My Birthday is today!

Today is my birthday and I'm not too proud to ask for happy day wishes! I miss my mom even more today if that's even possible. She always made my birthday so special and she was the one who made this day possible for me! Every year without fail she made me a boston creme pie to celebrate. It is my favorite and no one makes is like her, not even me. She used iron skillets to make cakes and I don't know if that was it or just that my mom made if for me but it was the best. I miss her and hope she's with me today in spirit.

My friend Amelia made me one this year and surprised me with it yesterday. It is mostly gone now and has been yummy. I have nearly devoured the whole thing and I don't care, cause it's my birthday and I can eat cake if I want to! 

Still in gardening madness around here... will join the land of blog again soon.

xx 

More plants!

You are going to think I've turned this into a gardening blog... well it sorta is occasionally. When I'm not painting, drawing or studying art, then I'm gardening inside and out or reading about it!


I just couldn't wait to show you my new plants that I got yesterday. So before I get them in the ground I wanna show ya what I got :)

All lined up looking pretty

Shrubs waiting for a new home

Heuchera - Carmel

Smoky Purple climbing rose called Stormy

gawgus

Salvia 

oh my!! 

Ivy Geranium, Martha Washington I think... there is no tag

 So of course you know what is coming down the line. A lot of ibuprofen and more garden pictures!

Have a great Thursday, I'm off to plant!

Spring Stroll 2012

Are you ready to stroll? Join me as I show you the fruits of my labor, the source of my pain... and one of my most uncontrollable passions. Gardening.

How appropriate is this? Thunder and Zoey on a stroll

Remember the Huechera I was telling you about? Here she is in all her glory... Georgia Peach!

White columbine... so pretty. But wait, there's more... much more.

couldn't you just eat these?! 

Pansies with their pretty little faces. Good thing I covered up the cat shit with the mulch, you're welcome ;o)

Geum... the beautiful Mrs. Bradshaw

Joseph's Coat, I believe

Wine and Roses Weigela (in the wind)

Oh! If you could only smell these fragrant white flags (iris)

Sedums, one of my favorite plant species

An enormous Silver Maple in our front yard. See the metal rod holding the twins together? Hopefully, it stays intact or it will smash our living room :/  I cannot bring myself to cut down any trees... they speak to my soul.

My sweet girl, Zoey

Clematis, the exquisite Miss Bateman


Now for some proof pictures of said hard work that is breaking my back... My husband saw me weeding the edges just like I do every year and him having a slight case of ocd mentioned that I might like having some edging. I was against the idea whole heartedly at first. I'm not an in the borders kinda girl. I like it wild. I'm a terrible housekeeper and I know it. The same kinda goes for my garden beds, they tend to get out of control but I like it. No fences, no borders to keep me in. If I wanna break out and make the garden go this way or that, I grab my shovel and do it. 


Well this all kinda makes him cringe. Since I have some body aches that are tending to get worse, I gave it some thought and began to think that maybe with the edges it might look a little more complete and perhaps easier to maintain and my mulch wouldn't get mowed away. It only took the words well maybe... and we were off to the big box store to buy edging. 2 skids of it in 2 days. He saw his chance and ran with it. Before I knew it, I was unloading tons of this shit. He didn't complain any, but wow it really wears you out. I have bursitis in my hips and they've been screaming ever since.


When we got the first section done, he had a look of such satisfaction on his face. I on the other hand wasn't as happy. I thought it looked like Disney World. Too perfect and neat. I'm not a neat and tidy girl, like I said I like it wild. Thunder the cat loves it, he thinks it's his own personal balance beam. But... it has grown on me and I did gain about 2 feet out on all my beds to plant more flowers! So here are some before and after pictures of Disney World:

Before being caged in...

and after

Before, wild and free!

after... ok I kinda like it. this bed needs a little work, it's kinda wonky

Side view before

side view after

kitchen window chaos, ok it is a little crazy but I hadn't weeded yet

all neat and tidy, even the sunshine likes it... meh.

shade bed before

shade bed after

one of my favorite little areas before

yeah yeah... I know

Ok, after seeing these before and after shots like this I'm starting to see it really wasn't that great before. At least not as much as I thought it had been in my super star gardening head. Score one for the hubby. It has grown on me. I only wish we could have used a natural stone, but it was too costly. Oh well, I'll soon have the plants flowing over :) I'm going plant shopping Wednesday... yippee! I'll share those pictures soon ;)


Still lots of work to do and boy do I have some new ideas brewing that are awesome and if they happen, I can't wait to share them with you. BIG ideas.



p.s. see my greenhouse goings on here

The writing is on the wall

Look what I found on the bathroom wall a few days ago. I'll have to remind my little Picasso that when he is creating graffiti, he needs to not use his real name!

Sharing Easter pics

I've posted some pictures here from our Easter egg hunt here at the Haney house :)

Me and my sweetie

That Easter bunny is sneaky

Love my crazy kid ;oP

Dad is already raiding the basket

My silly kid being himself

It was a great Easter. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday.

Spring is wearing me out

I worked out in the gardens for about 5 hours today and I'm stiffening up and can hardly move! Even my fingernails hurt. I've pulled weeds and mulched. When I look at what I've accomplished, it's not near enough for 5 hours of sweat and pain! I'm trying to make my gardens easier for me and scaling down a tiny bit. Well that is a total lie because I've removed one garden but am planning another by the koi pond. Jeesh. Good thing I love it, cause it's gonna kill me.

I peeked out the window tonight to admire my handiwork only to see the damn dog laying on the cushy 3" of mulch I put out and crushing my newest Heuchera!! It's a beauty, too. Georgia Peach, got it last summer. Dark pink with burgundy veining. It's also called coral bells.

Everything is so far advanced this year. I'd say by about a month! I keep waiting for the the shoe to drop and have a snow storm. Some crazy kinda weather we've got more and more it seems. 

I've been rearranging my greenhouse too to accommodate my heirloom tomato seedlings. They have only been out in the greenhouse for two days but wow what growth they've put on! No pics of them yet.

Late winter and early spring is a great time in the greenhouse. All my geraniums and pelagoriums are blooming. Plants are flushing out fresh green all over. I just love it. When we are having a "normal" spring and the weather is cool, the greenhouse is so warm and green smelling. It's a perfect sanctuary.

So here are pictures I took Sunday of what's up in the greenhouse for the most part. I meant to take pics of my handy work from today but was too pooped to care. I'll take some and post them soon, cause I love to get ooohs and ahhhs over my labor ;)

Purple Datura - also called Angel's Trumpet. Flushing out from a winter slow down.

The forest-y corner with ferns, corn plants and 

philodendron. Fern's will go back on front porch

Lantana - butterflies love this plant

Rosemary

See the white in the background, that is Diamond Frost Euphorbia. Great little plant.

Taken from the outside looking in. I'm standing close to my koi pond, another story there.

Bougainvillea, just so dang pretty

The wall of flowers and some dead plants, too.

Some Salvia I kept and now it's blooming. It's called Hot Lips, love it!

Hibiscus that I've overwintered for my friend

My mom's sweet little bird statue

My friend's overwintered orange tree and geranium

My all time favorite petunia - Burgundy Madness from seed. This coloring isn't quite right, too much light

a vining geranium I've kept for quite a few years

Spike with a gorgeous little geranium that I can't remember the variety at the moment

Scented geranium, too bad there is no smell-o-vision

I hope you enjoyed my little tour :)