Garden Inspirations

The following photos have been taken over a period of two months or so. In the past I have been known to be a half-hearted home gardener (if that!). I tend to plant flowers and weed for a day or two at the first sign of beautiful spring weather. Then I neglect the poor flowers and leave them to dry out in the sun or to be drowned out by the weeds. This year I have attempted to keep my plants alive and to enjoy their beauty more by bringing them indoors. Here are some of my successful crops. A beautiful pink tea rose, three white tea roses, and yellow snapdragons (or dragonflowers as the boys call them).
My "favorite flower" changes depending on what happens to be doing the best at the time. This spring the snapdragons were my favorite. They were planted during the winter, but really popped out this spring in full color.

I remember my Grama Mitchell had good success with her Gerber daisies in Florida. I loved the way they looked when you put a bunch in a vase. So far, I haven't had enough blooming at a time to make a very nice bunch, but I haven't given up hope yet. I really liked the way these Gerber daisies and my amaryllis looked together (with some white snapdragons).

My roses were really blooming well for about a week and a half at the beginning of May. But I had let the bushes go too long without being pruned, so after the roses bloomed I cut the branches down in the hopes of encouraging it to bush out. I expect to have a few nice roses again next week.

My gardening spirit was encouraged after a very nice visit to Bellingrath Gardens in Mobile, Alabama. I went with my friend Beth and her daughter Tia. Todd developed a fever and was feeling quite sick for some of the time, but he was a trooper and still seemed to enjoy himself for the most part. One of my favorite parts of the Gardens was their greenhouse.

One of my favorite flowers (you will see I have many "favorites") is the hydrangea. I first fell in love with them when Brett and I lived in the "pink house" in Niceville (so named because of the color of the carpets). There was a big hydrangea bush in the front yard that bloomed and bloomed. I have one small hydrangea and one medium hydrangea bush here, but neither has bloomed and bloomed to my satisfaction. Still, I have not given up hope and look forward to seeing the blooms on my medium bush this summer. The hydrangeas in these photos at Bellingrath bloomed earlier than I would expect mine to, most likely because they were in the greenhouse. [You can see how pale Todd's face is here, but he still managed a posed half-smile.]

Did I mention that I love lilies as well? I think I will plant more lilies in my front island. I have some, but not nearly enough!

This was one of the MANY beautiful flowers in the greenhouse. I had my camera on the "macro" setting for quite a while in the greenhouse taking some close-up photos of the flowers. They were so intricate and exotic.

Ryan had a great time climbing all around the walls outside of the Bellingrath home. You can't tell what the drop off is like in this photo. Suffice it to say, I was a little nervous at times. He wanted to check out the waterfall, and I was afraid the he would be falling with it.

My "greenhouse theory" doesn't quite fit with these hydrangeas!

Beautiful gardens! I wish that Todd had been feeling better to allow us to go down all the garden paths. Another time.

Rebecca at the well.

Shortly after my trip to Bellingrath Gardens, I found myself reading The Secret Garden. I think it was good timing. It helped me get into the spirit of gardening in my own yard.

There was something missing at my home that little Mary found in her secret garden. She had the Robin to guide her to the garden, and later he nested and raised his babies there. The poor mockingbird at our house did not have such a protected location for his family. Though Brett had seen three eggs in the nest days earlier, they were gone by the time I climbed on a stool to take a peek. We feel fairly sure that the eggs did not hatch and fly away in that time, but think something more sinister happened....

One more thing missing at our home that you find in both The Secret Garden and Bellingrath Gardens: the big house!

One thing NOT missing right now in our garden that is most definitely missing in The Secret Garden: fragrance. Have I mentioned that gardenias are one of my favorite flowers? I never would have suspected this if we did not inherit some gardenia bushes when we bought this house. They have really grown, and I love the way the flowers smell when I walk past them this time of year.

Mom, I especially think that you would have enjoyed a visit to Bellingrath Gardens with us. I missed having you there to tell me what everything was! We missed the azaleas by a week or so, and were about a week or two too early for the roses in the rose garden. I think it's hard to get the timing perfect. Regardless, we still enjoyed our visit immensely.