A cool and very very wet spring has made way for hotter and sunnier days, and my garden is in full bloom! Many of the things I planted our first spring here are now mature, and for the first year ever we’ve got hollyhocks blooming everywhere! All the seeds that took seem to be pinks, in a wide range of shades. So, so pretty! Hollyhocks are the sweetest flowers, one of my very favorites!
Other favorites include my Alice Oakleaf Hydrangeas. I have two mature one and may have bought three more at a half off sale I found at the hardware store last week. This is the best time to buy perennials! When stores start slashing prices. Even if they look half dead, with a little love (good watering, garden soil, and the proper amount of sunlight) they will thrive and come back year after year to grace your garden!
I am also very proud of my Lady of Shalott rose from Steve Austin roses. It was a Mother’s Day indulgence, and then the rose suffered from thrips all last year. Thrips are terrible little bugs that get inside flower buds and suck out the nutrients and severely deform the flowers. This year I fed and nurtured all my roses with Rose food and pest control, and they’re all doing a lot better and pretty Lady of Shalott is bug free! (How undignified, that this beautiful lady should have a bug problem, right?!?)
Oh! And I cant forget the Easter Lilies! Lilies I got from church after the Easter season had passed and all the altar flowers were up for grabs! I got a couple of lilies and put them in the garden— this year I snagged an Orchid from the altar flowers 😉 it’s a bit ridiculous perhaps how much I enjoy that ‘end of the Easter season’ traditions. But I can’t resist flowers!
Next up in the garden will be our first harvest of tomatoes! And the herbs are doing well and growing like weeds (as are the weeds!) I’m growing dipping gourds too! I love a good gourd! 😉 Gourds for everyone come fall, lol!~
Well, off for now!~
Chat more later—
~H
Sleightholm Folk Art 
Everything looks so gorgeous Heather and yes Hollyhocks are a favorite of mine too! The rose looks just breathtaking, and who doesn't love Hydrangeas? I will have to post about my garden soon, you have inspired me.Tina xo
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Heather, your flowers in your garden are just beautiful! The Hollyhocks are so pretty and old fashioned too. It sounds like the spring weather, while a bit on the too wet side, was actually great for your garden. Enjoy all these lovely blooms. and you say you have gourds??? Ohhh, one of my favorite early fall gatherings. They just scream fall decorating and Halloween to me!!!
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They look beautiful, Heather! And I'm looking forward to your visit so you can look at my sad little plot and offer me advice as to what to do to get my garden as pretty as yours. 🙂
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I loved seeing photo's of your garden. Your Hollyhocks are so pretty, ours are yet to flower but we have lots of buds. In England they are one of the last Summer flowers to bloom.Fondly Michelle
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Such an old fashioned garden, especially the Hollyhocks! Love all your photos. We've got roses (fighting off powdery mildew with our June gloom mornings), and azaleas – and I'm waiting for my crepe myrtle to bloom. Hopefully we'll finish the back half of our yard soon, so I can try some herbs and vegetables. I'd love any tips!
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Classic and elegant and a bit Victorian. These days you see the same gardens house to house, yours is different, and much more beautiful. I've been thinking of you and your lovely art a lot these days, and how you inspire me so! Especially as Autumn approaches. Yes I know it's only June 😉
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What a beautiful garden! I heard that growing roses requires a lot of work. Is it true?
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I hear that too, but I try to plant hardy and disease resistant varieties, and give them a rose food/insecticide mix every few weeks during blooming season (I just mix it in a watering can and water them with it) I dont have a lot of time to devote to babying flowers (as you understand!) but so far they're doing pretty well!
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you are so sweet, thank you Jennifer! 😀 and yes, I am ready for autumn as soon as it gets to 90 degrees, lol!
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oh, a back yard project! that sounds fun!! my only advice is— to know that gardening is trial and error! you'll find what works and what doesnt. And only plant things you know you'll eat and use! then it will be worth the work for a harvest!~
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Thank you for your so informative reply!:))
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