could make a beautiful floral arrangement with your garden flowers. Just trim the flower stems under running water to keep them fresh longer. Running water stops air from getting into stems, thus making them stay fresh. If you stick the stems through the leaves of the other flowers you don't need a florist's sponge to keep them upright. Tie a pretty bow on a simple vase and voila' you have an expertly arranged bouquet.

I also dry cut lavender flowers in small vases with a pretty bows tied around their stems in different rooms all summer long. Once they dry I put the dried flowers in a small sachet bags and hang them either in my linen or dress closet. To retain their sweet scent longer I roll the bag gently between my palms.

The picture on the left is lavender, the picture on the right is lilac from the begining of the season. The lavender sachet next to the fresh cut flowers is made out of tulle. I thought the colors complemented my theme. Lilacs have sweet scent but they don't last long in vases. I've tried different methods to keep them longer unfortunately they have a short life span indoors.

WISTERIA

Wisteria was named after an American anatomist Casper Wistar and it is a genus of woody climbing plants of the pea family (Webster's Dictionary)....

In the shady far corner of my back yard there was a plant that kept coming up every year. It didn't look particulary interesting. It was hardy but had no flowers. I took a sample of its leaf to a nursery and I was informed that it looked like a Wisteria leaf. I have a Wisteria plant in my back yard!!! but where are the flowers????. I always wanted to grow them in my yard. Now I had this opportunity to have one of my own. I decided to keep a close eye on it. I watered it, fertilized it and waited for a year, nothing happened. The following year I decided to tie the new saplings to the fence. They took and started to move on the fence but still no flowers. Well , I kept extending the string each year and waited patiently. Still nothing... and I vigilantly kept extending the string.... Well last year my husband and I were gardening and he said "look at these buds your Wisteria is finally blossoming" I thought he was joking, because first, I had not seen a budding Wisteria plant and these looked like shriveled grapes on a vine and second I waited almost four years without success. How could it be? But I hadn't given up on them also. I was jumping with joy. (Yeah little things like that make me happy). We had exactly five flowering bunches. That was last year...... Look at them now I have a whole fence full of them. . AAhhh Wisteria.. I love Wisteria.. It smells heavenly specially on balmy spring evenings...

Isn't life the same way ? Nurture sometimes overcomes the Nature.

(PS. This picture is taken in May not February. I finally adjusted the dates in my camera).