My favorite flowers...some planted in the Fall, some in the Spring; some blooming in the Spring, some in the Summer or Fall...Whenever they show their true colors, they are still beautiful, still God's spots of irridescence, scattered here and there, bringing life to our gardens.This past season, I have not had the time to work in my gardens that I usually have ~ partly because of family obligations, partly (and lately) because of my knee troubles...I cannot yet kneel to pull weeds or plant flowers.
I have a total of twelve different gardens, all around our property...all raised beds, held up by grey stone walls, a real castle-looking layout...indeed, with the towers and turrets, it does resemble one! As a matter of fact, the neighborhood children are fond of calling our gardens 'the castle'.
They were built for me a few years ago by our son Paul ~ who spent the entire weeks-long process on his knees, filling the layout-borders with grit, carefully measuring and leveling...making many trips to Home Depot to make sure we had all the grey stone we needed...and saving us thousands of dollars in the meantime, doing it all as a labor of love for me!
...and then filling it with nursery dirt, adding compost, and then that final moment when we were able to stand back and admire his handiwork ~ and how clever he is with his hands, indeed! (When I get it all in bloom the next time, I really must post some pictures!)Well, now back to the present. As of this Fall, no more will I neglect my gardens...I have had several years of constant color, different parts of the gardens blooming at different times, carrying the color and texture from one end of the season to the other.
Add all of that to the stone birdbath and water spout from Andrea and Nick for last year's Mother's Day, the hand-cast birdbath (also built by Paul) that sits ground-level in one of the other gardens in the back...all of the hanging charms and suncatchers, mirrors and windchimes from each of the kids, the bird feeders that I kept from my own Mom's gardens when she broke up housekeeping years ago...and the yards have the potential for much life; in fact, I have often considered registering our property as a Wildlife Refuge.
Living near a State Park as we do, the possibilities are endless...although we have a fence that keeps out the deer, there is no restriction on the many bird varieties that come to call...everything from red-bellied woodpeckers, Cooper's hawks and black swans to the smaller, perkier visits from goldfinches, juncos, and their friends who have constant access to the trees, water sources and feeders in the yard. And that's just the birds! Many times I have heard a noise overhead and looked up to see a raccoon staring down at me, or there was the time that I was very nearly buzzed by the evening visitors ~ bats! ~ flying around in circles above me...not to mention the several rabbits burrowed here and there, small dark eyes peeking out at me, waiting for me to go into the house so they can venture out to nibble on the grass.
New varieties of butterflies have been making their appearance of late, as well. I have seen some breeds that have never been seen in these parts before. And that makes me want to plant more butterfly bushes (buddleia) and coneflowers (echinacea), spreading them more about the property. And I must remember to add that dirt bath for all of the birds and mammals that stop by for a quick 'pick-me-up'!
In the meantime, the flowers pictured here are from my latest order...from Jung Seed Co., these pix are taken from their online catalogue. I put them all together, as they will be placed together throughout the back yard gardens...except for the blue/white bicolor, which is out of stock, the other three will be in place soon enough. And I hope that this will give me the incentive to continue planting in my gardens throughout the Fall...until I can see, next Spring/Summer/Fall, that I have indeed filled them all with lively spots of color and texture!
There are so many flower varieties that I want to add to my gardens, I cannot even begin to describe...every color that is chosen to give the entire yard the calming, peaceful impression of blues, pinks, purples, with the occasional sparkle of yellow thrown in, just to spice things up.
Yes, my gardens...my collection of plants, all of my favorites ~ and every one of them showing their 'true colors' where God (and I) have put them, as the old saying goes, 'blooming where they are planted!'
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