A walk through the backyard...ready for Memorial Day

Hello everyone! 

Are you ready for this upcoming long holiday weekend (those of us in the U.S. that is)?

I'm ready to putter around the gardens and have some grilled food and relax. 

 I've been running some sprinklers since it's been so dry lately.  We finally got some rain last night.  The hostas are filling out fast.  

The Jack Frost Brunnera have gotten a lot larger but aren't covered in as many blooms as they usually are.  I've always enjoyed this plant because it continues to grow larger and bloom for about a month.   

These are already getting larger .  The patio is messy- well everything is.  The trees have been dropping their seeds and there's pollen on everything.  We should be getting more rain on and off over the next few days so perhaps it will wash away the pollen.

The turkeys have been fun to watch but have been destructive.  I picked up a cheap roll of wire fencing and Dan and I made sort of a random pattern around these hostas.  They've been clawing so much they've sort of shredded these hostas.    I'm going to have to be less welcoming to them from now on.  

Look closely at the bird bath-  they dirty it up the something awful- even leaving feces!  Yuck... I took this before I got my planters filled last weekend. 

This lemon yellow Lantana is great for attracting butterflies.  I found this German Ivy at the store and decided to try it.  It's already grown a lot so I think it will be an easy one to take care of.  

Further back you can see the "Hosta hill" has really taken off.   The Sweet Woodruff is blooming like crazy.

 I took this late in the day yesterday.  That's a Sum and Substance Hosta in the forefront, an On Stage hosta on the left with the yellow and green mix, and at the back is the Empress Wu that keeps getting larger each year. These are my largest hostas.

I planted this red/white star impatiens along the border.  They had gotten a little leggy and are just starting to bloom again.  I'm looking forward to seeing them take off and start blooming like crazy!

This miniature iris seems to have a mind of it's own.  It's moved up the hill as the years have gone by.  The Creeping Jenny has moved in all over the place.

I made a path for the garden cart to wheel in and out of several years ago and I lined the one side with a bunch of these "June" hostas that I had found super cheap at Home Depot.  They've continued to do well and have gotten larger.  The Sweet Woodruff has moved in along the path- I just pull the cart right over it and it doesn't seem to care. If I was a perfectionist I'd be yanking it out...but I'm not.  I love to see things naturalize a space.

Looking over towards the fountain.  I think we can finally turn it on because I believe the trees are done dropping their seeds.  We'll get to it this weekend.

I took these pictures early this morning- aren't the ferns pretty!  I love how they've spread on their own. Every so often I have to remove some but it's not hard.

I found another coleus I mixed in the center of my big dairy planter.  It's so interesting how many varieties there are of coleus.  

 I showed this the other day.  Dan is going to clean up the 2nd plant stand I have and I already filled another copper planter so it's ready to pop in it when he's done.

This one will sit by the house where it will get party sun/shade.

Last December when my brother in-law passed away I brought home this planter from the funeral which had some household plants in it.  They were doing pretty well but it was always my intention to re-plant it and have it outdoors.  I think it's sweet.  There is a blue ageratum in the center, with some violas along the side and this Wojo's Jem vinca vine.    I think of Jim each time I look at it.

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Have a great weekend and take time to remember those who sacrificed the ultimate for our country.

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