A few more flowers...

Okay, here are a few more flowers from around the yard...

Here's some pics of my clematis now that it's in bloom. Next year I hope to plant another one - white with purple inside to compliment this one. (See already thinking about next year..hehe ..)

If anyone knows what this one is please leave me a comment with the name. It's the purple/blue one I mentioned in my earlier post. This is the one in the front, there was also one in the back.

Some non-garden views of the yard

View looking from the pool area towards the side yard & garden.

Derek worked hard to set up a side seating area and move the BBQ out of the main area. Previously this are was just dirt, a tiny garden area that was actually just more dirt, and a scrawny bush up against the fence. The new area solves the problem of where the BBQ should go as well as additional seating. Thanks hon!

 WooHoo, the hot tub is now set up and working

The Front Yard

Okay, the front yard is starting to feel neglected, so here are a few pictures of that one too. Like I mentioned, there really isn't a whole lot that came up. Mainly the big green hedge thing, a few straggling rose bushes. I put in a few pansies and some alyssum earlier. I've also bought two flowering maples that I need to plant. I love these. They look great with a wonderful color and are super easy  to grow.

The garden boxes are now set up...

Okay, my boxes are now set up and planted. Derek still has to put on the post caps, but boxes are functional and growing. In my next post I'll provide a list of what's been planted so far. I've got 5 boxes in all, two 8' x 4'  that are 6" deep and one 4' x 4' that's 12" deep. Here are a few pics.


This one is looking towards the front of the house.

Looking towards the back of the garden. For reference, the pool is off to the right, not visible in this picture  The deep box - this one has carrots, parsnips, zucchini and beans. These were all planted from seeds and were the last to go in.  So far, the beets are poking up nicely! The plants you see at the back were actually flowers (cardinal climbers) started from seed indoors that needed a home. 

A close up of one of the 8 x 4 boxes.

Flowers in my Garden

Being the first summer in our new home, I was anxious to see what the previous owners had in the flower beds. There are many flower beds - a big one out front, a 3 ft border all around the perimiter of the back yard, as well as various little beds scattered in odd places. Knowing that they were the original owners of the home and hearing that the husband was very particular about his yards and was always outside, I expected to have all kinds of surprises. Well the surprise has turned out to be the lack of many plants at all!

However, that said, there have been a few nice surprises, mostly clumped together on the same wall. Below are a few pictures of the flowers I've come across so far:

Here are some blue flowers, not sure what they are. They grow in a clump and there is one in the back and one in a smaller garden in the front. Sorry, not a great picture because I was focusing on the great Peony bush that's there. Blooms are a wonderful soft pink with the odd deep red vein. Very excited about that. In behind is a great clematis also that wasn't in bloom yet when I took the picture.

In amogst the growth was these two strange plants I'd never seen before. They grew very fast were all 'hairy' or fuzzy - leaves, stems and even on the unopened flowers. It looked like something straight out of Little Shop of Horrors. We watched with anticiptation to see what this could be....

Turns out they are gorgeous orange poppies!