Typhoon!

Well, we had some crazy weather. And we were lucky enough to be at its mercy, unable to escape it. Yay us!

My poor irises are just pooped after dealing with all the wind and the rain. They just wanted to lie down for a few minutes.

But this is my New Guinea Impatien in a precious new pot that I bought. Actually, it's a watering can. And not intended in the least to be a planter. But Dan and his handy power drill gave it some drainage holes.

Same with this big bucket.

My little white potted petunias are reblooming.

These Outbacks are just so unusual looking! I can't get enough of them.

My dianthus is finally blooming this year! I'm so excited. It was really looking dead there for a while, but then one day I realized there were little buds on the ends of some of the stalks, and then the next day there was a little pink at the tip, and then this was today!

Aren't they happy?

Just take a gander at all the buds on these lilies! I can't wait for them to open!

The thyme is TAKING OVER!! Anna, will you do a garden marker for me sometime this summer at the Glaze that says, "Keep Off the Indestructible Thyme"?? I would love it!

This is the stuff that we thought was moss rose.

Thank goodness for this $30 garage sale find! Yay for not sweating to death!

Look at these sweet girls! Right after I snapped this picture, Elph started trying to nurse and Ginger kicked her. She was probably like, "What the heck are you doing down there! Get out!"

But they continued the bath anyway.

And then, for some bizarre reason I don't understand, Dan felt the need to wrap Elphie up in his shower towel.

Look at that pitiful little thing!

Las Vegas!

At the nursery today I saw an iris that looked just like mine, and it was called Las Vegas! So now I have a name for it. And I think it's appropriate, since it's brown, but colorful underneath. ;)

I also made some purchases. And I think my garden now looks AMAZING! I got some pink snaps, which I've wanted for a long time, and I think they look great in the sedum garden. I also got that daylily in the "corner" -- it's called Happy Returns, so the little kid inside me who remembers watching Return to Pooh Corner just had to get it! It's going to be yellow, and it should bloom later in the summer.

Close-up on the snapdragon.

I got a flat of verbena for pretty cheap, and it's positively everywhere -- any spot that was even slightly empty got some verbena, including the mailbox.

Here's some with a flower, near Jim's moss rose. The tag said it's a consistent bloomer from spring to frost, so that's exciting!

The pansies were still half off (!!!), so I got a flat of Dynamite Whites and stuck them in with all the other three colors. I also got a gorgeous columbine.

I just love them!

I like the orange and white together.

It's a really striking difference with the purples.

Las Vegas also, er, got a friend. Her name is Princesse Caroline de Monaco. When I saw the name I couldn't say no. And look at her! She's regal!

That's a very full patch.

A coral bells also followed me home... can I keep it? Well, apparently I'm going to, because I even dragged out the big shovel and used it myself, in my Crocs, to plant some of the bigger flowers.

Some Pink Wave petunias brighten up this side bed. It was pretty much empty except for the bleeding heart and the creeping phlox before.

They're so happy! And I was surprised to be just crazy about the foliage, too.

There are some little patches of verbena in front of the coral bells, too.

In related news, Ginger stole her sister's new mouse toy and hasn't stopped playing with it yet.

I hope she can share, because I don't think she's giving it back.

Grrr!

I got this kitty gym half off today at Petco! I can't wait to pose Ginge and Elphie on it together.

I keep walking in and finding Ginger sitting on it, so I guess it's a success. :)

A blustery day

Here's our little Ginger, soon to be a big sister to a little black kitten named Elphaba, overseeing her kitchen territory. She's such a goof.

I had to pinch off the existing blooms on my newest Gerbera daisy because of the weird brown spots, which you can see in previous pictures. But there are little new ones coming up, sans spots!

I'm just crazy about these dahlias! I especially love that the one is the exact color of a highlighter. haha

The indestructible thyme, with my "Keep Off the Dirigible Plums" garden stake. I love you, Xenophilius Lovegood! Even though you're a selfish coward.

My main Kerry sedum, so named for my mother-in-law, who gave it to me. It's in the main bed up across from the mailbox. And it's rounding out nicely!

Kind of blurry because it's so doggone overcast, but look at the little baby tulip! I'm so miffed that they're called Lucky Strikes now that Dan pointed out that was a cigarette brand. *pouting*

My Jim's moss rose is going crazy! I just can't get over how cool it is that Jim, my cousin in Wisconsin, harvested some seeds from the moss rose in his garden and gave them to me, and now they're in my garden! I just think that's the coolest thing. (The Dusty Miller is looking good too!)

My two other little Kerry sedum, surrounded by nameless weeds that I'm afraid to pull up because I planted so many seeds and don't know what they should look like when they're coming up. How pathetic. ;)

Spring!

Well, here's my blog dedicated to my little garden. It's only my second year gardening, and last year was really just a trial run since I wasn't that into it yet and I really didn't know what I was doing. This year I'm so into it that my husband is ready to kill me. ;)

This is my little bed at the mailbox. Some tall orange lilies poked their heads up last year and were put in by the previous owners of the house. I put in the beautiful pale pink daylily, as well as the pink dianthus (pinks), last year. This year I planted the six tulips -- three purple (Purple Flag) and three pink and red (Lucky Strike).

This bed is across from the mailbox bed. It really just has a sedum that my mother-in-law gave me last year, transplanted from her garden. I've sown some blue lupine seeds. Hopefully they'll come up. :) Also there's that unfortunate-looking pink hyacinth, which I found hiding behind some hedges in another bed. Sneaky thing. Its blooming season is over, though, so hopefully that's the only reason that it looks so terrible.

This little bed is to the left of the steps up to the porch. My cousin gave me seeds from his moss rose in his front yard last summer and I sowed them immediately, but they didn't come up until this year! I can't wait until they bloom. Also, I added some Dusty Miller this year. There are three on the other side, too.

My little hook that was the first and only official purchase from my income tax refund check. The birdhouse came from Meijer in the winter and has been attracting quite the aviary attention. The goldfinch sock (center) was debunked by the pretty butterfly windchime that some of my coworkers gave me for my birthday. :)

Pansies! From front to back, they are Dynamite Light Blue, Dynamite Orange, and that really dark purple. (Those didn't have a tag! Dang it.) Also there are some lilies that were there when we moved in (yay!), some other daylilies I planted last year, some lamb's ear, and a little phlox that will hopefully bloom again. This year I also added two little clumps of Red Vista salvia.

All my purty potted plants! Three Gerbera daisies, one geranium, and two knockout dahlias! I should also be having some really pretty basil that looks like a shrub coming up in the left empty-looking pot and some daisy-looking dahlias in the right.

The right side of the steps to the porch. Dusty Miller, Jim's moss rose, three red tulips from this year, a grape hyacinth from this year, last year's thyme (hardiest and best-smelling stuff EVAR!), as well as what I believe are hyacinths but I think the bulbs are too close to the surface for them to bloom. They were there when we moved in.