More poppies

Lots of quilters are also gardeners. I am not among those green-thumb people. This year I hired my grand-nephew to plant a few flowers so that I won't be the ugly yard on the block.

Some marigolds and petunias,

and some impatiens.

The star of my garden though are the poppies that were planted last year. I just can't get over how beautiful they look - that bright red against the green grass and the lavender centers - simply stunning.

As far as quilting goes, I spent the day organizing and making lists. There are so many unfinished projects in my home, it overwhelms me. By making a list of exactly what needs to be done I can now prioritize and start making some progress. I did manage to sew binding onto a rather large quilt that just came back from the long-arm quilter, so that is one thing already to cross off my list.

Today I am grateful for a nice gentle rain. (I don't have to water the plants!)

Flower identification

Not being a gardener, I usually identify flowers by color. I can identify a tulip, a rose, and a daisy, but beyond that I resort to "that blue flower" or "that pink fluffy flower". Now I know that the yellow flowers in this picture are Marigolds, but what is the orange flower? Is it a Marigold too?

Last year a dear friend from church died and her children passed out flower seeds at the memorial service. I thought they were Marigold seeds. I planted the seeds and this beautiful orange flower has appeared. Can a Marigold be orange?

Garden yield

This is the first year I have had a proper garden with flowers. Not only does it look nice, I can also cut some flowers to have in my home.

Happy August Everyone

Peonies

Every year the peonies come and go before I even notice them because they are on the narrow side yard where I seldom look. This year I have been watching and today I snipped off the blooms on the peony bush. The blooms were enormous, weighing the branches down so that the flowers were facing into the dirt. In order to arrange these heavy blooms, I had to cut the stems very short and crowd them together in a short vase. The color is a soft peach with gold highlights. There are still two big peony plants not yet in bloom and I can see that the flowers will be a deep burgandy color. There are at least fifty buds waiting to bloom.

"........even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these."
Matthew 6:29 RSV

My new spiffy garden

For those who know me well, garden pictures is most unexpected! My gardening experience is about one hour per year. Hot weather, bugs, digging in the dirt, and weeding are last on my list of things to do.

This year a friend, who is a master gardener, was available to help me. He has cleaned out dead wood, planted flowers, bushes, and a tree, and plans to mulch and hopefully pull out some ugly old bushes that block my street view from the kitchen.

Today he planted a colorful beech tree.

Look at the wonderful leaves on this tree.

The bright green of this little bush will add much needed color along the side of my house.

Yesterday my doorbell rang and it was another friend delivering this wonderful pot of plants and flowers.

At last I can be proud of the outside of my home.

Today I am grateful for -

1. Wonderful, talented, generous friends.

2. The glorious colors of nature.

3. Crossing "garden worries" off my ToDo list so that I have more time to sew.