Yes, welcome to my Garden Party! So glad you could stop by today and I hope you’ll make yourself at home. You might not know this, but as much as I love to decorate, gardening is right up there for me too in things I enjoy doing and I love to grow pretty flowers. I’ve got a pretty good green thumb, although I’ve managed to lose a few here and there too, but right now is a good time to show off what’s blooming.
We’ve just had a nice rain for the last 2 days, so everything is looking so green and lush (and a little windswept too, but that’s OK). I started all of my beds 3 years ago when we moved to Birmingham, so they are finally coming along and looking good. This bed has an Endless Summer hydrangea, underplanted with hostas and I always add pretty impatiens to the front that peek out over the edging.
I have always, always loved impatiens. They are probably my all time favorite flower to grow.
These Endless Summer hydrangeas are doing well and if they bloom like they did last year (which they are covered with blooms now), they will be busting out in just a few weeks. You can see that they will be a nice deep blue.
This little bed has evolved over the last 3 years and almost nothing made it from what was originally planted. I can tell you that if you’re looking for a good shrub to add in your beds, that Spirea that lines the fence is a good one. It is a gorgeous shade of lime green with little pink blooms in the spring. I planted 3 of them three years ago and they have really grown. Unfortunately, all the other perennials I planted in this bed did not make it for the long haul, so I’ve had to replace them in the last couple of years.
I added mostly dianthus and I hope they all make it.
This is a spiderwort that my mom shared from her garden and it does well.
Those purple sage are newly planted this year. You can see the delicate pink flowers on the spirea. I love this shrub & will definitely plant more of them.
This hot pink dianthus I just planted this year and it’s doing well.
Here’s that $4 birdbath I found a couple weeks ago, looking right at home here in this bed. Found the glass ball last year at a sale and I love it in the water.
Closeup of the spirea and my iron armillary.
The glass ball just sits in the birdbath.
These dianthus were planted last year and have grown a lot. If you’d like to see how these beds have evolved in the last 3 years, you can go here and take a look. And this next area by our front sidewalk is where I built a stone wall all by myself and that’s on the link too.
Moving on to the bed beside our front sidewalk. This bed was full of overgrown boxwoods when we moved in and I knew I had to work on it, so I built this little stone wall out of paver stones from Lowes and planted it with knock-out roses and Dwarf Mock Orange shrubs which have done pretty well. I was featured with this project in the Birmingham News 2 years ago and that was fun.
The double-knockouts have done well for me too.
This urn sits a the end of the stone wall and I just planted it with some cheapie annuals.
Mulching with dark mulch makes any bed look better, I think. Found that armilary at a yardsale a couple years ago for $10. I’m always on the lookout for more garden stuff.
And of course, there are a few bunnies in my garden. I’m sure you are shocked to hear that! 🙂
Down by the mailbox, I added a new perennial purple verbena this year. I hope it does well here. I had some of this planted in my other bed up by the fence and it almost took over the first year. Then, for some unknown reason, it just completely died. Plants are hard to figure out sometimes, but I sure love to watch them grow. Flowers just add so much to the landscape and I enjoy walking outside to see them blooming this time of year.
This clematis is 3 years old and has the prettiest blooms every spring. Too bad they don’t last longer.
Purple verbena up close.
I had tried to figure out what to plant down by the mailbox, since it gets full sun, so I decided on this Miss Huff lantana which is supposed to be really hardy and drought tolerant and hopefully it will get big and fill out. I planted 3 of them. Most of my garden is pinks, blues & purples (my fave colors in the garden), but since I needed something here that is tough, I decided I could stand some orangey yellow down here.
So, how about you? Have YOU been digging in the dirt this spring and how is it looking? Share with everyone by adding your garden to Mr. Linky and add a link back to THIS post so everyone can find our party. I can’t wait to visit everyone’s garden too.
Happy May, ya’ll!
Don’t forget the rules on how to play with Mr. Linky. Go here if you need to learn how to do a permalink and don’t forget to add a link back to MY post here so others can find the party.
Powered by… Mister Linky’s Magical Widgets.
Hi Rhoda! Your garden is looking great. We’re a BIT further behind you up here in NY, so I posted pics of my trip the the NY Botanical Gardens this past weekend. Thanks for letting me join the party!
Thank for all the help with Mr Linky. I hope I can get this and be part of the party.
Your garden is beautiful! Of course, you're ahead of us here in the Maritimes; but my garden is coming along nicely; all the bulbs are up, there are lots of blooms & lots of lush green folage in the background. Because I'm a novice at this new passion of mine, I'll look back at your previous gardening posts to get inspiration and instruction. (I've always wanted to do stone steps in the garden or built a stone wall.)
The lantana is so lovely; I'll have to check if it'll grow here. And although I planted Spiderwort the year before, I was so pleasantly surprised when it bloomed last summer; it's so pretty & petite & delicate looking.
See you at the party!
Everything looks so beautiful! I wish my beds looked that good. Great idea to have a garden party!
P.S. I posted about your dining room makeover on my blog today. Thanks again! 🙂
I love your armillary (sp?). What a great deal! Enjoyed the garden tour!!
Love the blog Rhoda, and what a beautiful garden you have!
oh, Rhoda, I want to play. It’s raining here right now but I hope I can get out and take some pics in a little while to post.
Your flowers are gorgeous. We are just starting our landscaping on this place, so I love seeing what others do and have.
Oh your garden is stunning. It looks so pretty. I love all the flowers and you have also added such beautiful yard art. So well done. Your thumb really is green. Hugs, Marty
great garden party! everything looks so pretty…we’ve had a lot of rain here in Texas ready for some sunshine
What a beautiful garden you have!!!! Breathtaking!
Morning Rhoda,
Linked up to your Garden Party and I just love your flowers. I will have to book mark this post because I (hope you don’t mind) will have to use some of these ideas for the next house.
Cheri
Rhoda – your yard is immaculate! Ours is a work in progress, but I had one bloom that I had to share.
Oh My Goodness — the difference a few hundred miles can make! Our gardens are just emerging and yours has burst forth like nobody’s business. And the nice rain certainly did it’s job. your garden is exquisite!
Jenny
Your garden is just gorgeous!! We’ve had so much snow and rain lately that we haven’t been able to do anything in our yard yet. It is a horrible mess!
I look forward to checking out all the posts, hopefully I will find the inspiration I need!
Hi Rhoda, I just linked up with your garden party event. Your photos of your garden are outstanding. Your garden is beautiful and the envy of us all I am sure. Thank you for hosting the party the look of spring everywhere is a total joy. It just makes me smile.
Hugs…Jeanne
Wow, your garden looks amazing.
Rhoda – How wonderful! Those spring rains have made your gardens so lush and green. Don’t you just love the variety of greens, especially this time of year. In the heat of summer, those greens just don’t seem as fresh as they do now. Thank you for giving me some new ideas to try in my beds.
Charla
Rhoda, your garden is beautiful! That clematis is just gorgeous! My husband has been in the dirt but so far I haven’t braved it. I’m afraid I’ll kill everything!
Your garden looks lovely! I love all of the different shades of green in your garden.
Your garden is so pretty.
Glenda
Beautiful gardens! I’m not quite as far along here…