They're So Pretty . . . . Oh, So Pretty

Another success with flowers. It may not seem like a large feat to some of you but to me it's amazing. I only had a few new plants die on me this year. Yea!
Some of the successful  flowers are the Rose of Sharon. They're like a Hibiscus but can tolerate our climate a bit better. Although I did plant some Hibiscus too. More on those later, I hope. I planted 5 Rose of Sharon bushes along the back edge of the backyard and all 5 survived and 2 have bloomed.

They're both this color combination which is very pretty, but I like a little variety so I'm hoping the others are at least one or two different colors. They will grow to be a hedge along the backyard where we have a drop off and plan to put a retaining wall of some sort and a set of steps. I'm very pleased so far with how things are turning out. Only a couple casualties that I was able to redo. That's the backyard.

Alas, the front yard. That will be another entry as I am still trying to salvage what I can there.

They Live !!!!!!!

I've given some time before I updated on the hollyhocks so they could grow, bloom and be sure they didn't die off. It was touch and go for a while there when we had an extremely hot and dry July as well as part of June. They finally decided to get buds and open up.

There are several more that have buds but some of those plants are pretty small. All-in-all it was a good experiment and I did have fun with it. Now you know too that you can get the seeds to bloom the same year you plant them if you freeze them for a week first. Even those of you that don't live in a cold winter climate can grow hollyhocks if you want.

Now a picture update of some of the other plants I transplanted/planted this spring.

The lilac has never looked better. It didn't bloom this year but I'm hoping next year there will be an abundance of blooms.

Lilac

The exbury azalea is suppose to bloom and then get its leaves. I had it on the north side of the house so it would get leaves and then bloom while the leaves were still there. It's a deep orange color and should do it the right way next year.

Exbury azalea

These plants are doing very well, although the prunella had a bit of a rough start. When we got it through a mail order catalog it was no bigger than a shot glass. We got a set of 2. The other one is over by the lilac but not in the picture.

Fuchsia, Prunella,(foreground) Birch trees, and Yuccas (background)

This is one of the rose of sharon hedge bushes we got through the same mail order catalog as the prunellas. They are all doing well and I can't wait for their first blooms. It'll be next year though. We got 5 of these and spread them along the bank in the back yard.

Rose of Sharon hedge bush

I'm still working out designs and plans for the patio, pond and fire pit. I've found a few ideas I like but just not sure how to incorporate them here or together. There's always next year.

Gone Walkabout

Our dog we've raised from a puppy loves to get out of his fenced pen and sit on the front steps. He's always stayed close to the house and if he's off the step we know he's not far; like within 30ft. On Sunday he decided to go walkabout. We let him out after we got home from church and he ran to the steps like usual. He settled down on the top step and we proceeded to change clothes and fix lunch. After a bit hubby decided to go out and Bear, our dog, wasn't on the step. He called him and he didn't come. Granted he's getting a bit hard of hearing, Bear that is, we can usually see him at least. We even drove up and down our road to see if he took off after a bicycle. One of our feeble attempts to try to figure out why and where he would've gone. Didn't see him at all. We came home and later were outside talking to some friends. I had asked them if they had seen him on their way over and got a negative response. While we were talking Bear showed up. He had some grass seeds in his fur and seemed a bit tired but that was it. He came from behind our barn so we still aren't sure if he had gone down the road or off into the field. He was happy to see everyone and we were happy to see him. Never the less, he ended up back in his pen for the evening.

Mad Botanist or Genius? Hmmmmm?

Well, the experiment with the hollyhock seeds worked! Last week I was showing our eldest daughter some of the new plants we had put in. As I was checking on some of the bulbs I planted earlier I noticed some small plants poking out of the bark. Thinking they were weeds I started to pull them out. As I was getting ready to pull out the third one it dawned on me. The hollyhocks! I gently tried to transplant the two that had already been pulled and tossed on the ground at that point. Of course our daughter thought it was quite hilarious. I have to admit there were some chuckles of embarrassment that came out of me. It looks as if 99% of the seeds I had frozen and then planted have come up. As they get a bit bigger I'll post a picture. I think I'll go with genius on this one.

Experimenting With Hollyhock Seeds

A few weeks ago I was talking to a customer in the garden center where I work. We were talking about hollyhocks. I've always thought they were beautiful but with as tall as they get and as windy as it can be at my house I thought they wouldn't do well. She assured me they are an easy to grow flower and would hold up to the wind. She said if I used seeds I would have to wait for next year to see any flowers because they need freezing weather to "pop" open the seed pods. Here's where my experiment comes in.

double hollyhocks

We have packets of hollyhock seeds at the store and I wondered if putting them in my freezer would do the trick and still get flowers this year. So, I bought a packet of seeds and did just that. They've been in my freezer for about a month and just today I went out and planted them. Now when I read on the package to start them in a cold frame and plant them in early summer I only hesitated slightly. I wanted to get them in the soil now. It's a beautiful sunny day in the upper 50's. I haphazardly chose several spots to plant them and planted all the seeds in the packet. I could see when I looked at them closely that they indeed looked as if they had "popped". Time will tell if this experiment works or not. I'll keep you posted.                              

I'm On Vacation!

Mt. Hood from the plane

 Hubby and I took a much needed vacation and flew to Idaho to visit our second daughter and son-in-law. We flew out on a rainy 40* Monday morning from Portland and landed in a clear and balmy 10* Boise airport. Brrrr! They still had snow on the ground from Christmas that hadn't melted yet. We got to see their gorgeous new house and get reacquainted with the grand-pups. What a couple of characters! Their pets are lots of fun, too!

Me and the grand-pups

We spent a couple days just relaxing and enjoying the company, playing games, watching movies and watching Zoe' chase after her toys. Lots of energy in the tiny body. The toys are never far from her as you can see.

Breakfast!

It got warm enough to melt a lot of the snow and then on Saturday it snowed again.

It didn't put down much and it didn't hamper us from going to church and then to the airport on Sunday. Rats! I could've used another couple of weeks of vacation. Oh well. Back to reality.

It was a great time spent with them and we hope to visit again later on. We'll let it warm up a bit though.

Here goes nothing

Well, we finally bit the bullet and transplanted the lilac and yucca. I was beginning to doubt whether we should or not because it turned out to be a rather chilly day. Hubby reminded me that the plants have been living in large tubs for months now and would probably not even notice. Such a wise guy, er man.

It took several minutes to decide just where to put them. These things can't be rushed, much to hubby's chagrin. I don't want to have to move them again so where they get put they're staying.

Background- both yuccas            Foreground- lilac

 

We also planted a small fir tree our eldest daughter gave us and plotted out where some plants we ordered are going to with rocks marking their places. I got several questioning looks from hubby while doing that. Men just don't seem to realize how imaginative we women can be. (Sigh)

New buds on lilac bush!

The lilac seems to have wintered over very well and will hopefully love it's new home.
Being the imaginative woman I am I quickly made use of the empty tubs by adding dirt and daffodil and gladiolus bulbs and placing the filled tubs at the corner of the house.
 More looks from hubby as well as a few shakes of his head. Oh well. After 30+ years he should know me by now.